Scan with your iPhone camera
Opens the App Store page. On a phone, just tap the button.
Too many photos on your iPhone? Here’s where to start
Don’t start scrolling from the first photo. Clear the easiest decisions first (screenshots, duplicates, videos), then go to the days with the most photos, and handle the rest in small daily batches.
Don’t start at photo number one
Scrolling through 30,000 photos from the top is how most cleanups end halfway. A better order: quickest decisions first, then the biggest clusters, then the rest in small daily batches. Each step has a clear finish line, so you can stop after any of them.
Step 1: Screenshots
Screenshots are usually the easiest calls: verification codes, chat snippets, an address you needed once. In Photos, open Media Types › Screenshots to see them all in one place.
Step 2: Duplicates
On iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1 and later, Photos has a built-in Duplicates album that groups duplicate photos and videos so you can merge them. After merging, the extra copies move to Recently Deleted.
It only handles copies. Bursts and shots from slightly different angles won’t show up there; those you choose yourself.
Step 3: Videos
Videos usually take more space than photos. In Media Types › Videos, start with the long ones you won’t watch again: false starts, repeats, clips you took just to remember something.
Step 4: The days with the most photos
Trips, holidays and parties often mean hundreds of photos in a day, many of them nearly the same. Starting there clears a lot at once, and you see progress quickly.
Keep the best one or two from each run of similar shots: zoom in to check for closed eyes and soft focus.
Step 5: A small batch a day
Split whatever is left by date into batches of 20 to 40 photos a day. A few minutes a day is far easier to keep up than a whole Sunday afternoon.
| When | What | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Screenshots | Screenshots holds only what you want to keep |
| Day 2 | Duplicates | The Duplicates album is cleared |
| Day 3 | Long videos | The ones you won’t rewatch are deleted |
| Days 4–5 | Your two or three busiest days | One or two kept from each run of similar shots |
| Every day after | One small batch by date | Today’s batch is done |
Where SnapTidy helps
In short
- Screenshots, then duplicates, then videos: quick calls, quick results.
- Then the busiest days, keeping one or two from each run of similar shots.
- Everything else in small daily batches, each with a finish line.
Sources
- Apple Support: Delete photos and videos, including the Duplicates album (104967) · accessed Oct 25, 2026
- Apple Support: Recover deleted photos or videos on iPhone or iPad (124460) · accessed Oct 25, 2026