You can delete all your Facebook photos in bulk, but Facebook doesn't offer a single "delete all" button — you'll need to use their download tool or delete albums one at a time
Facebook stores every photo you've ever uploaded in separate albums: your profile pictures, cover photos, and any album you created. To remove them all, you have two realistic paths. The first is to download a copy of everything Facebook has on you (which takes a few days), then delete the photos afterward. The second is to delete albums manually, which works faster for most people but takes longer if you have hundreds of photos spread across many albums.
The method you choose depends on whether you want to keep a backup of your photos first. If you do, use the download tool. If you just want them gone from Facebook, deleting albums directly is simpler.
Key Takeaways
- Facebook organizes your photos into albums automatically — profile pictures, cover photos, and any albums you created — and you must delete each album separately or use the download tool to remove everything at once.
- The download tool lets you request a copy of all your photos and data, which Facebook emails to you after a few days, and you can then delete the photos from Facebook knowing you have backups.
- Manual deletion works faster if you have only a few albums, but becomes tedious with dozens of albums because Facebook doesn't show a count of how many photos are in each one before you start deleting.
- Deleting an album removes all photos in it permanently from Facebook, but does not remove comments, tags, or mentions of you in other people's photos.
- Photos you've deleted can still appear in Facebook's servers for a short time, and Facebook may keep copies for legal or security reasons even after you delete them.
How to download all your photos before deleting them
Go to Settings and Privacy, then Settings. On the left sidebar, click Your Information and Permissions, then Download Your Information. Facebook will show you a form where you can choose what data to download. Select only Photos and Videos from the categories list to keep the file size manageable — a full download of everything can be 10 gigabytes or larger.
Choose the date range (usually "All of My Information"), the format (HTML is easier to browse than JSON), and the quality (Medium is fine for most people). Click Create File. Facebook will send you an email when the download is ready, usually within a few days. The email contains a link to download a .zip file with all your photos organized by album.
Save this file to your computer or cloud storage before you delete anything from Facebook. Once you have the backup, you can delete the photos from Facebook without worrying about losing them.
Deleting albums one at a time
Go to your profile and click Photos. You'll see tabs for Your Photos, Albums, and Photos of You. Click Albums to see all the albums you've created or that Facebook created for you (like "Profile Pictures" and "Cover Photos").
Click on an album to open it. In the top right corner, click the three dots menu and select Delete Album. Facebook will ask you to confirm. Click Delete again. The entire album and all photos in it will be removed from Facebook permanently.
Repeat this for every album. This method is straightforward but slow if you have many albums. There's no way to select multiple albums at once or see a count of photos before you delete, so you'll be clicking through each one individually.
Deleting individual photos instead of whole albums
If you want to keep some albums but remove specific photos, go to your profile, click Photos, then Your Photos. Click on a photo to open it. In the top right corner, click the three dots menu and select Delete. Confirm the deletion.
This approach takes much longer than deleting albums if you have hundreds of photos, because you're removing them one or two at a time. Use it only when you want to preserve certain albums or specific photos within an album.
What happens to photos you've already shared or tagged
Deleting a photo from your album removes it from your profile and from Facebook's public view. However, if someone else tagged you in a photo they uploaded, deleting your own photos won't remove their photos. You can untag yourself from photos other people posted by clicking the photo, finding your name in the tag list, and clicking the X next to your name.
Comments and reactions on your photos disappear when you delete the photo. But if someone shared or screenshotted your photo before you deleted it, that copy exists outside Facebook and you have no control over it.
How long it takes Facebook to fully remove your photos
When you delete a photo, it disappears from your profile immediately. Facebook's servers may keep a copy for a short period for technical reasons, but you won't see it on the site. Facebook's privacy policy states they may retain copies of deleted content for legal, security, or operational purposes, though they don't specify how long.
If you're concerned about Facebook retaining your data after deletion, the download-and-delete method gives you the most control: you have a copy of everything, and you've removed it from the platform. But understand that Facebook may still keep server copies you can't see or access.
Preventing new photos from appearing on your profile
After you've deleted your existing photos, you can prevent new ones from being added automatically. Go to Settings and Privacy, then Settings. Click Privacy on the left sidebar. Find the section about who can see your posts and set it to Only Me if you want to post privately going forward.
You can also adjust who can tag you in photos. In the same Privacy settings, look for Who can tag you in posts? and set it to Only Me or Friends. This prevents strangers from tagging you in photos without your knowledge, though it doesn't stop friends from doing so.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete all my photos at once without downloading them first?
No, Facebook doesn't have a "delete all photos" button. You must either delete albums individually or use the download tool first. The download tool doesn't delete anything — it just gives you a backup before you start removing photos manually.
If I deactivate my Facebook account, do my photos get deleted?
Deactivating your account hides your profile and photos from other users, but Facebook keeps them on their servers. If you reactivate within a certain period, everything comes back. To permanently remove your photos, you must delete your account entirely, which takes about 30 days to process. Even then, Facebook may retain copies for legal reasons.
What if I want to keep my profile but delete only photos from a specific year?
The download tool lets you choose a date range, so you can download only photos from a specific year. After you have that backup, you'll need to delete those photos manually from Facebook by going through each album or individual photo. Facebook doesn't offer a way to bulk-delete by date range directly on the site.
Will deleting my photos remove them from Facebook's facial recognition database?
Deleting a photo removes it from your profile, but Facebook's facial recognition system may retain information about faces in deleted photos. You can turn off facial recognition in your Privacy settings under Face Recognition, which prevents Facebook from identifying you in new photos, but this doesn't retroactively remove past facial data.
Can I schedule my photos to delete automatically?
Facebook doesn't have an automatic deletion feature for photos. You must delete them manually or all at once using the methods described above. Some third-party tools claim to automate this, but they require you to give them access to your Facebook account, which carries security risks.