Easy way to permanently delete all photos and videos from iPad/iPhone

It seems really hard to me to permanently delete all photos and videos from iPad. I tried different solutions, like:

  • Transferring them using iPhoto and then deleting them by iPhoto
  • Using iTunes to sync the photos from an empty folder on Mac

While these solutions resulted in deleting some photo folders on iPad, some other folders (i.e. My Photo Stream) remained unchanged. Then I tried to remove them by selecting the photos on iPad but there were too many pictures. Finally the "Recently Deleted" folder on iPad remained full of photos! And iTunes shows there is a huge space on iPad still used by photos and videos.

So what's the easiest way to tell iPad I don't really want any more photos and videos on it?


If you wish to "keep" the videos or pictures and also clear your iDevice, make sure you sync or backup your pictures in any way you choose before deleting. The EASIEST way to delete All pictures and/videos is to attach your device to a MAC with an USB cord. Start the app "Image Capture" and select all content you wish to delete. Once selected, there is a delete function inside of image capture, choose this and all selected content on your iDevice will be deleted.