Mass Uninstall iOS Apps with Apple Configurator on Mac

If you are like me and have had your iPhone for a number of years, and dowloaded many apps to open once and forget about. And if you've ever tried to clear out a cluttered iPhone or iPad by removing apps one by one — tap the icon, hold, tap "Remove App", tap "Delete App", confirm — you'll know how tedious it gets.

Repeat that process 20 or 30 times and you've burned through a chunk of your afternoon. Apple Configurator 2, a free Mac app from Apple, offers a far more efficient approach: select all the apps you want gone and remove them in one shot.

Apple Configurator

Apple Configurator 2 is a Mac utility primarily aimed at IT administrators who manage fleets of iOS and iPadOS devices — think schools, businesses, or hospitals deploying dozens of iPads. However, it's just as useful for individuals who want finer control over their personal devices than the Settings app provides. It's free on the Mac App Store and works with iPhones with both iPads. You can downloda it here

The Problem with Doing It on the Device Itself

On the device, your options are limited:

• Long-press and jiggle mode — you can only delete one app at a time
• Settings > General > iPhone Storage — lets you offload or delete apps, but still one at a time

There is no native way on iOS to select multiple apps and delete them all at once. Apple Configurator fills that gap entirely.

Setting Up Apple Configurator

1. Download Apple Configurator 2 from the Mac App Store (it's free)
2. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac via a USB or USB-C cable
3. Trust the connection — on your iPhone, tap "Trust" when the prompt appears and enter your passcode
4. Your device will appear in the Configurator window

That's all the setup required. No MDM enrolment, no Apple Business Manager account needed for basic personal use.

Mass Uninstalling Apps

Once your device is connected:

1. Select your device in the Configurator sidebar
2. Click Actions in the menu bar → Add → or navigate to the Apps section by right-clicking the device and selecting Show Apps
3. In the apps view, you'll see every user-installed app on the device with its name, version, and size
4. Select multiple apps by holding ⌘ (Command) and clicking each one, or use ⇧ (Shift) to select a range
5. Right-click the selection and choose Remove
6. Confirm the removal

Configurator pushes the uninstall commands to the device and all selected apps disappear simultaneously. What would have taken 10 minutes of tapping now takes about 10 seconds.

Worth Having in Your Toolkit

Download it, plug in your device, and you'll wonder why you ever did it the other way.