RollmarkHow to delete all screenshots on iPhone
Open Photos, tap Albums, scroll to Media Types and open Screenshots. Tap Select, drag a finger across the grid to pick many at once, then tap the trash and confirm. The screenshots move to Recently Deleted for 30 days. Skim for the few you still need before you delete.
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How do I delete all screenshots on iPhone?
Every screenshot lands in its own album, which makes this one of the quickest cleanups on the phone. The menu names shift a little between iOS versions, but the path stays close to this.
- Open Photos and tap Albums.
- Scroll down to Media Types and tap Screenshots.
- Tap Select in the top right corner.
- Touch the first thumbnail and drag your finger across the grid. Keep dragging toward the bottom edge and the grid scrolls while the selection grows.
- Tap the trash can, then confirm the red Delete button.
- Open Recently Deleted under Utilities if you want to check what is waiting there.
Which screenshots should I keep?
Before you sweep the whole album, scan it once. A screenshot often holds something that exists nowhere else: a boarding pass, a parking spot, a confirmation number, a recipe from a friend. Most of them have done their job within a day. A few have not.
| Screenshot of | Keep or delete | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket, boarding pass, QR code | Keep until the event is over | You may need it offline at the door |
| Order or booking confirmation | Keep until the item arrives or the stay ends | Proof of purchase if something goes wrong |
| Map with directions | Delete after the trip | The route is a search away |
| Chat bubble or social post | Delete unless it is a memory | The original usually still exists |
| App error message | Delete once the problem is solved | It has no value after the fix |
| Wi-Fi password, door code, address | Move to a notes app, then delete | A note is easier to find than a picture |
Why do screenshots pile up so fast?
Taking a screenshot is two button presses and no decision. Nothing asks you to name it, file it or throw it away. A habit of one screenshot a day produces 365 a year, and heavy users take several times that. A screenshot is saved as a full-resolution image of the screen, so each one adds a little weight. Wikipedia describes how screenshots are made and stored on different systems if you are curious about the format.
The size of one is small. The count is the problem, because hundreds of screens you will never look at again also bury the real photos when you scroll.
Can I stop screenshots from reaching my library?
Yes, for the ones you do not want. After you take a screenshot, a thumbnail appears in the corner. Tap it, then tap Done and choose Delete Screenshot, or save it to Files instead of Photos. The picture never joins the album. This takes a second and removes the pile at its source.
iOS has no Photos setting that clears screenshots on a timer. The Shortcuts app can find photos marked as screenshots and delete them when you run it, but that is a manual routine you build yourself, and it deletes without a review.
How do I clean out a very large screenshot album?
Dragging works well for a few hundred. At several thousand, the drag gets tiring and the risk of deleting something useful goes up. Work in slices. Select a screen of thumbnails at a time, look, and delete. Or open the oldest ones first, since a screenshot from three years ago has almost always lost its purpose.
A swipe deck handles the same job with less risk. In Rollmark, an iPhone app in development, the free Screenshots pile shows one screenshot at a time. A right swipe keeps, a left swipe lets go, and nothing leaves your library until you open the let-go list and confirm in the dialog iOS shows. The free plan allows 150 swipe decisions a day. See the sort piles page for how it works.
Can I get deleted screenshots back?
For 30 days, yes. Deleted items sit in Recently Deleted, and you can recover them from there. After that, iOS removes them. The full picture is in the guide to Recently Deleted on iPhone.
If you use iCloud Photos, the delete follows you to your other devices. That is by design, and it is covered in deleting photos but keeping iCloud copies.
Will deleting screenshots free up space?
Some, and not immediately. The space returns once the files leave Recently Deleted. Screenshots are individually small, so a few hundred free tens or hundreds of megabytes, not gigabytes. If you want a big result fast, large videos usually matter more. The guide on why storage stays full after deleting photos explains the delay.
A five-minute routine to keep the album small
- Once a week, open the Screenshots album.
- Scroll to the top, where the newest ones are, and delete anything that has finished its job.
- Move codes and addresses to a note.
- Leave the old ones for a monthly pass.
- Check Recently Deleted once so you know what is waiting.
Frequently asked questions
How do I delete all screenshots on my iPhone at once?
Open Photos, go to Albums, then Media Types, then Screenshots. Tap Select, drag across the thumbnails to select many, and tap the trash. Confirm the delete and the items move to Recently Deleted.
Is there a Select All button for screenshots?
It depends on your iOS version. If you do not see one, tap Select and drag your finger across the grid, which selects rows as you go.
Do deleted screenshots go to iCloud?
With iCloud Photos on, the delete syncs to your other devices and the items wait in Recently Deleted there too. They are not kept as a separate backup.
Can I auto-delete screenshots after a few days?
Photos has no such setting. You can delete a screenshot right after taking it by tapping the preview, then Done, then Delete Screenshot.
Why is my storage still full after deleting screenshots?
The files stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Storage returns once they leave that album, and screenshots are small, so the gain is modest.