Open the Photos app, tap Albums, scroll to Media Types, and tap Screenshots. iOS automatically collects every screenshot you've ever taken into that one album, so you don't have to hunt through your camera roll. From there you can review them and delete in bulk.
TL;DR
- Path: Photos > Albums > Media Types > Screenshots.
- iOS auto-files every screenshot here the moment you take it (no setup).
- Use Select to tap a range, then delete dozens at once.
- Deleted shots go to Recently Deleted for ~30 days before they're gone for good.
- Screenshots are usually 200 KB–2 MB each, so a few hundred can reclaim 1–2 GB.
Where does iOS keep all my screenshots?
Every time you press the side button + volume up (or top + home on older models), iOS saves a PNG to your library and tags it as a screenshot. That tag is what powers the smart album.
To open it:
- Open Photos.
- Tap Albums at the bottom.
- Scroll down to the Media Types section.
- Tap Screenshots.
The album shows a live count at the top. If it says 1,438, that's how many you're carrying around. It's a common surprise.
How do I mass-delete screenshots quickly?
Inside the Screenshots album:
- Tap Select in the top-right corner.
- Tap the first screenshot you want gone, then drag your finger across the grid to select a whole block at once.
- Tap the trash icon in the bottom-right.
- Confirm Delete [number] Photos.
The drag-to-select trick is the fastest way to clear hundreds of throwaway shots without tapping each one. Sort newest-to-oldest so the junk you just made (paywalls, maps, error messages) sits at the top.
What does the album do natively, and where does it stop?
Natively, the Screenshots album is excellent at one thing: gathering every screenshot in one tappable place with a count. That alone is most of the battle.
Where it stops: it can't tell a receipt from a meme. It won't surface duplicates, it won't flag near-identical shots from the same screen, and it won't tell you which screenshots are the largest. You still do the judging by eye. If you want the OS to separate keepers from clutter, see how to clean up screenshots without losing important ones.
What this cannot do (and how recovery works)
This method clears screenshots, but it won't touch the other space hogs on your phone. If your storage is full and screenshots aren't the cause, the real culprit is usually video and app caches — see iPhone storage full but nothing to delete and how to find and delete large videos.
On recoverability: deleting from the Screenshots album doesn't immediately free space. Items move to Photos > Albums > Recently Deleted, where they sit for about 30 days. To reclaim the space now, open Recently Deleted, tap Select, then Delete All. After that they're unrecoverable, so do a quick scroll first.
If you sync to iCloud Photos, deleting on one device removes the screenshot everywhere. To keep a copy in the cloud while clearing your phone, read how to delete photos but keep them in the cloud.
For a broader storage sweep, how to free up 10GB in 10 minutes lays out a safe order to attack the biggest wins first.
FAQ
Why don't I see a Screenshots album?
The album only appears once you've taken at least one screenshot. If Media Types is empty, you haven't captured any yet, or you're looking at a shared library — switch to your personal library at the top of Photos.
Does deleting screenshots free up storage immediately?
No. Deleted items stay in Recently Deleted for about 30 days and keep using space until you empty that album manually or the timer runs out.
Will deleting screenshots remove them from my Mac or iPad?
If you use iCloud Photos, yes — the deletion syncs to every device on the same Apple ID. Turn off iCloud Photos on a device first if you want it to keep a local copy.
Want the cleanup handled for you? Cleanor for iPhone reviews screenshots and duplicates so you can clear them in a few taps, and our guide to free up iPhone space covers the rest of your storage.