If you no longer want to use iCloud and its related services on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you’re likely looking to delete it from your device, or delete the account altogether. Because iCloud is linked to your Apple ID account, you will need to remove your Apple ID from your device in order to remove iCloud. There are a couple of different ways you can go about doing this, so whether you’ve decided to switch to Android or simply want to stop using iCloud services, we’re here to help you out and show you how it’s done.
What is covered in this article:
Can you permanently delete an iCloud account?
Unfortunately, there is no process by which a user can delete their own Apple ID or iCloud account permanently. If you’re looking to have your account and all associated information permanently erased, you’ll need to contact Apple support and ask them to erase the account for you. Contact Apple here.
Luckily though, there are easy ways to remove the account from your devices, so you don’t have to use the account, iCloud, or its related features at all.
If you have multiple Apple devices with your Apple ID signed in and you want to easily remove it from all your devices at once, you can do so from the web browser on your computer. The first method we’ll be showing you to delete iCloud is using the account manager on AppleID.Apple.com.
How to remove Apple ID from all devices online
These five easy steps will allow you to remove your Apple ID from any or all devices connected to your account all at once.
1. Open your browser and go to appleid.apple.com.
Using whichever browser you prefer to use on your computer, navigate to the Apple ID account management page at AppleID.Apple.com.
2. Sign in to your account.
Enter the email address and password you use for your account to sign in. If you’ve forgotten the password to your account you can reset it here.
3. Scroll down to your list of devices. Click on a device to view details about it.
If you scroll down on the next page, you will see a section labelled “Devices” with all of the devices associated with your Apple ID account listed. If you’d like to remove your iPhone from this list and sign out of your account on that device, click on the device to view more details.
4. Click the Remove button to sign out of your Apple ID account on that device.
Once you click on one of your devices, you’ll see a small window pop up below it. In this window, you’ll see details about the device including its name, model, and serial number. At the bottom of the window, click Remove to sign out of your account on that device and remove iCloud.
5. Click Remove this iPhone to confirm you’d like to sign out.
To confirm that you no longer want that device to be associated with your Apple ID, click the Remove this iPhone (or Remove this [type of device]) button.
Once you’ve removed the first device from your account, you can do the same for any other devices you no longer want to use iCloud on. If you’d like to remove iCloud and your Apple ID from all of your Apple devices using your iOS device instead of the web browser on your computer.
How to remove Apple ID from all devices on iOS
If you’d prefer to go through your device’s settings instead of using your web browser, you can do so by following these six steps:
1. Open your iOS device’s settings.
Tap the Settings app icon to launch the settings app on your iOS device.
2. Tap your name at the top of your screen.
Once the settings app opens, tap your name to access settings related to your Apple ID and iCloud.
3. Scroll down to see a list of all the devices associated with your Apple ID.
On the next page, scroll down to the section listing your devices connected to the Apple ID account signed in on your iOS device.
4. Tap a device’s name to see details.
To access more information about a device as well as the option to remove it from your account, tap a device’s name in the list.
5. At the bottom, tap Remove from Account.
To indicate that you want to disassociate that device from your Apple ID, tap Remove from Account.
6. A small window will appear. Tap the Remove button to confirm.
In the window that pops up in the middle of your screen, tap Remove to confirm eliminating that device from your Apple ID account.
If the only Apple device you have is an iPhone, or if it’s the only device you want to sign out from, we’ll show you how to do that next.
How to sign out of Apple ID on iOS
If you only need to remove iCloud from the iOS device you’re using and not from any other device’s connected to your account, you can simply sign out of the account following these steps:
1. Tap Settings on your home screen to access settings.
Open your iOS settings app as you normally would – by tapping the Settings icon.
2. Tap your name on the next page.
To access your Apple ID settings, tap your name at the top.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap Sign Out.
At the bottom of the Apple ID settings page, tap Sign Out.
4. Turn off the Find My iPhone tracking feature.
If you don’t have Find My iPhone enabled, you can ignore this step. To remove your account from your iOS device, you’ll also need to disable Find My iPhone. This feature is also tied to your account so you need to turn it off before signing out. In the window that appears, type in the password for your Apple ID account, then tap Turn Off.
5. Choose what data you’d like to keep on your device.
Some important data including contacts and calendars may have been stored in iCloud instead of directly on your device. If you’d like to keep that information on your device instead of removing it along with anything else tied to your Apple account, tap the switch beside what you’d like to keep. When the switch turns green, that information will be kept on your device. When you’re finished, tap Sign Out in the top right corner.
6. Confirm that you want to sign out from Apple ID.
The last step is to confirm that you want to sign out of your Apple ID account on your device. To do this, tap Sign Out in the small window that appears. Once you’re done, simply wait a few minutes for data stored in iCloud to be removed from your device, and then you’re good to go!
Those six steps are all it takes to sign out of iCloud on an iOS device like iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. As we mentioned above, it’s necessary to turn off Find My iPhone before you sign out of your account. In the next section we’ll show you how to do this process separately from the process of signing out of your Apple account.
How to disable Find My iPhone
Part of removing iCloud from iOS is to shut off iCloud tracking. The steps above include turning off tracking, but if you’d like to go through the process separately, here’s how:
1. Access your iCloud settings.
Open your settings, tap your name, and then select iCloud.
2. Scroll down and tap Find My iPhone.
On the iCloud settings page, there will be a section labelled “Apps Using iCloud.” Near the bottom of the left, select Find My iPhone.
3. Tap the switch beside “Find My iPhone” to disable tracking.
To turn off Find My iPhone on your device, tap the switch at the top. When it turns from green to white, the feature has been disabled.
4. Enter your password to confirm, then tap Turn Off.
The last step to turning off iCloud tracking is to enter your account password. This is required for security reasons, to make sure someone else can’t turn off tracking without your permission. Type in your password, then tap Turn Off to finish.
If you’d like to learn more about Find My iPhone and disabling it, check out this article.
That covers just about everything you need to know about deleting iCloud and Apple ID from your iOS devices. If you’ve just disabled iCloud because you’re switching to Android, check out our various Android tutorials to learn more about your new device. If you’d like to learn about other things you can do with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, check out the iOS section of our site.
