Planning to delete all your photos from your Google Photos library permanently? Whether you are looking to clear up some clutter or switch to a different photo backup service, there are a few methods to delete your photos from the cloud service.

Deleting photos from the online storage solution is simple and is almost similar across different platforms and browsers. So, you can use the steps in this guide on Windows, macOS, Linux, etc., to clean up your Google Photos storage completely.

Turning Off Google Photos Backup

Before you go about deleting photos from Google Photos, you will need to turn off automatic backup so new photos are not backed up.

  1. Open Google Photos on your device and tap your profile icon in the upper right corner. This will take you to the profile section.
  2. Tap the 'Photos Settings' option to view all Google Photos settings.
  1. On the next page, you will find the 'Backup' option. Tapping it will take you to the 'Backup' page.
  2. If the 'Backup' option is on, tap on it to turn it off, and stop your photos from being backed up to the cloud. Now, you can start deleting your photos.

Deleting Photos On Android, iOS, and iPad OS

While you can select and delete specific photos from Google Photos one by one, this method is not suitable when you want to delete a large number of photos. Fortunately, Google Photos allows deleting photos in batches, which makes things easier.

Note: Currently, Google does not offer a one-click way of deleting all your photos stored in the cloud. The best way is to select multiple images in batches and delete them together.
  1. Open Google Photos on your Android, iPhone, or iPad to view all your backed-up photos.
  2. Now, you must select the photos you want to delete. To do so, tap and hold the first photo and then tap other photos to be deleted. Selected photos will have a blue checkmark on the upper left corner.
  1. You will find a few options at the bottom when you select photos. There will be two options for deleting - 'Delete' and 'Delete From Device'.
  2. Tap the 'Delete' button with the bin icon to permanently delete the selected photos from your library.

Deleting Photos on the Web

Deleting photos from Google Photos using the web interface is very similar to that on your Android, iPhone, or iPad. The only difference is that selecting multiple photos is easier in this case.

  1. Launch your browser and go to your Google Photos library.
  2. To select photos, hover your cursor over a photo, and you will see a checkmark on the upper left corner, just as it appears when using a mobile device.
  3. Click the check mark to select a photo and do the same for all the photos to be deleted.
  1. To make it easier to select multiple photos, press and hold the 'Shift' key on your keyboard and move your cursor over the images to be deleted. The selected images will be highlighted.
  1. Now, you can just delete them by clicking the bin icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
  1. From the confirmation notification, click the 'Move To Bin' button.

Deleting Photos Permanently

Once you delete your photos from the Google Photos library, the photos are transferred to the bin. They remain there for 60 days before they are deleted permanently. However, you can manually delete them earlier.

On Android, iPhone, and iPad

  1. Open Google Photos on your phone or iPad and go to the 'Library' tab at the bottom.
  2. At the top, you will find four options. Tap the 'Bin' option to view the deleted items.
  1. Inside the bin, you can select the photos to be deleted by tapping and holding the first photo and then tapping additional photos, as explained previously.
  2. Alternatively, tap the 'Select' option at the top right and then tap the photos you want to delete.
  1. Finally, tap the 'Delete' button at the bottom to permanently delete the photos from your Google Photos library.

Using A Web Browser

Deleting photos from the bin permanently using a web browser is extremely easy and takes only a few seconds.

  1. Open Google Photos on your desktop browser, and you will see a few options on the left side of the screen. Click the 'Bin' option to open it.
  1. You can select the photos by hovering over them and clicking on the checkmark in each photo's upper left corner.
  1. Then, click the 'Delete Permanently' option at the top right.
  1. Another method is to deselect all photos and click the 'Empty Bin' button to delete all the photos in the bin.

Deleting photos from your Google Photos library can help you save space, which is quite limited, especially if you are on the free storage plan from Google. The above methods can be used on different devices to get rid of unwanted photos quickly. Just make sure to backup your photos somewhere else before deleting them from your cloud storage.