You can consider it a bother when you receive notifications from apps that you’ve deleted. Fortunately, such a seemingly risen-from-the-grave app is not without an explanation and practical solutions.
In this post, we’ll give you six effective methods to address the issue of a deleted app still getting notifications. We’ve also included some bonus details and pictures to help make the troubleshooting process more accessible so you can finish it quickly.
Why do I get notifications from an app I already deleted?
You might get notifications from an app you recently deleted due to an error during the uninstallation process. Most commonly, it happens when you’ve mistakenly thought of removing the app from the home screen as being deleted.
Believe it or not, deleting an app on some phones doesn’t mean removing it from the device. In such cases, you’ve only removed or hidden the app’s icon from the home screen menu, and it’s still accessible from the phone’s app settings menu.
Another possibility is the continued use of a companion app to the one you’ve deleted from your phone. Even with the Messenger app removed, you’d still get notifications for it whenever you receive messages on Facebook since they’re linked.
It may also happen due to feedback features that collect diagnostics and analytics data on your device. This should be familiar to iPhone users since they have a feedback support service that asks queries and polls regarding apps and services.
How do I stop getting uninstalled app notifications?
Here are the most recommended ways to stop getting notifications from an uninstalled app on your phone. Our solutions below have been tried and tested to work on both iPhones and Android devices.
FIX 1. Restart your phone
Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
Number of Steps | 4 |
Time to Perform Fix | 30 seconds |
Things Needed | Any smartphone |
If you deleted an app but are still getting notifications, an excellent solution we recommend is restarting your phone. This aims to refresh your phone’s system memory and allow it to correct the error that caused the botched uninstallation.
It would be best to do this as sometimes a change made on the phone won’t take effect properly unless you restart it first. It’s also a simple but effective way of dealing with minor phone errors, a source of unwanted notifications appearing.
As such, considering this solution for your first attempt at troubleshooting your phone notification problem is always a good idea. Also, this solution is safe to perform since you won’t lose any of the essential files and user data saved on your phone.
However, remember that the method of restarting a phone will vary between brands and models. Therefore, you must consider checking the steps in your phone’s user manual if our example below is inapplicable.
Step 1: Tap its volume-up button. |
Step 2: Tap its volume-down button. |
Step 3: Tap and hold its power button to shut it down and wait for the device’s logo to appear. |
Step 4: Wait while your phone resets and reboots its system. |
FIX 2. Thoroughly uninstall the app
Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
Number of Steps | 6 |
Time to Perform Fix | 30 seconds |
Things Needed | Any smartphone |
Receiving a notification from an app could mean that you botched its uninstallation, and it remains on your phone’s storage. It’s also likely that you’ve only deleted or hidden the app from your phone’s home screen or app drawer instead of deleting it entirely.
Otherwise, it’s impossible for someone to delete an app but still get notifications from it. We recommend double-checking its existence on your phone’s internal storage or app settings menu to confirm whether or not you’ve deleted the app for good.
This way, you can thoroughly uninstall the app if it happens to be on your phone’s internal storage. Sometimes, it pays to perform a manual and thorough check so you don’t encounter future issues due to a simple oversight.
Again, the example below may work differently on your phone’s brand or model, so check its user manual. For iPhone users, you must select the Delete App option when uninstalling an app since the Offloading option won’t remove all of its data.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Scroll down and open General. |
Step 3: Scroll down and open iPhone Storage. |
Step 4: Navigate the iPhone Storage to check if the app you uninstalled is listed there. |
Step 5: Select the app in question. Note: If the app isn’t listed here, it was uninstalled successfully, so you don’t have to continue with the next step. |
Step 6: Click the Delete App option to remove it permanently. Note: If you select the Offload App option, the app will keep some of its essential files and your user data if you plan on reinstalling it again. |
FIX 3. Clear the app’s data before uninstalling it
Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
Number of Steps | 9 |
Time to Perform Fix | 50 seconds |
Things Needed | Any smartphone |
Believe it or not, uninstalling an app from your phone may not remove its data entirely, as some essential files can remain in its internal storage. It’s likely why, even with a deleted app, you’re still getting notifications for it on your phone.
As such, it’s important to clear an app’s data before you initiate the installation process to ensure that everything will be removed. Otherwise, some of your user and app data will remain junk files, which will continue filling up your phone’s storage.
Therefore, this action helps prevent unwanted notifications from appearing while also helping manage your phone’s limited storage. With this, you can expect a reduced likelihood of encountering various storage-related issues on your phone.
Please note that this action will only work if you haven’t uninstalled the target app yet.
