A new trip usually means snapping tons of photos, whether for social media or just to save special moments. But before you set off, remember that it’s not just about booking hotels and planning your itinerary, you also need to confirm your iPhone has enough space for all those new shots. So, in this guide, we’ll show you how to clear photo storage on your iPhone so you’re ready to capture every amazing moment.
5 Ways to Clear Up Photo Storage on iPhone
Even if your iPhone is loaded with thousands of photos, the good news is you can get rid of excess photo storage with its built-in features (methods 1-4). Just a heads-up, though, it might take a while. If you need a quick fix before a flight, skip ahead to method 5 for a faster solution.
Pay attention: If you don’t want to delete anything from your photo library, you can use iCloud Photo Sync, which uploads your photos to iCloud and keeps only thumbnails on your device. However, iCloud only gives you 5GB for free, and upgrading costs extra. That’s why this guide concentrates on free ways to clear up photo storage on iPhone, so you can spend your money on souvenirs instead of storage.
1. Find and Delete Unnecessary Photos Manually
The simplest and most obvious way to clean up your photo storage is to delete photos and videos you don’t need anymore. You probably already know how to do this, but just in case, here are the steps to provide you can perform this task:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Browse through your photos and videos to identify any you no longer wish to keep. Look for old screenshots, redundant images, or anything that no longer serves a purpose.
- Tap ‘Select’ in the upper right corner of the screen and select each photo and video you want to delete by tapping on them. A blue checkmark will appear on each selected item.
- Tap the trash icon located in the bottom right corner once you have made your selections.
- Confirm the deletion by selecting ‘Delete Photos’ in the dialog box that appears.
- All selected files will be moved to the ‘Recently Deleted’ album.
But let’s be honest, going through every photo isn’t ideal when you’re in a hurry to pack your bags. It might even turn into an unexpected trip down memory lane, which can take forever. So, to speed things up, we’ll cover methods that don’t require you to review every photo in detail.
2. Delete Screenshots from Your Library
We often snap loads of screenshots to capture info we think is important, but then rarely use them. That makes screenshots prime candidates for deletion. Instead of hunting them down one by one, just use the dedicated album in iOS that automatically collects all your screenshots.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Scroll to the ‘Media Types’ tab and locate the ‘Screenshots’ album. iOS automatically filters and stores all screenshots in this album. Tap to open this album.
- Press ‘Select’ in the upper right corner of the screen and tap each screenshot you wish to delete, or tap ‘Select All’ if you want to delete all screenshots in the album.
- Tap the trash icon at the bottom of the screen to move the selected screenshots to the ‘Recently Deleted’ album and confirm your action by selecting ‘Delete [number] Photos’ when prompted.
If you have unnecessary files in other “Media Types” categories, you can delete them the same way as outlined in this method.
3. Remove Duplicate Images from an iPhone
If you take a lot of photos while traveling and share them with friends, you might accidentally download the same images multiple times, creating duplicates. Keeping identical photos on your iPhone just wastes space. Although there are several methods to locate and remove these duplicates, we will focus on this native iOS function, which is available starting with iOS 16. It automatically detects duplicates and groups them for easy review. All you have to do is review and delete them with a few taps.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Navigate to the ‘Utilities’ tab and locate the ‘Duplicates’ album. This album appears automatically when iOS detects duplicate photos.
- Review the grouped duplicates and tap ‘Select’ in the upper right corner, then select the duplicates you want to delete or choose ‘Select All’ to delete all copies.
- Tap ‘Merge’ to keep the best photo and delete the others, or simply tap the trash icon to delete selected groups without merging.
- Confirm your action if necessary.
Your photo library likely has more similar photos than exact duplicates that vary in lighting, angle, or filters. For example, you might take a bunch of photos in one day, slightly adjusting your phone’s position each time. The built-in tool doesn’t catch these near-duplicates, so you have two options: sort through them manually or use a third-party app, like the one we’ll cover in method 5.
