Ultra CleanerHow to Mass Delete Photos on iPhone
The Photos app makes bulk deleting painful: you tap tiny thumbnails one by one, lose your place, and give up by 2019. The fast way is a swipe queue — see each photo full-screen, swipe left to delete or right to keep, and clear a whole month in a couple of minutes.
Last updated: July 14, 2026
The built-in way (fine for small batches)
- Open Photos, tap Select.
- Drag your finger across thumbnails to select ranges.
- Tap the trash icon, then confirm.
Works for deleting one bad afternoon. For years of accumulated clutter, selecting thousands of thumbnails by hand is where good intentions die.
The fast way: swipe review, month by month
- Download Ultra Cleaner and open the Swipe tab.
- Your library appears grouped by month, each showing how many photos are left to review.
- Open a month. Each photo shows full-screen: swipe left to delete, right to keep. A thumbnail strip shows your decisions in green and red.
- Made a mistake? Tap Undo, or open the review grid at the end and flip any decision before deleting.
- When the month is done, confirm — everything queued is deleted in one batch through the standard iOS confirmation.
Nothing is deleted until you say so
Swiping left only queues a photo. You get a final count, a review grid to change your mind, and the iOS system confirmation — then deleted photos still sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days.
FAQ
Can I delete an entire month at once?
You review each photo with a swipe — that's the point: fast enough to be effortless, deliberate enough that you never nuke a photo you love.
What happens if I close the app halfway through a month?
Your keep/delete decisions are saved. Reopen the month and continue where you left off.
Is there a limit to how many photos I can delete?
Free users get a daily cleaning allowance; unlimited cleaning comes with the subscription.