Where iPhone stickers live and why you might want to remove them

Stickers on iPhone appear in a few different places depending on how they got there. Some come built into apps like Messages, Notes, and Mail. Others you downloaded from the App Store as standalone sticker packs. A third group lives in your keyboard as emoji alternatives. Removing them depends on which type you have, but all of them can be deleted without affecting anything else on your phone.

You might want to remove stickers because they clutter your sticker drawer, take up a small amount of storage, or you straightforward don't use them anymore. The process is straightforward and takes less than a minute per sticker pack.

Key Takeaways

  • Sticker packs you downloaded from the App Store are removed by deleting the app that contains them, just like any other app.
  • Built-in stickers that came with Messages, Notes, or Mail cannot be deleted, but you can hide them so they do not appear in your sticker drawer.
  • Keyboard stickers are managed through Settings under Keyboards, where you can turn off entire sticker packs without deleting anything.
  • Hiding or removing stickers does not delete any messages or notes you already sent — it only affects what appears when you try to add new stickers.

Deleting sticker apps from the App Store

If you downloaded a sticker pack as its own app (you will see it as a separate icon on your home screen), delete it the same way you delete any app. Press and hold the app icon until a menu appears, then tap Remove App. Choose Delete App when prompted, then confirm by tapping Delete. The sticker pack is now gone from your phone.

You can also delete sticker apps through Settings. Open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage. Scroll down and find the sticker app by name, tap it, and select Delete App. This method is useful if you cannot find the app icon on your home screen.

Hiding stickers that came with Messages and other built-in apps

Stickers that arrived with Messages, Notes, Mail, or other Apple apps cannot be deleted because they are part of the app itself. You can hide them instead so they stop appearing in your sticker drawer. Open Messages and tap the sticker icon (it looks like a smiley face in a circle). Look for the three dots or menu icon at the bottom of the sticker drawer, then tap it.

You will see a list of all your sticker packs with a minus sign next to each one. Tap the minus sign next to any sticker pack you want to hide. It disappears from your sticker drawer when ready. You can unhide it anytime by tapping the plus sign next to its name in that same menu.

Turning off stickers in your keyboard settings

Some sticker packs appear as options in your keyboard rather than in a separate sticker drawer. To remove these, open Settings and tap General, then Keyboard. Tap Keyboards to see all your active keyboards. Find the sticker keyboard you want to remove and tap Edit in the top right corner.

Tap the red minus sign next to the sticker keyboard, then tap Delete to confirm. The keyboard is removed and will no longer appear when you are typing. If you change your mind later, tap Add New Keyboard and search for it again.

Checking if stickers are taking up storage space

Sticker packs take up very little storage — usually between 5 and 50 megabytes each — so removing them will not free up meaningful space on most phones. If you want to see how much space a particular sticker app is using before you delete it, open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage. Scroll through the list and tap any sticker app to see its size.

If storage is genuinely tight on your phone, deleting sticker apps is one of many small steps you can take, but removing photos, videos, or old apps will have a much larger effect. Stickers are rarely the main culprit when a phone runs low on space.

What happens to messages after you delete stickers

Deleting a sticker pack does not affect any stickers you already sent in messages or notes. Those stickers remain visible in your conversation history exactly as they were. Removing stickers only prevents you from sending new ones — it does not erase old ones or change how they appear to people you messaged.

If someone sends you a sticker from a pack you deleted, you will still see it in the message. You just will not be able to send that same sticker back unless you read the pack again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete stickers without deleting the whole app?

Not for apps that are primarily sticker packs — you have to delete the entire app. For built-in stickers in Messages or Notes, you can hide them individually without deleting anything. For keyboard stickers, you can turn off the keyboard without affecting the app it came from.

Will deleting stickers free up a lot of storage space?

No. Sticker packs are small, usually 5 to 50 megabytes each. Removing them will not noticeably improve your phone's performance or storage. If you need space, focus on deleting photos, videos, or large apps instead.

What if I delete a sticker pack and then want it back?

read it again from the App Store using the same method you used the first time. Your phone will remember that you had it before, and you can reinstall it in seconds. Any old stickers you sent will still be visible in your messages.

Why do some stickers appear in my keyboard and others in a sticker drawer?

Different sticker packs are designed to work in different places. Some are keyboard stickers that appear when you are typing. Others are sticker packs that appear in the sticker drawer in Messages or Notes. Both types work the same way — you can hide or remove them using the methods described above.