The Short Version
To delete purchase history on iPhone, you actually need to use a web browser on any device, not the Settings app. Apple doesn't let you manage your purchase history from inside Settings or the App Store app. You go to reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in, select "Hide," and then confirm. That's it. The purchase disappears from your device and from anyone else who might look at your shared family purchase list. I've walked several people through this over the years, and every single time someone asks me to walk them through it again, it's because they tried deleting from the App Store app first. It doesn't work there. The option simply isn't available. The interface is designed to make you think it should be there. It isn't. Here's what happens when you actually do it correctly. Open Safari or Chrome on your iPhone or any computer. Navigate to reportaproblem.apple.com. Sign in with your Apple ID and password. You'll see a list of recent transactions with a dropdown menu next to each one. Click "Report," then select "Hide Purchase" from the dropdown. Tap "Done." The item disappears from your purchase history on all devices linked to that Apple ID within roughly five to ten minutes.
The reason this works while the in-app method doesn't is because Apple treats purchase history management as a separate subsystem from the App Store browsing interface. The reporting portal is actually the official channel for both disputes and removals. Apple built it that way intentionally, not as an oversight. I ran into a specific problem once where a customer had deleted a purchased app from their device, then tried hiding it from purchase history through the same steps, and the item wouldn't disappear. The issue was that the purchase was part of a Family Sharing group. Hidden purchases don't hide from family organizers. The workaround was to remove the purchase from Family Shared purchases first, which required the family organizer to approve the removal, and then redo the hide action. That took about twenty minutes and required coordinating with someone else. Not ideal. There are a few things most people miss when they try this. First, hiding a purchase does not refund money. If you want a refund, you request it through the same page by selecting "Report a Problem" and choosing "Request a Refund." The two actions are separate. People confuse them constantly and end up hiding a purchase while still expecting their money back.
Second, the hide function removes the item from your purchased list across every device signed into that Apple ID. It doesn't delete the app itself from your phone. If you want the app gone, you delete it separately from the home screen or Settings. These are two different operations that serve two different purposes. One manages visibility. The other manages local storage. Third, if your Apple ID is connected to a paid Apple Music subscription, some music purchases will show differently than standard app purchases. The interface may not list them in the same scrollable area at first. You sometimes need to scroll further down or change the filter dropdown from "All" to "Apps & Books" to surface everything. I lost about forty seconds on this once and assumed the page was broken. It wasn't. Here's a detail most guides won't tell you: hidden purchases can be unhidden later. If you change your mind, go back to the same page, change the dropdown to show "Hidden Purchases," and tap "Stop Hiding." There is no confirmation step. You just tap it and it reappears. This matters if you're trying to help someone recover something they accidentally hid.
Get the Full Details
The main limitation of this whole process is that it only affects purchases made through the Apple ID you're currently signed into. If you have multiple Apple IDs—say one for personal use and one for work or a child—each one maintains its own separate purchase history. You have to log into each one individually to clear anything. Apple doesn't provide a bulk-management tool across accounts. There's no setting that lets you wipe all purchase histories at once. You handle each account separately. Another practical issue is that hiding a purchase won't remove it from email receipts. If you requested a receipt be sent to your email when you made the purchase, that email is stored in your inbox independently. The reportaproblem portal has no access to your email provider. You need to delete or archive those messages yourself. I've seen people hide their entire purchase history and still get the original receipt pop up in a search, which defeats the purpose of hiding it in the first place. If you're doing this for privacy reasons—like keeping a purchase off a shared family device—the hide function does work for that scenario, but only if the family organizer hasn't enabled purchase sharing. With purchase sharing disabled, hidden purchases stay hidden. With it enabled, the organizer can still see what was purchased even after you hide it. This is not documented prominently anywhere. Apple's support page mentions it in passing, but not in the flow you encounter when you're actually trying to do the hiding.
The whole process takes about three minutes per purchase if you know what you're doing. The main variable is whether you run into the Family Sharing issue or the email receipt issue. If neither applies, you're in and out quickly. If you do, expect another ten to fifteen minutes of navigation.
