How to Delete Photos

Open your device’s photo manager app., Select the photo you want to delete., Locate and tap the “trash can” icon., Select multiple photos to delete., Permanently delete photos from your device.

5 Steps 3 min read Medium

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Step 1: Open your device’s photo manager app.

    Go to the home screen on your phone or tablet and look for the icon of your device’s photo app.

    On iPhones, this app will simply be called “Photos,” though on other operating systems it might be labelled “Pictures” or “Gallery.” Tap the icon once to launch the app.On iPhones, the “Photos” app is normally on the first page of the home screen.

    For non-iPhone users, your photo manager app may appear among your other app icons or in a scrolling bar at the bottom of the screen.

    Inside your photo app, you’ll find all of the photos you’ve taken or saved, along with the various subfolders they’ve been grouped into—selfies, Panoramas, Instagram photos, etc.
  2. Step 2: Select the photo you want to delete.

    Sort through your stored photos to find the ones you want to remove from your device.

    You can either browse your entire gallery (known as the “Camera Roll” on iPhones) to see them all laid out in one place or explore different subfolders if you have them separated.

    Tap a photo to select and enlarge it.Selecting a photo will also allow you to find out more about it, such as the file size and type and the date it was taken or saved. , Once the photo is displayed on the screen, look for the delete option in the upper or lower righthand corner.

    On most devices, this appears as an icon in the form of a trash can.

    Tap this icon to select the photo for deletion.Most devices will ask you to confirm whether or not you want to delete the photo.

    Simply choose “delete” to move forward with the process, or “cancel” if you’ve changed your mind.

    Choosing to delete a photo doesn’t actually remove it from your phone.

    Instead, it sends it to a “recently deleted” folder, where it can be either be recovered or permanently erased. , If you’re trying to delete several pictures at once, you can save time by batching them together.

    Pull up your photo manager app so that you’re looking at an overview of all your pictures.

    Hit the trash icon or “select” option on your screen, then tap each photo you want to remove individually.

    After you’ve finished selecting the photos, your phone will erase all of them at the same time.This function is useful if you want to hand pick which photos stay or go, or you’re trying to destroy all evidence of a bad selfie session.

    Be careful not to accidentally select a photo you want to keep. , Deleting a picture only removes it from your photo gallery.

    To erase it from your device once and for all, go back to the main screen of your photo app and look for the “recently deleted” folder.

    All the photos you’ve deleted will remain here for a certain amount of time before they’re erased automatically.

    To speed up this process, tap the “select” option and either choose which photos you want to delete permanently or hit “delete all” to clear the photos out of your storage.It’s impossible to recover a photo after it’s been erased from the deleted files folder, so be certain you can live without it.

    Photos will usually stay in the “recently deleted” folder for 30 days before they’re automatically deleted.
  3. Step 3: Locate and tap the “trash can” icon.

  4. Step 4: Select multiple photos to delete.

  5. Step 5: Permanently delete photos from your device.

Detailed Guide

Go to the home screen on your phone or tablet and look for the icon of your device’s photo app.

On iPhones, this app will simply be called “Photos,” though on other operating systems it might be labelled “Pictures” or “Gallery.” Tap the icon once to launch the app.On iPhones, the “Photos” app is normally on the first page of the home screen.

For non-iPhone users, your photo manager app may appear among your other app icons or in a scrolling bar at the bottom of the screen.

Inside your photo app, you’ll find all of the photos you’ve taken or saved, along with the various subfolders they’ve been grouped into—selfies, Panoramas, Instagram photos, etc.

Sort through your stored photos to find the ones you want to remove from your device.

You can either browse your entire gallery (known as the “Camera Roll” on iPhones) to see them all laid out in one place or explore different subfolders if you have them separated.

Tap a photo to select and enlarge it.Selecting a photo will also allow you to find out more about it, such as the file size and type and the date it was taken or saved. , Once the photo is displayed on the screen, look for the delete option in the upper or lower righthand corner.

On most devices, this appears as an icon in the form of a trash can.

Tap this icon to select the photo for deletion.Most devices will ask you to confirm whether or not you want to delete the photo.

Simply choose “delete” to move forward with the process, or “cancel” if you’ve changed your mind.

Choosing to delete a photo doesn’t actually remove it from your phone.

Instead, it sends it to a “recently deleted” folder, where it can be either be recovered or permanently erased. , If you’re trying to delete several pictures at once, you can save time by batching them together.

Pull up your photo manager app so that you’re looking at an overview of all your pictures.

Hit the trash icon or “select” option on your screen, then tap each photo you want to remove individually.

After you’ve finished selecting the photos, your phone will erase all of them at the same time.This function is useful if you want to hand pick which photos stay or go, or you’re trying to destroy all evidence of a bad selfie session.

Be careful not to accidentally select a photo you want to keep. , Deleting a picture only removes it from your photo gallery.

To erase it from your device once and for all, go back to the main screen of your photo app and look for the “recently deleted” folder.

All the photos you’ve deleted will remain here for a certain amount of time before they’re erased automatically.

To speed up this process, tap the “select” option and either choose which photos you want to delete permanently or hit “delete all” to clear the photos out of your storage.It’s impossible to recover a photo after it’s been erased from the deleted files folder, so be certain you can live without it.

Photos will usually stay in the “recently deleted” folder for 30 days before they’re automatically deleted.

About the Author

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Gloria Martinez

Creates helpful guides on home improvement to inspire and educate readers.

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