Delete a contact from your Gmail address book in three steps

Open Gmail and click the Google Apps menu — the grid of nine dots in the top right corner. Select Contacts from the dropdown. Find the contact you want to remove, click their name to open their card, then click the trash icon (or the three-dot menu and select Delete). The contact is gone immediately and cannot be recovered.

If you have hundreds of contacts and need to find someone quickly, use the search bar at the top of your Contacts list. Type their name or email address and Gmail will narrow the list as you type.

Key Takeaways

  • Contacts are stored separately from Gmail itself — you reach them through the Google Apps menu, not from your inbox.
  • Deleting a contact removes them from your address book but does not delete any emails you have received from them.
  • Once deleted, a contact cannot be restored, so double-check the name before you click the trash icon.
  • You can also delete multiple contacts at once by checking the box next to each name, then clicking the trash icon.

Where to find your Gmail contacts

Your Gmail contacts live in a separate tool from your inbox. Click the Google Apps menu — the grid icon in the top right of any Google page — and you will see Contacts listed in the dropdown. This opens your full address book in a new tab or window.

If you are already in Gmail and want to add or manage contacts without leaving, you can also click More in the left sidebar and select Contacts. Either route takes you to the same place.

The steps to delete a single contact

Once you are in Contacts, find the person you want to remove. You can scroll through your list or type their name in the search bar at the top. Click their name to open their contact card — this shows their email address, phone number, and any other information you have saved.

At the top right of the contact card, you will see a trash icon. Click it. Gmail will ask you to confirm the deletion. Click Delete again, and the contact is removed from your address book immediately. There is no undo button, so make sure you have the right person before you confirm.

Delete multiple contacts at once

If you need to remove several contacts, you can select them all before deleting. In your Contacts list, check the small box to the left of each contact's name. As you select contacts, a trash icon will appear at the top of the page. Click it to delete all selected contacts at once.

You can also click the checkbox at the very top of the list — next to the search bar — to select all contacts on the current page. Be careful with this option if you have many contacts, because it only selects what is visible on that page, not your entire address book.

What happens to your emails after you delete a contact

Deleting a contact from your address book does not delete any emails from that person. All messages you have received from them stay in your inbox, your archive, or wherever you filed them. The contact deletion only removes them from your address book, so their name will no longer appear when you start typing an email address.

If you want to remove emails from a person as well, you will need to search for their messages separately and delete those. This is a different action from deleting the contact itself.

Recovering a deleted contact

Gmail does not provide a way to restore a contact after you delete it. Once the trash icon is clicked and confirmed, the contact is gone for good. If you need their information again, you will have to add them back manually or find their email address in an old message thread.

If you are unsure about deleting someone, consider leaving them in your contacts instead. There is no penalty for having a large address book, and you can always search for a contact you rarely use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does deleting a contact stop emails from that person?

No. Deleting a contact only removes them from your address book. Emails from that person will still arrive in your inbox normally. If you want to stop receiving emails from someone, you can unsubscribe from their messages or create a filter to send them to a folder automatically.

Can I delete a contact from my phone?

Yes. Open the Gmail app or the Google Contacts app on your phone, find the contact, and tap the trash icon. The process is the same as on a computer. The deletion syncs across all your devices, so the contact disappears from your phone, computer, and tablet at the same time.

What if I accidentally deleted the wrong contact?

Unfortunately, Gmail does not offer an undo option for deleted contacts. You will need to add them back manually. If you remember their email address, you can type it into a new contact form. If you do not, search your email for messages from that person to find their address.

Can I delete a contact that is linked to multiple email addresses?

Yes. When you delete a contact, all versions and linked email addresses are removed at once. If you want to keep one email address but remove another, you can edit the contact instead of deleting it — just remove the email address you no longer need.