iOS has no built-in timer for photos. Nothing in the Photos app deletes a picture on its own after a set time. The only automatic deletion in Photos is the 30-day clean-out of Recently Deleted, and that starts only after you delete something yourself.
What you can do: delete by hand, schedule a Shortcuts automation, keep temporary shots out of Photos, or use a separate camera app with its own timer. Each removes something different. Hiding, often suggested, doesn’t delete anything.
Which approach fits?
| Approach | Automatic? | Removed from iCloud Photos? | Leaves a copy in Recently Deleted? | Works on photos already in your library? | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delete by hand, then empty Recently Deleted | No | Yes, if iCloud Photos is on | Not once you empty it | Yes | A minute each time, if you remember |
| Shortcuts automation (Find Photos, then Delete Photos) | On a schedule, but it may still ask you to confirm | Yes, if iCloud Photos is on | Yes, for 30 days | Yes | About ten minutes to set up, plus care with filters |
| Keep temporary shots out of Photos (Notes, screenshot preview) | No. You delete the note or screenshot yourself | They never enter Photos. Notes syncs to iCloud if you use iCloud for Notes | Notes has its own Recently Deleted, for 30 days | No | Low |
| Hide photos | No. Hiding is not deleting | No | Nothing is deleted | Yes | Low |
| A camera app with its own timer | Yes | Depends on the app. Some never put media in Photos | Depends on the app | Usually not | Low once installed |
Does iPhone have a setting to delete photos automatically?
No. There is no expiry date, timer or “delete after” setting for photos in iOS. A photo stays in your library until you delete it. After you do, it waits in Recently Deleted for 30 days, then iOS removes it from your iPhone, from iCloud and from your other devices.
If you use iCloud Photos, any delete happens on every device signed in to the same Apple Account. That holds for every approach on this page that deletes from your library.
How do I auto-delete photos with Shortcuts?
A personal automation can run a shortcut on a schedule. Two actions do the work: Find Photos picks the photos, and Delete Photos deletes them.
- Open the Shortcuts app, tap Automation, and create a new personal automation. (On iOS 27, you add the trigger from a shortcut’s editor instead: Edit, then Automation.)
- Choose Time of Day, for example every evening at 9.
- Add Find Photos. Filter it narrowly: screenshots only, taken more than a week ago, and not your favorites or anything in an album you want to keep.
- Add Delete Photos, which takes the photos from Find Photos.
- Tap the play button and test it on a throwaway screenshot.
- Set the automation to run without asking. In Apple’s guide, you turn off Ask Before Running; the label differs between iOS versions.
Three things to know before you rely on it:
- It may still ask. Apple’s guide notes that some actions inside an automation may need their own permission to run automatically. The Delete Photos action’s own description says it asks for confirmation before deleting. Guides written for iOS 15 and 16 describe a “Delete Always” choice that skipped this. We could not confirm that it still exists on current iOS, so expect a prompt until your own test shows otherwise.
- Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted. They stay there for 30 days, like any other delete. This shortcut doesn’t empty Recently Deleted.
- A broad filter deletes too much. Recently Deleted is your safety net for 30 days. Start with screenshots only, and check the results for a week.
Shortcuts suits photos that are already in your library: old screenshots, for example. It does nothing about where new photos go.
Can I keep temporary photos out of my library in the first place?
Yes, for some kinds of photo.
- Screenshots. After you take one, the preview lets you share it and then delete it before it is saved. Unless you choose otherwise, screenshots go to your photo library.
- Documents. In Notes, Scan Documents saves the scan as a PDF inside the note, not in Photos.
- Quick photos in Notes. Photos and videos you take inside a note stay in the note. They are saved to Photos only if you turn on Save to Photos in Settings → Apps → Notes.
None of these is a timer. A deleted note waits in Notes’ own Recently Deleted folder for up to 30 days. If Notes uses iCloud, the note syncs to your other devices like any other.
Does hiding a photo delete it?
