How to Delete Wallpapers on iOS 16: A Comprehensive Guide

If you’re an iPhone user running iOS 16, you may have encountered some confusion and frustration when it comes to managing wallpapers. Apple’s latest update changed how wallpapers are created and edited, with the intention of making them work better with Focus Modes and widgets. While this new system has some benefits, it can be a bit convoluted and confusing, particularly when it comes to deleting wallpapers.

Fortunately, deleting wallpapers on iOS 16 is not as difficult as it may seem at first. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the steps you need to follow to delete wallpapers on your iPhone running iOS 16.

Step 1: Understand How Wallpapers Work on iOS 16

Before we dive into the steps for deleting wallpapers, it’s important to understand how wallpapers work on iOS 16. With this update, Apple introduced a new system for creating and editing wallpapers. Rather than working with individual wallpapers, you now create them in pairs. This allows you to assign a wallpaper to both the Lock Screen and Home Screen, and to customize them separately.

To access your wallpapers on iOS 16, you need to go to the Settings app and tap on “Wallpaper”. Here, you’ll see your available wallpaper pairs, as well as the option to create your own pair.

Step 2: Long Press on the Lock Screen

To delete a wallpaper on iOS 16, start by locking your phone and long pressing on the Lock Screen. You’ll need to unlock your phone while doing this, but Face ID or Touch ID will unlock it automatically for you.

Step 3: Choose the Wallpaper You Want to Delete

Once you’ve long pressed on the Lock Screen, swipe through your available wallpapers until you find the one you want to delete. You can tap on “Customize” to see the wallpaper pair, which may help you identify the correct one.

Step 4: Swipe Up and Delete

To delete the wallpaper, swipe up on it and tap on the “Delete” icon. This will prompt a confirmation message that reads “Delete This Wallpaper”. Tap on it to confirm that you want to delete the wallpaper.

And that’s it! You’ve successfully deleted a wallpaper on your iPhone running iOS 16. While the new system for managing wallpapers may take some getting used to, deleting them is actually quite straightforward once you know the steps. With this comprehensive guide, you should be able to manage your wallpapers on iOS 16 with ease.