Many people ask how to delete expired subscriptions on iPhone. Well, the question is genuine as leaving your digital footprints could reveal a lot about you, especially if your close ones also have physical access to your device.
Anyway, it’s never a good idea to share your gadgets with anyone, no matter how close your friends or relatives are to you or how much you trust them. Now, if you can’t say ‘no’, it would be wise to at least prevent your expired subscriptions and purchase history from being exposed to others.
The following sections will talk about deleting expired subscriptions and purchase history on App Store and what could be done if you want a refund for any of your purchases.
Can You Delete Expired Subscriptions on iPhone?
Unfortunately, NO. Manually deleting the traces of expired subscriptions on iPhone isn’t possible as Apple doesn’t offer any such feature to its consumers. However, if you stop renewing the subscription and leave the app alone for some time, the details are automatically removed from your iOS devices and Apple account.
Now, the time Apple would take to do this may depend on how the app was coded, and what tenure the programmer define at the time of development. Usually, the process takes somewhere from a couple of months to a year.
How to Cancel Subscriptions on iPhone
Although you cannot learn how to remove expired subscriptions on iPhone as no such option exists, canceling an ongoing subscription is something that can be done easily. The procedure to do so is explained as follows.
- On your iPhone, go to Settings and tap your name from the top to get to the Apple ID screen.
- Tap Subscriptions. Notice that all your subscriptions are listed on the window that opens up next.
- On the Subscriptions screen, tap the subscription you want to cancel. When the next window appears, scroll down and tap Cancel Subscription to cancel the subscription for the selected app.
Note: If the Cancel Subscription option isn’t available, this means that the subscription is already expired and has been automatically canceled.
How to Delete Purchase History on App Store
Unfortunately, Apple provides no way to remove the traces of your purchases. This automatically makes the question ‘how to delete purchase history on App Store’ invalid. However, you can still hide your purchase history by following the simple steps given below:
- Launch App Store on your iOS device (iPhone 13 Pro Max is used here for illustrations).
- Tap the Account icon from the top-right corner of the screen.
- From the Account window, tap Purchased.
- Locate and swipe left the target app.
- Tap Hide from the right to hide the purchase history of the app.
- Repeat this process for the other apps to hide their purchase history as well.
- Tap Done from the top-right corner.
What Happens When You Hide Purchase History?
When you hide the purchase history of an app, the app doesn’t get removed from your iPhone. Instead, it stays at its current location/folder, remains fully active, and functions perfectly well. Hiding an app won’t remove it from your iPhone. It just doesn’t appear in the list of your purchase history in App Store, but it will still be shown in the purchase history in Settings. You family members cannot download the app if you use Family Sharing.
How to Unhide Purchase History on App Store
You can follow the instructions given below to unhide the purchase history on App Store:
- Go to App Store on your iPhone/iPad.
- Tap the Account icon from the top-right corner.
- Tap your name from the top of the Account screen.
- Enter the password for your Apple ID when App Store prompts.
- Scroll down to the DOWNLOADS AND PURCHASES section.
- Tap Hidden Purchases.
- Tap Unhide from the right of the app, purchase history of which you want to unhide and wish to reinstall.
- Tap Account from the top-left corner.
- Back on the Account screen, tap Done from the top-right.
How to Refund Purchase on App Store
Apple transactions are safe and so is your money with them. If you made a purchase in error or if the app you bought isn’t working as expected, you can request a refund.
Because the target app’s screen, App Store, or Settings screen don’t offer any direct method or option to initiate a refund request, must use your Apple ID to sign in to a dedicated portal either from your iOS device or your Windows or Mac computer. After signing in, you can define a reason, choose the app that you wish to request a refund for, and you’re good to go.
The step-by-step procedure for this is explained as follows:
- Launch your favorite web browser on your PC or smartphone.
- Go to the reportaproblem.apple.com URL.
- When you are prompted, enter your Apple ID and password, and tap Next.
- Enter the verification code that flashes on your device’s screen (if you have enabled two-factor authentication).
- On the main page, choose Request a refund from the I’d like to list present under the What can we help you with section.
- Choose a valid reason from the Tell us more list.
- Tap Next to continue.
- On the next screen, tap to pick the app you want to request the refund for.
- Tap Submit to submit your request to Apple.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Apple doesn’t give you many options when it comes to erasing your digital footprints. For instance, you cannot perform the following two major tasks:
- Delete expired subscriptions from iPhone.
- Delete purchase history from App Store.
However, what Apple does allow you to do is:
- Cancel an ongoing subscription.
- Hide and unhide your purchase history.
- Request a refund.
That said, if you want to learn how to delete expired subscriptions on iPhone, there’s nothing anyone can do as those traces are erased eventually, depending on how the apps were programmed. As for canceling a subscription, hiding your purchase history, or requesting a refund for a faulty app or an unintentional purchase, you can follow the methods that are explained in the above sections.
