Delete all Photos from Photos app in iOS

Question

Level 1

13 points

Delete all Photos from Photos app in iOS

I have spent 3 hours searching for this but have not been able to find a solution. How can I just bulk delete all photos from the Photos app on iPad and iPhone (not talking about only camera roll but all photos from entire library).

I don't have any sync with iCloud activated. I used to have sync in iTunes but now I have deleted all photos from the Photos app on my Mac. Using ADOBE Lightroom instead. Please, does anyone no how I can get rid of the photos on iOS?

I've also tried to remove photos from device via iTunes but to no avail:
(iTunes will no longer sync photos to the iPhone “xx iPhone”. Do you want to keep or remove photos previously synced to your iPhone?)

Selecting the REMOVE option here did nothing.

Also tried 2 apps for deleting photos but they showed 0 files so I could not delete anything:
https://itunes.apple.com/se/app/delete-photos-at-once/id928290529?l=en&mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/se/app/delete-photos-cleanup-your/id926090192?l=en&mt=8

using

iOS 8.4

iPhone 6
iPad Air 2

iPad Air, iOS 8.1, iPad Air 2

Posted on Sep 10, 2015 1:54 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

nowart

Level 1

5 points

Sep 17, 2015 6:23 AM in response to formfranska

I just deleted all the photos from my phone by using the Apple program Image Capture.

See this article in OS X Daily

Deleting All Photos from iPhone Using a Mac

This works in all versions of Mac OS X:

Connect the iPhone to the computer via USB
Launch Image Capture from the /Applications/ folder
Hit Command+A to Select All pictures within Image Capture, then with all images selected click the red (\) button to delete all photos
Confirm deletion when asked and be prepared to wait

http://osxdaily.com/2012/08/02/delete-all-photos-from-iphone/

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Answer 2

formfranska Author

Level 1

13 points

Sep 17, 2015 7:27 AM in response to nowart

Thank you nowart, I forgot to mention that I already tried Image Capture as well. Only photos in camera roll show up when I use Image Capture (not the other thousands of photos in the Photos app).
But in the link you provided, http://osxdaily.com/2012/08/02/delete-all-photos-from-iphone/, there was another option:

<quote>

Open Settings app and then go to “General” followed by “Usage”
Choose “Photos & Camera” from the list, this will also show you how much space they take up
Use a left or right swiping gesture on the album to reveal a red “Delete” button

Swipe on “Camera Roll” to delete ALL photos from the iPhone, swipe on “Photo Library” to delete just pictures that are synced with a desktop, and swipe on Photo Stream if you want to remove everything from the shared streams.

</quote>

Now, the problem is I can't find "Usage" under Settings>General anymore... I have just upgraded to iOS 9. Maybe that's why?

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Answer 3

Sep 23, 2015 12:02 AM in response to formfranska

Hello formfranska

Under iOS 9, the name of the sub-section has changed from “Usage” to “Storage & iCloud Usage”. However, it’s no longer possible to delete all photos from there. As far as I can recall, it wasn’t possible under iOS 8 either — that OS X Daily article dates from a couple of years ago!

If your thousands of photos are stored in iCloud Photo Library, then you can go to Settings → Photos & Camera, and simply turn off iCloud Photo Library there. You can then continue using your phone normally while all the photos are slowly deleted. (The process may take some hours, depending on how many photos you have.) Once it has completed, only photos actually stored locally should remain, and you should be able to delete those using Image Capture.

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Answer 4

formfranska Author

Level 1

13 points

Sep 23, 2015 12:13 PM in response to Johann Visagie

Oh, I don't know whats wrong on my end but I've never used iCloud with Photos. I only used to sync them to my iOS devices via iTunes from my Mac when I was using iPhoto and later the Photos app. I still double checked on my iOS devices in settings just to be absolutely sure and they are off still. Also checked by logging in to iCloud via browser on my Mac and there are no photos there either.

In Image Capture I can only see images in the camera roll (not all the other photos).

I almost feel guilty for not being able to tell you my problem is solved when you're all trying your best to help :-) Sorry! I would have contacted Apple Support but I only have Apple care for my Macs and not for my iOS devices unfortunately so it's not possible... I'm very grateful for your trying to help me.

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Answer 5

Nov 23, 2015 1:07 PM in response to formfranska

Thank you very much. It worked perfectly.

Best

PB

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