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How to Fix iPhone Won't Delete Photos | 8 Solutions Recommended

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"Why won't my phone let me delete photos?"

"What should I do? I just can't delete photos from my iPhone."

The Photos app is a convenient in-built tool to edit, organize, and delete photos in your iPhone. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to run into annoying hindrances such as photos not deleting from iPhone devices. On the flip side, if your iPhone won't delete photos, you can try a number of quick fixes to help you delete photos easily. In this article, we will discuss the top recommended quick and easy solutions to iPhone not deleting photos.

a picture expressing photos won't delete from iphone

 

Part 1: Why Aren't My Photos Not Deleting?

There are several reasons why photos won't delete from your iPhone, including:

  • Your photos are synced with iCloud. Turning on iCloud Photos syncing guarantees that your photos are getting stored not only on the device but also the cloud. In addition, note that if you enable Optimize iPhone Storage, it may be impossible to delete photos on your phone directly, since they are stored in iCloud.
  • Your photos are synced with iTunes library. Syncing photos to your iTunes may automatically add them to your device storage. As such, you may have to remove them from iTunes to delete them from your device.

There is also another chance that your photos won't be deleted from your iPhone if you added photos to your device via a third-party app.

Read more articles:

13 Solutions to Fix iCloud Photos Not Syncing on iPhone/iPad/Mac

How to Delete Synced Photos from iPhone/iPad Effectively?

Part 2: How to Fix Photos Not Deleting on iPhone [Basic]

Below is a list of the most effective solutions to iPhone not deleting photos, ranging in order of efficiency, reliability, and ease of use.

Method 1: Delete iPhone Photos Using iTunes & Image Capture

Allowing your iPhone to sync photos to your iPhone will erase the existing photos and sync the selected ones to the device. This makes it hard to delete photos from your iPhone. The simple solution is to stop the sync.

Here is how:

Step 1: Run the latest iTunes on your PC, then connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable.

Step 2: Click on your iPhone below the Device tab, then choose Photos from the top, then disable Sync Photos. When a pop-up window shows up, choose Remove Photos to remove the synced photos on your iTunes.

remove synced photos in itunes

Step 3: Open Image Capture on your Mac, choose and delete the photos you wish to delete from your iPhone.

delete iphone photos in image capture

Method 2: Delete iPhone Photos by Disabling iCloud Photo Library

If you enable iCloud photos, your device will download photos synced to iCloud from all devices. This makes it challenging to delete photos from your device.

Here is how to reverse this process to fix iphone not deleting photos issues.

Step 1: Go to your phone's Settings. Click on your account, then tap on iCloud > Photos.

Step 2: Toggle off the button next to iCloud Photos to disable photo syncing. Retry deleting photos from your device. If this doesn't work, consider the next possible solution.

disable icloud photos syncing

Method 3: Check iPhone Storage Suggestion

In some cases, it may be hard to delete photos from your iPhone when storage is full. In such cases, check your phone for storage suggestions to free up space.

Here is how: Simply go to your phone's Settings. Tap General, then iPhone Storage to check storage suggestions.

iphone storage

Are you hesitant about freeing up device space just to delete a few photos permanently? You can first back up your data to your computer to avoid mistakenly deleting some crucial data from your phone.

Method 4: Restart Your iPhone

Users report that a quick device restart can solve a wide range of issues. Try restarting your device to delete photos from your iPhone permanently. You can also try force restarting your iPhone.

To restart an iPhone with a Face ID:

Press and hold the side button and either of the volume buttons, until slide to power off shows on the screen. Slide the power button left to right. Wait a few seconds, then press and hold the side button to power your device.

To restart an iPhone without a Face ID:

Press and hold the power button until the slide to power off shows on the screen. Then swipe the power button from left to right to power off your device. After a few seconds, press and hold the power button to power your device.

reestart iphone

Method 5: Update Your Device

If your iPhone won't delete photos, chances are you're running an outdated software version which may have bugs and glitches. Installing the latest iOS update can fix this problem. Be on the lookout for Apple's latest updates to fix bugs and help your device operate smoothly.

