How To Delete Apple Stickers in Messages: A Simple Guide

Apple’s stickers in the Messages app can be fun, but they can also clutter your app drawer, get in the way, or show packs you never use. “Delete Apple Stickers” can mean a few different things:

• Removing individual stickers from a conversation
• Removing sticker packs (iMessage apps) from the app drawer
• Hiding or disabling default Apple sticker packs
• Managing stickers across iPhone, iPad, and Mac

This guide walks through what you can and cannot actually delete, how stickers work behind the scenes, and why your options may look different depending on your setup.

What Are Apple Stickers and Where Do They Live?

Before deleting anything, it helps to know what you’re dealing with.

On Apple devices, there are a few kinds of stickers that show up in Messages:

1. Sticker packs from the App Store

   • Installed as iMessage apps.
   • Show up in the app drawer (the row of icons above the keyboard).
   • Can usually be removed like normal apps or disabled in the drawer.

2. Apple’s built‑in stickers

   • Things like Memoji stickers, emoji stickers, or Apple-created packs that come with iOS.
   • Often cannot be fully deleted, but can sometimes be hidden or disabled from the main view.

3. Custom stickers from photos (on newer iOS versions)

   • Created when you “lift” a subject from a photo and turn it into a sticker.
   • Stored inside the Stickers section in Messages.
   • Can usually be deleted individually.

4. Sticker messages already sent or received

   • These are part of the conversation history, just like text messages.
   • You can remove them from your side of the chat, but not from the other person’s device.

Understanding which type you’re dealing with determines how you can delete or hide it.

How To Delete Sticker Packs (iMessage Apps) on iPhone or iPad

When people talk about “deleting Apple Stickers,” they often mean removing sticker packs from the Messages app drawer.

Step-by-step: Remove or hide sticker packs from Messages

1. Open Messages

   • Open any conversation.

2. Open the app drawer

   • If you see an “+” Store icon, tap it, then choose Stickers or the relevant section.
   • On older iOS versions, tap the App Store icon next to the text field to reveal the app drawer.

3. Manage installed packs

   • In the drawer, scroll until you see the “More” or “Manage” option (this may be a three-dot icon or a “More” button).
   • Tap it to see a list of iMessage apps and sticker packs.

4. Hide sticker packs

   • You’ll usually see toggles or checkboxes next to each pack.
   • Turn off the ones you don’t want showing in your app drawer.
   • This hides them but may not uninstall the app from your device.

5. Delete sticker apps completely (if they’re separate apps)

   • Go back to the Home Screen.
   • Look for any apps that are sticker-only or include stickers.
   • Long-press the app icon → Remove App → Delete App.
   • This removes the associated sticker pack from Messages as well.

Why this might look different on your device

• Newer iOS versions have redesigned the Messages app drawer and sticker interface, so the icons and labels may differ slightly.
• On some versions, all stickers are grouped in a single Stickers icon, and individual packs are managed inside that view instead of the sliding drawer you might remember.

How To Delete Individual Stickers in a Conversation

Sometimes you don’t want to remove a whole pack; you just want to get rid of a sticker someone sent or one you stuck on a message.

Removing a sticker from a specific message

On iPhone or iPad:

1. Open Messages and go to the conversation.
2. Find the sticker you want to remove.
   • If it was placed on top of a message bubble, press that area.
3. Touch and hold the sticker (or the message with the sticker).
4. Tap More… (if shown), or a “Remove”/trash option if available.
5. If multiple items are selected, make sure the one you want is checked, then tap the trash can icon or Delete.

On Mac (Messages app):

1. Open the conversation in Messages on macOS.
2. Right-click (or Control-click) the sticker or the message it’s attached to.
3. Look for Remove, Delete, or similar options.

Important limitation

• Deleting a sticker from a conversation generally removes it only from your device’s view.
• The other person in the chat may still see the sticker unless they also delete it from their side (similar to other message deletions in iMessage).

How To Delete Custom Photo Stickers You Created

If you’ve made custom stickers (for example, by lifting a subject from a photo), those are stored in your Stickers collection.

On iPhone or iPad (recent iOS versions):

1. Open Messages and any conversation.
2. Tap the Stickers icon (this may look like a sticker sheet, emoji face, or be accessible via the “+” menu).
3. Go to your custom or recent stickers.
4. Touch and hold the sticker you want to remove.
5. Look for a Delete, Remove, or trash can option and confirm.

