Having too many photos stored on your phone can take up a lot of storage space and slow down performance. If you want to free up space or start fresh, deleting all photos from your gallery is an option. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to delete all photos from your Android or iPhone gallery.
Android
There are a few different ways to delete all photos on an Android device:
Delete from Gallery App
If you want to delete photos stored locally on your device, you can use the Gallery or Photos app:
- Open the Gallery or Photos app on your Android device.
- Tap on the menu icon in the top left corner.
- Select “Select all” to choose all photos.
- Tap the trash icon at the bottom to delete all selected photos.
- Confirm the deletion when prompted.
This will delete all photos stored locally on your device. However, it will not delete any photos synced to cloud services like Google Photos.
Clear Cache and Storage in Gallery App
Some Gallery apps have an option to clear the app cache and storage. This can help free up space by removing cached thumbnails and data:
- Open your Gallery or Photos app.
- Go to Settings or More options.
- Look for a “Clear cache” or “Clear app storage” option.
- Tap to clear cached files and photos saved within the app.
Again, this only deletes locally saved photos, not synced cloud images.
Delete from Device Storage Settings
You can delete all photos and videos from your device’s internal storage in the Settings menu:
- Go to Settings > Storage on your Android.
- Select “Internal shared storage.”
- Tap on Photos & Videos.
- Hit the trash icon to delete all photos & videos.
This will permanently delete any photos saved on your phone’s storage. But it will not affect cloud synced photos.
Delete from Google Photos
If you back up your photos to Google Photos, you can delete photos from your account:
- Open the Google Photos app.
- Tap on Library.
- Select “Bin.”
- Tap on “Empty bin” to permanently delete all photos.
This removes all Google Photos synced across devices. Your locally saved device photos will remain untouched.
Factory Reset
Doing a factory reset on your Android will delete all photos and data from the device storage and reset it to factory settings. This is the most thorough option but also deletes everything else saved locally on your phone.
iPhone
Here are a few ways to delete all photos from an iPhone:
Delete from Photos App
You can use the Photos app to mass delete photos stored on your iPhone:
- Open the Photos app.
- Go to the Albums tab and select “Recents.”
- Tap “Select” in the top right.
- Select all photos.
- Tap the trash icon to delete the selected photos.
This removes all photos saved locally on your iPhone. But it does not affect iCloud photos.
Offload App in Photos Settings
Turning on the “Offload App” setting in Photos will temporarily remove photos and videos while keeping them in iCloud:
- Go to Settings > Photos.
- Turn on “Offload App.”
- Confirm offloading photos and data from your iPhone.
To retrieve the offloaded photos, simply turn off “Offload App.”
Delete from Recently Deleted Album
The Recently Deleted album stores deleted photos for up to 40 days before permanent removal:
- Open Photos and select “Albums.”
- Choose “Recently Deleted.”
- Tap “Select” and then select all photos.
- Tap “Delete All” to remove all photos.
This will permanently erase your deleted photos within the last 40 days.
Delete from iCloud Photos
Sign into iCloud.com/photos to delete photos synced from your iPhone:
- Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Photos.
- Choose “Delete & Disable.”
- Confirm disabling iCloud Photos.
This will delete all photos synced to iCloud from your iPhone and other linked devices.
Erase All Content & Settings
Erasing all content and settings on your iPhone will reset it to factory settings and delete all photos, apps, and data from the device storage.
How to Permanently Erase Deleted Photos
Even after deleting photos from your Android or iPhone, image files can still be recovered from storage. Here are some tips for permanent removal:
- Use a file shredder app that can overwrite photo data multiple times.
- Encrypt your device storage for added security.
- Manually delete photos from cloud backup services like Google Photos and iCloud.
- Perform a factory reset on your smartphone to wipe all storage.
Other FAQs about Deleting Photos
Will deleted photos still take up space?
When you first delete photos from your phone gallery or cloud storage, they will continue taking up space until the device clears the cache and overwrites the storage sectors where the photos were saved. Performing an occasional factory reset can help free up space from deleted photos.
Are permanently deleted photos gone forever?
It depends. If you manually delete photos from cloud services or do a factory reset, then those photos are likely gone for good. However, photos recently deleted from a phone may be recovered using data recovery software if the sectors have not been overwritten. So for permanent removal, make sure to also delete photos from the cloud and reset your device.
Will deleting photos also remove them from cloud backup?
No, deleting photos and videos locally on your Android or iPhone does not affect cloud-synced copies on services like Google Photos and iCloud. You will need to manually delete photos in your cloud account or disable auto-sync to remove cloud backups.
How can I recover deleted photos?
If you accidentally deleted photos from your Android device or iPhone and need to get them back, stop taking new photos. Then use data recovery software as soon as possible to scan your phone storage for recoverable photo files before they get permanently overwritten. You may also be able to restore photos from a recent cloud backup.
Conclusion
Deleting all photos and videos from your phone gallery can help free up storage space and give you a fresh start. Make sure to manually remove photos from cloud backup services as well for permanent deletion. Performing the occasional factory reset can also help wipe deleted photo data from your smartphone storage. Be very careful before deleting irreplaceable photos, and consider backing them up externally or to the cloud for extra redundancy.
