How To Empty Trash On IPhone: Definitive Guide - Dr.Fone

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• Permanently erase anything from iOS devices.
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Erase Data Now Erase Data Now Erase Data Now Erase Data Now Learn More > Watch Video Tutorial How to Empty Trash on iPhone: Full Guide in 2025

Selena Lee

Aug 20, 2025 • Filed to: Data Wipe Solutions • Proven solutions

With the popularity of the iPhone, people are moving swiftly from Android to iOS. But the sudden switch is not treating them very well. As the iOS interface is very different, the users don’t even know how to operate them correctly. And the biggest problem arises when the new users don’t have any idea that there is even a Trash for the application separately.

Well, don’t worry; we have the perfect guide for you so that you can easily empty trash on iPhone without any hassle. Running out of storage can be frustrating and that’s why it is vital that you clean up the storage as soon as possible. Follow this guide and you will have enough free space on your iPhone.

• Part 1. What is the trash in the iPhone?
• Part 2. One-click way to empty trash on iPhone
• Part 3. Empty email trash on iPhone
• Part 4. Delete trash photos on iPhone
• Part 5. Delete trash notes on iPhone
• Part 6. Empty trash on Voice Memos
• Part 7. Empty trash in iPhone Files app
• Bonus tip: How to undo trash on iPhone (retrieve deleted data)

Part 1. What is the trash in the iPhone?

The users who are new to the iPhone don’t have any idea that there is any Trash on iPhone. Like Mac Trash or Windows Recycle Bin, there is no iPhone trash folder where all the deleted files are stored on iPhone. However, the trash section is built-in apps like Photos, Contact, Notes, and Mail. In these apps, whenever you delete a file, it goes to the Trash folder and stays there for 30 days. This feature is available for all iOS devices.

Part 2. One-click way to empty trash on iPhone

Struggling with a cluttered iPhone? Meet Dr.Fone - Data Eraser (iOS), your one-click solution for clearing out extra and useless files. With Dr.Fone, you can easily enhance your device's performance and free up significant space by deleting junk files permanently. This way, you'll never be bothered by them again. Ready to optimize your iPhone? Follow our simple guide and enjoy a more efficient device today!

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Step 1: Download and install the software on your computer and connect your iPhone with the system using a Lightning cable. From the home screen, pick the Data Eraser tool.

Step 2: And then, choose the Free Up Space option from the menu. You will further see 4 optimization options on the screen. Tick the ones that you want to scan, such as Erase Junk Files, and tap on the Scan All option.

Step 3: The software will scan the device to look for the junk bundled up. Once the scan is finished, the results will be listed on the screen including useless apps, log files, cached files, etc.

Step 4: Tap on the Clean option at the bottom of the screen and the software will initiate the optimizing process. Right next to the items, you will be able to see the memory space acquired by the files. Therefore, it will be easy for you to choose which files should be deleted permanently.

As the device is optimized, the iPhone will reboot a few times. The software will notify you when the process is finished.

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Part 3. Empty email trash on iPhone

To clear out the space occupied by useless emails on iPhone, you will have to open the Mail app. From the app, you can easily delete emails that are not of any use.

So, if you are wondering how do you empty trash on iPhone from the mail, the steps are given below:

Step 1: Open the Mail app from the main interface of your iPhone and tap the email account you want to empty trash.

Step 2: Scroll down and locate the "Trash" folder. Tap on it to open the trash folder. And then, tap on the "Edit" button located at the top right corner of the screen.

Step 3: You'll see a circle next to each email in the trash folder. Tap on the circle next to the emails you want to delete or tap "Select All" to choose all the emails.

Step 4: After selecting the emails you want to delete, tap on the "Trash" or "Delete" button at the bottom right corner of the screen. The wording may vary depending on your iOS version.

Step 5: A confirmation message will appear asking if you want to permanently delete the selected emails. Tap on "Delete" to confirm and permanently remove the emails from your device. If you have numerous mails, then the deletion might take a while.