If the stickers are tied to a third-party app, you might need to:

• Delete or manage them within that app’s own settings, or
• Remove the app entirely to remove access to its stickers.

Can You Delete Apple’s Built‑In Stickers Like Memoji?

This is where expectations and reality don’t always match.

What you usually can’t fully delete

• Memoji / Animoji sticker sets
• Default emoji-based stickers
• Some Apple-provided sticker packs that ship with iOS

These are baked into the operating system as system features, not optional add-ons. In many cases:

• You cannot uninstall them like an app.
• You may only be able to reorder, hide, or reduce their visibility.

What you often can do instead

Depending on your iOS version, you might be able to:

• Hide Memoji stickers from the emoji keyboard

  • In some versions, go to Settings → General → Keyboard and look for an option like Memoji Stickers and turn it off.
  • This doesn’t delete them system-wide, but it can remove them from the frequently used section.

• Reorder or hide built-in packs from the Messages interface

  • As with third-party sticker packs, use the Manage or More option in the app drawer or Stickers view.
  • Some built-in packs may not allow full hiding, but others can be toggled off.

What you see and what’s possible here can change based on iOS version and Apple’s design choices.

Differences by Device: iPhone, iPad, and Mac

While Apple tries to keep the experience consistent, there are still differences.

Quick comparison

Cross-device sync

• Sticker packs installed as iMessage apps may appear on all Apple devices using the same Apple ID, if Messages in iCloud or app syncing is enabled.
• Deleting a sticker app on one device does not always remove it on your other devices automatically; you might need to manage each device separately.

Key Variables That Affect How You Delete Apple Stickers

The exact steps and options you see are shaped by a few key factors:

1. iOS / iPadOS / macOS version

   • Apple has reorganized the Messages app drawer and sticker interface across recent versions.
   • Some settings (like hiding Memoji stickers from the keyboard) exist only on certain versions.

2. Type of sticker

   • System built-in (like Memoji): usually not deletable, only hideable.
   • Third-party sticker app: can often be fully deleted by uninstalling the app.
   • Custom photo sticker: usually removable one by one.

3. Where the sticker is used

   • In a conversation: you can remove what you see, but not necessarily what others see on their devices.
   • In the app drawer / picker: you’re managing what is available to send, not past messages.

4. Apple ID and sync settings

   • If you use multiple devices, you may see the same sticker packs across them but still manage each device individually.

5. Your comfort level with iOS settings and app management

   • Some users are comfortable going into Settings, App Store, and Launchpad (on Mac); others prefer staying inside Messages only.
   • The more comfortable you are with app management, the more completely you can remove unwanted packs.

Different User Profiles, Different Sticker Cleanup Strategies

How you approach “deleting Apple Stickers” can vary a lot based on how you use your devices.

Minimalist user

• Goal: Clean, uncluttered Messages with only essential tools.
• Typical actions:
  • Hide or disable all but a few sticker packs in the app drawer.
  • Turn off any settings that surface Memoji/emoji stickers in the keyboard (if available).
  • Remove third-party sticker apps entirely.

Privacy-focused user

• Goal: Reduce any extra data or content they don’t use.
• Typical actions:
  • Delete third-party sticker apps they don’t trust or need.
  • Remove custom photo stickers they no longer want stored.
  • Periodically clear out old conversations that are filled with sticker spam.

Heavy stickers user

• Goal: Keep a curated set of favorite stickers, but not be overwhelmed.
• Typical actions:
  • Regularly reorder sticker packs so favorites are easy to reach.
  • Hide older or rarely used packs from the main view, but don’t necessarily uninstall.
  • Keep built-in stickers enabled if they use them often.

Multi-device user (iPhone, iPad, Mac)

• Goal: Consistent experience across devices.
• Typical actions:
  • Check each device’s Messages and app settings so unwanted packs don’t linger on one device.
  • Decide whether to keep sticker apps installed everywhere or only on primary devices.

The Last Piece: Your Own Setup and Preferences

Deleting Apple stickers isn’t one single switch—it’s a mix of:

• Managing iMessage apps and sticker packs
• Hiding or minimizing built‑in Apple sticker features
• Removing individual stickers from conversations or your custom collection
• Balancing this across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, each potentially on different software versions

The right approach depends on your iOS/macOS version, how many devices you use, whether you rely on stickers at all, and how much time you want to spend fine‑tuning the Messages experience. Understanding those pieces is what turns the general steps in this guide into the exact cleanup process that fits your own setup.