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How-To

Updated March 8, 2026

By Jack Smith, iOS Developer at DB Labs

How to Delete All Photos from iPhone

Whether you are selling your iPhone, starting fresh, or just need to clear everything out, here is how to delete all photos at once and permanently free up that storage.

Quick answer: Open Photos > Library > Select > Select All, then tap the trash icon and confirm. Then go to Albums > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All to permanently clear storage. Warning: if iCloud Photos is on, this deletes from iCloud and all devices too.
Warning: If iCloud Photos is enabled, deleting photos from your iPhone will also delete them from iCloud and every other Apple device signed in to the same account. Back up anything you want to keep before proceeding.

Step 1: Back Up First

Before deleting everything, make sure you have a backup if you want to keep any photos:

Step 2: Select All Photos

  1. Open Photos and go to the Library tab

    Open the Photos app. Tap Library at the bottom left. Make sure you are in the "All Photos" view (not a specific album or date).

  2. Tap Select

    Tap Select in the top-right corner. The photos will enter selection mode with small circles on each one.

  3. Tap Select All

    In the top-left corner, tap Select All. All photos and videos will be highlighted with blue checkmarks. You will see a count at the top showing how many items are selected.

Step 3: Delete Selected Photos

  1. Tap the trash icon

    With all photos selected, tap the trash icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

  2. Confirm deletion

    A dialog will appear asking you to confirm. It will say something like "Delete [number] Photos?" Tap Delete [number] Photos to confirm. The deletion may take a minute if you have thousands of photos.

Note: Photos are now in Recently Deleted but not yet permanently gone. Storage has not been freed yet.

Step 4: Clear Recently Deleted

  1. Go to Albums > Recently Deleted

    Tap the Albums tab at the bottom. Scroll to the bottom and tap Recently Deleted under the Utilities section. You will be prompted to authenticate with Face ID or passcode.

  2. Tap Select, then Delete All

    Tap Select in the top-right, then tap Delete All in the bottom-left. Confirm the action.

  3. Verify storage is freed

    Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and check the Photos category. It should now show a significantly smaller number.

Alternative: Selective Deletion with Swype

If you do not want to delete everything but need to clean up a lot of photos quickly, Swype Photo Cleaner is the fastest way. Swipe left on photos you want to delete, right on photos you want to keep. It is much faster than selecting photos one by one, and you stay in control of what gets deleted.

Prefer to Clean Selectively?

Swype lets you review every photo and decide instantly — swipe left to delete, right to keep. Clean hundreds of photos in minutes without deleting everything blindly.

Download Swype Free

Frequently Asked Questions

Does deleting all photos from iPhone delete them from iCloud?

Yes, if iCloud Photos is enabled. Photos deleted from your iPhone are deleted from iCloud and all other signed-in devices. To keep iCloud copies, turn off iCloud Photos in Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos before deleting, or use icloud.com to delete from iCloud separately.

Why does deleting photos not free up storage?

Deleted photos move to Recently Deleted for 30 days. During this period, they still count against your storage. To free storage immediately, go to Albums > Recently Deleted, authenticate, tap Select > Delete All, and confirm. This permanently removes them and frees the storage right away.

Can I recover photos after deleting all?

Yes, within 30 days — if you have not emptied Recently Deleted. Go to Albums > Recently Deleted and tap Recover to restore individual photos or Recover All to restore everything. After 30 days, or after manually emptying Recently Deleted, photos are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered from the device (though they may still exist in an iCloud or computer backup).

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