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iPhone or iPad: Can’t Delete Apps, ‘X’ Doesn’t Appear

iPhone or iPad: Can’t Delete Apps, ‘X’ Doesn’t Appear

October 3, 2018 by Morgan Lange 69 Comments

A common problem that occurs for users of the Apple iPhone or iPad is the inability to delete apps. When you tap and hold the screen, an ‘X’ doesn’t appear in the upper-left corner of the icon as expected. Here is a list of possible resolutions to this common problem.

Resolution 1 – Tap Lightly

If you are using an iPhone that detects the pressure of your tap, be sure that you lightly touch and hold the app icon for about 2 to 3 seconds, then the “X” should appear. When you’re done, press the “Home” button to return to the normal Home screen. This seems to be the most common issue.


Resolution 2 – Restart

I personally experienced this problem with the “Yelp” app. I had two icons on my home screen for Yelp. I deleted on of them, but the other remained. I could not get the “X” to appear on the second icon. A simple restart solved this for me.

  1. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until an option to “slide to power off” appears.
  2. Slide the power icon to the right, then wait for your device to power down.
  3. After about 15 seconds, press and hold the Sleep/Wake button to turn the device back on.

I hope the icon is now gone as happened for me.


Resolution 3 – Restrictions

Another common reason there is no “X” is a restriction setting. Perhaps this setting was accidentally set and forgotten about.

  1. Open “Settings“.
  2. Select “General“.
  3. In iOS12 and higher choose “Screen Time” > “Content Privacy & Restrictions” > “Content Privacy” > “iTunes & App Store Purchases“. In iOS 11 and lower, choose “General” > “Restrictions“.
  4. Enter the password set for restrictions.
  5. Set the “Deleting Apps” setting to “On/Allow” so that it is allowed.

Once you ensure this setting is on, you should be able to remove apps without a problem.


Resolution 4 – Profile

A profile may be on your device that is enabling certain restrictions on your device. This could be a profile provided by your employer or school. You can usually remove profiles under “Settings” > “General” > “Profiles“.

If you are unable to remove the profile and your device was provided by an employer or school, contact the IT department for assistance.


Resolution 5 – Not All Apps are Removable

Another reason the X may not appear is that it is an app that is built into Apple iOS. Apps such as Notes, Newsstand and Calendar cannot be removed. Other apps may be removed from “Settings” > “General” > “Storage and iCloud usage” under “Storage” select “Manage” > “Select App” > “Delete App“.

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Filed Under: iPhone

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hani says

    March 19, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    None of these worked for me

  2. Laci says

    March 18, 2022 at 1:40 pm

    This was SO helpful. It seems like with my lack of updating the iOS because this is an old phone, Apple changed my ability to delete apps. I would have never figured this out without you! Thank you SO much for your help and sharing your wisdom!

  3. Anthony DiDavide says

    September 2, 2021 at 12:58 pm

    Thank you so much! I was wondering what happened to my delete option for a while and was starting to get frustrated. This was of much help!

  4. Robin says

    August 8, 2021 at 11:27 am

    Somehow I had set my app to do not delete. Today I really wanted to delete an app. Couldn’t figure out what I had done, asked the question on how to delete an app on duck-duck-go. Your dite came up—I followed the directions and voila—the unwanted app is gone. Thank you thank you

  5. Nana says

    July 10, 2021 at 7:07 am

    Thank you so much
    Be success moreover

  6. Enrique Guerrero says

    July 4, 2021 at 10:53 am

    Resolution 3 was very helpful, thank you! This also was educational in other areas.

  7. Karen R says

    July 2, 2021 at 1:47 am

    Hi thank you so much for the tips on how to delete unwanted apps, was doing the onscreen process and no ‘x’ appeared to be able to delete, going into settings and …app purchases really sorted me ..simple when you know how but thank you really helped after alot of struggle and frustration

  8. Maryk says

    July 1, 2021 at 11:41 pm

    My toot. Thank you! That helped me!

  9. Debbie says

    June 30, 2021 at 2:42 pm

    Jeremy is a wizard! Thank you so much!

