how do i delete multiple contacts at once

Hi there, with iOS 16 you can mass delete contacts by:

1. Use two fingers to select one contact and drag up or down to select more than one contact to delete. You'll know if they've been selected as they'll be highlighted in gray
2. Once you've selected all the contacts that need deleting, release your fingers
3. Long press on the selected contacts and a menu will pop-up, asking you if you want to Copy, Share, Merge or Delete. Tap Delete

Unfortunately, this will not work unless your device is running iOS 16. To figure out if your device is running iOS 16 go to Settings > General > About > Software Version.

Hope this was helpful,

Logan

In addition to what LoganEira said, if you want to delete many discrete contacts then log in to the email account which hosts your contacts on a web browser and delete the same. This is irrespective of the iOS version that your device is on.

When you look deeply you will find that Contacts are neither stored on an iPhone nor on SIM. They are synced to an email account that you may have added and enabled Contacts. It could be Google, iCloud, AOL, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo or any Other email client server.

When you enable Contacts in any of the email accounts they are displayed to you through the Contacts App. When you edit these contacts on an iPhone they are ultimately edited on the client-server.

Please see the pic below for a better understanding...