How to Erase All Contacts on a Samsung

By Andrew Tennyson

Whether you're selling your device or just want to start over fresh, erasing all your contacts is the best way to get rid of private contact information. Samsung's newest 2014 smartphones and tablets, including the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 8.0, run on the Google Android 4.4 operating system. In previous versions of Android was an option to delete all contacts directly from the native Contacts app. On these newer devices, you must use the Settings app to delete all of your contacts at once.

Step 1

Tap the "Apps" icon in the bottom-right corner of your Samsung's screen to load a list of applications on the device. Swipe through the applications and tap the "Settings" app icon. The Settings app icon resembles a small gear or cog.

Step 2

Scroll down the Settings screen and tap the "Application Manager" icon located near the bottom of the Settings screen in the Applications group.

Step 3

Swipe to the right to load the All tab, on which is displayed a list of all applications currently installed on your device. When you first load the Application Manager, it will likely display the Downloaded tab. The All tab is located three spots to the right of the Downloaded tab.

Step 4

Scroll down the alphabetical list of apps and tap "Contacts Storage" to load information about the Contacts Storage utility, which is connected to the Contacts app and other apps that rely on contact data. The screen you see next displays storage, permissions and a variety of other information about the Contacts Storage utility.

Step 5

Tap the "Clear data" button and then tap "OK" to confirm that you want to remove all of the contacts from your Samsung device.

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