  10. Debby Brill says

    May 20, 2021 at 6:07 pm

    None of those helped I read ones comment from Jeremy 1/1921 and was able to find the allow dont allow to delete apps then it worked! Thanks Jeremy

  11. Pkaiza says

    May 16, 2021 at 1:24 am

    None of these worked for me but THANK YOU ‘Mytoot’ for your comment, that resolved it for me!

  12. Mytoot says

    April 30, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    None of your solutions worked for me. But Jeremy’s suggestion did!

    Settings
    Screen time
    Content & Privacy Restrictions
    iTunes & App Store Purchases
    Deleting Apps

    Choose Allow

    Hope this helps!

  13. Heather says

    April 29, 2021 at 11:29 am

    I just got the iPhone 12Pro and I can’t delete any apps. Resolution 3 doesn’t work because none of that is listed under General. Help!!

  14. Flora says

    April 27, 2021 at 8:39 pm

    The options offerred did not work or were not available on my old iPhone 4s.

  15. Nini says

    April 14, 2021 at 10:46 pm

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Solution 3 helped immensely and I’m so grateful.

  16. Burcu says

    March 11, 2021 at 4:01 am

    Thank you so much for your help! Resolution 3 saved my life. I haven’t seen your suggestions anywhere else.

  17. Margaret Hughes says

    March 4, 2021 at 2:22 am

    I cannot delete the ‘Apple app’. I have tried everything and followed all instructions but no good. I never use it and want to delete it.

  18. kh.tavassoli says

    February 27, 2021 at 6:29 am

    Thanks a much!!
    For my ipad (with ios 12..) Resolution #3 solved the problem

  19. Sienna says

    February 25, 2021 at 3:58 am

    I tried all of them still doesn’t let me delete my apps! :c

  20. Sienna says

    February 25, 2021 at 3:51 am

    I tried all of those and my iPad still won’t let me delete these apps I got years ago and I wont even use them and now I have a waste of iPad storage! Apple please help me in my situation!

  21. Kathy says

    February 13, 2021 at 9:03 pm

    Thank you!!
    I have been having this issue for a couple of months – found this site tonight – and resolved my issue with #3 in minutes!!

  22. Aaron says

    February 7, 2021 at 11:13 am

    Solution #3 worked! Thank you! I’ve never had an issue deleting apps until I upgraded to iOS 14.

  23. Jeanette Lutton says

    January 20, 2021 at 7:52 pm

    Thank you so much. Solution #3 worked easily!!!

  24. Jeremy says

    January 19, 2021 at 1:05 pm

    Resolution 3 worked for me but the location was a little different for my Iphone 6.
    Settings >
    Screen Time >
    Content & Privacy Restrictions >
    iTunes & App Store Purchases >
    Deleting Apps was set to “Don’t Allow” for some reason. Just moved phone carriers with the same phone but also just updated the software to 12.5.1. Could have been the software update that changed this setting.

  25. Ram says

    January 18, 2021 at 4:26 pm

    solution 3 worked!

  26. Mark says

    January 12, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    I want to remove a game from my iPhone 6s, but there doesn’t seem to be an option to do so. I hold down on it, but no X appears. I also tried doing it from my settings, but can’t find the option there, either.
    How do I remove this app from my phone? I have tried every option listed, but no luck.

  27. Lou says

    September 20, 2020 at 2:46 pm

    My screen time isn’t under my general settings but I played around a bit and found out that the deleting of my apps wasn’t allowed. Yay! It’s only taken me bloomin’ a couple of years and post to achieve this. Very frustrating but now much happier. Thanks!!!

