How to Delete Thousands of Old Screenshots in One Pass
By Taha Baalla··5 min read
The fastest way
- Open Photos and go to Albums → Screenshots.
- Tap Select.
- Touch the first screenshot and drag across and down without lifting your finger. The selection keeps running while you hold, and it scrolls as you reach the bottom — this is far quicker than tapping each one.
- Tap the bin.
Dragging is the part most people miss. Tapping two thousand thumbnails individually is what makes this feel impossible.
Reclaiming the space
Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted and stay there for 30 days, still counting against your storage the whole time. If you are clearing space, empty it: Albums → Recently Deleted → Select → Delete All. That step is irreversible.
Before you delete everything
If iCloud Photos is on, deleting here deletes on every device signed into the same account. That is usually what you want, but it is worth knowing before a bulk pass.
The other thing worth knowing: people delete screenshots in bulk because the pile became unusable, not because each one was worthless. Receipts, confirmation numbers, recipes and instructions get thrown out with the noise. If that describes your Screenshots album, the problem to solve is retrieval rather than volume.
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Where Nemos fits
Nemos is a private second brain for iPhone that solves the "I saved it somewhere" problem. Every screenshot, voice memo, PDF, and link you save gets OCR'd, transcribed, and indexed on-device using Apple Foundation Models. Find anything by typing one word. Free. Apple-only. Free on the App Store.