Facebook keeps every photo you upload until you remove it yourself. Below is how to delete a single photo, a whole album, or a batch of photos at once — on both the mobile app and desktop — plus what actually happens to a photo after you delete it, and whether you can get it back.
Before you start: what deleting actually does
- Deleting a photo removes it from your profile permanently, along with all of its likes, comments, and tags.
- It does not touch your saved logins, your other posts, or your messages — only that image.
- You can only delete photos you uploaded. If someone else posted a photo of you, you can untag yourself or report it, but you cannot delete their copy.
- Posts you move to Facebook's Trash (including photo posts) sit there for 30 days before they are gone for good; a photo deleted from the photo viewer, per Facebook's help page, cannot be gotten back (see the recovery section below).
Delete a single photo
On the mobile app (iOS and Android)
- Open the Facebook app and tap through to your own profile.
- Tap Photos, then the Your photos tab (your version may label this "Uploads").
- Tap the photo to open it full-screen.
- Tap the three-dot menu (⋯) at the top right.
- Tap Delete photo (some versions say Move to trash).
- Confirm on the pop-up.
These numbered steps match Facebook's Android instructions. On iPhone, Facebook documents a different gesture: tap the photo, then tap and hold it until a menu appears, then tap Delete Photo and tap Delete to confirm. The exact button label or its position may also differ slightly by app version.
On desktop (facebook.com)
- Go to facebook.com, sign in, and open your profile.
- Click Photos, then Your Photos.
- Click the photo to open it.
- Click the three-dot Options menu in the top-right corner of the photo.
- Choose Delete Photo — the label Facebook's photo help documents here. If your menu instead shows Move to Trash, you are trashing the post from your feed or timeline, which can be restored from Trash for a limited window (see the recovery section).
- Click to confirm.
Delete an entire album
Deleting a custom album removes every photo inside it in one action. Note that certain of Facebook's system albums — including Profile Pictures, Cover Photos, and Mobile Uploads — cannot be deleted as a whole (third-party guides report the same for Timeline Photos, though Meta's help page does not list it); you can only remove the individual photos within them.
Mobile: Profile → Photos → Albums tab → open the album → tap Edit album in the top right (some app versions show ⋯) → Delete Album → confirm.
Desktop: Profile → Photos → Albums → open the album → click the three-dot / settings icon → Delete Album → confirm.
Delete multiple photos at once (Activity Log)
Activity Log lets you review and remove many items in one place, which is faster than opening photos one by one.
- Mobile: tap Menu in the top left, then tap your name; tap Options below your profile picture, then tap Activity Log. Use Manage Activity (or Manage posts) to select several items, then choose Move to trash.
- Desktop: click your profile photo (top right) → Settings & Privacy → Activity Log. In the left-hand filter panel choose Photos and videos, then open each item's three-dot menu and choose Move to trash or Delete. Meta currently documents the multi-select Manage Activity tool for the Android, iPhone and Facebook Lite apps only; some third-party guides describe a desktop checkbox view, but Meta's help does not document one.
Activity Log's layout and wording change fairly often. If the labels don't match exactly, look for a filter list on the left and a three-dot menu beside each item.
Can you recover deleted photos?
It depends on how you deleted it. A photo removed with Delete Photo in the photo viewer cannot be recovered — Facebook's help page says that "once a photo is deleted, you won't be able to get it back." Content you moved to Trash instead (a post's Options → Move to trash, or Manage Activity in the mobile app) stays there for 30 days. To restore it: open Activity Log → Trash → select the item → Restore. After 30 days, items in Trash are deleted automatically.
Once a photo is permanently deleted — the 30 days have passed, or you manually emptied the Trash — there is no user-facing way to get it back. Facebook may keep backup copies within its own systems for a short period, but you cannot restore them yourself. If a photo matters to you, download a copy first via Settings & Privacy → Settings → Meta Account (you may see Accounts Center) → Your information and permissions → Export your information → Create export, then choose the information to include and a date range.