If a stray tap keeps reaching Delete, BIG Launcher, BIG Phone and BIG SMS let you leave that action out of everyday use. Contacts, call history and messages have separate deletion controls, all disabled by default. Check each one in Preferences.
You should be able to look up a number or read a message without an unwanted delete choice getting in the way. Removing the option keeps Delete out of that path.
These settings are for preventing deletion inside the configured apps. They cannot restore a record that has already been deleted.
The controls apply inside BIG Launcher, BIG Phone and BIG SMS. They do not remove Delete from Google Messages, another Contacts app or another app showing the same call history. Use the communication apps whose controls you have configured.
Check the three deletion settings
From the BIG Launcher home screen, tap the three dots next to the clock and choose Preferences. Review each setting rather than assuming one switch covers all three.
- Contacts: open Preferences → Contacts → Add contact delete option and leave it off. This keeps Delete contact out of the bottom of a contact’s details.
- Call history: open Preferences → Phone → Show Delete button and leave it off. The delete control for call-log items is not offered in BIG Phone.
- Messages: open Preferences → Messages → Show Delete button and leave it off. The message-delete action is not offered in BIG SMS.
If you use separate settings in BIG Phone or BIG SMS instead of inheriting settings from BIG Launcher, check that app’s own Preferences as well.
Read messages and choose a visible action
In BIG SMS, tap a message to open its action screen. Available actions can include Call now, Reply, Resend and Forward. Delete appears only when deletion is allowed. You do not need to hold the message to open a hidden action menu.
A sideways swipe in the contact, message or call-history lists does not delete, hide or discard an item. That makes a useful difference if an intended tap sometimes turns into a swipe: it does not become a swipe-to-delete gesture in these lists.
Verify the controls without deleting a record
- Open a contact and check the end of its details. Delete contact should be absent.
- Open a call-history entry in BIG Phone and confirm that the Delete control is absent.
- Tap a message in BIG SMS and check its action screen. Check that Delete is absent. The other actions depend on the message and your settings.
- If a delete option is still visible, return to the matching app’s Preferences and check its setting.
There is no need to turn deletion on or erase a real record to do this check.
Keep deliberate cleanup possible
You can enable a deletion option later when you actually want to clean up. Turn on only the setting you need, finish the cleanup, then turn it off again.
Keep the actions you use. Leave Delete out.
Set up BIG Launcher with BIG Phone and BIG SMS, then check the contact, call-history and message controls before relying on the new setup.
