How to Delete Screenshots on iPhone (All at Once)

iOS automatically sorts every screenshot into a built-in Screenshots album, so you don't need a third-party app to find them. Open Photos > Albums > Media Types > Screenshots, tap Select, then drag your finger across thumbnails to multi-select dozens at once. Tap the trash icon, then empty Recently Deleted — otherwise the photos sit on your phone for 30 more days without freeing space.

Where does the iPhone keep all my screenshots?

Every time you press the side button and volume-up button together, iOS saves the image to your camera roll and simultaneously files a copy in a Screenshots album under Photos > Albums > Media Types > Screenshots. You don't have to create this album or turn anything on — it's automatic on every iPhone running any recent iOS version. A typical screenshot is 0.5-2 MB, smaller than a typical camera photo (2-5 MB), because it's a compressed screen capture rather than a full sensor image. That still adds up: 1,000 screenshots can easily consume 1-2 GB. If you've never checked this album, it's worth opening first — for many people it holds years of chat screenshots, boarding passes, and memes they forgot they saved.

How do I select and delete many screenshots at once?

The fastest built-in method is a drag-select, not tapping each thumbnail individually.

1. Open Photos > Albums > Media Types > Screenshots.
2. Tap Select in the top-right corner.
3. Tap one thumbnail, then, without lifting your finger, drag across the grid to select a run of screenshots. Lift and repeat to extend the selection.
4. Tap the trash icon in the bottom-right corner.
5. Confirm Delete [n] Photos in the pop-up.

This moves the selected screenshots to Recently Deleted, not permanent deletion — nothing is erased from your device yet. If you have thousands to review, expect to do this in batches; iOS can lag when a single drag-select spans several hundred items on older hardware.

Should I save any screenshots before bulk-deleting?

Yes — screenshots often stand in for receipts, boarding passes, two-factor codes, and warranty confirmations, not just casual chat captures. Before you mass-delete, scroll through once and tap Share > Save to Files (or forward to yourself in Mail or Notes) for anything you might need later, like a purchase confirmation or event ticket. Our guide on cleaning up receipt photos covers exporting these to a proper folder instead of leaving them buried in Photos. If you're unsure whether screenshots are safe to delete at all, should I delete screenshots walks through what's actually safe to remove versus what to keep.

How do I actually free up space after deleting screenshots?

Deleting from the Screenshots album doesn't reclaim storage immediately — it moves items to Recently Deleted, where iOS keeps them for 30 days in case you change your mind. Space is only returned when that album is emptied, either manually or automatically after the 30-day window expires.

1. Open Photos > Albums > Utilities > Recently Deleted.
2. Tap Select, then Delete All in the bottom-left corner.
3. Confirm permanent deletion.

Skipping this step is the most common reason people delete hundreds of screenshots and see no change in the "iPhone Storage Almost Full" alert. For a sense of scale:

Screenshots deleted	Approx. space freed (at 1 MB avg.)	Freed only after
100	~0.1 GB	Recently Deleted emptied
500	~0.5 GB	Recently Deleted emptied
2,000	~2 GB	Recently Deleted emptied

If you want space back without deleting anything permanently, freeing up storage without deleting photos covers offloading originals to iCloud instead.

When does a review-based cleaner help more than the built-in album?

The built-in Screenshots album is enough if you're comfortable scrolling and drag-selecting yourself — it costs nothing and needs no extra app. Where it falls short is triage: it doesn't separate duplicate screenshots, distinguish a receipt from a meme, or flag near-identical retakes of the same screen. A review-based cleaner like SnapSweep scans the album on-device, groups likely duplicates and clusters, and presents a swipe keep-or-delete flow so you make the final call on each — nothing is auto-deleted, and deletions still go through the same Recently Deleted step. It's a faster front end to the same OS mechanism, not a replacement for it.

What can't a screenshot cleaner do?

No app, built-in or third-party, recovers the storage used by apps themselves, system data, or caches — screenshot cleanup only affects the Photos library. Deleting screenshots on your iPhone is also a different action from deleting them in iCloud Photos: if iCloud Photos sync is on, removing a screenshot from your device removes it everywhere it's synced, including other devices signed into the same account, after the change propagates. And no algorithm reliably knows which of five near-identical screen captures you actually need — that judgment call still belongs to you during review. Finally, remember that anything in Recently Deleted still counts against your storage until you empty it or the 30 days pass.

FAQ

Does deleting screenshots free up iPhone storage right away?

No. Deleting a screenshot moves it to Recently Deleted, where it stays for 30 days by default. Storage is only reclaimed once you empty Recently Deleted manually (Albums > Utilities > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All) or the 30-day window expires.

Can I select all screenshots at once instead of dragging?

iPhone doesn't offer a single "select all" button inside an album, but tapping one thumbnail and dragging across the grid selects a continuous run quickly. For very large albums, do this in a few passes rather than one long drag to avoid the app lagging.

Will deleting screenshots on my iPhone also delete them from iCloud?

If iCloud Photos is turned on, yes — your Photos library syncs across devices, so deleting a screenshot on your iPhone removes it from iCloud and any other device signed into the same Apple ID once the change syncs, typically within minutes.

How do I know which screenshots are safe to delete?

Chat captures, memes, and expired tickets are usually safe once viewed. Receipts, active boarding passes, warranty codes, and two-factor backup codes are worth saving to Files or Notes first — see should I delete screenshots for a fuller breakdown.

Is a screenshot cleaner app necessary, or is the built-in album enough?

The built-in Screenshots album and drag-select are enough for most people and cost nothing extra. A review-based cleaner mainly helps if you want duplicates and near-identical retakes grouped for you before you swipe through them, rather than scrolling manually.

Sources

• Apple Support — "Take a screenshot on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch"
• Apple Support — "Delete photos and videos on iPhone"
• Apple Support — "If you deleted photos or videos by mistake on iPhone"
• Apple Support — "Use iCloud Photos on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac"