Though you have hundreds of contacts stored on your iPhone, there are only a few regular contacts that you want to keep. It is time to do a clean-up for your iPhone by removing all the outdated or unused contacts. However, it seems that Apple doesn't offer a straightforward way to remove all contacts, so, how to delete all contacts on iPhone? In this comprehensive article, we are going to show you five effective ways to clear contacts on your iPhone. If you want to erase all contacts on your iPhone before selling or giving them away, you can also find out how to delete them permanently in our extra tips.
You can remove contacts from your iPhone using the iPhone Contacts app. Unfortunately, this built-in Contacts app doesn't have the option to delete contacts in bulk. So, if you use this way, you will need to delete the unwanted contacts one by one.
Here is how to clear contacts on iPhone using the Contacts app:
Step 1. Open the Contacts app on your iPhone.
Step 2. Tap the contact you want to delete and then tap "Edit".
Step 3. Scroll down and tap "Delete Contact".
Step 4. Tap "Delete Contact" again to confirm your choice.
Assuming that you have backed up contacts on your iPhone to iCloud, the easiest and quickest way to delete all contacts on your iPhone is to do it via iCloud.
Here is how to delete all your contacts at once using iCloud:
Step 1. On your iPhone, open the "Settings" app > tap [your name].
Step 2. Tap "iCloud" > Switch off the "Contacts" option.
Step 3. On the pop-up window, tap "Delete from My iPhone" to remove contacts from your iPhone.
Besides, you can go to the web version of iCloud to delete multiple contacts or all contacts on your iPhone. Note that by doing this, the contacts on all the other devices that share the same Apple ID will also be deleted. (iCloud contacts not syncing?)
Here is how to remove all contacts from your iPhone via iCloud.com:
Step 1. On your computer, visit iCloud.com and log in to it with your Apple ID and password, then head to "Contacts".
Step 2. In the contact list, click the "gear" icon in the bottom left corner and then choose "Select All" to highlight all your contacts.
Step 3. Click the gear icon again and select "Delete" from the drop-down menu. Confirm that you want to delete all selected contacts.
If you want to have more control over your contacts or other files on your iPhone, you can take the assistance of Coolmuster iOS Assistant. It is an all-around iOS data manager that allows you to access various iOS data from a PC for easy management. With the help of this tool, you can easily delete contacts on your iPhone all at once or selectively remove contacts as you want.
Coolmuster iOS Assistant can do more than delete contacts. Check its main features it:
Download iOS Assistant on your Windows or Mac computer and see how it works for you.
Here is how to delete all contacts on iPhone 16/15/14/13 at once using iOS Assistant:
01Download and launch iOS Assistant on your computer, then connect your iPhone to your PC with a USB cable. Tap "Trust" on your iPhone when the window of "Trust This Computer" pops up.
02This tool will detect your iPhone automatically. Once detected, you will see the main interface as below.
03Click the "Contacts" tab, and then all contacts on the iPhone will be displayed on the screen. Simply select all contacts and then click "Delete" to delete them all at once on your iPhone.
iPhone enables you to sync contacts from some email accounts like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook. If you want to delete all contacts from the email account you set up, just simply follow the steps below:
Step 1. Go to "Settings" on your iPhone.
Step 2. Tap "Passwords & Accounts".
Step 3. Select the account that has the contacts you want to remove.
Step 4. Turn off the "Contacts" option.
Step 5. Tap "Delete from My iPhone" to remove contacts.
You can also erase all contacts on your iPhone by resetting your iPhone to factory settings. It is to be noted that all the files and data on your iPhone will be wiped out using this method. Therefore, this method is less recommended unless you are planning to delete all the other files on your iPhone as well. Or you can back up your iPhone before using this method to avoid data loss.
Here is how to delete contacts from your iPhone all at once by resetting:
Step 1. Open the "Settings" app on your iPhone.
Step 2. Tap "General" > "Reset".
Step 3. Select "Erase All Contents and Settings".
Step 4. Enter your passcode to confirm.
Step 5. Click "Erase iPhone", and all your files, including contacts, will be deleted.
If you are going to sell or give your iPhone away, removing contacts from your iPhone using the solutions above is not completely secure. To prevent your important data like contacts from leakage, we suggest you use Coolmuster iOS Eraser to erase all contacts on your iPhone permanently. Using this tool, all your private data, including contacts, SMS, call logs, music, videos, photos, apps & app data, reminders, calendars, bookmarks, browsing history, voice memos, notes, and settings, can be completely wiped out, with zero opportunity to recover.
For more information on using Coolmuster iOS Eraser, please check our guide on how to erase all contacts on your iPhone permanently.
Though the iPhone doesn't allow us to delete all contacts in the built-in Contacts app efficiently, there are some workarounds we can try to achieve this task. Here, we highly recommend you give Coolmuster iOS Assistant a try, as it allows you to manage your iOS data in a more flexible and convenient way. And, of course, you can choose the solution you feel most comfortable with to solve the problem. We hope that you can manage to delete all your contacts at once easily after reading this post.
Related Articles:
How to Delete Multiple Contacts on Android - All Possible Methods
How to Delete Duplicate Contacts on iPhone in five Practical Ways? (Updated)
How to Mass Delete Photos from iPhone? Solved in 6 Useful Ways
Feedback
Free Download for PC 
Free Download for Mac 
