TL;DR. If your current live version has a legal or usability issue, Apple’s own help pages are explicit: “you must submit an app update” — there’s no delete button for it. But if the issue is in an older build you’re still offering to users on outdated iOS versions through Last-Compatible Version Settings, that’s different: open Pricing and Availability, go to Last-Compatible Version Settings, and deselect just that build. It disappears from new installs immediately. It does not touch anyone who already has it installed — that’s a separate, permanent limitation, not a bug. Required role: Account Holder, Admin, or App Manager.

Most developers only open Last-Compatible Version Settings once — to let users stuck on an old iOS version keep installing your last build that supports them. Few realize that same screen is also where you go if one of those old builds turns out to have a problem: an expired trademark claim, a privacy issue you already fixed in a later release, or a bundled SDK with a known vulnerability. There’s no separate “delete this version” button anywhere in App Store Connect — this is the mechanism.

How do I remove a single old App Store version without pulling my whole app?

You can’t delete a version outright, but you can stop it from being offered by deselecting it in Last-Compatible Version Settings, at the bottom of the Pricing and Availability page. Only versions that were actually submitted to the App Store appear in that list, and Apple’s help documentation is explicit about when this applies versus when it doesn’t.

Apple draws a hard line based on which version has the problem:

  • Your current, live version has the issue. Apple’s own words: “If the status of the version is Ready for Distribution and the version has a legal or usability issue, you must submit an app update.” You cannot deselect or remove your live version through this screen — the fix has to be a new, higher-numbered submission.
  • An older, legacy build has the issue (one you’re intentionally still offering to old-iOS users via Last-Compatible Version Settings). This is what the deselect list is actually for: open Pricing and Availability → Last-Compatible Version Settings → select the version, deselect the problem build in the dialog, click Done, then Save.
  • You can’t fix it with an update and it’s not a legacy-only build. Apple’s fallback, verbatim: “If you’re unable to submit an update, you must remove the app from the App Store” — the nuclear option, covered in our App Store rollback guide.

Required role for any of this: Account Holder, Admin, or App Manager — the same set that controls the keyword field and subtitle, not the broader group that includes Marketing. See our App Store Connect roles guide for the full breakdown of who can touch what.

Does deselecting an old version undo it for people who already installed it?

No. Deselecting a version in Last-Compatible Version Settings only controls whether it’s offered to someone installing your app for the first time going forward. It does nothing to devices that already have that build installed — those copies keep running exactly as they were.

This is the same rule that applies everywhere else in App Store Connect’s availability controls, including full app removal: nothing you do on the Pricing and Availability page reaches back onto a device that already has the app. If the issue is serious enough that already-installed copies genuinely need to stop working, App Store Connect gives you no lever for that at all — server-side kill switches or remote config in your own app are the only path, and that’s outside ASO entirely.

Why this matters if you support old iOS versions

If you’ve set a Last-Compatible Version so users stuck on an old iOS release can still install your app (see our phased release guide for how version rollout works more broadly), you’ve effectively frozen that old build in place. You can’t patch it — “releasing an app update always replaces the current version,” so an old-iOS user can’t receive a fix unless they update their OS. Deselecting it from the list is the only control you have over it, and it only stops new installs, not existing ones.

Practically: audit your Last-Compatible Version list whenever you fix something serious. If the fix matters enough to matter for new users on old iOS, it’s worth deciding whether that old build should still be offered at all — before someone installs it and asks why the bug you fixed months ago is still happening to them.