Keep only what you want
Tap to delete photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. When you delete a photo, it goes into your Recently Deleted album. They'll stay in there for 30 days and then they're gone forever.
If you add photos to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from iTunes, you can't delete them directly from your device in the Photos app. Learn how to delete the photos from iTunes.
Delete a photo
- Open the Photos app.
- Tap the photo or video that you want to delete.
- Tap
> Delete Photo.
Delete multiple photos
- Open the Photos app and tap Select.
- Tap each photo or video that you want to delete.
- Tap
> Delete Photos.
Here’s a tip—when you update your device to iOS 10 or later, you can tap, hold, and slide to select multiple photos and videos in a single swipe.
Get your photos back
If you accidentally delete a photo, you have 30 days to get it back from your Recently Deleted album. When you recover photos and videos, they go back into your All Photos album.
- Open the Photos app and go to the Albums tab.
- Open the Recently Deleted album and tap Select.
- Tap each photo or video that you want to keep.
- Tap Recover and confirm that you want to recover the photos.
If you're missing a photo or video, you can try these steps to find it.
Delete photos permanently
If you want to permanently delete your photos or videos within 30 days, you can remove them from the Recently Deleted album. When you delete a photo from this album, you can't get it back.
- Open the Photos app and go to the Albums tab.
- Open the Recently Deleted album and tap Select.
- Tap each photo or video that you want to permanently delete.
- Tap Delete.
Make space on your device
If you see a message that your device storage is full, you can free up space on your device when you delete photos and videos.
Before you delete anything, make sure that you back up the photos and videos that you still want. When you use iCloud Photo Library and delete a photo on one device, it deletes on your other devices too. iCloud removes the photos from every device that you're signed in to with the same Apple ID.
You can see how much storage you have left on your device when you go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Learn more about managing your device photo storage.
Delete and reset everything
Before you sell or give away your device, you can reset it and delete all of your photos and videos. When you erase the content and settings on your device, everything is removed and reset, including songs, videos, contacts, photos, calendar information, and anything else. All of your device settings are restored to their factory condition.