When you delete a photo or video on iPhone, it is not removed straight away. It moves to the Recently Deleted album and stays there for 30 days, so you can change your mind. During that time, it keeps using storage.
That is why deleting a large batch of photos often seems to make no difference to your free space.
Empty Recently Deleted
- Open Photos.
- Scroll to Utilities and tap Recently Deleted. (In recent versions of iOS, find it under Collections or by scrolling down from the library.)
- Unlock the album with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Tap Select.
- Tap Delete All to remove everything, or select specific items and tap Delete.
- Confirm.
The space is freed immediately, although Settings > General > iPhone Storage can take a few minutes to update.
Before you empty it
- This is permanent. Items deleted from Recently Deleted cannot be recovered from your iPhone.
- With iCloud Photos, it applies everywhere. Emptying Recently Deleted on your iPhone also removes those items from iCloud and your other devices.
- Recover anything you need first. Select items and tap Recover to put them back in your library.
Other "Recently Deleted" places
Several other apps keep deleted items for a while:
- Files: Browse > Recently Deleted.
- Notes: a Recently Deleted folder in your notes list.
- Mail: the Trash or Bin mailbox in each account.
- Voice Memos: a Recently Deleted list.
These are usually smaller than Photos, but worth checking if you are tight on space.
Messages
Photos and videos saved in Messages conversations are separate from your Photos library. Deleting a photo in Photos does not delete it from Messages. See reducing Messages storage.
Frequently asked questions
How long do deleted photos stay on iPhone?
Deleted photos and videos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days, then are permanently deleted.
Why did my iPhone storage not go up after deleting photos?
They are in Recently Deleted and still use space. Empty Recently Deleted to free it.
Can I recover photos after emptying Recently Deleted?
Not from your iPhone. You may be able to recover them only from a backup made before they were deleted.
Want this done for you?
spacerecover shows space waiting in Recently Deleted separately from the space you have actually recovered, so you always know what the final step is, and you choose when to take it.