How to Delete All Photos From iPhone, in Bulk or for Good

Deleting every photo on an iPhone takes one long slide of a finger across the Photos library, then a tap on the Bin button. Nothing is gone yet at that point. The photos move to Recently Deleted for 30 days and can be recovered from there until the album is emptied or the 30 days pass.

With iCloud Photos switched on, the same deletion reaches every device signed in to your Apple Account. Back up anything you want to keep before you start, because the 30-day album is the only safety net.

How to Delete All Photos From iPhone

How do you delete all photos from an iPhone?

To delete all photos from an iPhone, select them in the Photos library by sliding a finger across the thumbnails, then tap the Bin button. Apple's guide describes no Select All control for the library, so the slide does the selecting.

Apple's guide to deleting photos sets out the selection step: tap Select, then tap several photos or slide your finger across them.

1. Open Photos and scroll to the most recent photo in your library.
2. Tap Select.
3. Touch the last photo and slide your finger up and across the grid without lifting it. Each photo you pass gets a tick.
4. Keep your finger on the screen. The album keeps scrolling upwards and selecting as it goes.
5. When the oldest photo is ticked, lift your finger and tap the Bin button.
6. Confirm the deletion.

Step 4 is not in Apple's guide. It comes from walkthroughs by PetaPixel and Expert Reviews, which both describe the grid scrolling under a held finger.

Selecting a year at a time is slower, but a smaller set is easier to check before you tap the Bin button.

Deleting a Single Photo

One photo takes three taps. Open it, tap the Bin button and tap Delete Photo. It goes to Recently Deleted like any other deletion.

When the Bin Button Is Grey

A grey Bin button can mean the photo was synced from a computer. Apple says those photos cannot be deleted directly in the Photos app. You may need to stop syncing photos from the computer first.

Selecting and deleting is the easy part. The deletion does not always stay on the iPhone.

What Happens in iCloud When You Delete Photos

If you delete photos from your iPhone, are they deleted from iCloud?

Photos you delete from your iPhone are deleted from iCloud when iCloud Photos is on. Apple says a photo deleted on one device is deleted on all other devices signed in with the same Apple Account. With iCloud Photos off, the deletion affects only the iPhone.

That rule decides what "delete all photos" should mean for you. The right method depends on where you want the photos to end up.

Optimise iPhone Storage keeps full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and space-saving copies on the phone, according to Apple's photo storage guide. In iOS 27, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, turn on Sync this iPhone, then tap iPhone Storage.

Turning sync off works differently. Apple's guide to turning off iCloud Photos offers two choices: Download Photos & Videos keeps a copy on the phone, and Remove from iPhone deletes it. After that, Apple says, uploads, edits and deletions no longer sync to that iPhone.

Whichever row fits, a separate copy is the only protection once photos leave iCloud too.

Back Up Your Photos Before You Delete Them

A backup for a full delete has to sit outside iCloud Photos, because iCloud Photos deletes along with the phone. A computer or an external drive works, and backing up iPhone photos covers each method.

On a Mac, connect the iPhone by cable, unlock it and tap Trust if asked. Then import in the Photos app. On a Windows PC, the Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store connects the phone, and Microsoft Photos does the import.

An iPhone that uses Optimise iPhone Storage can hold space-saving copies in place of the originals. Apple's transfer guide says the full-resolution originals must be downloaded to the phone before a PC import. A backup taken without that step can be missing the originals.

How to Permanently Delete Photos on iPhone

How do you permanently delete photos on iPhone?

To permanently delete photos on iPhone, empty the Recently Deleted album. Deleted photos and videos stay there for 30 days, Apple says, and are deleted permanently after that. Until then they can still be recovered.

1. Open Photos and tap Collections.
2. Swipe up and tap Recently Deleted under Utilities.
3. Tap View Album and unlock it with Face ID or Touch ID.
4. Tap Select, then the More button, then Delete All.
5. Confirm with Delete from All Devices or Delete Photos I Added, whichever appears.

Apple says photos deleted from this album cannot be recovered. That is why the album is worth leaving for a few days after a big clear-out. The Recently Deleted album is also where photos are recovered, one at a time or all together.

An iCloud Shared Library adds one rule. Anyone in it can delete a shared photo, but only the person who added it can permanently delete or recover it. The full steps to empty Recently Deleted cover the album on its own.

Settings > General > iPhone Storage shows the space that came back. If the figure barely moves, check Recently Deleted first, then the other reasons storage stays full after deleting photos.

Deleting Part of the Library Instead

When the aim is space rather than an empty library, three groups can be cleared without going through the whole library.

Screenshots pile up unseen, and deleting screenshots on iPhone covers clearing them on their own. Long videos are the other group to check, and deleting videos on iPhone covers them.

The Duplicates album sits under Collections > Utilities. Tapping Merge keeps one copy, with the best quality and related data, and sends the others to Recently Deleted. The album groups only what iOS treats as duplicates, and duplicate photos on iPhone explains how it decides.

The rest of the library is a sorting job, and the slow part is deciding. Camera roll cleaners that show one photo at a time turn that into a run of keep-or-delete choices. Apps such as Swipe Quick do this on the device: swipe right to keep, left to delete, and nothing is deleted until you confirm.

Photos is one of several categories on the iPhone Storage screen, alongside Apps, Messages, Media and System. Those make up the rest of the work to free up space on iPhone.

Frequently asked questions

Can you delete photos from your iPhone but keep them in iCloud?

Photos can be deleted from your iPhone and kept in iCloud only if the iPhone stops syncing. Turn off Sync this iPhone and choose Remove from iPhone, after which Apple says deletions no longer sync. To keep syncing and still save space, turn on Optimise iPhone Storage instead.

How long do deleted photos stay on iPhone?

Deleted photos stay on iPhone in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days, Apple says, unless you delete them from the album sooner. After that they are deleted permanently and cannot be recovered.