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[Comprehensive Guide] How to Delete All Photos from iPhone

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As digital albums continue to expand, it's essential to know how to manage our photo collections effectively. Whether you're looking to free up valuable storage space, start afresh with a clean slate, or safeguard your privacy, deleting all photos from your iPhone is a task you might find yourself faced with. Fortunately, there are several methods on how to delete all photos from iPhone. Read to learn about them.

how to delete all photos from iphone

 

Part 1. FAQs About Erasing All Photos from iPhone

Q1. What to Notice Before Erasing All Photos from iPhone?

Ensure you've created a backup of the photos and videos you wish to keep. It's important to note that when using iCloud Photos, deleting a photo or video on one device will result in its removal from all other devices where you're logged in with the same Apple ID.

Deleted photos and videos are initially moved to your Recently Deleted album, where they will remain for 30 days. After this period, they will be permanently removed from your devices.

If you've transferred photos to your iPhone or iPad by connecting your device to your computer, you won't have the option to delete them directly from your device using the Photos app. If the Trash button appears grayed out when attempting to delete a photo from your iPhone or iPad, it may be necessary to halt the synchronization of photos from your computer.

We provide steps on how to stop syncing photos from your computer below:

1. Open Finder and connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable. Ensure your device is unlocked.

2. In the Finder window's sidebar, you'll find your device listed. Click the device.

3. If prompted, confirm your trust in the device. Then locate the "Photos" tab below your device's information and select it.

locate photos tab of finder

4. To stop syncing specific albums, opt for "Selected albums" and uncheck the boxes next to the albums you want to stop syncing.

5. To stop syncing all photos, unselect "Sync Photos" and then click on "Remove photos".

6. Click "Apply".

Q2. Will Photos Deleted from iCloud Get Deleted from iPhone?

If you delete photos from the iCloud website, they will be removed from your iCloud Photo Library, but whether they get removed from your iPhone as well depends on how your iPhone is set up to sync with iCloud.

If your iPhone is set to sync and store photos in iCloud, and you have the "Optimize iPhone Storage" option enabled, then your iPhone will keep smaller, lower-resolution versions of your photos on the device to save space. When you open a photo on your iPhone, it will download the full-resolution version from iCloud. If you delete a photo from iCloud.com, it will be removed from the iCloud Photo Library, and the smaller version on your iPhone will be replaced with a placeholder. If you try to open the deleted photo on your iPhone, it will be downloaded from iCloud again.

If you have "Download and Keep Originals" enabled on your iPhone, then the photos will be stored at full resolution on your iPhone. In this case, deleting a photo from iCloud.com will not remove it from your iPhone unless you manually delete it from your device.

To ensure your photos are removed from both iCloud and your iPhone, you should delete them from both the iCloud website and your iPhone's Photos app.

Q3. How Do I Delete All Photos from My iPhone but Not from iCloud?

To remove photos solely from your iPhone while preserving them in iCloud, commence by deactivating the sync between your iPhone and iCloud within your device's settings. Follow these steps:

1. Open the "Settings" app on your device.

2. Navigate to "Apple ID" (your iCloud account) settings and choose "iCloud".

3. Within the "iCloud" settings, locate "Photos" and select it.

4. Turn off the "iCloud Photos" toggle. Additionally, opt for the "Optimize iPhone Storage" setting to further optimize your device's storage.

turn off icloud photos

You may also need:

Do Photos Stay on iCloud if Deleted from iPhone? How to Recover Them?

4 Methods on How to Download Photos from iCloud to iPhone

Q4. How Do I Keep My Photos Without Taking Up Space on My iPhone?

Photos taking up too much storage space on your iPhone? Try saving them to the cloud services instead - Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.

back up photos to dropbox

The advantage of saving photos to cloud services is that you can get access to them easily and it saves a lot of storage space on your phone.

The disadvantage is that the free storage space would be too small for the users with huge amounts of files to store and they'll need to pay extra fee for larger space.

Part 2. How to Delete All Photos from iPhone 13/More

"How do I delete all photos from my iPhone?" This part introduces 5 easy and step-by-step methods. Check them out:

Method 1. How to Delete All Photos on iPhone Directly

As mentioned above, deleted photos and videos will be moved to the Recently Deleted album, where they will remain for 30 days - which means that you must delete the deleted photos from the Recently Deleted album to erase them from your device.

Here are the steps on how to achieve that:

1. Launch the "Photos" app and access the "Albums" tab. Remove all your photos by choosing them and then tapping the "Trash" icon.

2. Next, navigate to the "Recently Deleted" album. Select the specific photo or video you wish to remove, and then tap "Delete". To delete all the content within the album, simply tap "Delete All".

how to delete all photos on iphone

3. Confirm your action by tapping "Delete Photo". (N.B. Once a photo is deleted from this album, it cannot be recovered.)

Method 2. How to Delete All Pictures from iPhone via MacBook

To delete all pictures from your iPhone, you can use the Photos app and iTunes. Simply follow these steps:

1. Use a USB cable to connect your iPhone to your MacBook. If your iPhone is locked, you'll need to unlock it to allow the connection.