To check for any available updates for your iPhone, run your Settings app. Tap General, then Software Update, then tap Download and Install on any available OS update. Alternatively, download Coolmuster iOS System Recovery to diagnose any update issues with your iPhone hindering you from deleting photos at will.

software update

Method 6: Contact Apple Customer Support

If you've tried every available solution at hand, but none works for you, consider reaching out to Apple's support team. Chances are it's due to a hardware fault. Whether it's a software or hardware issue causing your photos not to delete, visiting your nearest Apple device technician can help with iPhone won't delete photos issues.

More interesting passages:

How to Recover Photos from iPhone without iCloud [With Tutorial]

iPhone Calendar Disappeared: How to Recover Calendar App & Events on iPhone

Part 3: How to Delete iPhone Photos in an Effecient Way

Phase 1. Back Up Other iPhone Data Using Coolmuster iOS Assistant

Coolmuster iOS Assistant is a professional iOS data manager to help you to transfer and organize iOS data fast and easy. Besides transferring and organizing files, Coolmuster iOS Assistant's data manager can help you back up important data on iPhone, and you can also use Coolmuster iOS Assistant to delete photos on iPhone.

Features of Coolmuster iOS Assistant

  • Manage data saved on iOS devices using your Windows PC or Mac.
  • Manage iTunes backup files and iOS data on your computer.
  • Transfer iOS files freely after a quick preview and selection.
  • Back up and restore every data on your iPhone with a single click.
  • Import files to iOS devices from your computer directly.

How to Manage Files from iPhone Using Coolmuster iOS Assistant

Follow these steps to back up files from your iPhone using Coolmuster's dedicated data manager.

01Download, install, and launch Coolmuster iOS Assistant to your PC. Connect your device to the computer using a USB cable.

ios assistant main screen

02Choose the file types to back up, and click on Export to back up these files to your computer. To delete photos, simply click on Photos to select the photos you wish to delete and hit the Delete option.

manage photos using ios assistant

Phase 2. Erase All Data Using Coolmuster iOS Eraser

Coolmuster iOS Eraser is a professional iOS data eraser developed by a team of experts focused on data security. With Coolmuster iOS Eraser, you can erase all data from iDevices, including deleted files. Best of all, Coolmuster iOS Eraser is free without compromising on functionality, making it the best fix to iPhone not letting you delete photos.

Features of Coolmuster iOS Eraser

  • Erase all data including system settings, private data, and delete files from iDevices.
  • Wipe out existing and delete data permanently without restoring.
  • Erase data from all supported iDevices, such as iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
  • Support a wide range of files, including photos, calendars, reminders, videos, call logs, contacts, text messages, app & app data, browsing history, notes, etc.

How to Fix Photos Not Deleting on iPhone with Coolmuster iOS Eraser

Follow these steps to repair iPhone not letting me delete photos issues.

01Download, install, and launch Coolmuster iOS Eraser to your Windows PC. Connect your iPhone to your computer.

erase all data using ios eraser

02Choose the erasing level that you need and click Erase to erase your iPhone completely and permanently. Follow the prompts to set the desired security level.

erasing levels of ios eraser

Part 4. Bonus Tips for Fixing iPhone Not Deleting Photos

Below are extra tips you can try to fix iPhone not letting me delete photos.

1. Deactivate Low Power Mode

Your device may need more resources to delete recently deleted photos. Therefore, you may need to deactivate Low Power Mode. Run your Settings app, then go to Battery, then toggle off the button next to Low Power Mode. Check to see if the photos can be deleted. If not, consider an alternative solution.

disable low power mode

2. Deactivate the Phone's Auto Lock Feature

Ensure that your Apple Photos is up and running in the system background if you want to ensure the recently deleted photos are deleted permanently on your device. When you enable the auto-lock feature and your screen locks automatically, this may halt the photos deletion process.

Follow these steps to stop your iPhone from locking automatically and speed up the photo deletion process.

Step 1: Run your Settings app. Go to Display & Brightness.

Step 2: Go to Auto-Lock, then toggle the auto-lock feature to Never. Try deleting your photos now, then go back and toggle on the Auto-Lock feature.

iphone auto lock feature

The Bottom Line

"My iPhone won't let me delete photos. How can I go about it? "

If you're facing such kinds of restrictions on your iPhone, you can try a number of quick fixes such as disabling iCloud, restarting your device, or deleting photos from iTunes. However, if none of these options seem to work, consider an external professional tool, such as Coolmuster iOS Data Eraser. Download Coolmuster iOS Data Eraser or the iOS Assistant to manage your data and delete photos easily.

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