Can't Delete Photos on iPhone? 2 Ways to Fix It

"Why can't I delete some photos from my iPhone 8 Plus? There is no trash bin at the bottom for some photos. So what options do I have to delete these photos?"

"I synced my iPhone 7 with iTunes and all of the pictures from my iPhoto synced, and now I've got full memory since all of my pictures make up about 6GB. How do I delete these pictures?"

Method 1. How to Remove Undeletable Photos on iPhone via iTunes
Method 2. How to Selectively Delete Undeletable Photos on iPhone

Why Can't I Delete Some Photos on iPhone?

When clearing photos on iPhone, some iPhone users might find out that some photos on iPhone can't be deleted. How is that? What to do if iPhone photos can't be deleted? Actually, the photos on iPhone are classified, which means the photos that are taken directly with iPhone can be deleted while the photos that are synced from iTunes can not be deleted. And if you choose the synced photos on iPhone, you will find that the trash icon is greyed out and you are not permitted to delete them.

So some photos are not able to be removed but you have not noticed that difference between two types of photos on iPhone. So how to delete synced photos on iPhone? Since those "undeletable" photos are taking up a large of amount of space on iPhone, how to fix iPhone photos won't delete issue? This article will show you different ways to resolve this problem on iPhone as well as iPad.

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Method 1. How to Remove Undeletable Photos on iPhone via iTunes

If you are syncing photos from computer to iPhone via iTunes, these photos are undeletable directly on your iPhone and you need to stop syncing or delete photos from computer. The photos on iCloud Photo Stream and Camera Roll can be deleted directly on your iPhone, if you want to delete synced photos from iTunes, you can refer to the instructions as below. Please be noted that this will delete all photos from iTunes on your iPhone without preview and selection.

Note: In case of data lost, please remember to back up your iPhone before deleting photos via iTunes.

Here's how:

Step 1. Launch the latest iTunes on your computer and link your iPhone to computer with a USB cable. Then the program will automatically detect your device, please click your iPhone icon on iTunes to move on.

Step 2. Please hit "Photos" tab on the left panel on iTunes, check "Sync Photos" option on the right panel. On "Copy photos from:" option, please make sure you have not chosen any album or photos here.

Step 3. Then choose "Selected folders" option on the next part, but actually you have not choose any photo or album here. You can check if you have selected photos with above "Copy photos from" option.

Step 4. After that, click "Apply" button to sync no photo from iTunes to iPhone. Thus the synced photos from iTunes will be removed on your iPhone now.

See Also: How to Fix iCloud Photo Stream Not Syncing to iPhone

Method 2. How to Selectively Delete Undeletable Photos on iPhone X/8/7

As mentioned above, using iTunes to delete undeleted synced photos from iPhone will delete all pictures from your iPhone, not only the synced or undeletable photos, which is not suitable for all iPhone or iPad users. So the better way is to selectively delete undeletable photos from iPhone/iPad after preview and selection with a good assistant - photo cleaner for iOS - Coolmuster iOS Eraser.

This Photo Cleaner for iOS can help you easily delete undeletable photos from iPhone/iPad/iPod with one click. Importantly, you have the choice to preview and select unwanted photos before deleting. Besides photos, you can also completely delete other personal files without any chance to be recovered, including contacts, messages, call history, Safari history and more with ease.

Now, please free download the Photo Cleaner for iOS on your computer and start to selectively delete undeletable photos from iPhone with ease.

Here is how:

Step 1. Install and launch the Photo Cleaner for iOS on your computer and connect your iPhone to computer with a USB cord to make the program automatically detect your device.

Step 2. On the main interface, please choose "Erase Private Data" mode to delete undeletable photos on your iPhone. Then the program will automatically scan all your private data on your device.

Step 3. After quick scanning, please click "Photos" tab on the left panel to preview and select unwanted photos on your iPhone, including the deletable and undeletable photos. After selection, simply hit "Erase Now" button and type "delete" on the pop up window to confirm your action and start to delete undeletable photos from iPhone right away.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you're unable to delete certain photos from your iPhone, it could be because they were synced from iTunes and not taken directly with the device. To remove these "undeletable" photos, you can use the two methods introduced previously. If you want permanent deletion, choose Coolmuster iOS Eraser. This tool can remove all photos from your iPhone, including the undeletable and existing files.

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