  28. Rick says

    August 30, 2020 at 7:42 am

    iPad 5
    Running 13.6.1
    Solution 3 there is no screen time choice under general – settings
    Solution 5 there is no manage under IPad storage
    None of the suggestions worked

  29. dave sherman says

    August 5, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    solution 2 worked… thanks

  30. Lumana says

    August 5, 2020 at 1:58 am

    Thanks ifor the help it worked

  31. Ethan J says

    July 16, 2020 at 5:10 am

    Resolution 3 worked, just Incase those wondering what the default passcode for screen time its 1234 or some case 0123

  32. Sarah Pomeranz says

    July 7, 2020 at 3:31 am

    No. I have Find Friends app installed on an old iPad. It doesn’t show in any of the listings under App Settings. It isn’t in General under Restrictions and it isn’t listed in Location Sharing or any other place. An ‘x’ does not appear when I try to delete it on the screen. It’s as if it isn’t there but it is. When I click on it the app opens and looks to be working. It also isn’t listed under Storage so that hasn’t worked either. Very odd.

  33. Sachin D says

    June 18, 2020 at 3:52 am

    Disable restrictions in settings

  34. Paul says

    June 12, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    I have one app that I want to delete. It won’t allow me to. Every other app I can delete using the x in the upper left hand corner but this one won’t.

    iPhone 11
    iOS over 13

  35. Angela says

    April 5, 2020 at 6:44 am

    Thanks, option 2 worked perfectly for me.

  36. sHer says

    March 6, 2020 at 11:05 pm

    Mitch is the Man.
    3 & Viola!
    thank you for keeping it real,
    reaL simpLe.! i had a reaL question & you had simpLe answers given in babysTepS.
    AND without ADinterference.
    congratulations. your my new techie & i do refer. LoL. best of luck one step at a time baby.

  37. Shannon says

    March 4, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    I have an iphone 8plus and have tried all of these, and cannot get the x to show up on the apps to delete them, please help!

  38. Amber says

    January 29, 2020 at 8:02 am

    Yay! Finally able to delete apps! With the updates, my restrictions were hiding in the screen time area. Thanks so much!

  39. Cindy says

    December 3, 2019 at 5:43 pm

    Thanks so much. Easy to follow directions that work!!!

  40. Brenndo says

    November 21, 2019 at 10:27 pm

    Thanks heaps for this. For me, it was an old employer’s apps that were not delete-able. Option 4 worked for me and the apps just disappeared without me having to delete.

  41. Ben says

    August 28, 2019 at 9:12 am

    I really need help here, basically i do see the ‘x’ but hen i press it and the delete appthing comes up i press ‘delete app’, But for some reason the app doesnt delete but it just stays there and i really need to get rid of it becasue my storage Is SO close to full. If someone can PLease help!

  42. Anthony R Fratoni says

    August 21, 2019 at 9:21 am

    HI I have an I phone 6s and I do not get the little x when I hold the app down I want deleted and there is no restrictions setting in general so how do I delete apps.

  43. David says

    July 10, 2019 at 2:14 pm

    My problem is that when I put the iPad into edit mode (and the icons start wobbling) the ‘x’ button simply doesn’t work. None of the above methods seem to work. Restrictions are set to “off”. This is on an iPad Air with iOS 11.6.2.

  44. Kikt says

    June 3, 2019 at 9:34 am

    Didn’t realize the changes made to delete apps in resolution 3 in subset 3: thanks. I was looking for restrictions as I have done in the past . Mis spent 2 hours trying to figure it out. I am saving your site . Thanks

  45. Eshaan says

    June 2, 2019 at 8:33 pm

    I had a school website that I turned into an app. I am now going to a different school for high school and don’t know how to delete the website/app

  46. Roxane says

    April 25, 2019 at 9:31 pm

    I downloaded the Hi voicemail app bevause i didnt know how to set up my voicemail on my iphone 10. Now im trying to set up my voicemail, i deleted the Hi voicemail app but when people call me they still hear the Hi voicemail app greeting. How is this possible if the app was deleted. ,?? Please help me

  47. Randy says

    April 2, 2019 at 9:19 am

    Fix it! Solution #3 Restrictions caused my problem. I had a Work email account on my Personal iPhone that I removed but left a screen icon i couldn’t remove. The Work email software apparently installed restrictions that needed to be removed after I deleted the Work email account (that I didn’t need anymore).

