---
title: "Offload vs delete an app on iPhone: what’s kept"
description: "Offloading an app frees its space but keeps your documents and data, while deleting removes both. Here is how to offload or delete an app and get it back."
url: "https://picway.app/guides/delete-vs-offload-app-iphone/"
lang: "en"
type: "guides"
updated: "2026-11-02"
published: "2026-11-02"
keywords: "offload app iPhone"
---

# Offload vs delete an app on iPhone: what’s kept

URL: https://picway.app/guides/delete-vs-offload-app-iphone/
Markdown: https://picway.app/guides/delete-vs-offload-app-iphone/index.md
Last updated: 2026-11-02

Offloading removes the app itself but keeps its documents and data, and the icon stays on your Home Screen with a cloud symbol. Deleting removes the app and its data from your iPhone. Removing an app from the Home Screen only moves it to the App Library, and doesn’t free any space.

## How to do it {#steps}

1. **Open iPhone Storage**: Open Settings, tap General, then tap iPhone Storage, and tap the app you want to deal with.
2. **Offload to keep your data**: Tap Offload App. This frees the space the app uses but keeps its documents and data. The icon stays on the Home Screen with a cloud symbol, and tapping it reinstalls the app.
3. **Or delete to remove everything**: Tap Delete App. On the Home Screen you can also touch and hold the app, tap Remove App, tap Delete App, then tap Delete to confirm. This removes the app and its data from the iPhone.
4. **Know what Remove from Home Screen does**: If you only see Remove from Home Screen, the app moves to the App Library and still takes up space. It isn’t deleted.
5. **Turn on automatic offloading**: Open Settings, tap Apps, tap App Store, then turn on Offload Unused Apps. When storage is low, your iPhone removes unused apps and keeps their data.

## Offload or delete? {#offload-or-delete}

| | Offload | Delete |
|---|---|---|
| App itself | Removed | Removed |
| Documents and data | Kept | Removed from the iPhone |
| Icon | Stays with a cloud symbol | Gone |
| Getting it back | Tap the icon | Download it again from the App Store |

Apple describes offloading as freeing up the storage the app uses while keeping its documents and data, and deleting as removing the app and its related data ([Apple: How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad](https://support.apple.com/en-us/108429)).

## Why does it say only “Remove from Home Screen”? {#remove-from-home-screen}

That option moves the app to the App Library and the app can still be used from there ([Apple: Remove or delete apps from iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iph248b543ca/ios), iOS 27 edition). To actually delete, touch and hold the app on the Home Screen or in the App Library, tap **Remove App**, then **Delete App**. Some built-in Apple apps can be removed from the Home Screen but can’t be deleted, as Apple’s page notes.

## Will deleting an app delete my iCloud data? {#icloud-data}

Apple’s page on removing apps says: “If the app’s data is stored in iCloud—such as photos or documents you saved through the app—that data isn’t deleted when you delete the app.” The storage number can take a moment to update afterward. To bring a deleted app back, open the App Store, tap your picture, then Apps & Purchase History, then Your Apps.