No. Hiding moves a photo to the Hidden album and keeps it out of the rest of the Photos app. The Hidden album is locked by default with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and you can remove it from view in Settings. The photo is still in your library. If you use iCloud Photos, it is still in iCloud, hidden on every device.
Hiding answers “who can see this”, not “how long does this exist”.
What about a camera app with its own timer?
A separate camera app can keep photos in its own storage, set a lifespan when you take the picture, and delete it when time runs out. That is the only approach on this page that is both automatic and keeps temporary photos out of your library.
Apps differ in ways that matter. Before you pick one, check:
- Does it keep media out of Photos? If photos land in your library first, they follow the library rules above.
- Does it have its own trash? Some apps keep deleted items for a while so you can restore them. That helps against mistakes and works against letting go.
- Is its storage in your backups? If it is, an expired photo can live on in a backup made while it existed.
- What does its App Store privacy label say? Look for “Data Not Collected” or “Data Used to Track You”.
- Can it clean photos already in your library? Some can. When an app deletes from your library, iOS asks you to confirm, and the photos still go to Recently Deleted.
We compared eight of them, from their App Store listings, in Auto-delete camera apps for iPhone, compared.
One option: Ephemeral Trace
We make Ephemeral Trace.
You choose a timer before you capture or import: 30 seconds, 5 minutes, 1 hour or 24 hours. With Pro, custom timers go up to a year, or you can keep an item forever. Photos and videos stay in the app’s private storage, not in your Photos library, unless you save a copy to Photos. Media is excluded from iCloud and iTunes backups, so a capture doesn’t outlive its timer inside a backup. When expiry completes, the file and its encryption key are removed together. There is no trash, Recently Deleted or undo in the app. Local notifications can warn you before something expires, and widgets show what expires next.
It is free, with an optional one-time Pro purchase. No subscription, no ads, no account, no tracking. The privacy label is Data Not Collected.
What it can’t do:
- It can’t clean up photos already in your library. It cannot browse your library and cannot delete from it. You can import a photo you pick, but the original stays in Photos until you delete it there.
- It’s made for iPhone only, and needs iOS 26 or later.
- It can’t recall copies. A copy you saved to Photos, shared or exported is outside its control.
- It doesn’t stop screenshots, screen recordings, someone photographing your screen, or someone using your unlocked phone before the timer ends.
Which should I use?
- Old screenshots and clutter already in Photos: a Shortcuts automation, or delete by hand once a week.
- Documents you scan once: Notes’ document scanner.
- New photos that only need to exist for a while: a camera app with a timer, so they never enter your library.
- Something you want to keep but not show: the Hidden album.
Whatever you choose, deleting from your library leaves a copy in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Empty it if the photo matters.
Frequently asked questions
Can an iPhone delete photos automatically after a set time?
Can a Shortcuts automation delete photos without asking?
Where do photos deleted by a shortcut go?
Does hiding a photo delete it?
Can an app delete photos from my library by itself?
Sources
- Apple, “Delete or hide photos and videos on iPhone” (iPhone User Guide)
- Apple, “Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad”
- Apple, “Create a new personal automation in Shortcuts on iPhone or iPad” (iOS 26)
- Apple, “Enable or disable a personal automation in Shortcuts on iPhone or iPad” (iOS 26)
- Apple, “Add automations to Shortcuts on iPhone or iPad” (current guide)
- Matthew Cassinelli, “Delete Photos” (Shortcuts action directory)
- Gadget Hacks, “Make Your iPhone Auto-Delete Old Screenshots” (iOS 15 and 16)
- Apple, “Take a screenshot on iPhone” (iOS 26)
- Apple, “Scan text and documents in Notes using the iPhone camera” (iOS 26)
- Apple, “Add photos, video, and more to notes on iPhone” (iOS 26)
- Apple, “Delete and recover notes on iCloud.com”
- TempSnap on the App Store (screenshot of the iOS delete confirmation)
- Ephemeral Trace on the App Store