Google Photos is one of the easiest ways to manage your photos, automatically upload them to the cloud, and share them with others. Given it’s compatible with virtually all Android phones, computers, iPhones, and Chromebooks, it’s one of our favorite cloud storage solutions.
Since Google Photos is a Google service, it shares its storage space with other Google apps, including Gmail and Docs. This means your storage space may quickly become full. Whether you use the free 15GB tier or a paid membership, deleting old photos to free up space may be a good idea. Here’s how to quickly and permanently delete pictures from Google Photos.
Google Photos: Everything you need to know
Meet the Swiss Army knife of gallery apps
How to permanently delete pictures on Google Photos
The steps for deleting images in Google Photos are similar on the mobile and web versions of the software. Here’s a breakdown.
Deleting a picture on the mobile app
- Open the Google Photos app on your smartphone.
- Look up the image you want to delete.
- Tap the photo to bring up the full-screen view.
- Tap the Delete button in the lower-right corner of your screen. A dialog box appears and asks if you want the photo moved to the trash bin.
- Select Allow to confirm that you want to trash the photo.
The above steps move the picture to the trash, which isn’t automatically emptied before 60 days. To make sure the pictures are permanently removed, empty the trash.
- Navigate to the Google Photos Library section on the bottom tab of the screen.
- Open the Trash folder in the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Locate the photo you trashed and tap it.
- Tap the Delete button in the lower-left corner of the display.
- Tap Allow to confirm and permanently delete the photo.
The image is deleted from your mobile device and cloud storage immediately. If your Google Photos cloud storage isn’t at risk of running out, or you don’t mind waiting 60 days for the image to be deleted, it’s enough to put the item in the trash.
We illustrate the steps using an Android phone. However, the experience is similar when deleting photos on the iOS mobile app.
Deleting a photo on the web app
Deleting images on the Google Photos web app is as simple as the mobile version. Follow these steps:
- Visit photos.google.com using your desktop browser.
- Select the photo you wish to delete to open it.
- Click the Delete button in the upper-right corner of the screen. You’re asked to confirm the deletion.
- Select Move to trash. The item is removed from the gallery immediately.
- Navigate to Trash on the left sidebar.
- Select the photo you just deleted.
- Click the Delete button in the upper-right corner of the screen. The picture is deleted permanently.
How to permanently delete multiple pictures on Google Photos
If you have numerous images to delete, follow these steps to speed up the process:
- From the gallery view, tap and hold one of the images you want to delete to select it.
- Tap the other images you want to delete to select them.
- Tap Delete beneath the trash can icon in the toolbar at the bottom. You’re prompted to confirm that you want to move the images to the trash.
- Click Allow.
- Navigate to the Library section in the lower-right corner.
The above steps move the picture to the trash, which isn’t automatically emptied before 60 days. To make sure the pictures are permanently removed, you must empty the trash.
- Tap the Trash button to see all the trashed photos.
- Locate the photos you deleted and select them. To speed up the process, tap and hold the first one and then slide your fingers across the other images you want to delete permanently.
- Tap the Delete button in the lower-left corner.
- Tap Allow to confirm that you want to permanently delete the selected items. You can also empty the bin using the â‹® icon in the upper-right corner.
Follow similar steps to delete several pictures simultaneously on the iOS or web app.
How to delete pictures from a Google Photos album
If you created an album in Google Photos, you can delete individual pictures from it without removing the entire album.
Deleting album pictures using the mobile app
Deleting a picture from your Google Photos album on the mobile app isn’t as straightforward, but it isn’t complicated.
- Open an album and select the photo you want to delete.
- Tap the â‹® icon in the upper-right corner or swipe up on the screen to bring up more options.
- Swipe the ribbon menu beneath the photo to the left and tap the Move to trash option.
- Select Move to trash from the menu that pops up from the bottom of the screen to confirm your choice.
Deleting album pictures using the web app
- Go to photos.google.com.
- Navigate to Albums on the left sidebar.
- Select an album to open it.
- Click the picture you wish to remove.
- Go to More options in the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Select Move to trash from the options.
How to archive pictures in Google Photos
You don’t always have to delete your photos. For example, if you don’t want specific pictures to be shown in the Google Photos gallery, hide them by moving them to the Archive. Here’s how.
Archiving pictures on the mobile app
- Launch Google Photos.
- Select the image you wish to hide.
- Tap More options (the â‹® button) in the upper-right corner of the screen. A menu with several buttons slides out. Alternatively, swipe up to reveal the menu.
- Select Move to archive.
The picture moves to the Archive folder and stops appearing in your gallery. However, you’ll still see it in any album you previously added it to and in the search results.
Moving pictures to the archive on the web app
- Go to photos.google.com.
- Select the picture you want to hide.
- Click More options (the â‹® button) in the upper-right corner of the display.
- Select Archive. You can also use the shortcut Shift +A. The photo moves to the Archive folder.
You can access the Archive folder by navigating to Archive under the Library tab. You’ll find this on the left sidebar of the web app and the lower-right corner of the screen on the mobile app. From here, you can follow the same steps above to unarchive the photo. You can also delete it using the trash button in the upper-right corner of the screen.
Archived photos are only hidden from your main gallery and continue to take up storage space.
Take your storage to the next level
Google Photos comes with 15GB of free storage, which is shared with Gmail, Google Drive, and other Google services. That means your Gmail and Google Drive compete for space with your Photos, so you may want to look there to see if you can make some space. If you store plenty of pictures in Google Photos, you can upgrade your storage to 100GB for $2, making it one of the most affordable cloud storage solutions.
If you aren’t in the market for cloud storage, permanently deleting old pics is a good first step toward cleaning up your Google Photos feed. After you get rid of those old photos, check out some ways to make your Google Photos feed more manageable.
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