Screenshot cleaner
Screenshot cleaner for iPhone.
Screenshots pile up faster than any other kind of photo. Find them all, review them in one list, clear them in a single pass.
Free forever No ads, no subscription Core cleanup runs on-device
The archaeology of a screenshot pile
A screenshot is the shortest-lived kind of photo. You take it to remember a confirmation number, a recipe, a route, a conversation, a QR code that expires in ten minutes. Then it stays in your library forever, mixed in with the photos that actually matter, and every future cleanup has to walk past it again.
Screen recordings are the same problem with a much bigger footprint: a single two-minute recording can be 50 to 200 MB, and nobody ever watches it twice. Between the two, screenshots and recordings are usually the second-largest reclaimable category after video, and the easiest to decide about because almost none of them are sentimental.
How screenshots are detected
iOS labels screenshots in the photo library metadata itself: they carry a screenshot media subtype, and screen recordings carry the video equivalent. TidyByte reads those labels directly, which is why the list it builds is exact rather than a guess based on image dimensions or file names.
That accuracy cuts both ways, and it is worth being straight about the limit: an image saved from a website or an app is an ordinary photo, not a screenshot, so no tool can detect it by subtype. TidyByte’s Smart Categories groups photos that look like they came from apps or the web, which is the honest way to review that pile instead of pretending it can be filtered exactly.
What the list gives you
- Every screenshot and screen recording, with size and date
- Sorting by size, so the recordings surface first
- A running total of the space your selection will return
- Select all, or keep the handful you still need
A two-minute routine for clearing screenshots
- Sort by size and clear the recordings. This is where the megabytes are, and recordings are almost never worth keeping.
- Filter by year. Anything older than a year is very unlikely to still be useful, and this is where the volume is.
- Scan the recent list for keeps. Receipts, tickets and reference images are usually within the last few weeks; deselect them.
- Delete the rest in one pass. One confirmation, and the space is back.
Repeat monthly and the pile never grows large enough to be a project again. The optional weekly reminder is designed for exactly this: a nudge when the reclaimable total creeps up, not a demand to clean everything.
Which screenshots are actually worth keeping
Most screenshots have a shelf life measured in minutes. The exceptions are usually records you would need to produce later, and they are worth protecting before you bulk-delete.
Worth keeping
Receipts and invoices, insurance and warranty details, medical information, travel bookings still ahead of you, recipes you actually cook, and reference images for ongoing projects.
Safe to clear
Expired tickets and QR codes, delivery notifications, error messages you already fixed, memes, and anything you screenshotted to send to someone in a conversation.
If a screenshot turns out to matter after all, it is still in Recently Deleted for 30 days, and restoring it is two taps in the Photos app.
How it compares
| TidyByte | Apple Photos | Typical paid cleaner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finds screenshots specifically | Yes, by media subtype | Screenshots album | Yes |
| Includes screen recordings | Yes | Screenshots album for some | Sometimes |
| Sort by size or date | Both | Date only | Varies |
| Bulk delete after review | Yes | Manual selection | Yes |
| Shows how much space it will free | Before deletion | No | Rarely |
| Cost | Free | Free | Subscription |
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Free forever
No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads.
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Private by design
No TidyByte account, backend, analytics SDK, ads, or tracking.
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On-device only
iPhone-library cleanup runs locally; optional Google Photos connects directly to Google.
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Open source
MIT licensed on GitHub, so every claim is auditable.
Frequently asked questions
How do I delete all screenshots from my iPhone at once?
Open TidyByte's Screenshots tool, review the list it builds, tap Select All, and confirm. It finds screenshots and screen recordings by their media subtype rather than by guessing from file names, shows the total size of your selection, and deletes through the standard iOS confirmation.
How much space do screenshots take up on an iPhone?
Screenshots are usually under 5 MB each, but they accumulate in the thousands over years, and screen recordings are far larger. TidyByte lists every screenshot with its file size and shows the combined total before you delete, so you can see whether the cleanup is worth your two minutes.
Will I lose screenshots I still need?
Only if you delete them. The tool shows a scrollable list with thumbnails and dates, so you can spot the receipts, tickets and reference images worth keeping and deselect them. Anything deleted stays in Recently Deleted for 30 days.
Does TidyByte detect screenshots saved from apps or the web?
Those images are saved as ordinary photos, so no tool can detect them reliably by subtype. TidyByte's Smart Categories groups photos that look like they came from apps or the web, which is the honest way to review that pile rather than pretending it can be detected exactly.
Can it clean screenshots on iPad too?
Yes. The same tool runs on iPad, and screenshots are detected identically there. Deletions sync through Photos, so an iPad cleanup shows up on your iPhone if iCloud Photos is on.
Every cleanup tool, in one free app
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Photo cleaner
One free app that clears every kind of photo clutter — duplicates, similar shots, screenshots, screen recordings, chat media, blur, bursts, Live Photos and oversized videos. iPhone-library cleanup runs on-device.
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Blurry photos
Sharpness, darkness and overexposure scored on-device, with a sensitivity control you can tune. Keep the memories, bin the misses.
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Storage cleaner
See exactly what is filling your iPhone, then clear it: duplicates, oversized videos, screenshots, blurry shots and Live Photos. Free, with iPhone-library cleanup on-device.
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Large files
The few files that eat most of your storage are videos. Sort them by size, decide file by file, then delete or compress.
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Duplicate cleaner
Exact copies matched byte-for-byte, plus near-identical shots grouped by Apple's Vision framework. Review every group, keep the best, delete the rest.
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Similar photos
Twenty shots of the same moment, one worth keeping. Group them, score them, keep the best — without a subscription.
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Burst photos
A ten-second burst is thirty photos, and twenty-nine of them are waste. Group them, keep the best frame, clear the rest.
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Live Photo converter
Every Live Photo carries a short video you rarely watch. Keep the still, lose the motion, keep the metadata.
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Video compression
4K clips are what fill iPhones. Re-encode them at a preset you choose, check the real file size, then decide what to do with the original.
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Image compression
Re-encode the photos that are larger than they need to be, choose the quality, and see exactly how many megabytes each one returned.
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Photo organizer
Sort thirty thousand photos without renaming a single file: browse by category, year or album, and make keep-or-delete decisions in one pass.
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Free, no subscription
No paywall on the delete button. No weekly plan. No ads between photos. Free because there is no TidyByte backend, ad system, or subscription to fund.
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Screen recordings
Screen recordings are the largest files nobody remembers making. Find every one, see its size, and clear them in a single pass.
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Chat media
Every chat app quietly saves photos and videos into your library. Review them by album and clear the ones you never meant to keep.
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AI photo search
Describe what you are looking for. Local AI searches the iPhone library on-device and works offline for photos already available there. Optional Google Photos is separate in enabled builds.
Clear your screenshot pile.
Download TidyByte Free and turn years of screenshots into free space in a single pass.