How to Delete All Screenshots on iPhone at Once

Screenshots are the junk drawer of the camera roll. A confirmation number, a map, a funny message, a receipt — all useful for about four hours, then never again. And unlike photos, there's rarely any sentimental reason to keep them, which makes them the easiest thing to clear in bulk.

Where is the Screenshots album?

iOS sorts screenshots automatically into their own album. You don't have to hunt for them among your photos.

Open Photos and look under Media Types — depending on your iOS version, that's either in the Albums tab or in the Collections section of the main Photos screen. Tap Screenshots.

The album is a smart filter, not a folder. Every screenshot you take lands there automatically, and deleting from it deletes the actual photo from your library.

Delete every screenshot at once

1. Open the Screenshots album.
2. Tap Select in the top-right corner.
3. Tap Select All.
4. Tap the trash icon and confirm.

That's the whole album gone. If you have thousands, give it a few seconds to process.

Worth a quick scroll first: screenshots people commonly regret deleting are boarding passes, two-factor backup codes, Wi-Fi passwords, parking spot photos and order confirmations. If any of those matter, favorite them first — favorited items are easy to spot and re-save.

Delete most of them, but keep some

Tapping 800 thumbnails individually is nobody's idea of a good time. Two tricks make this bearable:

Drag to select

After tapping Select, place your finger on the first thumbnail and drag across and down. Everything you pass over is selected. You can select a hundred items in a single gesture, and drag back over them to deselect.

Select by date

Screenshots are chronological, so old ones cluster at the top. Anything older than a few months is almost always safe to delete without individual review. Start there, select the whole run with one drag, and you'll clear most of the album without making a single real decision.

How much space will this actually free?

A single screenshot is small next to a photo, and far smaller than a video. The count is what does the work: it is the one category people accumulate in the thousands without ever intending to. How much you get back depends entirely on how many you have and what resolution your screen is, so the only honest number is the one your own device reports before and after.

It is rarely the biggest win available — video usually is, since one long 4K clip can outweigh hundreds of screenshots. See how to free up storage on iPhone for the full order of operations. But screenshots are the fastest win, because you barely have to think about any of it.

The storage won't come back until you do this

Deleting moves items to Recently Deleted, where they sit for 30 days still consuming the same space. Until you empty it, your free storage won't change.

1. In Photos, go to Utilities → Recently Deleted.
2. Authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID.
3. Tap Select → Delete All.

This is also your safety net in reverse: if you deleted something you shouldn't have, it's still in there. Recover it before you empty the album.

How to stop them piling up again

• Delete on the spot. When the screenshot thumbnail appears in the corner, swipe it away — or tap it, then use the trash button in the markup view. Ten seconds now, no cleanup later.
• Use Live Text instead. If you're screenshotting to save a phone number or an address, select the text directly and copy it. No image needed.
• Screenshot to Files. For documents and receipts you genuinely need, save them somewhere they belong instead of the camera roll.
• Make it a monthly habit. Clearing the Screenshots album once a month takes under a minute and keeps the pile from ever becoming a project.

Frequently asked questions