How to delete screenshots on Android
Android hides screenshots in a few different places depending on which phone you have and which gallery app you use. Here are all three routes, and the bin step that decides whether you actually get your storage back.
Using Google Photos
This works on any Android phone with Google Photos installed, which is most of them.
- Open Google Photos.
- Tap Library at the bottom.
- Open the Screenshots folder.
- Long-press the first screenshot to start selecting, then drag down the screen — or keep tapping — to select more.
- Tap the bin icon and confirm.
Using Files by Google (the fastest way)
Files by Google has a built-in cleanup card specifically for screenshots, which is usually quicker than selecting them by hand.
- Open Files by Google.
- Tap the Clean tab at the bottom.
- Look for the Delete screenshots or Old screenshots card and tap Select files.
- Review what it's proposing, then tap Delete.
Worth reviewing rather than accepting blindly — it sorts by age, not by whether the screenshot was useful.
Using Samsung Gallery
- Open Gallery.
- Tap Albums, then open Screenshots.
- Long-press one screenshot, then select the others you want.
- Tap Delete at the bottom.
Empty the bin, or nothing is freed
This is the part that catches people out. Deleted screenshots aren't gone — they sit in a bin for 30 days, still taking up the storage you were trying to reclaim.
- Google Photos: Library → Bin → three-dot menu → Empty bin
- Samsung Gallery: menu → Recycle bin → Empty
Check the result in Settings → Storage.
Clear the gallery without losing anything
There's a fourth option, and for most people it's the one they actually wanted. "Delete all" feels drastic because buried in that pile are the Wi-Fi password from the holiday rental, the recipe you meant to cook, the booking reference, the thing you were going to buy. Wiping the folder fixes the clutter and throws those away too.
ScreenStash separates the two problems. It imports every screenshot into its own library first, then offers to delete the originals from your gallery — all of them, in one pass — so the Screenshots folder ends up genuinely empty. Nothing is lost, because everything is already safe inside the app, searchable by the text inside each image.
- Install ScreenStash and import your screenshots.
- When the import finishes, accept the offer to clean up your gallery. Android shows its own confirmation dialog — ScreenStash never deletes silently, and only proposes deleting files it has already verified.
- Empty the bin as described above to reclaim the storage.
Same clean gallery as deleting everything by hand. None of the regret.
- Search inside your screenshots — type "wifi" and find the password you saved months ago
- Smart boards group receipts, recipes, travel and codes automatically
- Gallery cleanup reclaims the storage you were after in the first place
- On-device text recognition — your screenshots are never uploaded to us
Free for your newest 500 screenshots · Pro is $19.99 once — not a subscription
Common questions
Where are screenshots stored on Android?
Usually Internal storage → Pictures → Screenshots, though some phones use DCIM → Screenshots. Either way, your gallery app surfaces it as a Screenshots album so you rarely need the file path.
Why is my storage still full after deleting them?
They're in the bin for 30 days. Empty it using the steps above and the space comes back straight away.
Can I stop screenshots going into my gallery?
Not on stock Android — screenshots always land in the Screenshots folder and your gallery picks them up. The realistic approach is clearing them out regularly instead.
Does deleting from Google Photos delete from my phone?
If backup and sync is on, yes — deleting in Google Photos removes the screenshot from the cloud and from the device once it syncs. If sync is off, the two are separate and you may need to delete in both places.