  48. Joy says

    March 25, 2019 at 10:15 am

    I’m trying to delete the health app on an iPhone 5. I don’t use it; there is NO data in it, yet it’s using 451 KB of the storage on my phone! It won’t delete and trying to delete data doesn’t work because it says NO Data for each of its parts. Help!

  49. Joan Rumrill says

    January 22, 2019 at 7:59 am

    It almost helped. There’s a mistake though, in solution 3. Delete step 2 for Solution 3. “Screen Time” is under “Settings”, not “General”. Joan R

  50. Mystomache says

    January 14, 2019 at 2:53 pm

    #3 nailed it. Different path but found it.

  51. Brad says

    January 7, 2019 at 10:11 pm

    #3 is the answer for 6s !!! What a terrible place to locate this setting! Great help article.

  52. Nee says

    January 1, 2019 at 5:15 pm

    Thanks for helping me with an app I could not delete. It is now GONE!! Happy Nee Year 2019!!

  53. vandy says

    December 24, 2018 at 9:41 pm

    Notooteckie’s solution pointed me in the right direction on 12.1.2, except don’t turn off the top button, click on iTunes and app store purchases, select deleting apps: allow. And like magic, can delete apps again

  54. Jim says

    November 26, 2018 at 12:27 pm

    No. Brand new iphone8. Used iCloud to transfer data, and did the ios12 update. No camera and can’t delete apps. The second iphone8 I just added to my account does not have either of these problems! Help!

  55. NotTooTekie says

    November 25, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    Delete apps After IOS 12.1 update: Settings > Screen Time> Content & Privacy Restrictions – enter passcode and turn Off the button at the top of the screen. Then you’ll get the ‘X’ and can delete apps again!!

  56. Kelly says

    November 23, 2018 at 7:36 pm

    This was SOO helpful!! #3 was the problem, but those settings were so hard to find! Thank you!!

  57. L says

    November 14, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    Worked!! Best advice found

  58. Kingman says

    November 9, 2018 at 10:11 pm

    Thank you very much, the article was quite helpful and I got to resolve my problem using resolution 3.

  59. Stephanie says

    November 1, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    My restrictions are set to allow delete, but still can’t. And I have no profile set. I did recently update from iPhone 6 to XR. My 6 did have restrictions. Not sure how to fix this.

  60. Deal says

    October 11, 2018 at 10:03 am

    Thanks! Resolution 3 for iOS 12 works. I couldn’t find the “deleting app” setting after the update

  61. Pmorgan says

    October 3, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    My restrictions aren’t in my settings anymore after my update. There is no delete or remove button in my storage either. I’m at a complete loss here.

  62. James Molnar says

    October 3, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    turn off 3d touch
    then it works as normal

  63. Mohammed Yasir says

    September 26, 2018 at 11:39 pm

    THANKYOU!!!
    RESOLUTION 3 did the trick.

  64. Mitch Bartlett says

    September 25, 2018 at 8:31 am

    If you can’t figure out the password, you’ll have to perform a recovery reset. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201263

  65. Jamie L Brody says

    September 25, 2018 at 3:09 am

    Thanks. my problem is that I forgot my restrictions passcode and it seems like i have tried EVETHING

  66. Cam says

    September 24, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    I can’t find the “restrictions” option under General after the new update. I had the restrictions turned so my toddler can’t delete my apps, but not I can’t delete any apps because the Restrictions option is no longer under General…what should I do???

  67. Ww says

    September 22, 2018 at 8:36 pm

    Thank you. #3 was the problem.

  68. Henry Fly says

    September 12, 2018 at 12:08 pm

    Resolution 3 worked perfectly. Thank you very much. It’s amazing how difficult it was to find the correct solution, since there are so many hacks out there with simplistic solutions. Kudos to you for a thorough job.

  69. Lori says

    September 8, 2018 at 12:30 pm

    THANK YOU!!!!! You have the only information I could find to solve my ‘delete app’ problem. Check ‘Restrictions’ did the trick. Simple but no one else seemed to suggest it. Thanks

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