If you have already performed the uninstallation, you must re-download the target app from the app store to access its data and delete it from your phone’s internal storage.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Scroll down and open the Apps settings menu. |
Step 3: Select the target app to check its info page. |
Step 4: Scroll down and open the target app’s Storage. |
Step 5: Click the Clear Cache option to delete the target app’s temporary data. |
Step 6: Click the Clear Data option to delete the target app’s data. |
Step 7: Confirm this action by clicking Delete. |
Step 8: Return to the target app’s info page, scroll down, and select the Uninstall option. |
Step 9: Click OK to continue. |
FIX 4. Delete the app from your iCloud storage
Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
Number of Steps | 8 |
Time to Perform Fix | 45 seconds |
Things Needed | An iPhone |
The issue with deleted apps still getting notifications is more common on phone users who subscribe to a backup cloud service. You might encounter this problem on an iPhone if you’re backing up your apps using the built-in iCloud service.
It causes your apps to retain their essential files and user data through the backup function even after uninstalling them from the iPhone. iPhone users need to check the content of their iCloud storage and ensure they haven’t backed up the app.
Otherwise, the remaining data might cause your iPhone to continue receiving some app notifications afterward. You can also do this before uninstalling the target app to remove its data from your iPhone entirely.
After all, the goal of this action is similar to the previous solution we’ve presented to you. The only difference is you’re removing the app’s hidden data from the phone’s cloud storage instead of its internal storage.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Open your Apple ID profile page. |
Step 3: Open your iPhone’s iCloud menu. |
Step 4: Click the Manage Storage option. |
Step 5: Go to Backups. |
Step 6: Open your iPhone’s backup storage. |
Step 7: Find the target app and click the switch beside it. |
Step 8: Confirm this action by clicking Turn Off & Delete to remove the target app’s backup data. |
FIX 5. Clear your phone’s cache partition
Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
Number of Steps | 8 |
Time to Perform Fix | 60 seconds |
Things Needed | Any smartphone |
Aside from clearing the cache storage of the target app, you must also consider deleting the temporary data stored on your phone cache partition. After all, your phone keeps the app installation files in this partition, which could be the root cause of the problem.
Also, you can find other temporary app data and system files that cause various errors in the cache partition. As such, it’s likely for you to resolve the issue with your deleted apps still getting notifications by performing this solution on your phone.
Using this trick, you can also improve your phone’s overall performance, which should help reduce the likelihood of other known errors. This fact makes this solution worthwhile since it can simultaneously address other problems on your phone.
Step 1: Pull your phone’s notification bar twice to open its quick settings panel. Note: You must plug your phone into a compatible USB cable connected to a Windows PC or Mac. |
Step 2: Click the power icon and go to the power menu. |
Step 3: Click Power Off and wait for the phone to shut down its system. |
Step 4: Tap and hold the volume-up and power buttons simultaneously to boot the device into recovery mode. |
Step 5: Tap the device’s volume-down button to select the Wipe cache partition and tap the power button to open it. |
Step 6: Confirm this action with the Yes option. |
Step 7: Wait until a text appears at the bottom to confirm the process’s completion. |
Step 8: Click the “Reboot system now” option and wait as the phone shuts down and reboots its system in normal mode. |
FIX 6. Reset your phone
Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
Number of Steps | 7 |
Time to Perform Fix | 3 minutes |
Things Needed | Any smartphoneA USB cable |
If none of the solutions above can remove your uninstalled app’s remaining files and data, the only option left is to factory reset your phone. This action is the best way to delete files and data inside your phone, whether or not it’s hidden.
After all, the factory reset process will restore your phone to its initial state, deleting all saved data without exception. You can consider this the ultimate last resort when troubleshooting any problem on your phone, like deleted apps getting notifications.
It’s also an effective method for removing malware, which can install itself on your phone and run programs without your consent. You never know; it might be the root cause of the persistent app notifications you keep receiving.
Step 1: Open the device’s power menu by tapping and holding its power button. |
Step 2: Click Power Off and wait for the phone to shut down its system. Note: You must plug a compatible USB cable into your phone and link it to a PC. |
Step 3: Boot into the device’s recovery mode by simultaneously tapping and holding its volume-up and power buttons. |
Step 4: Go to Wipe Data/Factory Reset. |
Step 5: Select Factory Data Reset. |
Step 6: Wait until a text appears at the bottom to confirm the process’s completion. |
Step 7: Click the “Reboot system now” option and wait as the phone shuts down and reboots its system in normal mode. |
FAQs about Getting Notifications from Deleted Apps
How does deleting an app affect my data?
Deleting an app doesn’t affect your phone’s system and user data since only the app loses its saved data. However some essential files and app data may remain after the uninstallation, helping you continue your progress when you reinstall the app.
This remaining data will take up space on your phone’s internal storage, so it’s ideal to delete them if you want to remove the app indefinitely.
Will I still get notifications if I remove an app?
Under normal circumstances, you shouldn’t get any notification after you remove an app. If you continue to get notifications from a removed app, it’s a clear sign that an error occurred during its uninstallation process or that your phone is problematic.
How can I turn off notifications that won’t turn off?
Turn off all app notifications on your phone if you don’t want to see them in any shape or form. You can do this by going to Settings > Apps > Select the target app > Notifications > Toggle off “Allow All Notifications.”
Depending on your phone, you can swipe or hold the notification to access an options menu. From here, you can silence the app notification for a set period or turn it off indefinitely.