How to Delete Stickers on iPhone

If you're searching for how to delete stickers on iPhone and the steps don't quite match what you expected, that's normal. The process depends on where the sticker came from.

Quick Answer: How to Delete Stickers on iPhone

Most Messages stickers are removed through the sticker drawer's Edit menu. Stickers from a downloaded app disappear once you delete that app.

Built-in Apple stickers, Memoji, and emoji-based stickers can't be fully deleted only hidden. Photo-based stickers are handled separately, through the Photos app.

Why the Removal Method Depends on Sticker Type

A sticker isn't just a sticker it's tied to whatever created it, and iOS treats each source differently. Trying to delete a built-in sticker the same way you'd delete a third-party pack simply won't work.

Sticker Type	Can It Be Fully Deleted?	Where You Manage It
Third-party sticker apps (App Store)	Yes	Delete the app from your Home Screen
Messages app-drawer stickers	Usually, via the app itself	Messages > Edit menu, or delete the source app
Built-in Apple stickers, Memoji, emoji	No — hide only	Messages > Edit > unpin from Favorites
Stickers created from your own photos	Yes	Photos app > Markup
Stickers inside WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.	Managed separately	Inside the third-party app itself

How to Delete Individual Stickers in Messages

Open a conversation, tap the plus icon next to the text field, and select Stickers. Press and hold the one you want gone, then tap Delete. This removes only that sticker, not the pack it came from.

This works well for clearing out a handful of one-off stickers. If iCloud Messages sync is turned on, the change also applies to your other Apple devices but only if sync is actually enabled.

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How to Delete Multiple Stickers at Once

Follow the same steps above, but tap Rearrange instead of Delete. The stickers start to jiggle, and a minus icon appears on each one. Tap it to remove the sticker.

How to Delete a Sticker Created from a Photo

This is a separate process, and it's the part most guides leave out. Open the photo in the Photos app, tap Edit, and use the Markup tool to select the sticker layer sitting on the image.

Tap the layer and delete it the sticker is removed without affecting the photo underneath.

Device support teams commonly report confusion here, since people assume photo-based stickers live in the same place as Messages stickers, when they're actually tied to the Photos app.

How to Delete a Sticker App Completely

If the stickers came from something you downloaded, deleting the app removes the stickers with it. Press and hold the app icon, tap Remove App, then Delete App.

Give it a moment the pack should clear out of Messages shortly after. This is the most common source of unwanted stickers, since, as reported by TechCrunch, the majority of apps in Apple's iMessage App Store are sticker packs rather than other types of extensions.

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How to Hide Stickers You Can't Fully Delete

Built-in Apple stickers, Memoji, and emoji-based stickers stay in iOS permanently. Memoji, according to Wikipedia, are customizable avatars built into iOS rather than downloadable content, which is part of why they can't be removed the way an installed app can.

What you can do is push them out of view: in Messages, tap the plus icon, then More, then Edit, and unpin the ones you don't want in your Favorites row. It's a hide, not a delete.

How to Turn Off Stickers From the Keyboard

Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Emoji, and turn off the sticker toggle. This doesn't delete anything it just stops stickers from appearing while you type.

How to Restore Deleted Sticker Packs

If you deleted a pack you actually wanted back, open the App Store, tap your profile icon, then Purchased, then "Not on this iPhone."

Previously downloaded packs, including free ones, should be listed there for reinstalling. If that doesn't work, restoring from a prior iCloud backup is the other option under Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup — as long as the backup predates the deletion and is complete.

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Conclusion

Deleting stickers on iPhone depends on where they came from. Third-party and photo-based stickers can be removed completely; built-in Apple stickers can only be hidden. Knowing which type you're dealing with saves a lot of guesswork.

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