How to delete photos by month on iPhone

Is there a way to delete all photos from one month?

There is no single command named for it. Photos keeps the library in date order, so one month is a continuous stretch of the grid. You jump to that stretch, select it and delete. The older Months and Years views of earlier iOS versions made this easy. Wikipedia notes that iOS 18 replaced them with one scrollable library, so today you rely on the scrubber and search.

How do I find a month in Photos?

1. Open Photos and the main library.
2. Drag the scrubber on the right edge to the year and month, or type a month and year into Search, for example October 2024.
3. Scroll until the first photo of the month is on screen.
4. Tap Select, touch that photo and drag toward the last photo of the month.
5. Release, scan the selection, and tap any keepers to deselect them.
6. Tap the trash and confirm.

What should I check before deleting a whole month?

A month is a mix. Along with the throwaways, it holds the best photo of that month and a few you cannot replace. Before you select, scroll through once and tap the heart on anything you want to keep. Favorites show in the Favorites album, which makes them easy to find again. Then select the rest, and unselect the hearted ones before you delete.

• Photos of people you will want in a year
• Documents, receipts and tickets you still need
• Anything dated with a reason: a birth, a trip, a move
• Photos that exist nowhere else, meaning no backup and no copy in a chat

Do dates always match the month I see?

Mostly, but not always. Photos sort by the capture date stored in the file. A picture saved from the web or received in a message may carry the date it reached your phone. A scan carries the day you scanned it. A photo taken near midnight can slip across a day boundary, and on the first or last day of a month that can mean a neighboring month. If a stretch looks wrong, open one photo's info panel and check the date before you delete.

A month-by-month routine that avoids regret

1. Pick one month, starting with the newest you have not yet sorted.
2. Decide on every photo in that month. Keep, delete, or mark the single best.
3. Review the delete list once before you confirm.
4. Move on only after the month is done.
5. Write the last finished month on a note so the next session starts where this one ended.

How long does one month take?

Take invented numbers. A month with 250 photos at three seconds a decision is about 12 minutes. A busy month with a holiday might reach 800 photos and take 40 minutes, so split it in two sessions. A routine of one month per day finishes a two-year backlog in under a month. You can time the first month and adjust the plan.

How does Rollmark handle months?

Rollmark, an iPhone app in development, is built around this routine. The Months tab lists years newest first, and each month card shows a cover photo, the photo count with an estimated size and a status chip. Tapping a month opens a deck where a right swipe keeps, a left swipe lets go and an up swipe marks the best photo. Decisions are saved by photo id after every swipe, so closing the app mid-month loses nothing. Details are on the month-by-month sorting page.

Nothing is deleted by a swipe. When the month is done, a review list shows what you let go, and iOS asks for confirmation before the photos move to Recently Deleted.

What if I only want to remove one kind of photo from a month?

Combine a search with a month. Photos can search by month and by kind of item, so you can look at videos from one month, then delete the long ones. Or open the Videos or Screenshots album and move to that month inside it. Narrow the set first. The smaller the group, the less there is to check.

Which month should I start with?

Start with the newest month that is not yet sorted. Memory fades with time, so last month is the easy one. You remember who is in the photos and why you took them. The first sessions then go quickly and build a habit, and by the time you reach older months you have a rhythm. The exception is a year that matters to you, such as a year abroad. Start there while you have time to enjoy it.

What about a trip that spans two months?

A trip that crosses the end of a month splits in any date view. Treat it as one event. Sort both halves in the same session, pick the best dozen photos for an album such as Lisbon trip, and let the rest follow the normal routine. Albums fit episodes with a title, while months fit the flow of everyday life.

How do I make sure a month is really finished?

Scroll the month from the first photo to the last without selecting anything. If you can reach the end without a photo that makes you hesitate, you have decided on everything. Hesitation points mean a photo is still waiting for a decision. Mark the month done only when the scroll feels calm. Skipping photos is how backlogs grow back.

Rollmark's swipe deck follows this routine inside the app. The guide to which photos to delete first helps you rank the months when the backlog is long.