Note that deleting emails from the trash folder will permanently remove them and they cannot be recovered. Make sure you have reviewed the emails in the trash folder and have selected the ones you want to delete before proceeding.

Part 4. Delete trash photos on iPhone

Just like emails, the photos deleted from the iPhone go to a "Recently Deleted" folder in the Photos app. You can find the folder in the Albums and delete the photos permanently.

This is how you can empty trash on iPhone:

Step 1: Launch the Photos app and go to "Albums". Find the "Recently Deleted" folder and open it.

Step 2: When the files are displayed, you will see an "Edit" (or "Select") button on the top of the screen. Click on it and you will be able to select the files from the folder. Choose the files which you want to delete and tap on the "Delete" button or click the "Delete All" option.

The extra photos will be deleted from your iPhone completely and enough space will be left on the device for new files.

Part 5. Delete trash notes on iPhone

There is also a method that would allow iPhone users to remove the trash notes. Here, we will tell you how to empty trash notes on iPhone.

Step 1: Open the Notes app on your iPhone and choose the outdated notes which you want to delete permanently from the iPhone. Delete them instantly to move them to the "Recently Deleted" folder.

Step 2: Once the notes are deleted, you will have to open the Recently Deleted folder. Check whether there is any note that you might need. If not, then click on the "Delete All" option to erase the notes folder too.

Now, all useless notes are erased from iPhone, and more free space is increased!

Part 6: Empty trash on Voice Memos

How to empty trash on the Voice Memos app on your iPhone? Here are the steps:

Step 1: Open the Voice Memos app. Tap the voice memo you want to delete and then select the "Trash" icon

Step 2: Now, you will see the deleted voice memos under "Recently Deleted". Tap "Edit" and select the memos you want to delete.

Step 3: Tap "Delete" or "Delete All"  to remove them permanently.

Part 7. Empty trash in iPhone Files app

You can also empty trash on your iPhone via empty trash in Files. To empty the trash in the Files app on your iPhone, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Files app.

Step 2: Go to the "Browse" tab.

Step 3: Locate and open the "Recently Deleted".

Step 4: Tap "..." on the upper-right corner and click "Select" to choose the files/folders to delete.

Step 5: Tap the "Delete" icon to delete them permanently.

Without the help of Dr.Fone, you will have to go through a very hectic process to delete the extra files on your iPhone. So, it will be a better thing is that you use Dr.Fone - Data Eraser right away to clean up the iPhone trash.

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A one-click tool to empty trash on your iPhone and free up more space!

• It can delete all data and information on Apple devices permanently.
• It can remove all types of data files. Plus it works equally efficiently on all Apple devices. iPads, iPod touch, iPhone, and Mac.
• It helps enhance system performance since the toolkit from Dr.Fone deletes all junk files completely.
• It provides you with improved privacy. Dr.Fone - Data Eraser (iOS) with its exclusive features will enhance your security on the Internet.
• Apart from data files, Dr.Fone - Data Eraser (iOS) can permanently get rid of third-party apps.

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Bonus tip: How to undo trash on iPhone (retrieve deleted data)

Sometimes, the users don’t focus on the files they are about to delete from the trash and end up losing important files with the trash. Unfortunately, there is no way you can undo trash on iPhone. But you can always use Dr.Fone as the all-in-one solution.

The iOS data recovery tool for Dr.Fone allows iPhone users to retrieve all kinds of deleted data from your iPhone. Whether it is the device data, iTunes files, or iCloud backup, Dr.Fone can restore the deleted files quickly and easily.

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Conclusion

All the users who wanted to know "how do I empty the trash on my iPhone" have their answers in the article. As you can see, cleaning up data from one app to another can be time-consuming and confusing too. Therefore, it is recommended that you use dr fone to erase the junk and cache files from your device so that you’ll always have enough space on your iPhone. And if somehow, you end up losing some of your precious files then Dr.Fone can help you with that too.

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iPhone Erase

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• 9. Empty Trash on iPhone
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