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Note: Deleting all or some images and videos from Google Photos also removes them from any synced devices. So, make sure you have some kind of backup.
Google Photos is a great cloud service with fair pricing and tons of free storage. However, since the “Unlimited” option has been removed, you may be stuck with little room for new images. Your only options are to find another cloud source, increase your space limit, or delete many photos, screenshots, videos, and images created.
Unfortunately, if you want to delete all images/videos from Google Photos, you can’t do it with a simple click. There is no “Select All” option. Anyway, you can delete images and videos in bulk using a combination of keys and the mouse. The trick you will use allows you to select everything, but it is recommended that you do it in smaller sections, such as 500.
No matter how you decide to manage the process, it’s tedious, but not as tedious as group deleting images by date, especially if you have more than 2,000 photos to manage. Before you jump into deleting, you should first take some precautions. Here we’ll explain to you how to do it!
How to protect synced Google Photos images from accidental deletion
Every time you delete some or all images/videos from Google Photos, the process deletes them from all synced devices and vice versa. To avoid this scenario, here is what you can do.
- Open the Google Photos app on your iPhone or Android device.
- Go to Photos settings and then Backup & Sync.
- Disable the Backup and Sync option.
This setting will unsync your devices and ensure you can free up cloud storage without deleting anything on your phone or tablet. It also works the other way around.
If you want to delete inpidual photos, open the photo you want to delete and click the trash icon in the top right corner. This action sends the images to the Trash folder.
To avoid potential issues, we recommend using Google Chrome as your preferred browser when reviewing Google Photos and making changes.
Note for Chromebook users – Since 2019, Google Photos and Google Drive no longer sync. It means you can’t access Google Photos from the Google Drive shortcut on your Chromebook. Therefore, it is necessary to use the browser and access photos.google.com to delete your photos.
How to delete all Google Photos using Windows, Mac, Linux or Chromebook
The process of deleting all your Google Photos from a computer is the same whether you use Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook. You can do it in any browser, so the steps work on any operating system. It is best to delete images in groups, but you can try deleting all images/videos at once. Deleting smaller groups of elements avoids accidental situations where you miss the selection signal and have to start over.
Note: If you get stuck somehow during the highlighting and deleting steps, Shift-click the last highlighted item and then Shift-click again to reselect it. From there, you can continue scrolling and highlighting. Additionally, you can click the “X” next to “[###] selected” in the top left section and start again.
Here’s how to delete all images from Google Photos using Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook.
- Sign in to the Google Photos website with your Google account credentials.
- Select the “first picture” by left clicking on it; Make sure it is marked with a blue circled check mark.
- Scroll down the page past several rows/images. Hold he “Shift key” in the last visible image (should be highlighted in blue) and left click on it to select everything in between, then release he “Shift key.” If it doesn’t highlight items, scroll up and repeat until it does.
- If you reached the maximum selection in Step 3 but you still have them checked, repeat the process until you have a good number of items selected. Google remembers your last action and adds it as you go.
- To select all images, your success depends on your system and the data in your Google Photos profile. We got up to 400-500 selected images/videos in one session and got them all (over 1800) in another. If you highlight everything in blue, left click to select them. Otherwise, you will have to do smaller increments (Steps 3 and 4).
- Optional: You can also hold he “Shift key” over the first image, then move the mouse/trackpad cursor over others. However, you cannot scroll down until you left-click to select all highlighted items. This process takes a long time.
- Once you have marked all the images/videos or a large group of them, click the “trash icon” then select “Move to trash” to remove marked/highlighted items.
The trick to selecting a larger number of images is to scroll down in more significant segments until you highlight the last image on the screen when you touch the “Shift” key. From there, you scroll up and repeat tapping the “Shift key” until it does. Then you hold down the “Shift” key and left click to select them and continue the process until you select all or a large part of the images.
Also, Each image must have been loaded on the screen (at least partially) for Google Photos to allow you to highlight items to it.. You can speed up scrolling down to 100 or scroll slowly and confirm loading images to reach 2000+. With faster internet and a faster device, you might be able to scroll to the end quickly. After that process, you can delete them. The process is all about trial and error.
How to delete all Google Photos from an Android device
Selecting all your photos to delete takes a while on mobile devices, especially when you have a large library. Because there is no bulk delete or “Select All” option on tablets and smartphones, you have to select each image inpidually, but you can at least select days to select in groups. This is the method you can use.
- Start the “Google Photos” app on your smartphone.
- Play the “menu icon” (three dots at the top right), not the browser’s top menu icon.
- Tap on “Select photos.”
- Select the photos you want to delete or the day to mark them all.
- Tap on “Move to trash” to confirm the deletion.
- For permanent deletion, return to the “Menu” and then select “Trash.”
- Play the “Trash icon.”
- Select the “Empty trash” option to confirm.
How to delete all Google Photos from an iPhone
Many iPhone users also use Google Photos and the reason is simple. Compared to iCloud, Google Photos offers more free storage capacity. At the same time, upgrading is also cheaper with Google storage.
If you want to free up space on Google Photos and you are using an iPhone, the following steps apply.
- Launch the app from your iPhone.
- Tap the Free up space button located below the Trash folder. This will delete all your photos.
Alternatively, manually select all the photos in your folder. Then tap the trash icon to delete the photos.
Although this frees up space, keep in mind that you can still restore your photos from the Trash folder.
iPhone users may face some challenges. For example, deleting photos from the Google Photos app can also delete them from your iCloud storage. However, you should receive a notification asking if you agree to the action.
Additional FAQs
Here are some additional answers to common questions about Google Photos that PC and mobile users have.
How to recover Google Photos?
If you are a PC user, you should be familiar with the Recycle Bin. When you delete something, it doesn’t automatically disappear. Many files and photographs end up in the trash. This system is beneficial as it allows you to free up some storage space but also recover your files later.
You can access the trash folder and recover all or just some of your photos. But be careful, as the 60-day grace period does not apply to the entire folder but to each image and is based on the inpidual deletion date and time.
Tap an image you want to recover and then tap the Restore button. Alternatively, tap the Delete button if you want to skip the counter and destroy the photo forever right away.
Are my Google Photos permanently deleted after deleting them?
Deleted Google Photos end up in the trash. However, you can’t leave them there indefinitely. There is a predetermined grace period before you lose your photos forever.
Google Photos keeps deleted photos in the trash for 60 days. After 60 days, they disappear. Of course, each image has a recovery period of 60 days from when you added it to the trash. It’s best to check the new indicator system to see how much time you have left to recover each image.
At the end of those 60 days, you will no longer be able to recover those photos. It’s especially true when you sync all your devices. If you don’t sync your devices, deleting something in Google Photos won’t cause you to lose the photo from the device you used to take the photos.
Final thoughts
Unless you really don’t mind losing image quality, chances are you’ll run out of Google Photos storage. Sooner or later, you may have to face the fact that a storage upgrade is necessary. But not everyone will want to spend on that, even though Google offers reasonable prices.
The good news is that you can always delete some of your older photos or bad shots. If the going gets tough, you can delete all your photos with just a few clicks. And even delete them permanently at will.
Now that you know how to free up Google Photos storage space, do you think the process could be simplified? Let us know if you find Google Photos advantageous or if you prefer other cloud storage options. Also, tell us if you encounter any unexpected issues with device syncing and photos disappearing.
