How to Delete Stickers on iPhone

I sent a glittery llama to a client once. Not on purpose. I tapped the keyboard and suddenly something flickered, galloping across the screen like it owned the place. I stared and then started googling. You have lived this.

If your Messages bar looks like a toy store shelf and stickers keep popping up when you only wanted a plain text reply, breathe. We can fix it. I will show you how to remove sent stickers from your view, hide or delete sticker packs, and stop the ones that keep coming back after updates. Nothing fancy. Real buttons you can tap right now.

When Stickers Take Over

You notice it the moment you try to send a simple emoji. The bar is crowded. Stuff you never installed on purpose is sitting there like leftovers in the fridge.

What happened is simple. Apps you download often include iMessage extensions. They sneak in quietly and add sticker packs to your drawer. Games do it. Food apps do it. A camera app from last year probably did it too. Over time, the drawer turns into clutter, and you end up sending a dancing donut instead of a thumbs up.

Two Kinds of Stickers You Are Fighting

This bit matters. If you do not separate the two, you keep deleting the wrong thing and nothing changes.

There are stickers you have already sent in a chat. Those behave like tiny image attachments stuck to a bubble. Then there are sticker packs living in the iMessage app drawer. Deleting a pack will not erase a sticker you already sent. Removing a sent sticker will not remove the pack. Two rooms, two brooms.

How to Remove a Sticker You Already Sent

Here is the honest part. You cannot erase it from the other person’s phone once it has landed. Apple treats a sticker like an image. Fair enough. But you can clean up your side and stop seeing it.

Open the conversation. Find the sticker. Press and hold on it. A small menu appears. Tap More. Little circles show up to let you select. Choose the sticker, then tap the trash can. It disappears from your screen. Your chat feels lighter. Their copy stays, yes, but at least you are not reminded of the llama every time you scroll.

Clean the Drawer: Hide or Delete Sticker Packs

This is where the real progress happens. Clearing the drawer gives you back headspace and speed.

Open any iMessage thread. Look just above the keyboard. Swipe that strip of icons all the way to right and tap on the three dots. You must now be in the iMessage App Drawer, the secret basement where all the packs and mini apps live.

Tap Edit. You will see toggles next to each item. Turn off the ones you never use to hide them. Cleaner already. If you want to remove a pack entirely, tap Edit again if needed, then choose Delete App. Gone. No drama. No ghosts.

The Hidden Switch That Keeps Bringing Them Back

Ever delete a pack and then it returns after an update like nothing happened? You did not imagine it.

Some packs are tied to full apps that still have iMessage access. To cut that cord, open Settings, scroll to Messages, and tap iMessage Apps. You will see which apps can push content into Messages. Turn off the ones you don’t want because why have excess. If you are done with the parent app itself, then just long press the app on the Home Screen and then choose Remove App, and confirm. 

Hide Them For Now If You Are Not Ready to Delete

Not everything needs to vanish forever. Maybe you like one pack for birthdays and that is it.

Open a conversation. Tap the plus button next to the text field. Tap More. Then Edit. Uncheck the packs you rarely use. They will be out of sight but still installed. If nostalgia hits later, bring them back with a single toggle. Minimalism without regret.

Custom Stickers and Live Stickers in the most Recent iOS Versions

Making your own stickers from photos is quite fun. Well, only until you blink and your drawer is full of different snacks, and inside jokes.

If you want to clean it up, open Photos. Then, you need to find the picture you turned into a sticker, tap Edit Sticker, then Delete. You can also open Messages, press and hold the custom sticker in the picker, and hit Delete there too. Simple, quick, and gone.

Stop Automatic Comebacks After App Updates

One more small switch prevents the boomerang effect.

Go to Settings, tap your name, then App Store. Under Automatic Downloads, turn off Apps. That setting stops other devices and fresh installs from quietly adding their sticker extensions back into Messages. You stay in control instead of playing whack a mole after every update.

If Something Refuses to Go

Happens rarely, but it happens. A pack lingers or a sticker you hid shows up again.

Restart the iPhone first. It clears cached bits from Messages. Now, in case it fails, just go to Settings, General, Software Update, and finally install the latest version. If you still get stuck, then what? Well, just go to Settings, Messages, Send and Receive, tap your Apple ID and sign out, then sign in again. That refresh resets the sticker database and usually solves the stubborn case.

Why Bother With Any of This

Because small friction steals time. Because clutter creates mistakes. Because one clean drawer feels better than twelve noisy ones.

After you prune the packs, Messages opens faster and your thumb stops hunting for the right icon. You write the thing you meant to write. You send the reply you meant to send. No confetti unless you want confetti.

Take five minutes and do it now. Hide what you do not use. Delete what you do not miss. Keep one or two stickers that genuinely make you smile. That is the whole recipe.

And if a llama slips out again, you will know exactly where the off switch lives.