To remove an app from CarPlay on an iPhone, open Settings > General > CarPlay, tap your car, tap Customize, then tap the red minus button next to the app and tap Remove. The app disappears from your car’s CarPlay screen the next time your iPhone connects, but it stays installed on your phone.
These steps apply to the iPhone 13 and every newer iPhone running iOS 26 or iOS 27. Apple released iOS 26 in September 2025 and iOS 27 in September 2026. The same path has worked since iOS 13, so it also matches older versions. Apple’s own Use CarPlay with your iPhone article describes the same Customize screen for adding, removing, and arranging apps.
Before You Start
- Your iPhone needs to have connected to the car at least once. The car only appears under Settings > General > CarPlay after you’ve used CarPlay with it, by USB cable or wirelessly.
- You don’t need to be in the car. Every step happens on the iPhone, so you can do this at home. Changes show up on the car’s display the next time you connect.
- Removing isn’t deleting. Taking an app off CarPlay hides it from the car’s screen only. Your data and the app itself stay on the iPhone.
How to Remove Apps from CarPlay on Your iPhone
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap General. It’s near the top of the list, below the Apple Account and connectivity settings.
- Tap CarPlay. You’ll see a list of every car your iPhone has connected to under My Cars.
- Tap the car you want to change. The name may be your car’s brand or the name of its infotainment system (for example, “Uconnect” or “SYNC”) rather than the model.
- Tap Customize. A list of CarPlay apps opens, in the same order they appear on your car’s screen. If your iPhone shows Apps instead of Customize, tap that; it opens the same list.
- Tap the red minus button to the left of an app you don’t want. A red Remove button slides in on the right.
- Tap Remove. The app moves down to the More Apps section at the bottom of the list.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 for any other apps, then tap the back arrow in the top-left corner. There’s no Save button; the change is stored as soon as you tap Remove.
Next time you start the car and connect, the apps you removed won’t appear on the CarPlay Home Screen. If the car was already connected while you made the change, unplug the cable or turn off Bluetooth and reconnect to refresh the screen.
Why Some Apps Don’t Have a Red Minus Button
Apple’s core CarPlay apps, such as Phone, Music, and Maps, can’t be removed. You’ll notice they have no red minus button on the Customize screen. CarPlay relies on them for calls, audio, and navigation, so they always stay available.
If one of those apps is in your way, move it instead:
- On the Customize screen, touch and hold the three-line handle on the right side of the app.
- Drag it to the bottom of the list and let go.
CarPlay shows apps in pages based on the size of your car’s display. Moving an app you never use to the end of the list pushes it to the last page, where you won’t see it unless you swipe. This works well if you use Google Maps or Waze and want Apple Maps out of the first screen.
How to Add a Removed App Back to CarPlay
- Go to Settings > General > CarPlay and tap your car.
- Tap Customize.
- Scroll down to More Apps.
- Tap the green plus button next to the app. It moves back up into the main list.
- Drag it with the three-line handle to the position you want.
Only apps that support CarPlay appear in this list. If you don’t see an app at all, it’s either not installed on your iPhone or its developer hasn’t added CarPlay support.
Other Ways to Clean Up Your CarPlay Screen
Rearrange instead of remove. Put the apps you use on every drive, such as navigation and music, at the top of the Customize list so they land on the first CarPlay page. Apple notes in its guide to rearranging icons on CarPlay Home that the new order appears on the car’s display after you reconnect.
Delete the app from your iPhone. If you don’t use an app anywhere, uninstalling it removes it from CarPlay too. The article on deleting apps on iPhone covers deleting, offloading, and removing apps from the Home Screen. Want an app out of sight on your phone without deleting it? You can hide or lock apps on iPhone. Hiding an app on the iPhone’s Home Screen is a separate setting from CarPlay’s app list.
Turn off CarPlay widgets you don’t use. On iOS 26 and later, CarPlay adds a widget page that you reach by swiping right from the main screen. Widgets aren’t apps, so they don’t appear in the Customize list. To change them, go to Settings > General > CarPlay, tap your car, and tap Widgets. You can add, remove, or reorder widgets there, or turn off Show Widgets to hide the page.
If You Have More Than One Car
CarPlay keeps a separate app layout for each car. Removing an app for your own car doesn’t change the layout in a second car, a family member’s car, or a rental. Repeat the steps for each car listed under My Cars.
On the same car page you’ll also see Forget This Car. Tapping it deletes the car from your iPhone along with its custom app layout, so you’d have to set up CarPlay and remove your apps again the next time you connect. If you only want to tidy the screen, use Customize and leave the car in place.
Troubleshooting
The removed app still shows on the car’s screen. The car display updates when your iPhone reconnects. Disconnect the cable, or turn the car off and back on for wireless CarPlay, then connect again.
Your car isn’t listed under CarPlay. CarPlay hasn’t been set up with that car yet, or the car was forgotten. Connect the iPhone to the car by USB or follow the car’s wireless CarPlay setup, then return to Settings.
There’s no Customize option. Make sure you tapped the car’s name, not the CarPlay heading. On some iOS versions the button is labeled Apps. If neither appears, restart your iPhone and check again.
An app you removed came back. Check that you edited the right car; if you’ve connected to several, each one has its own list.
The red minus button is missing for one app. That app is one of Apple’s built-in CarPlay apps. Drag it to the bottom of the list instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does removing an app from CarPlay delete it from my iPhone?
No. The app stays installed and works normally on your phone. It just doesn’t appear on your car’s display.
Can I remove apps from the car’s screen instead of my iPhone?
No. CarPlay’s Settings app on the car’s display handles things like wallpaper and appearance, but the app list is edited only from the iPhone under Settings > General > CarPlay.
Can I remove Apple Maps or the Phone app from CarPlay?
No. Phone, Music, Maps, and other built-in apps have no remove button. You can drag them to the end of the list so they appear on the last page.
Do these steps work on an iPhone 14, 15, 16, or 17?
Yes. The path is the same on any iPhone that runs CarPlay with a current version of iOS. The only difference you might see is the Customize button labeled Apps on some versions.
Why can’t I find an app I want to add?
The app must be installed on your iPhone and support CarPlay. Apps that don’t support CarPlay never appear in the Customize list, even under More Apps. CarPlay apps run only from an iPhone, because Apple doesn’t support CarPlay on iPad, but you can see what an iPad can do in the car.
To keep texts and alerts quiet on the road, you can also turn on the Driving Focus from Control Center or have it start with CarPlay.
If Siri reading incoming texts in the car distracts you, you can turn off Announce Notifications on iPhone.
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
Matthew writes practical guides for Windows, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Google apps, and Android. Solve Your Tech’s guides are checked step by step against the device or app maker’s own documentation and tested on his own devices whenever he has the hardware or software, with clear steps, sources, and update dates.
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