I need help deleting all photos from my iPhone and I’m not sure if the steps changed between iOS 17 and iOS 18. I started clearing out my photo library to free up storage, but the method I found seems different from what I see on my phone. Can someone explain the easiest way to remove all photos and whether there’s any real difference between iPhone photo deletion in iOS 17 and iOS 18?
I spent way too long trying to mass-select photos on an iPhone, only to watch the selection snap back to nothing. If your library is huge, this happens more than it should. Newer iPhones do it too. Same story on recent iOS builds. Once the photo count gets high enough, Photos starts acting flimsy.
Why the selection wipes itself out
From what I saw, it gets worse when your library is big and your free storage is low. The phone starts dragging. The screen hesitates. It warms up. Then one missed motion or lag spike and the whole selection is gone. I hit this more than once on a near-full device.
What worked faster for me:
- Open the main library in Photos and hit Select at the top right
- Slide one finger across the bottom row to start highlighting photos
- Keep holding that finger down, then with your other hand tap near the clock or the battery area at the top
- The view jumps up and grabs everything in between
It saves a lot of time compared with dragging forever through the library. Still, if your phone is down to scraps of free space, even this trick can fail. The system needs some room left to finish the job.
iOS 17 and iOS 18, what changed
For this problem, not much. Apple moved pieces around and polished parts of the interface, but the main library still does not get a Select All button. You only see Select All inside certain albums. Not in the main camera roll, which is where most people need it. I checked this on both iOS 17 and iOS 18. Same limitation. Same workaround.
Why Recently Deleted fills right back up
Deleting photos from the library does not wipe them off the phone. iOS pushes them into Recently Deleted and leaves them there for around 30 to 40 days. Those files still take up storage the whole time. So you delete a pile of stuff, check storage, and nothing moves. Annoying, but normal.
To free the space for real:
- Open Photos and go to Albums
- Scroll to Recently Deleted under Utilities
- Tap Select in the top right
- Tap Delete All
Until you do this, your storage total stays bloated no matter how many items you removed from the main library.
Why big deletions fail in the background
I would not trust Photos with a huge delete job if you plan to switch apps mid-way. Delete 20,000 photos, leave the app, and the process often stalls or dies. The native app does a poor job with heavy cleanup in the background. I had better results when I left the phone sitting in Photos and let it finish without touching anything.
Using a Mac when you want everything gone
If you're trying to wipe the library clean and you have a Mac nearby, Image Capture is the route I trust more:
- Plug the iPhone into the Mac
- Open Image Capture from Applications
- Press Command + A
- Click the delete icon
This skips the touch interface and tends to hold up better with giant libraries. Check your backup first. Once you delete through Image Capture, it is permanent. No Recently Deleted buffer there, so don’t rush it.
Where Clever Cleaner comes in
If Photos keeps choking on selection, scrolling, or bulk cleanup, using a separate cleanup app makes more sense. I looked through options, and strongest free option available is the one mentioned most for this kind of mess. No paywall blocks, no ads shoved in your face, no subscription trap.
The parts tied to the problems above:
- Heavies puts the biggest files first, so you see what is eating storage without digging through thousands of photos
- Similars groups near-duplicate shots, burst runs, and tiny variations of the same image, so you keep one and toss the rest fast
- Screenshots shows the exact file size on each thumbnail before deletion
- Everything runs on-device, so nothing gets uploaded off the phone
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Short answer, no big change between iOS 17 and iOS 18 for deleting all photos from the main library. Apple still did not add a true Select All there. So if the guide looks a bit diff, it is mostly UI shuffling, not a new method.
One thing I’d add to what @mikeappsreviewer said. If Photos is syncing with iCloud Photos, deleting on your iPhone deletes from iCloud too, and from your other Apple devices. A lot of people miss this and get a nasty suprise later.
Best route depends on your goal:
-
Free space, keep photos elsewhere.
Turn on iCloud Photos with Optimize iPhone Storage, or move pics off the phone first. -
Remove everything from the iPhone and iCloud.
Delete from Photos, then clear Recently Deleted. -
Remove from iPhone only, keep them on a computer.
Import to Mac or PC first, confirm files opened fine, then erase.
If your library is huge, I’d split deletion into chunks like 2,000 to 5,000 items. Slower, yes. Fewer crashes too. I don’t fully agree with doing one massive wipe on-device unless your phone has decent free space first.
If you want a faster cleanup pass before deleting all of it, Clever Cleaner is worth a look for sorting duplicates, screenshots, and large files. Also, here’s a solid read on how to clean up iPhone storage and see what other users think.
So, iOS 17 vs 18. Same core process. Slightly diff buttons and layout. Same limits. Same annoying Recently Deleted step.
Not really. Between iOS 17 and iOS 18, the core behavior is basically the same. Apple shuffled some Photos app layout stuff, but they did not suddenly add a clean universal “delete everything” button for your whole library. So on that point, @mikeappsreviewer and @viaggiatoresolare are right.
Where I slightly disagree is with doing giant on-device wipes if your phone is already choking on storage. That’s usuallly when Photos gets weird, hangs, or just refuses to cooperate. If your goal is free space fast, sometimes the smarter move is not “delete all photos manually” first, but check this stuff first:
- Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Photos
- See whether the space is from actual photos, iCloud syncing, or Recently Deleted
- If iCloud Photos is on, deletions sync everywhere, not just the phone
That last part is the big gotcha. A lot of people think they’re cleaning only the iPhone and then accidentally nuke pics from iCloud and other devices too. Apple does not make that super obvious.
Also, if you only want to clear junk before going nuclear, a cleanup app is honestly less painful than wrestling with Photos for an hour. Clever Cleaner is one of the few worth mentioning because it can sort duplicates, similar shots, screenshots, and heavy files without the usual nonsense. If you want to try it, this is the App Store page for free iPhone photo cleanup with Clever Cleaner.
So yeah, iOS 17 vs 18? Minor interface differences. Same actual process. Same traps. Same annoying Apple logic, lol.
Mostly no. @viaggiatoresolare, @waldgeist, and @mikeappsreviewer already covered the big point: iOS 17 and 18 did not really change the delete-all reality in Photos. Still no proper Select All in the main library.
One thing I’d push back on a bit: if your goal is a total wipe, sometimes the cleanest option is not fighting the Photos app at all. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings only if you truly want the whole phone reset, not just photos. It is faster, less buggy, and avoids the endless selection game. Obviously not the right move if you need to keep apps, messages, or settings.
If you only want the photo mess reduced before deleting manually, Clever Cleaner is useful as a pre-clean step.
Pros
- fast at surfacing duplicates and large media
- easier than scrolling the Photos app forever
- can shrink the library before a full delete
Cons
- not the same as a true full-library delete button
- you still need to understand iCloud syncing first
- some people may prefer Apple-only tools
So my take:
- Delete only photos: same basic process on iOS 17 and 18
- Delete everything on the phone: full reset is often smarter
- Trim the library first: Clever Cleaner helps, then finish manually if needed
Big warning: if iCloud Photos is on, decide first whether you want deletion to affect all devices. That matters more than the iOS version here.