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Android guide

How to delete screenshots on Android

Updated 2026-11-11 · 3 min read

Screenshots are the only photo category where the ratio of "kept" to "actually needed" is about 100:1. Everyone has thousands. Nobody scrolls back through them.

Here's where they hide, how to clear them in one pass, and how to keep the handful that matter.

Where screenshots live

Most Android phones save screenshots to a dedicated folder:

`` /Pictures/Screenshots /Pictures/ScreenShots (Samsung, capital S) /DCIM/Screenshots (some Xiaomi/Poco builds) ``

The Gallery app usually surfaces them as a "Screenshots" album — that's the fastest route, because it's already grouped.

Method 1: the gallery album (fastest, works everywhere)

  1. Open your Gallery.
  2. Find the Screenshots album (or Albums → Screenshots).
  3. Long-press the first screenshot → tap Select all.
  4. Review the selection — this is the step people skip and regret.
  5. Delete.

On Samsung it's Gallery → Albums → Screenshots; on Xiaomi it's Gallery → Albums → Screenshots; on stock Android/Pixel it's Photos → Library → Screenshots.

Important: deleting puts them in Trash / Recently deleted for 30 days. Space isn't freed until the trash clears. If you're deleting to make room, empty the trash too (Gallery → Trash → Empty).

Method 2: Files app, sorted by date

If the gallery album is missing or you want to see the real files:

  1. Open Files (or your file manager).
  2. Navigate to Pictures/Screenshots.
  3. Sort by date or size, select, delete.

This works even when a gallery app decides not to show a folder.

Method 3: delete everything except the last week

The practical middle ground: keep recent screenshots (the ones with tickets, addresses, QR codes you'll use this week) and delete everything older.

Most galleries support selecting a date range by dragging across a grid. Select from the oldest to ~7 days ago, delete. That's one motion, and it removes 95% of the pile.

Method 4: automate it with Google Photos

Google Photos can back up screenshots and then remove the local copies:

  1. Google Photos → profile → Photos settings → Backup → make sure backup is on.
  2. Then use Free up space — it deletes local copies of anything backed up, screenshots included.

Two caveats worth stating plainly:

Method 5: stop them from coming back

Deleting 4,000 screenshots is satisfying until you have 4,000 again in a year. The inflow:

What to do with the screenshots you actually need

Some screenshots matter: bank details, ID documents, medical results, addresses. Those are exactly the ones you don't want sitting in your gallery — visible to anyone who borrows your phone, and included in any photo backup.

Three options, in increasing order of protection:

  1. Move them to a folder with a .nomedia file. Hides them from the gallery. Doesn't protect the file.
  2. Delete them after writing the information down somewhere you actually keep notes.
  3. Put them in an encrypted vault. If it's a document with an ID number on it, "hidden from the gallery" isn't the same as "unreadable if someone copies my storage". The difference is explained in how to hide photos on Android.

FAQ

Do screenshots take up much storage?

Individually, no — a screenshot is typically 200 KB to 1.5 MB. In aggregate, yes: 4,000 screenshots is roughly 3 GB, which is more than most apps.

Why do my screenshots not appear in the gallery?

Either the folder has a .nomedia file in it, media scanning hasn't run yet, or the gallery app simply doesn't index that folder. Check Pictures/Screenshots with a file manager — the files are almost certainly there.

Can I recover deleted screenshots?

For 30 days, yes: Gallery → Trash → select → Restore (60 days in Google Photos' trash). After that, they're gone unless they were backed up somewhere.

Is there a way to delete all screenshots at once on Samsung?

Yes: Gallery → Albums → Screenshots → long-press → tap the "All" / select-all chip → Delete. Then empty the Trash to actually free the space.