How to Delete All Photos on Google Photos: A Complete Guide

Storing and sharing your precious memories on Google Photos offers convenience, but it also means entrusting your personal data to Google’s ecosystem. While Google emphasizes user-friendliness, concerns about privacy and data usage are valid, prompting many to seek alternatives and understand how to manage their data within Google services. Concerns have also arisen due to changes in Google’s policies, such as the end of unlimited free storage for “high-quality” photos, pushing users to reconsider their reliance on the platform.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of safely deleting photos from Google Photos without losing them from your phone or other devices. We’ll cover methods for both mobile apps and web browsers, ensuring you understand how to effectively remove your images from Google’s cloud. Furthermore, we’ll discuss how to fully disengage from Google Photos and explore more privacy-respecting alternatives for your photo storage needs.

Why You Might Want to Delete All Your Google Photos

There are compelling reasons to consider deleting your photos from Google Photos, primarily centered around privacy and data control.

Google’s business model relies on analyzing user data, and Google Photos is no exception. The platform can analyze your photos using facial recognition to identify individuals and determine locations based on landmarks and metadata. While options exist to disable features like face grouping and location tagging, the underlying reality remains: your photos and associated metadata are processed and stored by Google, governed by their data policies.

The introduction of features like “Ask Photos,” powered by Google’s AI model Gemini, further intensifies privacy concerns. While Google assures users that personal photos aren’t used for general AI training and human review is limited, historical incidents highlight the potential for errors and unforeseen consequences. Mistakes can happen, and in the past, Google has made errors that could lead to account termination and loss of access to your data across all Google services.

Even subscribing to Google One doesn’t fundamentally change the privacy equation. Whether you’re a free or paid user, your data within Google Photos remains valuable to Google. For users prioritizing data privacy and control, moving away from Google Photos becomes a significant step in reclaiming their digital footprint.

Step-by-Step Guide: Deleting Photos from Google Photos Without Deleting Them From Your Device

We’ll detail two primary methods for deleting your photos from Google Photos while ensuring they remain safe on your devices: using the Google Photos app (on Android or iOS) and using Google Photos in a web browser on your computer. The browser method is generally faster, especially for deleting a large number of photos.

Method 1: Using the Google Photos App (Android or iOS)

1. Open the Google Photos app on your Android or iOS device.

2. Tap your Profile Picture: Locate and tap your profile picture or initials in the top right corner of the app.

3. Access Backup Settings: Select Backup from the menu.

4. Disable Backup: Toggle off Backup photos & videos on this device automatically. Important: If you use Google Photos across multiple devices synced to the same Google account, you must disable backup on each device where you want to keep photos locally. Otherwise, deleting from Google Photos in one location will remove them everywhere.

5. Select Photos for Deletion: Go back to the main Photos section and select the photos you wish to delete from Google Photos.

6. Delete and Move to Trash: Tap the Delete icon (trash can) at the bottom of the screen and confirm by selecting Move to trash.

   Your deleted photos will now reside in the Google Photos trash for 60 days before automatic permanent deletion. To expedite the process:

7. Access Trash: Navigate to Library → Trash.

8. Empty Trash: Tap Select in the top-right corner, then choose Delete all, and finally Empty Trash to permanently remove the photos immediately.

   Tip for Selecting Multiple Photos: Google Photos doesn’t have a straightforward “select all” option. However, you can streamline bulk deletion within the app:

   1. In the Photos section, tap the three vertical dots (menu).

   2. Enable Stack similar photos for easier organization.

   3. Set the layout to Month for a monthly view.

   This allows you to select all photos within a month by tapping the selection circle next to the month. Repeat this for each month, working backwards to delete in bulk. While still manual, it’s faster than individual selection within the app. For truly large deletions, the computer method is more efficient.

Method 2: Using Google Photos in a Browser (Computer)

Deleting photos via a web browser on a computer offers a more efficient way to select and delete numerous images due to keyboard shortcuts.

1. Disable Backup on Mobile Devices: First, ensure you have disabled backup on all mobile devices as outlined in Method 1 (steps 1-4) to prevent unintended deletions from your devices.

2. Access Google Photos in Browser: Open your web browser and go to Google Photos. Log in to your Google account.

3. Select Photos for Deletion:

   • Select a Range: To select a continuous series of photos, click the first photo, press and hold the Shift key, and then click the last photo in the range.
   • Select All Photos: To delete all photos, select the most recent photo, scroll to the bottom of your photo library (ensure all thumbnails load by scrolling with the mouse wheel or down arrow key, not the scroll bar), hold Shift, and click the very first photo. This will select all photos from beginning to end.

4. Move to Trash: Click the trash icon (delete) located in the top-right corner and confirm by clicking Move to trash.

5. Empty Trash: On the left sidebar, navigate to the Trash section.

6. Permanently Delete: Click Empty trash in the top-right corner and confirm by clicking Empty Trash again to permanently delete the photos.

