Clean up your iPhone photo library in ten minutes a day

A photo library with thousands of items feels like a weekend project, so it never gets done. It does not have to be. Ten minutes a day, in the right order, clears more than you expect and keeps the library from filling up again. This routine uses the Photos app that comes with your iPhone, with one optional step for the slow part. The steps match the Photos app in iOS 26 and iOS 27, where Library and Collections are separate tabs.

Before you start: two things to know

• Deleting syncs. If you use iCloud Photos, Apple says that when you delete photos and videos on one device, they're deleted everywhere that you use iCloud Photos. That is what you want when cleaning up, but it means there is no separate copy on your other devices.
• Mistakes can be undone for 30 days. Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted, where they stay for 30 days before they are removed for good. One exception: if you are over your iCloud storage limit, Apple says your device immediately removes any photos and videos you delete, so be more careful while your storage is full.

Minutes 0 to 2: merge duplicates

Start with the job Photos can do for you. The Photos app finds duplicate photos and videos and collects them in one place:

1. Open Photos and tap Collections.
2. Tap Utilities, then tap Duplicates.
3. Tap Merge on a set of duplicates, then confirm.

If you do not see Duplicates at all, Photos has not found any in your library. Apple's guide to merging duplicate photos and videos has the full steps. On the first day this can clear a lot at once. After that, there is usually little or nothing to do here, and you can move straight on.

Minutes 2 to 4: clear screenshots

Screenshots are the easiest photos to delete, because most of them were only useful for a moment: a code, a map, an order confirmation. Photos groups them for you:

1. Tap Collections, scroll down and tap Media Types.
2. Tap Screenshots.
3. Tap Select, slide your finger across the ones you no longer need, then tap the Trash button.

Apple's guide to finding photos by media type covers the other groups in the same list. One of them, Videos, is worth its own pass once a week.

Minutes 4 to 9: review recent photos one at a time

This is the part no bulk tool can do for you. Near-duplicates, blurry shots, the five tries at the same group photo: each one needs a quick keep or delete decision from you. The trick is to make each decision small and fast, and to start with the newest photos, while you still remember why you took them.

In Photos, you can open a photo, decide, and tap the Trash button or swipe to the next one. It works, but it takes a few taps per photo and it is easy to lose your place. If you are unsure whether a photo is worth the space, swipe up on it to see its details, including file size.

We made SwipeLeft for exactly this step. It shows your photos and videos one at a time, with the file size and date on every card. Swipe left to send a photo to SwipeLeft's trash, swipe right to keep it, and use undo if you change your mind. Photos you keep do not come back for review, so each session picks up where the last one ended. Your photos never leave your iPhone.

SwipeLeft is free for 50 swipes a day, which fits a five-minute session well. If you want to go further, SwipeLeft Pro removes the daily limit for $4.99 a month or $14.99 once. It runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later.

Minutes 9 to 10: empty the trash with a final look

If you used SwipeLeft, nothing has been deleted yet. Photos you swipe left on wait in the app's own trash until you open the Trash tab and empty it. That gives you one last look at the whole batch before anything moves to Recently Deleted in the Photos app, where Apple keeps it for 30 days.

If you used the Photos app directly, your deleted photos are already in Recently Deleted. You can find it in Collections, under Utilities, and you will need Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to open it.

Once a week: check your videos

Videos are worth a separate pass, because one long clip you forgot about can be the biggest item on a page. Tap Collections, then Media Types, then Videos, and look for the long clips you no longer need. Swipe up on a video to see its file size before you decide. In SwipeLeft, video cards show their length as well as their size.

Make it stick

The routine works because it is small. A few things help it last:

• Same time every day. Attach it to something you already do, like a coffee or a commute.
• Newest first. Recent photos are the easiest to judge, and clearing them stops the backlog from growing while you work through the older ones.
• Stop at ten minutes. It is a habit, not a project. Tomorrow's session will pick up the rest.
• Keep a visible reminder. SwipeLeft's Home Screen widget shows how many photos you have reviewed today, kept and trashed.

After a couple of weeks, the daily session gets shorter, because there is less to catch up on. That is the point where the library stays tidy on its own, a few photos at a time.