How can I delete photos imported to an iPhone from a PC?

How do I delete photo albums that I accidentally imported to my iPhone 4S from my PC? There is no delete available for either album or individual pictures.


  1. Open iTunes and select your device by clicking the device button in the top-right.

    If no device button is shown, make sure your device is connected (whether by USB or iTunes Wi-Fi Sync).

  2. Select the Photos tab.

    There should be a list of sources that you can sync from.

  3. Uncheck the albums that you don't want syncing to your device.

    Alternatively, uncheck the Sync Photos to remove all imported photos from your device.

  4. Click Apply (or Sync) to sync the changes to your device.


If you cannot see a "delete" button next to an album in your iPhone this is because this album was imported from a different iPhoto library than the one on your current computer.

To delete such albums:

  • Connect the iPhone via USB to your Mac/Pc and start iTunes.
  • Inside iTunes go to your iPhone, and Photos tab, on the top nav.
  • Choose "Sync Photos from iPhoto".

This will prompt a warning telling you that pots already synched from different iPhoto libraries will be deleted. This is exactly what you want, so click OK.

  • Let it start synching, and then cancel the synch. At this point you will be asked whether you want the photos that synched so far left in the phone or removed.
  • Chose remove.

You now have wiped out all albums that came from a different computer.

I have managed to delete such albums on my iPhone so this is definitely working.