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iOS 12: How to permanently delete photos on iPhone

Along with the new features that iOS 12 brings, the latest iPhone and iPad software also makes some changes to how existing features work. One of these tweaks is how to permanently delete photos.

There are a mix of changes when it comes to sharing and managing photos in iOS 12. In iOS 11 after deleting photos users needed to head to the Recently Deleted album and erase that too. That’s still the case with iOS 12, but the Recently Deleted folder has changed its appearance and is a bit buried.

Note: iOS 12 is currently only available as a developer beta, however, a public beta will likely be released sometime soon.

iOS 12: How to permanently delete photos on iPhone

  1. Open the Photos app
  2. Tap the Albums tab at the bottom of the screen
  3. Swipe to the very bottom and tap on Recently Deleted (shows as just text in iOS 12 now)
  4. Tap Select in the top right corner
  5. Now you can either choose Delete All from the bottom left corner or select individual photos

After tapping Select you’ll be able to either delete all photos or specific images as shown below.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:


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