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So... Over the period of 2 years owning my beloved iPhone 3GS, I have found many useful apps that I use very frequently. However, in the process of finding these apps, I have also downloaded much, much more crappy apps.

With the introduction of the "Purchased" section on the App Store, many of the hundreds of apps I downloaded (mostly crappy) have popped up again. The apps are an eyesore and clutter up the whole space. Is there a way for me to delete them (from my account) forever, or at least hide them?

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5 Answers 5

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Sorry but there is no way, at this time, to remove purchased (include free) apps on iTunes AppStore. Same problem with the Mac AppStore.

I've already asked for this feature at iTunes Feedbacks, and you can do the same to make Apple understand what we want.

The ability to hide purchases from the iOS app store should cover most real-life situations where you would normally delete a past purchase. It also protects those who have lost control of their accounts and someone maliciously deletes past purchases. The idea that the past is unchangeable, but we wish to hide some items from prominence works for many.

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  • gah, the generic answer
    – user6124
    Commented Jun 17, 2011 at 11:45
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    @bckbck - Specific answer, just not what you were hoping for.
    – Dan Ray
    Commented Jun 17, 2011 at 12:30
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    the last part is the generic part
    – user6124
    Commented Jun 17, 2011 at 13:16
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    You prefer : "find a job at Apple R&D and impose your idea" ?
    – Bil
    Commented Jun 17, 2011 at 13:48
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iTunes 10.5 is now released and contains this feature. Go to iTunes Store > Purchased > Apps and then you can click the X to Hide purchases.

Note that there is still a new section "Hidden Purchases" where you can view the ones you've hidden (and the ability to unhide them.)

There is no capability to actually delete a past purchase, just to hide them from view.

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you can hide any purchased items. Instructions for OS X 10.01/iOS 8/iTunes 12 (though similar to the previous versions).

In the Mac App Store:

  1. Click Purchases
  2. Rclick on the app you want to hide
  3. choose "Hide Purchase"

In the iTunes store on your iOS Device, slide from right to left and choose hide.

In the iTunes store in iTunes:

  1. Go to the Apps section of iTunes
  2. Click "App Store" (last item)
  3. Click "Purchased" (on right, near account info)
  4. Find app you want to hide and click the "x" in upper left of icon
  5. When asked if you want to hide the purchase, click "Hide"
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No, but customer feedback certainly drove this feature and more feedback might bring about the filtering you desire.

I would use recommendations more if I could select some downloads to ignore.

Control over filtering out purchased items from the re-download list would make that feature so much more useful.

Control is always nice, but once one has 300 apps on iTunes and have deleted 100 after never using them again, the list can have a large portion of duds as it stands.

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According to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5772 (How to delete content you've downloaded from the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store, or Mac App Store, Last Modified: May 13, 2014)

Apps

iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

  1. Tap and hold the app you want to delete.
  2. The apps will begin to jiggle.
  3. Tap the X on the app.

Mac or PC

  1. Open iTunes.
  2. From the Library pop-up menu, choose Apps.
  3. Click the app you want to delete.
  4. Press Delete on your keyboard.
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    I don_t think this is what he was asking for...
    – milcak
    Commented Nov 2, 2014 at 7:22
  • @milcak - I guess the method posted answers to "Is there a way for me to delete them (from my account) forever"? by the OP. I did not test it, though. If you think or know otherwise, I welcome you clarifying what is the specific difference, and if you tested or not. That will help all of us. Thanks.
    – sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio
    Commented Nov 3, 2014 at 7:38
  • What you are suggesting does do some deleting indeed, but deleting of a different kind. What you suggested (and I think the OP made clear he knows this) is to delete an app from the local memory of a device. The OP wants apps deleted from his account - NOT his device. After deleting an app on a device there is still a vestige of it on the account and how this should be removed is what is asked.
    – milcak
    Commented Nov 3, 2014 at 22:23
  • @milcak - Following the procedure under "Mac or PC" appears to delete an app from iTunes (i.e., the account). Nothing to do with the device. I have just tested it, and it seems to work. Actually it warns that the app would not be deleted from the device (I guess you should also do that, separately). I wouldn't know if it will somehow reappear.
    – sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio
    Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 22:54

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