3 Best Fixes For iPhone Won’t Delete Photos

Unfortunately for many Apple customers, Apple doesn’t provide unlimited storage to store images and videos in the Photos app to our heart’s content, thus requiring us to delete photos from iPhones and iPad constantly.

Best Fixes For iPhone Won't Delete Photos

What is more annoying is that sometimes iPhone won’t delete photos, or albums from the photo gallery. We have found it a common problem on various community forums with a fairly simple fix.

Why Can’t I Delete Photos On My iPhone?

Sometimes iPhones don’t delete certain pictures because they are synced to other devices with as iTunes or Finder. In this case, you can delete the photos by connecting your iPhone to your computer.

Another possible reason is iCloud. When you have turned on iCloud backup, you might still see deleted images that had earlier been backed up to iCloud. 

How to Fix “iPhone won’t delete photos”?

Let us understand what steps you can take to ensure that they are deleted completely when you delete personal data from your iPhone or iPad.

  1. iPhone Not Deleting Synced Photos? Fix
    1. Delete Synced Photos from iPhone Using iTunes
    2. Delete Synced Photos from iPhone without iTunes
  2. iCloud Photos Not Deleting from iPhone? Fix
    1. Disable Optimize iPhone Storage
    2. Backup & Delete Photos from iPhone and iCloud
  3. iPhone Storage Suggestions

iPhone Won’t delete photos That are Synced? Fix

Suppose your iPhone is synced with your computer using iTunes or Finder and isn’t allowing you to delete data from the photo gallery. You should follow the below methods and delete photos and videos from your iPhone in such a case.

Method 1. Delete Synced Photos from iPhone Using iTunes

Apple requires users to sync again to iTunes before deleting any files. Here’s how you can do it:

  1. Please connect your iPad or iPhone to your Mac or PC.
  2. Open iTunes.
  3. Please click on the iPhone icon to view the Summary tab.
  4. Navigate to the Photos tab and de-select that you don’t want to see on your iPhone, and click on Apply. It will sync iTunes with your iPhone.
  5. Check to see if you were able to remove photos from your iPhone or iPad.

Method 2. Delete Synced Photos from iPhone without iTunes

If you are unable to access iTunes using your apple id or want more control over your photos rather than depending on iTunes sync, you can use a third-party app for your iOS device.

iMyFone iPhone Eraser for Win/Mac is a third-party tool that allows you to delete private data from your iPhone without needing iTunes. It will delete the data permanently without any chance of recovering it, so use it cautiously.

iPhone won't delete photos

The tool allows users to:

Backup & Delete: In this option, you can transfer your photos to a computer and then delete them from your iPhone. It also works for synced photos.

Permanently Delete: You can preview and delete unwanted photos permanently, including the ones you have synced.

Backup & Compress: This option allows you to backup all data to your computer and compress the data on your iPhone to save up to 75% space.

iCloud Photos Not Deleting from iPhone? Fix

With iTunes, the deleting method is easier. When you have backed up photos on iCloud, you cannot delete the photos unless you disable optimized iPhone storage.

Method 1. Disable Optimize iPhone Storage

You can disable the Optimize iPhone Storage option by following the below steps:

  1. Navigate to the Settings icon on your iPhone and open Settings.
  2. Tap Photos & Camera option.
  3. In the iCloud Photo Library option, scroll to Optimize iPhone Storage and uncheck it. Check the Download and Keep Originals option. Alternatively, you can turn off the button for iCloud Photo Library.

Method 2. Backup & Delete Photos from iPhone and iCloud

Using the third-party tool, iMyFone iPhone Eraser for Win/Mac, you can backup all data on your iPhone and delete them on iCloud. You won’t lose any data as they will be backed up on your PC.

  1. Open the iMyFone iPhone Eraser app after connecting your iPhone to your computer.
  2. Navigate to the Photos tab from the home screen on the tool. 
  3. Click on the Backup & Delete option.
  4. Please choose the photos you want to delete and click on the Export & Delete option.

iPhone Storage Suggestions

Another option is to free up space on your iPhone using the settings

  1. Open the Settings app and navigate to General settings.
  2. Navigate to iPhone Storage.
  3. Check for recommendations for freeing up storage space, including the option to delete photos from the Recently Deleted folder permanently.

This would empty up space on the iPhone and make room for more photos and videos.

Closing Up

It isn’t very pleasant when you need space on your iPhone, and it won’t allow you to delete any photos or videos from the camera roll or gallery.

However, using the above steps, you can easily delete any photos that are synced with iTunes or are backed up on iCloud. You can also use the third-party app iMyFone to delete all photos permanently.

If the above steps do not solve your problem, you can consider downloading the latest iOS update.