Understanding Google Photos Syncing: How It Works

Google Photos’ syncing feature is designed for seamless access across devices. It automatically uploads photos taken on your smartphone and synchronizes changes across all devices linked to your Google account. Here’s a breakdown of how syncing impacts photo deletion:

• Cloud Availability: Uploading a photo to Google Photos makes it accessible on all devices with the Google Photos app logged into the same account.
• Automatic Uploads: By default, photos taken with your smartphone camera are automatically uploaded to Google Photos. Disabling the Google Photos app is the only way to completely prevent this automatic upload.
• Local vs. Cloud: If you disable syncing before taking a photo, it will remain only on your device and will not be uploaded to Google Photos. It will be visible locally within your Google Photos app, but not backed up to the cloud.
• Deletion Sync: Deleting a photo within the Google Photos app will remove it from all synced devices unless syncing is disabled on those devices beforehand.
• Cloud-First Deletion: Even if you disable syncing on a device and then delete a photo in the Google Photos app on that device, the deletion will still sync to the cloud and propagate to other devices with syncing enabled.
• Re-enabling Sync: When you re-enable syncing after a period of it being off, Google Photos will display all photos taken since syncing was disabled. A prompt to “delete” these photos can be misleading. Choosing this “delete” option at this stage will remove photos from both Google Photos and your device – it does not just exclude them from backup.

Preventing Google Photos from Deleting Photos from Your Device

Be cautious of the Free up space on this device option in the Google Photos app (found by tapping your profile picture). Using this feature will delete photos from your device that are older than 30 days and have already been backed up to Google Photos. If you have disabled backup and already deleted photos from Google Photos, using “Free up space” will result in permanent data loss.

Pixel phone users should also be aware of Smart Storage. If enabled, Smart Storage will automatically delete photos from your device if they are older than 60 days and have been backed up to Google Photos. To disable Smart Storage on Pixel devices:

1. Open the Google Files App: Locate and open the Google Files app on your Pixel phone.

2. Access Clean Menu: Tap the menu icon (usually three horizontal lines) next to the search bar.

3. Go to Storage Details: Select Clean and tap the storage details section at the top, displaying your storage information.

4. Disable Smart Storage: Toggle off Smart Storage to prevent automatic deletion of photos from your device.

Completely Removing Google Photos and Its App

The most direct way to remove everything from Google Photos is to delete your entire Google Account after backing up all essential data. However, if you wish to continue using other Google services, you can simply stop using Google Photos and disable its access to your data.

Uninstalling Google Photos is straightforward on iPhones, similar to any other app. On Android, as Google Photos is often pre-installed, traditional uninstallation via the Play Store only removes updates, not the app itself. However, you can disable the app and revoke its permissions:

1. Open Android Settings: Access your Android device’s Settings menu.

2. Navigate to Apps: Go to Apps or Applications (the exact wording may vary depending on your Android version).

3. Find Google Photos: Locate and select Google Photos from the list of installed apps.

4. Disable the App: Tap Disable and then Disable App to confirm.

5. Force Stop: Tap Force Stop and confirm again to ensure the app is completely stopped.

6. Revoke Permissions: Go to Permissions.

7. Deny All Permissions: Tap each entry listed under Allowed and change the permission setting to Deny.

8. Restart Your Device: Restart your Android device to ensure all changes are applied.

Consider Privacy-Focused Alternatives Like Proton Drive

If data privacy is a primary concern, consider migrating to a privacy-respecting cloud storage service like Proton Drive for your photos and other files.

Proton Drive employs end-to-end encryption to protect your files. This means your photos are encrypted from the moment they leave your device until they are decrypted by you, ensuring that not even Proton can access their content. Unlike Google Photos, Proton Drive does not scan your photos or use them for AI training. Metadata, such as file names and locations, is also encrypted, minimizing data exposure.

Proton Drive offers secure sharing features, allowing you to generate end-to-end encrypted shareable links, set passwords, and define expiration dates for shared photos. You maintain full control over access to your shared items and can revoke access at any time. Offline access to important photos is also supported.

Proton Drive is accessible via web browser, desktop apps for Windows and macOS, and mobile apps for Android and iOS. Automatic photo backup is available on both desktop and mobile platforms.

Proton prioritizes security with features like two-factor authentication (2FA) for account protection and optional biometric or device lock security for the Drive app itself.

Proton is committed to privacy, being primarily owned by a non-profit foundation and based in Switzerland, which adheres to strong data protection laws. All Proton apps are open source and undergo independent security audits. Proton also utilizes full-disk encryption on its servers to ensure the continuous safety of your data.

Stepping away from Google Photos and choosing Proton Drive is a significant step towards reclaiming your online privacy. A Proton account provides access to a comprehensive encrypted ecosystem for your digital life, including password management, VPN, email, and calendar.