Facebook allows users to upload and share photos and videos on their profile. Over time, your Facebook gallery can fill up with old photos and videos that you may want to delete. Here are the steps to delete photos and videos from your Facebook gallery:
Delete photos and videos from your profile
You can delete individual photos and videos that you’ve uploaded to your own Facebook profile:
- Go to your profile and click on “Photos”
- Click on the photo or video you want to delete
- Click on the Options button (the three dots or downward arrow) in the top right corner
- Select “Delete”
- Click “Delete Photo” or “Delete Video” to confirm
This will permanently delete the photo or video from your profile gallery. The photo/video will be removed from your timeline as well.
Delete photos and videos you’re tagged in
If you are tagged in a photo or video posted by someone else, you can remove the tag to delete it from your own profile:
- Click on “Photos” on your profile and filter to “Photos of You”
- Click on the photo or video you want to untag
- Click on your name tag in the photo/video
- Select “Remove Tag”
This will remove the tag linking you to the photo/video. However, it will not delete the actual photo/video from the other person’s gallery.
Delete photos and videos you’ve shared
If you’ve shared someone else’s photo or video to your own profile, you can stop sharing it:
- Click on “Photos” on your profile
- Click on the shared photo/video you want to stop sharing
- Click on the Options button (the three dots or downward arrow) in the top right corner
- Select “Stop sharing…
- Confirm by clicking “Stop Sharing”
This will remove the shared photo/video from your profile gallery. However, it will still remain in the original poster’s gallery.
Delete entire photo albums
If you want to delete entire albums from your Facebook profile, you can do so in just a few steps:
- Go to your profile and click on “Photos”
- Click on the album you want to delete
- Click on the Options button (the three dots or downward arrow) in the top right corner
- Select “Delete Album”
- Confirm by clicking “Delete”
This will permanently delete the entire album and all the photos/videos within it.
Delete photos and videos posted in Facebook groups
To remove photos or videos you’ve shared in a Facebook group:
- Go to the group and click on “Photos”
- Click on the photo/video post you want to delete
- Click the Options button (the three dots or downward arrow) in the top right corner
- Select “Delete”
- Confirm by clicking “Delete Photo” or “Delete Video”
If you are not the original poster, you can only delete photos and videos you have posted yourself to a group. Admins and mods can delete any member’s posts.
Delete photos/videos from your Facebook Marketplace listings
If you’ve posted photos or videos as part of a Facebook Marketplace listing, here’s how to remove them:
- Go to Marketplace and click “My Items”
- Click on the listing you want to edit
- Click “Edit listing” and select “Edit photos”
- Click the X icon on the photos/videos you want to delete
- Click “Done” and then “Submit” to save the changes
This will remove the photos/videos from the Marketplace listing.
How to delete photos and videos from Facebook Messenger
You may have sent or received photos and videos within Facebook Messenger chats. Here’s how to delete them:
- Open the Messenger conversation
- Tap and hold on the photo/video you want to delete
- Tap “Delete”
- Confirm by tapping “Delete” again
This will delete the photo/video from the chat for both you and the recipient. Note that if the media was already viewed, the recipient may still have a copy saved.
Use the “Manage Photos” tool
Facebook’s Manage Photos tool allows you to delete multiple photos at once based on date range or people tagged. To access it:
- Go to your Facebook profile
- Click on “Photos”
- Click on the Manage Photos tab at the top
- Use the filters to choose photos to delete
- Select all the photos you want to delete
- Click on the Options button (the three dots or downward arrow) at the top
- Click “Move to Trash” to delete the selected photos
This provides an easy way to mass delete old photos from your Facebook gallery based on filters.
Download your photos and videos before deleting
Before deleting photos and videos from Facebook, it can be wise to download copies so you have backups saved elsewhere. Here’s how to download your Facebook media:
- Go to your Facebook profile and click on “Photos”
- Use the Filters button to narrow down to certain albums/date ranges
- Select the photos/videos you want to download by ticking the boxes in the upper right corners
- Click on the Options button (the three dots or downward arrow) at the top
- Select “Download”
This will save copies of the photos/videos to your computer’s downloads folder or mobile device storage. You can also do this before deleting entire albums.
What happens when you delete Facebook photos and videos
- Deleted photos and videos are moved to the trash folder for a limited time before being permanently erased.
- Other users may still have copies if they downloaded or screenshotted your photos/videos.
- Deleted media will no longer appear on your profile or in shared posts.
- Tags linking you and other users will be removed from deleted photos.
- Deleted photos and videos will no longer show up in search results.
- If you shared the media, the posts will still appear but without the deleted photos/videos.
Can you recover deleted Facebook photos and videos?
If you accidentally deleted photos or videos from Facebook, it may be possible to get them back:
- Facebook stores deleted photos/videos in an archive trash folder for a limited time before permanent deletion.
- On desktop – Click on the downward arrow at the top right > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Your Facebook Information > Download Your Information. Select photos, videos, posts. Download the archive and search for deleted files.
- On mobile – Tap menu icon > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Your Facebook Information > Download Your Information. Select photos, videos, posts. Download the archive and search for deleted files.
If the media has already been permanently erased from the trash folder, unfortunately it is non-recoverable.
Conclusion
Here are some key takeaways on how to delete photos and videos from your Facebook gallery:
- Delete individual photos/videos from your profile using the “Delete” option.
- Remove tags to untag yourself from others’ posts.
- Stop sharing photos/videos shared from other users or pages.
- Delete entire albums by selecting “Delete Album”.
- Remove photos/videos posted to groups and Marketplace listings.
- Delete photos and videos sent via Messenger.
- Use the Manage Photos tool to mass delete media.
- Download copies before deleting for backup.
- Deleted media is recoverable for a limited time from the trash folder.
With these steps, you can effectively remove any photos and videos you no longer want on your Facebook profile and gallery.