Delete a single photo
- Open the photo in the Photos app.
- Tap the trash button.
- Confirm with Delete Photo.
Delete many photos at once
- In the Library tab (or inside an album), tap Select.
- Tap photos one by one or, much faster, slide your finger across several rows without lifting it: everything you touch gets selected.
- Tap the trash button and confirm.
Inside an album you also get Select All, handy for clearing an album in one go. Careful: deleting a photo removes it from every album and from your whole library. To take it out of just one album, use Remove from Album.
Where deleted photos go (and how to get them back)
Nothing disappears right away. Deleted photos go to Collections → Recently Deleted (below Utilities), where they stay for 30 days. To open it, tap View Album and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Recover a photo: tap Select, pick the photo, tap •••, then Recover.
- Recover All or Delete All: with nothing selected, tap •••.
- Free the space now: items in Recently Deleted still take up space. If you need it now, use Delete All. This can't be undone.
If you use iCloud Photos
With iCloud Photos on, your iPhone, iPad, Mac and iCloud.com share one library. Deleting a photo on your iPhone deletes it everywhere (once its 30 days in Recently Deleted are up). There's no button to delete a photo from just your iPhone and keep it in iCloud while sync is on.
If what you want is space on your iPhone without losing photos, you have three options:
- Optimize iPhone Storage (in Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Photos): your iPhone keeps lightweight versions and the originals stay in iCloud. It's on by default; if you see Download and Keep Originals selected, switch it. In iOS 27 the option sits inside iPhone Storage on that same screen.
- Turn off Sync this iPhone and choose Remove from iPhone: your photos stay in iCloud, but from then on nothing you do on the iPhone syncs. It's a big change, so think it through first.
- Move your photos to a computer or another service, check the copy is complete, and then delete them.
The fast way: decide one photo at a time
Selecting in a grid of thumbnails works when you know what you're looking for. But most wasted space is spread across your whole camera roll: the tenth shot of the same sunset, a receipt from two years ago, a shaky 400 MB video. For that, it's faster to see each photo full screen and decide with a gesture.
FAQ
Can I recover a photo I deleted by mistake?
Yes, for 30 days. It's in Collections → Recently Deleted: select it, tap ••• and Recover. Once you've emptied Recently Deleted, it can't be recovered from your iPhone.
I deleted lots of photos and didn't get any space back. Why?
Because they sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Empty it with Delete All to free the space immediately. And if Optimize iPhone Storage is on, each photo takes up less space on your iPhone than the original, so you save less than you expected. We explain it in detail in why your iPhone is still full after deleting photos.
How do I delete photos from my iPhone but not from iCloud?
With iCloud Photos on, you can't: deletions sync. What you can do is turn on Optimize iPhone Storage, or turn off Sync this iPhone and choose Remove from iPhone. See above.