You delete a few hundred photos or a couple of long videos, open iPhone Storage, and the number barely moves. Nothing went wrong: the files are still there, waiting in Recently Deleted.
How Recently Deleted works
When you delete a photo or video, from the Photos app or from an app like Photo Cleaner, iOS moves it to Recently Deleted. It stays there for 30 days so you can recover it, and only then is it removed for good. Until that happens, it still uses storage.
Only the Photos app can show or empty Recently Deleted. Other apps, including Photo Cleaner, can’t remove items from it, which is a deliberate privacy and safety protection by Apple.
Getting the space back right away
- Open the Photos app.
- Find Recently Deleted under Utilities. You may need Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to open it.
- Tap Select, then Delete All, or select only what you’re sure about.
The storage is usually freed within a few minutes. iPhone Storage can take a little longer to update its numbers.
If you use iCloud Photos
With iCloud Photos turned on, deleting a photo on one device deletes it everywhere, and it goes to Recently Deleted on all of them. Emptying Recently Deleted frees space both on your iPhone and in your iCloud storage.
If Optimize iPhone Storage is on, your iPhone keeps smaller versions of some photos and videos and downloads the originals when needed. Deleting those frees less space on the device than their full size, but the full amount in iCloud.
Where to start next time
Space comes back fastest from large videos. Sort your videos largest first, clear the few you don’t need, then empty Recently Deleted.
