How to Bulk Delete Photos from iPhone

Your iPhone can capture incredible images. However, high-resolution snapshots consume lots of internal storage. Meanwhile, photo downloads from browsers and social media apps pose issues by creating needless clutter.

Removing individual images to free up space or declutter a photo library can be time-consuming and monotonous. Bulk deleting photos from your iPhone makes the process easier.

What Happens If You Use iCloud Photos

iCloud Photos allows you to back up photos on the iPhone and keep them in sync with other iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices that you’ve signed in to with the same Apple ID, which also causes any images you delete to disappear everywhere.

If you want to stop that, you must disable iCloud Photos. To do that, open the iPhone’s Settings app, select Photos, and turn off the switch next to iCloud Photos.

How to Bulk Delete Photos From the iPhone Photo LIbrary

The Photos app on the iPhone lets you bulk delete images from your main photo library once you enter selection mode.

1. Open the Photos app and switch to the Library tab.

2. Tap All Photos to access your photo library.

3. Tap the Select button to the top-right of the screen.

4. Tap to select a photo. You could tap to choose other images you want to delete, but this process can be slow. Instead, swiping across rows of thumbnails helps you select photos faster. Speed things up by swiping and holding your finger at the top or bottom corners of the screen.

5. Tap the Trash icon to the lower-right of the screen.

6. Tap Delete Photos to confirm that you want to remove photos from the iPhone.

How to Bulk Delete Photos From iPhone Albums

You can also bulk delete photos from any iPhone albums you or other apps may have created on your Photos app. You should also find the camera roll (labeled Recents) among them.

1. Open the Photos app and switch to the Albums tab. Then, select an album from the My Albums sections.

2. Tap the Select button and pick the photos you want to delete. Don’t forget to swipe to select multiple items quickly.

You can also tap the Select All button to the top-left of the screen to select all images in an album instantly. However, that does not apply to the Recents album.

3. Tap the Trash icon to remove the photos. Then, tap Delete to delete the pictures from your iPhone. Or, select Remove From Album to remove them from the album only.

Note: Deleting an album itself won’t remove the images inside it from the main photo library.

How to Bulk Delete Media Types

Your iPhone’s Photos app automatically categorizes images into media types such as Selfies, Live Photos, Screenshots, etc. That lets you focus your efforts on specific types of images. For example, bulk deleting screenshots can drastically cut down clutter and bring order to a photo library.

1. Open the Photos app and select Albums. Then, scroll down to the Media Types section and pick a media type—e.g., Screenshots.

2. Tap the Select button and swipe across the thumbnails to pick the items you want to delete. You can also tap Select All to choose every photo quickly.

3. Tap Delete Photos to remove them from your iPhone.

How Bulk Delete Images Using a Shortcut

The iPhone’s Shortcuts app allows you to automate actions such as deleting photos en masse. You can rely on a pre-made shortcut to help you with that.

1. Open the iPhone’s Shortcuts app. Switch to the Gallery tab and install the Clear Out Photos shortcut.

2. Run the shortcut from the Shortcuts app’s My Shortcuts tab.

3. Select the photos that you want to delete. You can also select images from albums after switching to the Albums tab.

4. Tap Add.

5. Tap Delete to remove the photos.

How to Remove or Recover Deleted Photos

When you delete images from your iPhone, you’ve got 30 days to recover them. But if storage is a concern, you can choose to delete them permanently.

1. Open the Photos app and select the Albums tab.

2. Scroll down and tap Recently Deleted.

3. Tap Select and pick the photos you want to delete or recover.

4. Tap Delete or Recover.

If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you can also recover deleted photos from other Apple devices.

How to Bulk Delete iPhone Photos Using Mac

Do you have a Mac at hand? If so, you can bulk delete photos from the iPhone using the two methods below.

Use the Photos App

If you use iCloud Photos, any changes that you make on the Photos app on your Mac shall also reflect on your iPhone. Hence, you can select multiple images by dragging the cursor or clicking them while holding down the Command key. Then, control-click and select Delete Photos.

Use the Photos app’s sidebar to switch between the Library (which comprises all of your photos), albums, and media types.

Note: When deleting photos inside an album, make sure to hold down the Option key after control-clicking to reveal the Delete option.

Additionally, you can filter photos using Smart Albums. Select File > New Smart Album and set the criteria such as camera type, image format, capture date, and so on. You can then pick the items and delete them in bulk.

Use Image Capture Tool

If you don’t use iCloud Photos, you can use Mac’s Image Capture tool to remove many photos at once.

Start by connecting your Mac over USB and select the images you want to delete. Then, open the Launchpad and select Other > Image Capture. Follow that by selecting your iPhone on the Image Capture tool’s sidebar to access your photo library.

Finally, choose the images you want to delete and select the Trash icon. You can also select the Download All button to back up the photos before deleting them.

How to Bulk Delete iPhone Photos Using a PC

If you have a PC instead of a Mac, you still have a couple of fast options to bulk delete images from the iPhone.

Use iCloud for Windows

If you use iCloud Photos, you probably have iCloud for Windows set up on your PC. Simply select iCloud Photos on the File Explorer sidebar and choose the photos you don’t want by dragging the cursor over the thumbnails or clicking while holding down Control. Then, right-click any highlighted item and select Delete.

Use File Explorer

If you don’t use iCloud Photos, you can bulk delete iPhone photos directly using File Explorer. Connect your iPhone over USB and select Apple iPhone > Internal Storage > DCIM in File Explorer. Then, select the relevant folder (you should find images categorized by year and month) and remove the photos you don’t want.

You can always choose to create a backup of your images by first copying them elsewhere on your PC.

Pick Your Method and Get Started

Bulk deleting unwanted photos is the quickest way to free up large amounts of storage and reduce clutter on your iPhone. Pick the method that suits you the best.