The fastest way to clear all photos
The quickest method is to select all photos in the Photos app, then delete them in one action. Open Photos, tap "Select" in the upper right, then tap "Select All" at the top left. Scroll to the bottom and tap "Delete" — the app will ask you to confirm, and the photos move to Recently Deleted, where they stay for 30 days before permanent removal.
If you have thousands of photos, this can take a few seconds to load. If the app freezes or crashes, force-close it by swiping up from the bottom of the screen (or double-tapping the home button on older models), wait a moment, and try again with fewer photos selected at once.
Photos deleted this way go to the Recently Deleted album first. They do not disappear from your phone when ready — they sit there for a month, taking up storage space, until iOS automatically removes them. If you need the space right now, you can empty Recently Deleted manually by opening that album, tapping "Select All", and tapping "Delete" again.
Key Takeaways
- Open the Photos app, tap Select, then Select All, scroll down, and tap Delete to remove all photos at once.
- Deleted photos move to Recently Deleted and stay there for 30 days, still using storage space on your phone.
- Empty the Recently Deleted album manually if you need the storage space when ready rather than waiting a month.
- If the Photos app crashes while selecting thousands of photos, force-close it and try selecting smaller batches instead.
- Deleting photos from the Photos app removes them from your phone but not from iCloud if you have iCloud Photos turned on.
Deleting photos when iCloud Photos is on
If you have iCloud Photos enabled in Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos, deleting photos from your iPhone also deletes them from iCloud and any other device signed into that account. This happens automatically — you do not need to do anything extra.
Before you delete everything, check whether you want to keep any photos backed up to iCloud. If you do, turn off iCloud Photos first, wait for the backup to finish, then delete from your phone. The photos stay in iCloud even after you turn the feature off.
To turn off iCloud Photos, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos and toggle it off. You will see a message asking whether to keep photos on your iPhone or delete them. Choose "Keep on My iPhone" to preserve them locally, or "Delete from iPhone" if you want them gone from this device but kept in iCloud.
Using Settings to clear photos without opening the Photos app
You can also delete photos through the iPhone Settings app if the Photos app is not working properly. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage, scroll down to find the Photos app, tap it, and tap "Offload App" or "Delete App". This removes the app and all its data, including photos stored locally on your phone.
Offload App removes the app but keeps your photos if they are backed up to iCloud. Delete App removes both the app and the photos. After either action, you can reinstall the Photos app from the App Store — it will be empty if you chose Delete App, or it will show your iCloud photos again if you chose Offload App and have iCloud Photos on.
This method is slower than using the Photos app directly and should only be your choice if the app itself is crashing or not responding. For most people, selecting and deleting through the Photos app is simpler.
Clearing photos from specific albums or dates
If you do not want to delete everything, you can delete photos by album or date range instead. In the Photos app, tap the "Albums" tab at the bottom, select the album you want to clear, tap "Select", then "Select All", and tap "Delete". This works for any album — Favorites, Screenshots, Recently Added, or custom albums you created.
To delete photos from a specific time period, go to the "Library" tab, tap "Years" or "Months" at the top to change the view, then tap the year or month you want to clear. Tap "Select", then "Select All", then "Delete".
You can also delete individual photos by opening one, tapping the trash icon at the bottom right, and confirming. This is slower if you have many photos to remove, but it lets you keep some and delete others without creating a new album first.
What happens to photos in the Recently Deleted album
When you delete photos, they move to the Recently Deleted album instead of disappearing when ready. This gives you 30 days to change your mind and restore them. During those 30 days, the photos still count toward your iPhone's storage space.
To restore a photo, open the Recently Deleted album, tap "Select", choose the photos you want back, tap "Recover", and they return to your library. To permanently delete them before the 30 days are up, open Recently Deleted, tap "Select All", tap "Delete", and confirm.
After 30 days, iOS automatically and permanently deletes everything in Recently Deleted. You cannot recover photos after that point, so if you think you might want them back, do not empty Recently Deleted manually.
Freeing up storage space after deleting photos
Deleting photos removes them from your phone, but your iPhone may not show the freed-up space right away. iOS sometimes takes a few hours to update the storage count. Restart your phone to speed this up — turn it off completely, wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on.
If you deleted photos but your storage still shows as full, check whether Recently Deleted still has photos in it. Even though you deleted them from your library, they are still on your phone until you empty Recently Deleted or the 30-day timer runs out.
You can also check what is taking up space by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. This shows you which apps and categories are using the most room. Photos usually appear under "Photos and Camera" — if that number is still high after deletion, you may have photos in Recently Deleted or in other apps like Messages or Notes that store images too.
Preventing accidental deletion of important photos
Before you delete all photos, make sure you have backed them up somewhere if you want to keep them. The safest option is iCloud Photos — if it is on, your photos are already backed up and you can restore them later from any device. If it is off, your photos only exist on your phone.
You can also back up photos to a computer. On a Mac, open the Photos app, select the photos you want to keep, and drag them to a folder on your desktop. On Windows, connect your iPhone, open File Explorer, find your iPhone under "Devices", and copy the photos to a folder on your computer.
Another option is to export photos to Google Photos, Amazon Photos, or another cloud service before deleting them. These apps let you upload photos and keep them separate from your iPhone storage, so you can delete from your phone without losing them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete all photos without deleting the Photos app?
Yes. Open the Photos app, tap Select, then Select All, scroll to the bottom, and tap Delete. The app stays on your phone but becomes empty. You can also delete by album or date range if you want to keep some photos and remove others.
Do deleted photos take up space on my iPhone?
Yes, until you empty the Recently Deleted album. Deleted photos stay there for 30 days, still using storage space. To free up space when ready, open Recently Deleted, tap Select All, and tap Delete again to permanently remove them.
If I delete photos from my iPhone, do they disappear from iCloud?
Only if you have iCloud Photos turned on. If iCloud Photos is on, deleting from your phone also deletes from iCloud and all your other devices. If it is off, photos on your phone and iCloud are separate — deleting one does not affect the other.
What if I accidentally deleted photos I wanted to keep?
Open the Recently Deleted album in the Photos app, find the photos, tap Select, choose them, and tap Recover. They return to your library. You have 30 days to recover them before iOS permanently deletes them.
Why does my iPhone still say storage is full after I deleted photos?
Photos in the Recently Deleted album still count toward your storage space. Empty that album by opening it, tapping Select All, and tapping Delete. You can also restart your iPhone to refresh the storage count — sometimes iOS takes a few hours to update it.