4. Clear Up Large Videos
When it comes to freeing up photo space on your iPhone, don’t forget about videos, they take up lots of space, too. You should delete the largest ones, but unfortunately, iOS doesn’t let you sort videos by size. Your only option is to look at video length or check file sizes individually. Here’s how:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Navigate to the ‘Media Types’ tab and scroll to the ‘Videos’ album.
- Review each video by selecting it and tapping the ‘i’ icon or swiping up to see information about the file, including its size.
- Decide which videos to delete based on their size and importance.
- Tap the checkmark icon in the upper right corner, then choose the videos you wish to delete.
- Tap the trash icon at the bottom of the screen to move the selected videos to the ‘Recently Deleted’ album.
- Confirm your action by selecting ‘Delete [number] Videos.’
While the last few methods work better than just deleting files manually, there’s an even easier option, a cleaner app for iPhone. It combines the last three methods into one simple solution. Let’s talk about it in more detail.
5. Use Third-party Apps to Clean Up iPhone Photos as a One-step Solution
While the App Store offers many cleaner apps, today we want to highlight the Clever Cleaner: AI CleanUp App, and the best part? It’s free. We chose it because it combines most of the methods covered in this article into one easy-to-use tool. Here’s what it can do:
- Detect and group both exact duplicates and similar photos, automatically selecting the best shot in each group.
- Identify and remove old screenshots.
- Find your largest videos and give you the option to view and delete them.
- A bonus feature – convert Live Photos to still images and delete the originals, which is perfect if you always shoot in Live mode instead of standard photos.
When using these features, you can either delete all the found files in just a few taps or review and select only the ones you want to remove. But if you’re short on time while prepping for your trip, we recommend deleting everything to make the process quicker. Below, we’ll walk you through how to find and remove duplicates and similar images. The steps for other features are similar but adjusted for their specific tasks.
- Search for the app in the App Store and install Clever Cleaner onto your iPhone.
- Open Clever Cleaner and allow it to access your photo library fully.
- The app automatically detects duplicates and similar photos, organizing them into separate collections. It selects the best image in each group and marks the others for deletion.
- If the automatic selections satisfy your needs, press the ‘Smart Cleanup’ button to proceed with the deletion. For more detailed control, manually adjust which photos to delete by tapping into each collection, selecting specific photos, and choosing ‘Move to Trash.’
- Once you move the unwanted photos to the app’s trash, double-check this area to confirm no important photos were accidentally included.
- After confirming your selections, slide the ‘Slide to Delete’ option to remove the photos from your iPhone.
- The app will confirm that the cleanup has successfully transferred all items to the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder in the Photos app and provide the steps to empty this album.
Finalize the Deletion and Clear the Recently Deleted Album
If you’ve followed the steps in each section, you’ve probably seen mentions of the “Recently Deleted” album. So, what is it? When you delete a photo or video from the Photos app, it doesn’t disappear right away. Instead, it moves to the “Recently Deleted” album, where it stays for 30 days in case you need to recover it. While this safety net is helpful, those files still take up space on your iPhone, which could prevent you from snapping new photos on your trip.
To free up storage completely, you’ll need to empty this album, it only takes a few seconds.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Navigate to the ‘Utilities’ tab and scroll down to find the ‘Recently Deleted’ album. Tap to open the ‘Recently Deleted’ album.
- Press ‘Select’ in the upper right corner of the screen and tap on the dots icon in the lower right corner.
- Choose ‘Delete All’ to remove all the files permanently.
- Confirm the deletion by tapping ‘Delete From This iPhone’ in the dialog box that appears.
Use These Ways to Clear Up Photo Storage on iPhone Before you go!
Now you know how to free up photo storage so you have room for new pictures and videos from your trip. If you’re doing this last-minute, right before boarding a plane or bus, your best bet is to use an app like Clever Cleaner or a similar alternative to quickly clear out unnecessary files and get back to enjoying your trip. If you tackled storage cleanup in advance, the built-in iOS tools in the Photos app should be enough.
Just don’t forget to check your Hidden album, as hidden photos also take up storage, even though they don’t appear in your main library or other albums.
What say you?
Thoughts on these Ways to Clear Up Photo Storage on iPhone?
Let’s hear it!
