The contacts on your iPhone can get there in a number of different ways. You can add them manually through the Contacts app, you can add new ones from recent calls or text messages, or you can import them from a number of different types of accounts that you can sync to your device. But your contact list can also become unruly, and you may find that there are a lot of contacts on that list that have appeared from a number of different locations. You might not even know which source caused the appearance of a particular contact, which can make it difficult to prevent its appearance again in the future. Our article below will outline several different ways that you can delete or hide contacts on your iPhone 7, which should allow you to eliminate the contacts that you do not want.
How to Delete Contacts- iPhone 7
Our article continues below with more methods for deleting contacts on iPhone, including pictures for each of the steps. Note that these methods for deleting contacts on your iPhone work in most recent versions of iOS, including iOS 13. They also work on most iPhone models, including the iPhone 11.
1st Way – How to Delete an iPhone Contact Through the Phone App
This method will show you how to delete contacts via the Phone app. Due to the precarious location of the Contacts app, many users will not use it, or even know that it exists. Therefore, the Phone app becomes the primary method for adding, edited, and deleting contacts. Step 1: Open the Phone app. Step 2: Tap the Contacts tab at the bottom of the screen. Step 3: Select the contact that you wish to delete. Step 4: Tap the Edit button at the top-right corner of the screen. Step 5: Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap the Delete Contact button. Step 6: Tap the Delete Contact button again to confirm the removal of the contact from your iPhone.
2nd Way – How to Delete a Contact Through the iPhone Contacts App
This method is very similar to the first method, but the starting point is the default Contacts app, as opposed to the Phone app. Step 1: Open the Contacts app. Step 2: Select the contact that you wish to delete. Step 3: Tap the Edit button at the top-right corner of the screen. Step 4: Swipe to the bottom of this menu, then touch the red Delete Contact button. Step 5: Tap Delete Contact to confirm it.
3rd Way – Put Contacts In a Group, Then Hide the Group
This method will not actually delete a contact or group of contact, but will rather let you hide a group of contacts from your list. This can be preferable to deleting contacts if there is a possibility that you might need the information again in the future, but know that you don’t need some of your contacts cluttering your list. Note that using contact groups will require you to put all of your contacts into groups, as you won’t be able to use any of the catchall groups (All iCloud Contacts, All Gmail Contacts, etc.) without also showing the contacts that you wish to hide. So our steps below will show you how to create one iCloud contact group, but you will need to put all of your contacts into groups for this to be effective. Step 1: Go to iCloud.com and sign into your iCloud account. Step 2: Click the Contacts icon. Step 3: Click the + icon at the bottom of the left column, then click New Group. Step 4: Type a name for the group, then press Enter on your keyboard. Step 5: Add a contact to this group by selecting it and dragging it to the group name in the left column. Repeat this step for each additional contact you wish to hide this way. Step 6: Return to your iPhone, open the Contacts app, then tap Groups at the top-left of the window. Step 7: Remove the check mark from the contacts you want to hide from your list, then tap the Done button at the top-right corner of the screen.
4th Way – How to Disable iCloud Contacts on an iPhone
Your iPhone likes to store your contacts in iCloud because it allows the phone to backup that information and make it easier to use in the future when you upgrade phones. But you might prefer to let another account manage your contacts, and the inclusion of your iCloud contacts on your iPhone might be causing an issue. The steps below will show you how to disable them. Step 1: Open the Settings menu. Step 2: Tap your name card at the top of the menu. Step 3: Select the iCloud option. Step 4: Touch the button to the right of Contacts. Step 5: Select the Delete from My iPhone option.
5th Way – How to Stop Showing Contact Suggestions from Apps
Your iPhone can be pretty good at finding contacts in your emails and other apps that it thinks you might want to use. However, you might prefer that it not collect or suggest this information. The steps in this section will show you how to disable that feature. Step 1: Touch the Settings icon. Step 2: Scroll down and select the Contacts option. Step 3: Tap the button to the right of Contacts Found in Apps to make your iPhone stop suggesting these types of contacts.
6th Way – How to Stop Syncing Contacts from an Email Account
This final method will disable the contacts syncing that occurs through one of your email accounts. Your iPhone handles this account syncing on an individual-account basis, so you will need to complete this step for each email account on your iPhone for which you do not wish to sync your contacts. Step 1: Open the Settings menu. Step 2: Scroll down and select the Mail option. Step 3: Tap the Accounts button at the top of the screen. Step 4: Select your email account. Step 5: Tap the button to the right of Contacts. Step 6: Touch the red Delete from My iPhone button to remove these contacts from your device. Hopefully this has provided you with a few options for deleting the contacts from your iPhone. If you are looking for ways to delete some other items from your iPhone to increase your amount of available storage, then our complete guide to iPhone deletions is a good resource to use.
Can I Delete Multiple Contacts on iPhone?
When you are working with a lot of contacts on iPhone operating systems you might not need to know how to delete a contact, but may be curious about how to remove multiple contacts instead. We already discussed using iCloud to manage contacts in our third method above. You can also use the iCloud website to delete contacts, including more than one at a time. But if you want to delete multiple contacts using the tools on your device, then iCloud may not be the option you want to use. This isn’t something that you can do by using the default apps on your iPhone, but it can be accomplished with a downloadable app. Simply go to the App Store and download the Groups app, then you can use the tools within the app to display all of your contacts and choose each one that you would like to remove.
Additional Sources
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites. His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well. Read his full bio here.
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