Delete All Contacts on an iPhone

This article teaches you how to delete all of the contacts stored locally on your iPhone. It will also teach you how to delete all contacts saved to your iCloud account.

Steps

Using Your iPhone

  1. Open Settings. It's a gray app that contains gears (⚙️) and is typically located on your home screen.
    • If you want to permanently delete contacts from your iCloud account instead, see the next section.
  2. Scroll down and tap Contacts. It's near the middle of the menu.
  3. Slide "Contacts Found in Apps" to the "Off" position. It's in the second section of the menu and will turn white.
  4. Tap Accounts. It's at the top of the menu.
  5. Select a non-iCloud account. Tap on a non-iCloud account, such as Gmail, that you've added to your iPhone.
  6. Slide "Contacts" to the "Off" position. It will turn white and you will be prompted to delete all of the contacts stored locally on your iPhone.
  7. Tap Delete from My iPhone. All of the contacts that you previously synced with that account will be deleted from your iPhone.
    • Once complete, repeat for each non-iCloud account on your iPhone.
  8. Tap Accounts. It's in the upper-left corner of the screen. This will return you to the Accounts page.
  9. Tap iCloud. It's in the "ACCOUNTS" section of the menu.
  10. Slide "Contacts" to the "Off" position. It will turn white and you will be prompted to delete all of the iCloud contacts stored locally on your iPhone.
  11. Tap Delete from My iPhone. All contacts will now be deleted from your iPhone.
    • You can now open your Contacts app (its icon is an outline of a person's head) and it should display "No Contacts."

Using the iCloud Website

  1. Log into the iCloud website on any computer. Visit icloud.com in a web browser and log in with your Apple ID. This will give you access to your iCloud data, including your contacts.
    • You'll need to be logged in with the same Apple ID on your iPhone for this to work.
  2. Open the "Contacts" section of the iCloud site. It has the same icon as the Contacts app on your iPhone.
  3. Select the contacts you want to delete. Press Ctrl/⌘ Cmd+A to select all of the contacts, or hold Ctrl/⌘ Cmd and click each one you want to select.
  4. Click on ⚙️. You'll find this in the lower-left corner of the screen.
  5. Select "Delete." You'll be asked to confirm that you want to delete the selected contacts. These contacts will be permanently deleted on all of your connected devices, including your iPhone. You cannot retrieve contacts deleted from iCloud.

Using the Contacts App on Mac

  1. Make sure your iPhone and Mac computer are sharing the same iCloud account. You'll need to be signed in with the same Apple ID on both the iPhone and the Mac computer.
  2. Open the Contacts app on your Mac. You'll find this in the Applications folder.
  3. Select all of the contacts you want to delete. You can press ⌘ Command+A to select all of the contacts, or hold ⌘ Command and click each contact you want to select.
  4. Delete the selected contacts. Press Delete or click the "Edit" menu and select "Delete Cards." You'll be prompted to confirm that you want to permanently delete these contacts. These changes will be synced across all of your connected devices, and the contacts will disappear from your iPhone.[1]
    • You won't be able to retrieve contacts deleted from iCloud.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://osxdaily.com/2013/04/23/delete-contacts-from-iphone/
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