How to delete screenshots on iPhone (and which ones to keep)

Find all your screenshots in one place

Apple Photos gathers screenshots in their own collection, so you do not have to scroll through the whole camera roll to find them. Open Photos, tap Collections, and look for Screenshots. Apple’s guide lists Screenshots among the collections pinned by default, but you can change what is pinned, so if it is missing from the pinned collections, it may have been unpinned.

Opening that collection shows only screenshots. This makes the job much more manageable: instead of deciding between a holiday photo and a shopping list, you are only deciding about pictures that were usually taken for a short-term purpose.

Decide which screenshots deserve to stay

Many screenshots do their job within minutes: a confirmation code, a route, a price you wanted to compare, a message you wanted to show someone. Those are easy to remove once the task is finished. Others are worth keeping, such as receipts, tickets, instructions you still follow or a conversation you need as a record.

A useful rule is to ask what the screenshot is for. If you cannot remember, look at it for a few seconds. If it is still unclear and the content is not sensitive, you can leave it for a later pass instead of forcing a decision. If the information matters, save it where it belongs first, for example in a notes app, a document or an email, and then remove the picture.

1. Delete screenshots whose purpose has clearly ended.
2. Keep receipts, tickets and records you may need again, or move that information somewhere better.
3. Check screenshots containing personal details before sharing or backing them up elsewhere.
4. Leave anything you are truly unsure about for a later pass.

Delete screenshots in batches

To delete several at once, open the Screenshots collection, tap Select, tap the screenshots you want to remove, then tap the Trash button and confirm. Apple describes this same Select-then-Trash approach for deleting multiple photos and videos.

Work in batches you can check. Selecting a screen at a time lets you notice a screenshot you want to keep before it disappears. GallerySort offers a different way to do the same job: you review items one by one and swipe left to delete or right to keep, which suits screenshots because each one only needs a quick yes or no.

What happens after you delete them

Deleted photos and videos go to Recently Deleted, where Apple says they are removed permanently after 30 days. That means your storage does not necessarily go back up immediately; the space is only released once the items are permanently removed. If you need space right away, read our guide on why storage can stay full after deleting photos before you empty anything.

If you use iCloud Photos, a deletion on one device removes the item from all devices signed in to the same Apple Account. That is usually what you want for old screenshots, but make sure you have an independent copy of anything you may need later.

Keep screenshots from piling up again

Because screenshots are usually temporary, they are a good candidate for a small, regular habit. Open the Screenshots collection when you finish a trip, a purchase or a project, and clear out what is no longer useful.

You do not need an empty collection. The goal is that the screenshots that remain are there on purpose, and that the next cleanup of the rest of your camera roll is not buried under hundreds of forgotten screen captures.