How to Delete Podcasts From iPhone

Podcasts are terrific, educational, entertaining ways to pass the time, but they can also take up a lot of storage space on your iPhone. If you need to free up space, one of the first things to do is to delete podcasts from iPhone.

Easily listen to podcasts on iPhone or Mac

This article covers the Apple Podcasts app that comes pre-installed on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It was written using iOS 13, but the basic concepts also apply to iOS 11 and iOS 12.

How to Delete Individual Podcast Episodes from iPhone

If you haven't listened to all the episodes of a podcast you've downloaded, you can remove the ones you've listened to without losing the others. To delete a single podcast from your iPhone, follow these steps:

Tap the Podcasts app to open it.
Find the podcast episode you want to delete. The episode could be listed on the Listen Now tab or you may need to tap Library, then tap the podcast series, then find the specific episode you want to delete.
Make a short swipe from right to left across the episode you want to delete, then tap Delete. Alternatively, swipe all the way across the screen to delete the episode right away.

This only saves space if you delete podcasts you've already downloaded. Podcasts with the download symbol (the cloud with a down arrow in it) next to them are available, but haven't been downloaded. Deleting them won't save space.

How to Delete an Entire Podcast Series From iPhone

Is there a podcast you used to like, but don't listen to anymore? Want to delete the entire podcast from your iPhone, including all episodes you've downloaded? Here's how:

With the Podcasts app open, tap Library.
Tap the podcast you want to delete.
Tap the ... icon.
Tap Delete from Library.
In the pop-up, tap Delete from Library.

How to Automatically Delete Played Podcasts From iPhone

You can set your Podcasts app to save space by automatically deleting podcasts episodes after you listen to them. This is a great way to save space but still enjoy your favorite shows. Here's how:

Tap the Settings app to open it.
Tap Podcasts.
Toggle the Delete Played Episodes slider to on/green.

Using these steps applies the delete-played-episodes setting to every podcast you subscribe to. If you want to have it apply only to some podcasts, launch the Podcasts app, then tap Library > the ... icon > Settings.

How to Stop Automatic Podcast Downloads on iPhone

When you originally subscribed to a podcast on your iPhone, you may have set the podcast to automatically download new episodes. If you haven't listened to those episodes, you could have a huge backlog of podcasts taking up space on your phone. To stop podcasts from automatically downloading to your iPhone, follow these steps:

Tap the Podcasts app to open it.
Tap Library.
Tap the podcast you want to stop from automatically downloading episodes.
Tap the ... icon.
Tap Settings.
In the Custom section, tap Download Episodes.
Tap Off.

Another good way to reduce the space your podcasts take up is to limit the number of episodes from any one podcast series that are downloaded to your phone. To do this, launch the Podcasts app, then tap Library > the ... icon > Settings > Limit Episodes. From there, choose the number of episodes or date range you want.