If you’re like most people, you probably have an app installed on your iPhone or iPad that you use every day. But if you can’t find the app, it’s likely that it’s been deleted or removed by Apple. To remove an app from your device, follow these steps:
- Open the App Store on your device and search for the app you want to remove.
- Click on the App Store icon in the top left corner of your screen to open the App Store’s main screen.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the App Store’s main screen and click on Remove from Device.
- Enter your Apple ID and password in the Remove From Device dialog box and click on Remove.
There’s an app you want to uninstall, but you can’t find it on your Home screen. If the icon appears to have disappeared, how are you supposed to uninstall the app? Don’t panic. There is another way.
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You may think that the only way to uninstall an iOS app is to tap and hold on the icon until it begins to wiggle so you can press the “X”. That’s what I thought.
But after updating to the iOS 10 Beta, I was having problems with an app that would not update. The App Store kept displaying a badge on its icon indicating there was an app to be updated, but that app would never update. All other apps were updating just fine. I figured I would uninstall the problem app and then reinstall it, hoping that would fix the problem. I searched through my Home screen including every folder and through the additional screens and folders as well. I could not find the app anywhere. So, how do I uninstall an app I can’t find?
I called Apple Support about my problem because the badge wouldn’t go away and it was driving me mad. First, they had me try various things to get the app to update. If you’re having a similar problem, you can try these solutions:
Force quit the App Store app by double-pressing the Home button and then swiping up on the App Store app. Then, I reopened the App Store app, but the app still wouldn’t update. Use Spotlight Search to try to find the app on your main Home screen and the other Home screen pages. In my case, Spotlight Search didn’t find the app. Use Power+Home to perform a hard reset of your phone. This is not a factory reset, it’s a reboot, like restarting your computer. This didn’t work for me either. Uninstall the app through iTunes. To do this, plug in your iOS device and click the device icon below the menu bar. Then, click “Apps” under Settings and search for the app you want to uninstall in the Apps list on the right. Click “Remove” to delete the app. Click “OK” on the confirmation dialog box, and then click “Apply” at the bottom of the window to apply the change to your device. Your device will sync with iTunes and the app will be deleted from the device.
RELATED: How to Use Spotlight Search on Your iPhone or iPad
Unfortunately, iTunes won’t currently recognize my iPhone since I updated to iOS 10 Beta, so that option was out too.
I thought I would have to resort to doing a factory reset of my phone, and I really didn’t want to do that. However, the Apple Support specialist then led me through a simple procedure that took me into the Settings to delete the app.
This procedure is useful even if you’re not having trouble with an app. If you have tons of apps installed, like I do, it may be difficult sometimes to remember where you put an app on the home screen. But from the Settings, you can get a list of all your apps so you can uninstall them one-by-one.
To begin, tap “Settings” on the Home screen.
On the Settings screen, tab “General”.
Tap “Storage & iCloud Usage” on the General screen.
On the Storage & iCloud Usage screen, tap “Manage Storage” in the Storage section.
All the apps installed on your device are listed in order of the app size. If you have a long list of apps, it might take a while to find the one you’re looking for. Scroll through the list to find the app and tap on it when you find it.
On the Info screen for the app, tap “Delete App”.
Tap “Delete App” on the popup dialog box.
This is also useful if you’re running out of space on your device. You can open this list and see which apps are taking up the most space on your device and uninstall them right from the list.
