Article
Deleting unwanted apps from iCloud
Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.
Q: How do I delete unwanted apps from iCloud ? I have an iPhone 5.
- June
A: Your applications themselves are not stored in iCloud, but only on your device and in your iTunes library. Some applications will store their data in iCloud, but this is usually optional and does not apply to every application.
The iTunes Store does maintain a list of all of the apps that you have previously purchased or downloaded so that you can re-download them into iTunes or directly onto your device, but these do not take up any storage in your iCloud account—it’s basically just a purchase history linked to the actual apps on the App Store. In fact, if an application is removed from the App Store for whatever reason, it will also disappear from this purchased apps list. This is accessed either from the “Purchases” section found in the App Store on your iPhone or in the iTunes Store in your iTunes application on your Mac or PC.
If there’s an app in your purchase history that you don’t want to see on this list, you can “hide” it by going into your Purchase history in iTunes, hovering over the app that you want to hide, and clicking the small “X” that appears in the top-left corner.

Keep in mind that this will only hide the application from your purchase history listing—it does not “remove” it permanently from your account, and if you access the application directly in iTunes or the App Store, it will still show as being previously purchased/downloaded, with an “Install” button shown beside it.
You can find a list of purchased/downloaded items that you’ve previously hidden by going into your iTunes Store account preferences in iTunes and selecting the “View Hidden Purchases” link under the iTunes in the Cloud section.

This will bring up a Hidden Purchases screen similar to the Purchased view, with only those items that have been hidden displayed, and options to unhide items rather than downloading them.

If you have an app that stores its data in iCloud and want to remove that data from your device and your iCloud account, you can do this by going into the Settings app and selecting iCloud, Storage and Backup and then the Manage Storage option.

This will show a list of your device backups and applications currently storing data in iCloud and you can remove the data for individual applications from here. See Deleting App Data from iCloud for more information.
Related Stories
- Will removing a credit card from Safari also remove it from Apple Pay?
- Can I mute Handoff calls coming into my Mac from my iPhone?
- How do I keep my iPhone calls from ringing on my Mac?
- Why doesn’t Traffic show up on my Today Notifications Screen?
- Why doesn’t my iPhone reconnect to Wi-Fi after I turn it on?
- Why can’t I see the iPad-style landscape view on my iPhone 6 Plus?
Comments
Recent News
- Apple releases second iOS 10.1, watchOS 3.1, tvOS 10.0.1 developer betas
- Apple Q4 earnings call moved to October 25
- Apple Pay goes live in Russia
- Apple patents fingerprint sensor that works through display
- Apple launches Spoken Editions of popular websites
- College student’s iPhone 6 Plus reportedly ignites in his pocket
- Popular Phoneys sticker app for iMessage in limbo after warning from Apple
- Apple ordered to pay $302.4M over FaceTime patents
- Report: 2017 iPad Pro line to add 7.9” mini model, replace 9.7” model with 10.1”
- August adds Motion Detection, Video Recording to Doorbell Cam
Recent Reviews
- Automatic Labs Automatic Pro
- IK Multimedia iRig HD 2
- 808 Audio XS Sport Rugged Wireless Speaker
- Mass Fidelity Core Bluetooth Speaker
- Thought Out Simplex Tablet iPad Stand
- SmartX Galaxy ZEGA Starter Kit
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus Leather Case
- Apple Watch Series 2
- iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
- Twelve South HiRise 2 for iPhone + iPad
Recent Articles
- Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of watchOS 3
- Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of tvOS 10
- Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of iOS 10
- Inside the betas: iOS 10 Photos gets Advanced Computer Vision
- Inside the betas: iOS 10 Music app delivers ‘clarity and simplicity’
- Inside the betas: iOS 10 Maps gets a major redesign
- Inside the betas: iOS 10 shakes up the user experience
- Inside the betas: watchOS 3 promises a real speed boost
- Inside the betas: A sneak peek at what’s new in tvOS 10
- Filling the Gap: A look at third-party HomeKit apps






































1
how do I select unwanted apps from my I-PAD 2 please.
Posted by SA in Toronto on April 14, 2013 at 4:30 AM (CDT)