Deleted photos but your storage didn't go down?
Short answer
Deleted photos and videos move to Recently Deleted, where they stay for 30 days before they're removed for good, so they still take up space. Open Photos › Collections › Recently Deleted, unlock it, tap Select, then the More button, then Delete All. Storage can take a few minutes to update after that.
Why it happens
Recently Deleted is a safety net. Everything you delete in Photos, or in any app that deletes through Photos, goes there first and stays for 30 days. That's great when you delete something by mistake. It also means you can clear 10 GB of videos and see your storage bar not move at all.
How to empty Recently Deleted
- Open Photos and tap Collections. On iOS 18, scroll to the bottom.
- Tap Recently Deleted, then View Album, and unlock it with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Tap Select. To clear everything, tap the More button, then Delete All. To clear only some items, select them and tap Delete.
- Confirm. If you use iCloud Photos, choose to delete from all devices.
This is permanent. Once Recently Deleted is emptied, those photos are gone, and with iCloud Photos on they're gone from all your devices.
Still not seeing the space?
- Give it a few minutes. iPhone Storage recalculates in the background.
- If you use iCloud Photos with Optimize iPhone Storage, the phone was only holding small versions of many photos, so deleting them frees less than their full size.
- Check the other bars in Settings › General › iPhone Storage. Apps, Messages and System Data can be bigger than you expect.
How SlashPhotos handles this
Every delete in SlashPhotos goes through iOS, so it lands in Recently Deleted like any other, and you can recover it for 30 days. That's why SlashPhotos talks about space "ready to free" rather than freed, and shows you how to empty Recently Deleted when you want the space back. No app is allowed to empty it for you.
Questions
How long do deleted photos stay on iPhone?
30 days in Recently Deleted. After that they're deleted permanently.
Can a cleaner app empty Recently Deleted for me?
No. iOS doesn't let apps empty it. You have to do it yourself in the Photos app.
Can I recover photos after emptying Recently Deleted?
Not from the phone. Your only options are a backup made before you deleted them.