How to delete all your Google Photos

There are a few normal reasons to clear out a Google Photos library. You are starting fresh. You switched to a new account. The library filled up with years of screenshots, duplicates, and photos you already have backed up somewhere else. Or you cleaned house on your phone and want the cloud copy to match.

Whatever the reason, two things are worth knowing before you touch anything.

First: in Google Photos, deleting means moving to Trash. Trashed photos are not gone. They sit in Trash for 60 days, and you can restore them at any point in that window. That is your safety net, and this whole guide works inside it.

Second: if the real goal is freeing up storage rather than emptying the library, you may not need to delete anything. Live and Motion photos often carry hidden video data you can strip while keeping every image. Start with our guide to freeing up Google Photos storage before deleting memories.

And if you want a copy of everything on your own computer before you clear the library, do that first. Our guide to downloading your entire Google Photos library covers it.

Still want everything gone? Here is how.

What "delete" actually does in Google Photos

When you move photos to Trash, Google removes them from your Google account, from devices that have backup turned on, and from places you shared them within Google Photos. Google shows you exactly this in its confirmation dialog, and it applies the same whether you delete by hand or with Batch.

Trashed photos still count against your storage. The space comes back when the Trash empties, either because you empty it yourself or because the 60 days run out.

The manual way

You can do this by hand in Google Photos on the web:

1. Open photos.google.com.
2. Hover over a photo and click the checkmark to select it.
3. Hold Shift and click a photo further down to select the range between them.
4. Click the trash icon, then confirm "Move to trash".
5. Repeat until the library is empty.

It works, and for a few hundred photos it is fine. The problem is scale. There is no select-all button in Google Photos, large selections get slow, and a library with tens of thousands of photos means repeating this loop for hours while the grid reloads under you.

How Batch moves your entire library to Trash

Batch for Google Photos is a Chrome extension that automates that same loop. The action is called Move all to Trash, and the name is literal: it clicks the same Move to trash button and confirms the same dialog you would, working through your library in waves while your Google Photos tab stays open.

A few things Batch will never do, by design:

• Batch never empties the Trash.
• Batch never permanently deletes anything.
• Batch never touches the "Delete permanently" control or acts inside your Trash at all.

Everything Batch moves to Trash stays restorable for the full 60 days, the same as if you had deleted it by hand. The permanent part is always yours to do, in Google Photos, when you are ready.

Because this touches your whole library, Batch asks you to type a confirmation before the run starts. You can pause or stop at any time, and the progress counter shows how far it has gotten.

Step by step

1. Install Batch for Google Photos from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Open Google Photos in Chrome and click Batch.
3. In the Entire library section, choose Move all to Trash.
4. Read what will happen, then type the confirmation to start.
5. Let it run. Large libraries take a while, and you can pause or stop whenever you want.
6. When it finishes, review your Trash. Restore anything you want to keep.
7. When you are sure, empty the Trash yourself in Google Photos, or let the 60 days pass.

FAQ

Is this permanent?

No. Batch only moves photos to Trash, where Google keeps them for 60 days. Nothing is permanently deleted unless you empty the Trash yourself or the 60 days pass.

Does this free up storage right away?

No. Trashed photos still count against your storage until the Trash empties. Empty it yourself once you are sure, or wait out the 60 days.

Will photos disappear from my phone too?

If your phone has backup turned on, yes. Moving to Trash removes photos from your Google account and from devices with backup turned on, same as deleting by hand.

Can I get a copy of everything first?

Yes, and you should if there is any doubt. See our guide to downloading your entire Google Photos library.

Can I stop partway through?

Yes. Pause or stop at any time. Everything already moved stays in Trash and can be restored from there.

Does Batch upload or see my photos?

No. Batch runs in your open Google Photos tab and clicks the same controls you would. Your photos never pass through any Batch server.

Clearing a library by hand means repeating the same clicks for hours. Batch does the repetitive part, keeps everything inside Google's own 60-day safety net, and leaves the permanent step in your hands.