How to Delete All Contacts on iPhone 13/12/11
Applies To: iPhone 13/12/11 series, iPhone XR/XS/X,and earlier generations
You will learn three ways on how to delete contacts on iPhone. Whether you want to delete all contacts on iPhone at once or delete multiple contacts from iPhone selectively, you will learn how to get it done with a few simple clicks.
When you want to free up your device space or erase private data for resale, you will need to remove files from your iPhone, be it photos, contacts, or other types of content. In our previous article, we have detailed how to delete all photos from iPhone. Here we'd like to continue introducing how to delete contacts on iPhone using three easy ways. I hope they will be helpful to you.
Method 1. How to Delete All Contacts on iPhone At Once
Although you are able to delete a contact from your iPhone directly from the Contacts or Phone app on your device, you are not allowed to delete all contacts at once within the app. That means if you are going to delete all or multiple contacts on your iPhone, it could be time-consuming.
Then how to delete all contacts on iPhone at once? The answer is to use a free iOS content manager, like Qiling MobiMover Free. Qiling MobiMover is an iOS content manager as well as a free video downloader. With it, you can:
- Transfer files between a computer and an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
- Transfer data from one iOS device to another
- Manage iDevice content from a computer (Mac or PC) by deleting, editing or creating items
- Download videos from YouTubeor other sites to your computer or iPhone/iPad
It will not only help when you want to delete contacts on iPhone but also work in many other situations related to iOS data transfer. Except for contacts, Qiling MobiMover also supports photos, videos, messages, ringtones, books, and more.
To delete all contacts on iPhone 11/XR/8:
Step 1.Connect your iPhone to your computer, either Mac or PC, with a USB cable. Launch Qiling MobiMover and click "Content Management > Contacts".
Step 2.Click "Select All" to select all the contacts on your iPhone or tick the checkbox next to the items you want to remove to choose specific items, then click "Delete" to delete the selected contacts from your iPhone. (Before you remove these files from your device, you are recommended to make a backup of them by clicking "Transfer to PC".)
Step 3.After clicking the delete button, you will see a new window asking you whether to delete the selected items. Click "Yes" in the window to confirm your deletion.
As you can see, Qiling MobiMover provides you with flexible solutions to delete contacts from iPhone. You can either mass delete contacts on your iPhone or remove a single item as you want to. Besides, using this tool to erase contacts from iPhone won't remove the items from iCloud. If you are the one who is wondering "How to delete contacts from iPhone but not iCloud", using this method is a perfect choice for you.
Method 2. How to Delete Contacts on iPhone via the Contacts App
Of course, you can delete a contact on the iPhone directly from the Contacts or Phone app. However, as mentioned, in the Contacts app, you can only remove one item at a time. If you have hundreds of contacts on your iOS device and you attempt to remove multiple contacts from it, using the app is not advisable.
However, if you have just several items to delete, it's convenient for you to remove contacts from your iPhone via the built-in app on your device.
To delete contacts on iPhone:
Step 1. Go to the "Contact" app or open the "Phone" app and choose "Contacts".
Step 2. Click the contact you want to remove and tap on "Edit".
Step 3. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and choose "Delete Contact".
Method 3. How to Mass Delete Contacts on iPhone with iCloud
If you have enabled iCloud Contacts on your iOS device, you can delete all contacts from your iPhone using iCloud. iCloud will help you in two ways: You can either delete all contacts from iCloudor toggle off iCloud Contacts on your iPhone.
The difference is that: If you delete all contacts from iCloud, the contacts will disappear not only on your iPhone but also on your other devices using the same Apple ID account. If you turn off iCloud Contacts on the target device, the contacts will only be removed from the current device but not in iCloud or other devices. To remove all contacts from your iPhone but not from iCloud, the latter option is the one you should apply.
To mass delete contacts on iPhone:
Step 1. Open the "Settings" app and go to [your name] > "iCloud".
Step 2. Toggle off the "Contacts" option.
Step 3. Select "Delete from My iPhone" in the prompt asking you what to do with the contacts on your iPhone.
Bonus Tip: How to Delete iPhone Contacts Synced from Email Accounts
You may previously import Outlook contacts to iPhoneor sync Google contacts to iPhoneand now want to delete these contacts from the iPhone. It's also easy to remove iPhone contacts that are synced from an email account.
To delete iPhone contacts synced from an email account:
Step 1. Go to "Settings" and scroll down to choose "Passwords & Accounts".
Step 2. Select the corresponding email account, Gmail, Outlook, or others.
Step 3. Turn off the "Contacts" option.
Step 4. Choose "Delete from My iPhone" in the prompt to confirm the deletion.
The Bottom Line
Since you are disallowed to select all contacts on your iPhone, you can't delete all of them at once as you want to. Luckily, now you know how can you delete all contacts on iPhone at once, either using a third-party iOS content manager or iCloud.
Carry out the way best suited to your need to delete contacts from iPhone within seconds.
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