Delete one call or clear the full list
You can delete call history from the Phone app on your iPhone. The Calls section lists recent outgoing and missed calls, so you can remove one entry when needed or clear all recent calls at once.
Deleting a call removes it from this list. Start with the individual-delete method if you only want to remove a specific call, such as a missed call or an outgoing call you no longer need in your recents.
Video Tutorial
Delete an individual call from your iPhone
The quickest option is to swipe across the call you want to remove. You do not need to enter an edit screen to delete a single item.
- Open the Phone app on your iPhone.
- At the bottom of the app, select Calls.
- Find the call you want to delete in the recent calls list.
- Swipe from right to left on that call.
- Continue swiping until the trash can appears and the call is deleted.
Use this method for any individual entry in the list. For example, you can remove one missed call while leaving the rest of your recent call history in place. Check the list after deleting it to make sure you removed the intended call.
Clear all recent calls at once
If you want to empty the call log instead of deleting calls one by one, use the edit controls in the Calls section. This removes all of the recent call entries shown in that list.
- Open the Phone app.
- Select Calls at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Edit near the top of the screen.
- Select Select.
- Select Clear All in the top-right corner.
- Confirm by selecting Clear All Recents.
After you confirm, return to the calls list and review it. Your regular recent calls should no longer appear. This is useful when you want to reset the list rather than choose entries individually.
If calls still appear after you clear recents
You may notice entries that remain after using Clear All Recents. In this situation, the remaining items can be voicemails. They are separate from the call log you just cleared.
Use the filter to check the remaining entries. If the filter shows that they are voicemails, delete them directly from there instead of repeating the clear-recents process.
- Go to the filter in the Phone app.
- Check the entries that remain to see if they are voicemails.
- Swipe from right to left on a voicemail you want to remove.
- Continue the swipe until it is deleted.
This distinction matters if your goal is to remove everything you can still see in the Phone app. Clearing recents handles the call log, while voicemail entries need to be removed from their own filtered view.
Choose the right deletion method
Use a right-to-left swipe when you only need to remove one call. It is the faster choice for a single missed call, an outgoing call, or any other one-off entry.
Use Edit, Select, and Clear All when you want to clear the whole recent calls list. Then check for voicemail entries if anything is still visible. Deleting those separately gives you a clean list without having to remove every normal call by hand.
Before you clear all recents, take a moment to confirm that you do not need a phone number or call record still shown in the list. Once you have chosen Clear All Recents, review the results and use the voicemail filter only if entries remain.
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