How to quickly delete all photos from your iPhone

You’ve captured dozens of sunsets, countless pet portraits, and thousands of moments with your friends and family. But all those pictures on the Photos app on your iPhone® can get to be too much of a good thing. You may want to start over with a clean slate. Asurion Experts are here to help, whether you’re ready to declutter your phone or clear out storage space before upgrading your device. Here’s our guide on how to delete all photos from your iPhone. 

Back up your photos 

Before you erase your iPhone photo library, it’s important to back up your photos if you want to keep some or all of the images. You can transfer photos from your iPhone to your computer, or you can use an external hard drive or cloud storage services like iCloud, Google Photos™, Dropbox®, or Microsoft OneDrive®.  Keep in mind that you may need to purchase additional storage if your photo library exceeds the limit of the service you’re using. 

Need help? Follow the steps in our guide on how to back up your iPhone.  

How to delete all the photos on your iPhone 

Ready to delete your iPhone photos? Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Library > All Photos.  
3. Tap Select in the top-right corner, then tap multiple photos or slide your finger across multiple photos to select more than one.  
4. Tap the trash icon, then press Delete Photos to confirm. 
5. The photos will disappear from your phone and be permanently deleted in 30 days. 

How to permanently delete all photos from your iPhone 

Ready to erase all your iPhone photos immediately? Make sure you’re ready for this step because you can’t undo it. Here’s what to do:

1. Open the Photos app. 
2. Tap Albums. 
3. Scroll down and tap Recently Deleted. 
4. Tap Select, then select the photo(s) you want to erase. 
5. Tap More (three dots) at the bottom of the screen, then tap Delete > Delete from all devices. 

What to do if you accidentally delete a photo 

If you accidentally erase a favorite picture from your iPhone, don’t fret. Any deleted photos will stay in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days. To recover the photo:

1. Open the Photos app. 
2. Tap Albums. 
3. Scroll down and tap Recently Deleted. In iOS 16 or later, tap View Album, then use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock the album. 
4. Tap Select, then select the photo that you want to keep. 
5. Tap More (three dots) at the bottom of the screen, then tap the photo you want to keep. If you want to recover all the photos in the album, tap Recover All. 
6. Tap Recover to confirm. 

Need more help finding a lost photo on your device? Check out our guide on how to recover lost photos on your iPhone. 

What to do if you can’t delete photos from your iPhone

If you can’t delete an image, here are a few possible solutions:

Check your storage

It’s possible your storage is full. Here’s how to check the storage on your device: Open Settings > General > [Device] Storage. If you need more storage, follow the steps in our guide on how to increase iPhone storage capacity.

Stop syncing photos from your computer

If you add photos to your iPhone by connecting it to your computer, you can’t erase them with the Photos app. If the Trash icon is gray when you try to delete a photo from your iPhone, you may need to stop syncing photos from your computer. Here’s how:

1. On your computer, open a Finder window and connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable. 
2. Unlock your phone.
3. Your device appears in the sidebar of the Finder window. Click the device to select it. 
4. If prompted, click trust your device. 
5. Click the Photos tab below your device’s information. 
6. Turn off Sync Photos (by clicking the box) then click Remove photos. 
7. Click Apply.