Quick answer: Open Photos → Collections → Media Types → Screenshots, tap Select, tap Select All, then tap the trash button and confirm. Then empty Recently Deleted to free the space right away. Favorite or copy out any screenshot you want to keep first.
Written for iOS 18 and iOS 26. Menu names can differ slightly on older versions.
Thousands of old screenshots can take up gigabytes and bury the photos you care about. You can clear them all in about a minute. The only real risk is deleting the few that still matter, so step 1 handles that.
Step 1: Rescue the ones you want to keep
- Favorite them: open the screenshot and tap the heart. Favorites are easy to spot and unselect.
- Move them: add keepers to an album, or save the important ones as notes or to Snugit so they live outside Photos.
- Copy the text out: for codes and addresses, use Live Text to copy the words into a note.
Step 2: Delete all screenshots
- Open Photos and go to the Screenshots album.
- Tap Select, then Select All.
- Tap any screenshots you want to keep to unselect them.
- Tap the trash button and confirm.
Photos›Collections›Media Types›Screenshots›Select All
On iOS 17 and earlier the album is under Albums → Media Types. If you don't see Select All, tap the first screenshot and drag your finger down the grid to select many at once.
Step 3: Empty Recently Deleted
Deleted screenshots stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days and still use storage. To free the space now:
Photos›Collections›Utilities›Recently Deleted›Delete All
Unlock with Face ID, tap Select, then Delete All.
Delete only old screenshots
Want to keep recent ones? In the Screenshots album, scroll up to older months, tap Select, and drag-select from the oldest row down to where you want to stop.
Automate it with Shortcuts
- Open Shortcuts and create a new shortcut.
- Add Find Photos and set the filter Is a Screenshot (add a date filter like "not in the last 30 days" if you like).
- Add Delete Photos. iOS asks you to confirm each time it runs.
Run it once a month for a clean camera roll without the manual work.
Before you delete: iCloud Photos
If iCloud Photos is on, deleting a screenshot on your iPhone deletes it from iCloud and your other devices too. That's usually what you want, but double-check that nothing important is in the selection.
Stop them piling up again
After taking a screenshot, tap the preview, tap Done, and choose Copy and Delete if you only need to paste it once. For screenshots you'll need later, save them to Snugit with a name instead of leaving them in Photos.
Get Snugit to keep the screenshots that matter, and let the rest go.