Find out what’s taking up space.
Start in Settings → General → iPhone Storage. Check the storage breakdown and the recommendations for your device, then see how much space Photos uses.
Let your storage guide you.
If apps or downloads take up most of the room, review those first. If Photos is a big part of the total, work through the steps below.
Keep your photos. Lighter on your phone.
If you use iCloud Photos, Optimize iPhone Storage keeps full-resolution originals in iCloud and smaller copies on your iPhone when space is needed. Your photos stay accessible in your library.
Open your iCloud settings
Go to Settings, tap your name, then iCloud → Photos.
Check photo syncing
Make sure Sync this iPhone is enabled. You’ll need enough iCloud storage for your library.
Choose optimized storage
Turn on Optimize iPhone Storage. If the Photos settings show an iPhone Storage submenu, open it to find this option.
iPhone storage and iCloud storage are separate. Optimizing changes how your photos are stored locally; it does not increase your phone’s physical capacity.
Start with what you won’t miss.
Open Photos → Collections → Media Types to browse your library by format. Begin with clips you no longer want and screenshots you no longer need.
- Videos you won’t watch again
- Review long clips, accidental recordings and repeated takes. Keep the moments you want to revisit.
- Screenshots whose job is done
- Old tickets, receipts and temporary reminders are useful places to start. Save anything you still need before deleting it.
- Extra copies of the same moment
- In Photos, open Collections → Utilities → Duplicates to review and merge detected duplicates. The collection appears when Photos has found matches.
A little sorting. One month at a time.
The rest of your library needs your eye: the best group shot, a favorite holiday moment or a photo you no longer want. Choose one month in Swipewipe and work through it at your own pace.
Swipe right to keep a photo, left to mark it for deletion. Review your choices before confirming, then come back for another month whenever you’re ready.
See how swiping worksOne last check before letting go.
Deleted photos and videos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days. You can recover a mistake during that time, or permanently remove items you are certain you no longer need.
Keep the recovery window if you’re unsure.
Emptying Recently Deleted is permanent: those items can no longer be recovered from Photos. With iCloud Photos, deleting an item also removes it from your other devices using the same Apple Account.
Keep a separate backup of anything you cannot lose. After your cleanup, return to iPhone Storage to check your device’s current usage.
Recover a deleted photoQuestions & answers
A few things worth knowing
Does Optimize iPhone Storage delete my photos?
No. It keeps full-resolution originals in iCloud and smaller copies on your iPhone when space is needed. You need iCloud Photos and enough iCloud storage for your library.
Does buying more iCloud storage give my iPhone more space?
It does not increase your iPhone’s physical capacity. With iCloud Photos and Optimize iPhone Storage enabled, your phone can keep smaller local copies while the originals remain in iCloud.
Why is my iPhone still full after deleting photos?
Check Settings → General → iPhone Storage again to see which categories still use space. Photos may not be the main cause. You can also review Recently Deleted, where photos remain recoverable for 30 days; only remove them permanently if you are sure you no longer need them.