How to Delete All Photos From iPhone (Without Losing the Ones You Want)
Deleting every photo from an iPhone sounds like it should be one button. It is not, and there is a good reason: with iCloud Photos on, deleting on the phone deletes everywhere. So the job has two halves. First make sure a copy of the library exists somewhere else, then clear the phone in the way that matches how you use iCloud. This guide covers the safe order, the three ways to select thousands of photos at once, why the storage bar does not move straight away, and the middle path most people actually want: keep the library, delete the clutter.
The short version
- Copy first, delete second. A Mac, a PC, an external drive, or another cloud service. Only then delete.
- iCloud Photos on? Deleting on the iPhone deletes from iCloud and every other device. To keep the photos in iCloud and clear the phone, do not delete: turn on Optimize iPhone Storage instead.
- Selecting everything: in Photos, tap Select and drag across the grid; on a Mac with iCloud Photos, Command-A in Photos; on iCloud.com, select up to 1,000 at a time.
- Empty Recently Deleted afterwards, or the space does not come back for 30 days.
- Deleting the clutter, not the library, gets most of the space with none of the risk. Cleana finds duplicates, similar shots, screenshots, and big videos in one on-device scan.
Step 0: decide what "all" means
Before touching anything, answer one question: after this, where should the photos exist?
- Nowhere. You are selling the phone or you genuinely want a clean slate. Back up anyway, then delete.
- In iCloud, not on the phone. This is the most common wish, and deleting is the wrong tool for it. Skip to the Optimize iPhone Storage section.
- On a computer or a drive, not in iCloud or on the phone. Export, verify the export, then delete on the phone.
Step 1: get a copy somewhere else
To a Mac
Connect the iPhone with a cable and open Image Capture (in Applications, Utilities). Select all, choose a destination folder, and click Download. Image Capture copies the originals, including Live Photo videos and HEIC files, without touching the phone. The Photos app on the Mac can import too, and its "Delete items after import" option is convenient, but only tick it after a first run has completed and you have opened a few of the files.
To a Windows PC
Connect with a cable, unlock the iPhone, tap Trust, and open the iPhone under This PC in File Explorer. Copy the DCIM folder. For long-term use, set Settings, Camera, Formats to Most Compatible before shooting, or convert HEIC on the PC afterwards.
To another cloud
Any photo backup app can upload the whole library. Let it finish, check the count on the web version, and open a handful of originals to confirm they are full size, not compressed previews.
Check the copy
Compare the number of items in the copy with the number at the bottom of the Library view in Photos. Open the oldest and the newest. Only when the copy is complete does deleting become safe.
Step 2: understand what iCloud Photos will do
Open Settings, your name, iCloud, Photos. If Sync this iPhone is on, the library lives in iCloud and the iPhone shows a synced view of it. Deleting on the phone deletes in iCloud, on your iPad, and on your Mac, after a 30-day stay in Recently Deleted. That is not a bug; it is what syncing means.
If you want to empty the iPhone but keep everything in iCloud, turn the sync off first: Settings, your name, iCloud, Photos, switch off Sync this iPhone, and choose Remove from iPhone. The optimized copies are removed from the phone, the originals stay in iCloud, and nothing needs deleting at all. Anything not yet uploaded is kept on the phone, and iOS tells you if there is any.
Step 3: delete the photos
On the iPhone, with drag select
- Open Photos and go to the Library grid, All Photos view.
- Tap Select, tap the first photo, and without lifting your finger drag down the grid. Slide to the bottom edge of the screen and the grid scrolls while it keeps selecting.
- Tap the trash icon and confirm.
This handles a few thousand photos in a minute or two. On a very large library it is tedious but it works, and it is the only route with no computer.
On a Mac, with iCloud Photos
Open Photos on the Mac, click Library, press Command-A, then Command-Delete. Because the library is synced, everything is deleted on the iPhone as well. A mouse and a big screen make this the fastest way to clear a large library.
On iCloud.com
Sign in at iCloud.com, open Photos, click Select, then use Shift-click to select a range. The web app handles up to 1,000 items per selection, so a big library takes a few rounds.
Step 4: empty Recently Deleted
Deleted photos move to Recently Deleted under Utilities and keep using space for 30 days. Open it, authenticate, tap Select, then Delete All. Now check Settings, General, iPhone Storage. The bar can take a few minutes to update; a restart speeds it up. The reasons it sometimes still looks wrong are in does deleting photos free up iPhone storage.
If you are handing the phone over
Deleting photos one album at a time is the wrong tool for a phone you are selling or trading in. Use Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, Erase All Content and Settings. It removes the photos with everything else and signs out of your Apple Account. The full checklist, including what to do before the erase, is in clean up your iPhone before transferring to a new one.
The middle path: delete the clutter, keep the library
Most people who search for "delete all photos" do not want an empty library. They want the storage back. A typical library is a quarter to a third clutter: exact duplicates, eight versions of the same group photo, screenshots from 2023, a 4K video of a fireworks show. Removing those gives most of the space with none of the loss.
- The Duplicates album in Photos, under Utilities, merges exact copies.
- Media Types in Photos lists Screenshots, Screen Recordings, and Videos on their own, so you can select and clear a type at a time.
- Cleana covers what Photos does not: it groups similar shots and marks the best one, lists videos largest first, and clears screenshots in a swipe. Everything runs on the iPhone; removed photos go to Recently Deleted like any other delete. The quickest way through a big library is in how to delete photos fast on iPhone.
Quick answers
How do I delete all photos from my iPhone at once?
Open Photos, go to the All Photos grid, tap Select, then drag from the first photo down the grid to select everything, and tap the trash icon. Then empty Recently Deleted. On a Mac with iCloud Photos, Command-A and Command-Delete in Photos does it in one go.
Will deleting photos on my iPhone delete them from iCloud?
Yes, if iCloud Photos is on. They are removed from every device after 30 days in Recently Deleted. To clear the phone while keeping iCloud, turn off Sync this iPhone and choose Remove from iPhone instead of deleting.
How do I delete all photos but keep them in iCloud?
Do not delete. Go to Settings, your name, iCloud, Photos, turn off Sync this iPhone, and tap Remove from iPhone. The originals stay in iCloud.
Why is my storage still full after deleting all my photos?
Deleted photos sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Empty that album, then give the storage bar a few minutes or restart the phone.
Can I delete all photos without a computer?
Yes, with drag select in the Photos app. It is slower on a very large library, and iCloud.com in Safari on the phone is an alternative for selecting in big batches.
Is there a way to delete photos by year or month?
Not directly in Photos. Drag select in the grid stops where you lift your finger, so scroll to the month you want, start there, and drag to where it ends.
Get the space back without losing a thing
Copy the library, empty the phone the way that fits your iCloud setup, and empty Recently Deleted. If what you really want is the space rather than an empty library, download Cleana, free to download and 100% offline, and clear the duplicates, similar shots, and big videos instead.