How to Permanently Delete All Dextr Data

If you are leaving Dextr or want to remove the information you have stored in it, there are several copies to account for: the app’s data on each device, its synced data in iCloud, and any backups or exports you have kept.

Deleting the app and deleting its iCloud data are separate actions. Apple’s deletion confirmation makes this explicit: removing Dextr from an iPhone deletes the app’s local data, while information stored in iCloud remains until you remove that copy too.

This guide covers removing your Dextr contact and relationship data. Purchase records and privacy requests are addressed separately below.

Before you delete anything

Make sure this is the result you want. Deletion can remove your Dextr tags, relationships, First Met details, introductions, journal entries, reminders, and other saved context.

• To reduce clutter while keeping that context, use Dextr’s cleanup and archive tools.
• To keep using Dextr on one device without cloud sync, follow How to Use Dextr Without iCloud.
• To delete people from Apple Contacts itself, use the separate iCloud contact-deletion guide.

You do not need to bulk-delete people inside Dextr to uninstall it. Deleting linked contacts inside the app can also delete their Apple Contacts records. The app-removal steps below are a different operation.

Save anything you intend to keep before proceeding. A VCF contact-card export is not a complete copy of your Dextr journal, reminders, and relationship context.

Step 1: Stop Dextr syncing on your devices

Make a list of the iPhones, iPads, and Macs where you have used Dextr. Turn off Dextr’s iCloud access on those devices, then quit the app on each one.

On iPhone or iPad, open Settings → your name → iCloud → See All, find Dextr, and turn off its iCloud access. On Mac, use System Settings → your name → iCloud and the app list.

Our guide to turning off iCloud for Dextr shows this setting. It is separate from Enable Contacts Sync inside Dextr.

Keep the other installations closed while removing the cloud and local copies. An installation you leave behind is still a copy of your information; removing the cloud data alone is not a substitute for checking every device.

Step 2: Delete Dextr’s stored iCloud data

How to Delete Dextr's Backup File

Dextr’s stored iCloud app data is separate from Apple’s whole-device iCloud Backup, which you will check in step 4.

On iPhone or iPad:

1. Open Apple’s Settings app.
2. Tap your name → iCloud.
3. Open Storage, or Manage Account Storage on versions that use that label.
4. Find and open Dextr in the storage list.
5. Choose Delete Data From iCloud, or the equivalent deletion option shown, and read the confirmation.
6. Confirm only when you are ready to remove that cloud copy.

Apple’s iCloud settings guide shows how to reach this screen.

Make sure the selected app is Dextr. This operation concerns Dextr’s cloud data; it does not mean deleting the Contacts category from iCloud.

If Dextr is not listed, confirm that you are using the Apple Account you used with Dextr. You may not have stored Dextr app data in that account. Still check local installations and device backups.

Step 3: Remove the local app data

On iPhone or iPad

1. Find Dextr on the Home Screen.
2. Touch and hold its icon, then choose Remove App. If the icons begin to jiggle instead, tap the minus button on Dextr.
3. Choose Delete App.

Remove from Home Screen keeps Dextr installed in the App Library. To remove the local app and its data, continue with Delete App.

Next, read the Delete “Dextr”? confirmation. Tap Delete when you are ready to remove the app and its local data.

Repeat on each iPhone and iPad where Dextr is installed. If you use the storage settings instead, choose Delete App; Offload App keeps its documents and data. Apple’s app-removal instructions also cover finding the app and restrictions that can prevent deletion.

On Mac

Quit Dextr and remove its widgets before removing the Mac copy. Moving the application to Trash does not, by itself, account for its separate stored data.

For the current Mac release, Dextr stores its contact database in its shared app-data folder. To remove that local data:

1. In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder and enter ~/Library/Group Containers/.
2. Locate the folder named exactly group.io.hiddenspectrum.people and move that Dextr folder to Trash.
3. Open Go → Go to Folder again and enter ~/Library/Containers/.
4. Locate io.hiddenspectrum.people—Finder may display it as Dextr—and move that app’s container to Trash.
5. Remove Dextr from Applications, then permanently remove the Dextr items you chose to discard from Trash.

These locations are specific to Dextr’s current release. If the names do not match, a folder is unavailable, or you have used a different build, contact Support to identify the correct Dextr files before removing anything. Leave unrelated app folders alone.

Apple’s Mac uninstall guide explains application removal and why other files created by an app can remain afterward.

Step 4: Check device backups and saved exports

A backup can retain an older copy even after you have removed the live app and its synced data.

For iCloud device backups, open Settings → your name → iCloud → Storage (or Manage Account Storage) → Backups and select the relevant device. If Dextr is listed, turn off its backup and review the removal confirmation.

Check older device backups too. Deleting an entire device backup removes other apps’ backed-up information as well, so use the app-specific control where it is available. Apple’s iCloud backup-management guide explains these choices.

Also review copies you created yourself, such as:

• Contact exports saved in Files, Downloads, or another storage service.
• iPhone or iPad backups stored on a Mac or PC.
• Mac backups containing Dextr’s former data folders.

Manage those copies through the relevant storage or backup tool. Removing Dextr does not erase files you saved elsewhere, and a retained backup may still restore older data later.

Step 5: Cancel Pro separately if you are leaving

Deleting Dextr or its data does not cancel an App Store subscription.

If you have a recurring Dextr Pro plan that you no longer want, open Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Dextr on iPhone or iPad and review its cancellation options. A lifetime purchase does not have a recurring renewal to cancel.

Apple’s subscription cancellation guide explains how to find the subscription and the Apple Account that owns it. Removing app data also does not erase your App Store purchase history.

What happens to Apple Contacts?

Your Apple Contacts library is separate from Dextr’s app data. Uninstalling Dextr and removing its iCloud storage do not perform Dextr’s in-app deletion of linked people.

Contacts that Dextr previously exported to Apple Contacts can therefore remain there. If you want to remove those people too, use the guide to deleting iCloud contacts and review which contact account owns them.

Conversely, if you want to keep your address book, you can remove Dextr without selecting everyone and deleting them inside the app first.

If information returns after reinstalling

A fresh installation may import names and phone numbers from Apple Contacts again when you grant access and enable Contacts Sync. That does not, by itself, mean the old Dextr database survived.

If Dextr-specific tags, journal entries, or other old context returns, check for an iCloud copy, a restored device backup, or another installation that still holds the data. Use Support if you cannot identify the source.

Privacy requests beyond the app’s stored content

Dextr’s Privacy Policy distinguishes your app content from limited analytics, diagnostic, attribution, and subscription information handled to operate the service.

Deleting your local and iCloud copies does not submit a deletion request for that separate information. For a privacy-related deletion request, contact Dextr Support and describe what you want removed. Applicable retention requirements can still apply.