2. Launch the Photos app on your MacBook. In the Photos app, click on your iPhone to access your photos.

3. You can now select and delete photos individually or in batches. To select all photos, use the keyboard shortcut "Command"+"A" or choose "Edit" > "Select All" from the menu. Then, right-click on any of the selected photos and choose "Delete".

4. The deleted photos are moved to the "Recently Deleted" album in the Photos app on your iPhone. To permanently delete them, on the Photos app select "Recently Deleted". From there, tap "Select" in the upper right, then "Delete All" to permanently remove the photos.

mac recently deleted album

Extra Tip - Use iTunes

If you don't want to use the Photos app, you can also use iTunes to delete photos from your iPhone. Simply open iTunes on your MacBook and select your iPhone when it appears. Then, in the "Photos" tab within iTunes, you can choose to sync photos and select the option to "Sync Photos" with an empty folder. This will remove all photos during the synchronization process.

how to delete all pictures from iphone using itunes

Method 3. How to Delete All Photos in iPhone via a Windows PC

You can also use the built-in Windows File Explorer feature to delete all photos from your iPhone. Here's how to do it:

1. Use a USB cable to connect your iPhone to your Windows PC and tap "Trust This Computer" when prompted on your iDevice.

2. Open File Explorer on your Windows PC. You can do this by pressing "Windows"+"E" on your keyboard.

3. In the left sidebar of File Explorer, you should see your iPhone listed under "This PC". Click on your iPhone to access its contents.

4. Open the "Internal Storage" folder and look for a folder named "DCIM". This is where your photos are stored.

iphone dcim folder

5. Inside the "DCIM" folder, select the photos you want to delete. To select all photos, press Ctrl + A on your keyboard & right-click on the selected photos and choose "Delete".

Read more:

How Do I Stop My iPhone Photos from Syncing to My iPad? (Easy to Solve)

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

Method 4. How to Remove All Photos from iPhone via iCloud

You can also use the iCloud Photos feature, which syncs your photos across your devices. Here are the steps to do it:

1. Disable iCloud Photos on Your iPhone

  • Head for "Settings" app > "Photos".
  • Toggle off the "iCloud Photos" switch. (This will prompt you with a message about what to do with the photos on your iPhone. Select "Remove from iPhone". It will remove all photos stored in iCloud from your iPhone.)

turn off icloud photos syncing

2. Confirm Deletion

Ensure that you have a backup of any important photos as the photos will be deleted from your device. Tap "Remove from iPhone" to confirm.

3. Wait for Deletion

The deletion process may take some time, depending on the number of photos and your internet connection. Once completed, all photos will be removed from your iPhone.

4. Check iCloud

You can visit iCloud and log in with your Apple ID to verify if the photos have been removed from iCloud.

Extra Tip - Re-enable iCloud Photos

If you want to continue using iCloud Photos on your iPhone, you can re-enable it by going back to the "Photos" settings and turning on the "iCloud Photos" switch.

Method 5. How to Delete All Photos from iPhone At Once via Coolmuster iOS Assistant [Recommended]

Coolmuster iOS Assistant is a versatile and user-friendly software tool that empowers you with a streamlined solution to manage your data. Coolmuster iOS Assistant offers a convenient and secure method to delete all photos from an iPhone in a single sweep. The software simplifies the process, allowing you to manage your iPhone's media content with ease and precision.

Key Features of Coolmuster iOS Assistant

  • Automatically scan and display all files stored on your device.
  • Effortlessly export files from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to your computer or iTunes for safe backup.
  • Support for a variety of file types, including contacts, messages, photos, videos, music, notes, bookmarks, books, calendars, apps, and more.
  • Easily import contacts, bookmarks, calendars, books, iTunes backups, and various other data from your computer to your iDevice.
  • Streamlined process for both importing and exporting data on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod.
  • Broad compatibility with all generations of iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices.

To learn how to erase all photos from your iPhone, simply follow the steps:

01Download Coolmuster iOS Assistant, open it and connect your device to the computer using a USB cable. Select "Trust" on your device and click "Continue" to proceed when a pop-up window appears on your computer.

how to delete all photos in iphone via coolmuster

02Once your device is recognized by the software, you'll see all your file folders neatly organized on the main interface.

all your file folders will be neatly organized on the main interface

03Navigate to the "Photos" tab on the left. Check the box under "Export" to select all your photos, and then click "Delete" to remove all photos from your iPhone.

delete photos on iphone

Conclusion

Deleting all photos from your iPhone is a task that you can tackle with confidence. The methods discussed in this article cater to different preferences and technical skills, ensuring that you can choose the one that best aligns with your needs. From the simplicity of direct deletion within your iPhone's gallery to the versatility of using iCloud, Windows PC, or a tool like Coolmuster iOS Assistant, you have a range of options at your disposal. Just remember that before taking this step, it's wise to back up your photos to safeguard your cherished memories, as once they're gone, they're gone for good.

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