New to iPhone? How to delete text messages

How to delete text messages on iPhone

There are some text messages that you want to keep and others that you don’t care about. Or perhaps there’s that one message you want to make sure no one else reads. And while you can have your messages automatically removed every so often, there may be a time when you simply want to delete them yourself.

If you’re new to iPhone, here’s a tip to keep in mind for maintenance, safety, or sanity. We’ll show you how to delete text messages on iPhone.

Delete text messages on iPhone

You have both messages and conversations on your iPhone. Conversations are those that are ongoing and take place with another person. Messages are the texts you send to each other within those conversations. You can remove both messages and conversations, singularly or in groups.

Delete text messages

Open the Messages app on your iPhone and then follow these steps to delete a single message within a conversation.

1) Select the conversation containing the message you want to remove.

2) Tap and hold the text message. You can remove both messages sent to you and those you send to others.

3) Choose More from the shortcut menu.

4) The text message will be marked with a check. You can then tap the Trash can icon to delete it.

Delete Text Message iPhone

If you want to delete several messages, just mark them all and then tap the Trash can or tap Delete All at the top to remove all of them.

Delete individual conversations

You can also delete an entire conversation with someone in the Messages app.

1) Select the conversation you want to remove.

2) Slide the conversation from right to left and tap Delete.

Delete Conversation iPhone

Delete bulk conversations

You can also get rid of a group of conversations at the same time in the Messages app.

1) Tap the More button (three-dot icon) at the top of the Messages screen.

2) Pick Select Messages.

3) Check the conversations you want to remove.

4) Tap Delete at the bottom and Done when you finish.

Delete Conversations iPhone

Wrapping it up

As you can see, it’s really easy to delete text messages and conversations on your iPhone and it works the same way on iPad too. So the next time you want to remove one from your device, it takes just a few taps.

If you’re new to iPhone and are having trouble figuring out how to do something, let us know in the comments below or message us on Twitter!

For more, check out how to delete attachments from Messages in bulk or individually on iOS.