How to Delete All Photos From Your iPhone (The Complete Guide)

Why Would You Want to Delete All Your iPhone Photos?

Most people don't delete photos one by one — they need a total wipe. Here are the most common reasons people arrive at this guide:

• Selling or trading in your iPhone. You absolutely do not want the next owner scrolling through your entire life. A full photo wipe is essential before any device transfer.
• Giving your iPhone to a family member. Handing a phone to your kid or parent? Start them with a clean slate, not your 12,000-photo camera roll.
• Migrating to iCloud-only storage. Some users want to move entirely to cloud storage and delete all local copies from the device. This frees up gigabytes without permanently losing anything.
• Starting fresh after a life event. Moving to a new city, ending a relationship, or just wanting a clean break — sometimes a blank camera roll is part of that.
• Storage is maxed out. If your iPhone says "Storage Full," nuking the photo library is often the fastest way to reclaim meaningful space. (See our guide on freeing up space from iPhone photos for a more targeted approach.)

Method 1: Delete All Photos From the iPhone Photos App (Native, No Extra Apps)

This is the built-in method that works on iOS 16, iOS 17, and iOS 18. It's free, fast, and requires nothing beyond your iPhone.

Step-by-Step for iOS 17 and iOS 18

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap the Albums tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Under "Media Types," tap All Photos (or tap Library if you're on the Library tab).
4. Tap Select in the top-right corner.
5. Tap Select All — this appears in the top-left once you've tapped Select. On large libraries, it may take a moment to highlight everything.
6. Tap the trash icon at the bottom-right of the screen.
7. Confirm by tapping Delete [X] Photos in the popup.

Your photos are now moved to the Recently Deleted album. They are not yet permanently deleted — see the "Empty Recently Deleted" section below to finish the job.

Method 2: Use Swype Photo Cleaner for Fast, Selective Deletion

If you want to delete all photos but keep a few favorites, or if you want to knock out specific categories (screenshots, duplicates, blurry shots) before wiping the rest, Swype Photo Cleaner is built exactly for this.

How Swype Makes This Faster

• Smart Groups automatically sort your library into categories: Screenshots, Duplicates, Blurry Photos, Videos, Large Files, and more. Delete an entire category in one tap.
• Swipe-to-decide interface lets you review every photo at full screen and swipe left to delete or right to keep — much faster than tapping tiny thumbnails.
• Bulk delete by date or album lets you select everything from a specific year or event and remove it in one action.
• The app handles the Recently Deleted step automatically, so you don't have to remember to empty it separately.

Swype is ideal when you want speed with a bit of control — rather than blindly wiping every single photo, you can blitz through the library in minutes and keep only what matters.

Method 3: Erase All Content and Settings (The Nuclear Option)

If you're selling or giving away your iPhone and want to wipe absolutely everything — not just photos — the full factory reset is the right move. This erases photos, apps, accounts, and all personal data in one shot.

How to Erase All Content and Settings (iOS 17 / iOS 18)

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
4. Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
5. Enter your passcode when prompted.
6. Tap Continue and confirm. The iPhone will restart and wipe everything.

Note: This method is overkill if you only want to delete photos and keep using your phone. Use Methods 1 or 2 in that case.

Method 4: Delete iPhone Photos via Mac (Image Capture App)

If you have access to a Mac, the free Image Capture app gives you a clean grid view of every photo on your iPhone and lets you delete them all from your computer — no third-party software needed.

Steps

1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
2. Unlock your iPhone and tap Trust on the "Trust This Computer?" prompt.
3. Open Image Capture (search in Spotlight with Cmd + Space).
4. Select your iPhone in the left sidebar under "Devices."
5. Press Cmd + A to select all photos and videos.
6. Click the Delete button (the red minus icon at the bottom-left of the window).
7. Confirm deletion.

Image Capture bypasses iCloud sync and deletes directly from the device's local storage. It also does not require you to install iTunes or any additional software.

Method 5: Delete iPhone Photos via iCloud.com

If you're at a computer — Mac or PC — and want to delete photos from iCloud (which will also remove them from your iPhone once sync completes), you can do it through a browser.

Steps

1. Open a web browser and go to icloud.com.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Click Photos.
4. Click on any photo, then press Cmd + A (Mac) or Ctrl + A (Windows) to select all.
5. Click the trash icon in the top-right corner.
6. Confirm deletion.
7. Go to Albums > Recently Deleted and click Delete All to permanently remove them.

Deletions made on iCloud.com propagate to your iPhone and all other iCloud-connected Apple devices within minutes, provided you have an internet connection.

Critical Step: Empty the Recently Deleted Album

No matter which method you used above, your photos are not permanently deleted until you empty Recently Deleted. They sit there for 30 days as a safety net — but they still count against your iPhone storage during that time.

How to Empty Recently Deleted on iPhone

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap the Albums tab.
3. Scroll down to "Utilities" and tap Recently Deleted.
4. Tap Select in the top-right.
5. Tap Delete All at the bottom-left.
6. Confirm by tapping Delete [X] Items.

After this step, the storage is immediately freed on your device. You'll see your available space increase in Settings > General > iPhone Storage within a few minutes.

Does Deleting Photos From iPhone Also Delete Them From iCloud?

This is the most common question — and the answer matters enormously. Here is the direct answer:

To check your current setting: go to Settings > Photos and look at the top of the screen. "iCloud Photos" will show as On or Off.

For a full breakdown of how iCloud sync affects your library, see our guide on freeing up space from iPhone photos and the FAQ page.

Quick Comparison: Which Method Should You Use?