You can delete individual calls or clear your entire call history from the Phone app
Open the Phone app and tap the Recents tab at the bottom. Find the call you want to delete, swipe left on it, and tap Delete. To remove multiple calls at once, tap Edit in the upper left, select the calls you want gone, then tap Delete. If you want to wipe your entire call history, tap Edit, then Clear All, then Clear All Recents — this removes every incoming, outgoing, and missed call from your list.
Deleted calls disappear from your Recents list when ready. This does not delete text messages, voicemails, or contact information — only the record that the call happened. If you need to keep a record of calls for legal or personal reasons, take a screenshot or note the details before you delete.
Key Takeaways
- Swipe left on any call in the Recents tab and tap Delete to remove a single call from your history.
- Tap Edit, then select multiple calls and tap Delete to remove several at once without clearing everything.
- Tap Edit, then Clear All, then Clear All Recents to delete your entire call history in one action.
- Deleting a call removes it only from your Recents list — it does not erase voicemails, texts, or contact details.
- If you need proof of a call for a dispute or record-keeping, screenshot the call details before you delete them.
Why you might want to delete call history
You might delete calls to keep your phone private from someone who uses your device, to clean up clutter in your Recents list, or to remove a record of calls you do not want to see every time you open the Phone app. Deleting call history does not affect your phone's performance or storage — the Recents list is just a log, not a file that takes up space.
If you share your iPhone with family members or hand it to someone temporarily, clearing your call history removes the visible record of who you called and when. This is different from blocking a contact or hiding a conversation — deletion is permanent and affects only the call log itself.
How to delete a single call
Open the Phone app and tap Recents at the bottom of the screen. Look for the call you want to delete — you will see the contact name or number, the time of the call, and whether it was incoming, outgoing, or missed (shown by a red arrow for missed calls). Swipe from right to left across that call entry.
A red Delete button will appear on the right side. Tap it once. The call disappears from your list when ready. You can undo this action by tapping Undo in the small menu that appears at the bottom of the screen, but only within a few seconds — after that, the deletion is final.
How to delete multiple calls at once
If you want to remove several calls without clearing everything, tap Edit in the upper left corner of the Recents tab. Small circles will appear next to each call. Tap the circles next to the calls you want to delete — they will turn blue with a checkmark. You can select as many as you want.
Once you have selected all the calls you want gone, tap Delete in the lower right corner. All selected calls will be removed at once. This method is faster than swiping and deleting one by one if you have a long list to clean up.
How to clear your entire call history
To delete every call at once, open the Phone app, tap Recents, then tap Edit in the upper left. Instead of selecting individual calls, tap Clear All in the upper right corner. A confirmation message will appear asking "Clear All Recents?" — tap Clear All Recents again to confirm.
Your entire call history will disappear. This action cannot be undone, so use it only when you are certain you do not need any of the calls in your list. If you think you might need the information later, take screenshots of important calls before you clear everything.
What happens to voicemails and messages when you delete calls
Deleting a call from your Recents list does not delete any voicemail left by that person. Voicemails are stored separately in the Voicemail tab of the Phone app. If you want to remove a voicemail, open the Voicemail tab, find the message, swipe left, and tap Delete. You can also keep the call history deleted while preserving voicemails you want to save.
Text messages are also separate from call history. Deleting a call does not affect any SMS or iMessage conversations with that contact. If you want to remove those too, you will need to delete them from the Messages app. Contact information stays in your Contacts app no matter what you do with your call history.
Privacy and security considerations
Deleting your call history removes the visible record from your phone, but it does not erase the data from your phone's backups. If your iPhone is backed up to iCloud or a computer, the call history may still exist in that backup. If privacy from backups is important to you, you can turn off iCloud backup, delete the backup, or back up to a computer instead of the cloud.
Deleting calls is also not the same as hiding them from someone with access to your phone account. Your carrier keeps records of all calls made and received on your line, and those records are visible to anyone with your account login. If you need to hide call activity from your carrier or from law enforcement, deleting your phone's call log will not accomplish that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recover a call I deleted by mistake?
If you deleted the call within the last few seconds, tap Undo in the menu that appears at the bottom of the screen. After that window closes, the deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. You cannot recover the call from your phone itself, though it may still exist in an iCloud or computer backup if you have one.
Does deleting a call remove the contact from my phone?
No. Deleting a call only removes that call from your Recents list. The contact stays in your Contacts app, and you can still call or message them. If you want to remove the contact entirely, you need to delete it separately from the Contacts app.
Will the other person know I deleted the call from my history?
No. Deleting a call from your Recents list affects only your phone. The other person will not be notified, and the call will still appear in their call history. Your carrier will also still have a record of the call.
Can I delete calls from a specific contact without deleting others?
Yes. Tap Edit in the Recents tab, then select only the calls from that contact by tapping the circles next to them. Tap Delete to remove only those calls. All other calls will remain in your history.
What if I want to keep my call history but hide it from someone using my phone?
You can set up a separate user account on your iPhone with a different passcode, or use Screen Time restrictions to limit access to the Phone app. Deleting the history is simpler if you do not need it, but these options let you keep the record while controlling who can see it.