Email, Messaging, & Video Calls Email How to Delete a Contact From Gmail Trim down your Gmail contact list by deleting out-of-date contacts by Heinz Tschabitscher Writer A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. our editorial process Heinz Tschabitscher Updated on December 18, 2019 reviewed by Ryan Perian Lifewire Tech Review Board Member Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions. our review board Article reviewed on Apr 08, 2020 Ryan Perian Email Gmail Yahoo! Mail Tweet Share Email It's not unusual for a Gmail address book to bloat with contacts you haven't heard from in years. Streamline your address book by deleting no-longer-relevant contacts. Derek Abella / Lifewire Delete a Contact From Gmail To remove a contact or email address from your Gmail address book, delete the record from Google Contacts: Open Google Contacts. Check all the contacts you want to delete. To check an entry, hover the mouse button over the contact's icon to the left of his or her name or email address, then click the checkbox that appears. Alternatively, use the search field at the top to find specific address book entries and place a checkmark next to them, but a new search deselects any previously checked contacts. Click the three-dot icon that appears in the upper right corner and select Delete from the toolbar that appears. When prompted, confirm the action by selecting Delete from the menu that appears. In earlier versions of Gmail, click More in the toolbar and select Delete contacts from the menu that appears. Contacts in Different Places The procedure we've outlined removes a contact from Gmail, so when you use the web version of Google's email program, you won't see these records anymore. However, if you use Gmail with a desktop application like Microsoft Outlook or Windows Mail, or if you add a Gmail account to an app-based mail program like iOS Mail or Outlook, you may still see other contacts. Desktop and mobile email programs often include other address lists that are specific to the program or combined address lists that span all of the accounts that the program touches. Removing a Gmail contact may or may not have any effect on contacts that are managed outside of Google's direct control.