How to Truly Delete Deleted Photos on Your iPhone: A Complete Guide

Managing photos on your iPhone is usually straightforward, but understanding the deletion process can be a bit tricky. When you delete photos from your iPhone, they don’t actually disappear immediately. Instead, they are moved to a “Recently Deleted” album, acting like a recycle bin for your photos. This is a great safety net, allowing you to recover accidentally deleted memories. However, if you’re looking to free up storage space or permanently remove sensitive images, you need to know how to go beyond the initial delete and truly get rid of those photos.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about deleting photos on your iPhone, including how to delete them permanently after they’ve been moved to the “Recently Deleted” album.

Understanding the iPhone Photo Deletion Process

Before we dive into the steps, let’s clarify what happens when you delete a photo on your iPhone:

1. Initial Deletion: When you tap the trash icon in the Photos app, the selected photos or videos are moved to the “Recently Deleted” album. They are not immediately erased from your device’s storage.
2. Recently Deleted Album: This album holds your deleted photos for 30 days. During this period, you can easily recover them if you change your mind.
3. Permanent Deletion (Automatic): After 30 days in the “Recently Deleted” album, the photos are automatically and permanently deleted from your iPhone.
4. Permanent Deletion (Manual): If you need to free up space or ensure immediate removal, you can manually delete photos from the “Recently Deleted” album before the 30-day period.

Understanding this process is key to effectively managing your iPhone photo storage and ensuring your privacy.

Steps to Delete Photos on Your iPhone

Let’s start with the basics: deleting photos and videos from your main photo library.

How to Delete a Single Photo or Video

iPhone showing Delete Photo option

1. Open the Photos App: Locate and open the Photos app on your iPhone’s home screen.
2. Select the Photo: Navigate to your Library, Albums, or Search to find the photo or video you wish to delete. Tap on the image to view it.
3. Tap the Trash Icon: Look for the trash can icon, usually located at the bottom right corner of the screen. Tap this icon.
4. Confirm Deletion: A confirmation prompt will appear, asking “Delete Photo?”. Tap “Delete Photo” to move the item to the “Recently Deleted” album.

How to Delete Multiple Photos or Videos

iPhone showing multiple photos selected in the Photos app

1. Open the Photos App: Open the Photos application on your iPhone.
2. Tap Select: In your Library or an album, tap the “Select” option typically found in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Select Photos: Tap on each photo or video you want to delete. A blue checkmark will appear on each selected item. You can also swipe your finger across multiple photos to select them quickly.
4. Tap the Trash Icon: Once you’ve selected all the items, tap the trash can icon.
5. Confirm Deletion: Confirm your action by tapping “Delete [Number] Items” in the prompt that appears.

How to Delete Photos Permanently from “Recently Deleted” on iPhone

Now, let’s get to the core of permanently deleting photos. Simply deleting photos from your library isn’t enough to truly remove them from your iPhone right away. You need to empty the “Recently Deleted” album.

1. Open the Photos App: Go back to the Photos app on your iPhone.

2. Go to Albums: Tap on the “Albums” tab at the bottom of the screen.

3. Scroll Down to Utilities and Find “Recently Deleted”: Scroll down until you find the “Utilities” section. Within this section, you’ll see the “Recently Deleted” album. Tap on it.

   • Face ID/Touch ID Unlock (iOS 16.1 and later): If you are using iOS 16.1 or later, you might be required to use Face ID or Touch ID to access the “Recently Deleted” album for security reasons. Tap “View Album” and authenticate using your Face ID or Touch ID.

4. Tap “Select”: Once inside the “Recently Deleted” album, tap the “Select” option.

5. Select Photos for Permanent Deletion: You can individually select the photos you want to permanently delete, or if you want to delete everything in the album, you can usually find a “Delete All” option.

6. Tap “Delete”: After selecting the photos (or choosing “Delete All”), tap the “Delete” option. It might be represented by the “More” button (three dots) then “Delete”, or a direct “Delete” button.

7. Confirm Permanent Deletion: A confirmation message will appear, warning you that this action is irreversible. Tap “Delete Photo” or “Delete [Number] Photos” to permanently remove them.

Important Note: Once you delete photos from the “Recently Deleted” album, they are gone for good. There is no way to recover them from your iPhone itself after this point. Make absolutely sure you are ready to permanently delete these photos before proceeding.

Recovering Photos from “Recently Deleted” (Before Permanent Deletion)

If you deleted a photo by mistake or changed your mind, you can easily recover it from the “Recently Deleted” album, as long as it’s within the 30-day window.

1. Open Photos App and Go to “Recently Deleted” Album: Follow steps 1-3 from the “How to Delete Photos Permanently” section above to access the “Recently Deleted” album.
2. Tap “Select”: Tap the “Select” option.
3. Select Photos to Recover: Choose the photos or videos you want to recover.
4. Tap “Recover”: Tap the “Recover” option, usually found at the bottom right or under the “More” button.
5. Confirm Recovery: Confirm by tapping “Recover Photo” or “Recover [Number] Photos”. The recovered items will be moved back to your main Photos Library.

Deleting Duplicate Photos to Save Space

Another way to manage your photo storage is to delete duplicate photos. iPhones with iOS 16 and later have a built-in feature to detect and merge duplicates.

1. Open Photos App and Go to Albums: Open the Photos app and tap the “Albums” tab.
2. Find “Duplicates” Album: Scroll down to the “Utilities” section. If your iPhone has detected duplicate photos, you will see a “Duplicates” album.
3. Tap “Duplicates”: Open the “Duplicates” album.
4. Review and Merge Duplicates: The Photos app will show sets of duplicate photos. Tap “Merge” to combine the duplicates, keeping the highest quality version and moving the others to “Recently Deleted”.
5. Confirm Merge: Tap “Merge [Number] Items” to confirm the action.

iCloud Photos and Deletion

If you use iCloud Photos, deleting photos works a bit differently. When you delete a photo on one device (like your iPhone) that’s synced with iCloud Photos, it will be deleted across all your devices signed in with the same Apple ID. The deleted photos will still go to the “Recently Deleted” album, and the same 30-day recovery and permanent deletion rules apply.

Important: Be mindful that deleting photos when using iCloud Photos will affect all your devices.

Photos Synced from Computer

If you added photos to your iPhone by syncing from your computer (using Finder on macOS or iTunes on Windows), you cannot delete them directly from the Photos app on your iPhone. The delete option will be greyed out. To remove these photos, you need to stop syncing them from your computer. You can find instructions on how to stop syncing in Apple’s support documentation.

Conclusion

Effectively deleting photos from your iPhone involves understanding the two-step process: first to “Recently Deleted” and then permanent deletion from that album. By following these steps, you can manage your iPhone photo storage, free up space, and ensure your photos are truly removed when needed. Remember to always back up important photos before deleting and be cautious when permanently deleting from the “Recently Deleted” album, as this action is irreversible.