Use "Free up space on this device" or a single photo's "Delete from device" to remove copies from your phone and keep them in Google Photos. The Trash button is the trap: with backup on, it deletes the photo from Google Photos and from every other device that has backup on.
| You want | Do this | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Photos off the phone, still in Google Photos | Profile picture > Free up space on this device, or open one item > More > Delete from device | Phone copies are deleted. Items stay in the Google Photos app and at photos.google.com |
| Photos out of Google Photos, still on the phone | Turn off backup, delete at photos.google.com, leave backup off | Cloud copies go; phone copies stay |
| Photos gone everywhere | Select the items > Trash | Removed from Google Photos, albums, shared albums and every device with backup on |
Keep in Google Photos, remove from the phone
Check that the items are backed up first. Then tap your profile picture and choose Free up space on this device. Google Photos shows how much it will free before you confirm. On Android, items fewer than 30 days old may stay on the phone, still backed up.
On an iPhone or iPad there's one more step. After the app deletes the copies, open Apple's Photos app, go to Recently Deleted, and delete the same items there.
Once they're removed, you can still see, edit and share them from the Google Photos app and photos.google.com, as long as you're signed in and online. The phone's own gallery app (or Apple Photos on iPhone) won't show them.
Keep on the phone, remove from Google Photos
- In the Google Photos app, turn off backup. Do it on every device where you want the photo to stay.
- On a computer or in a mobile browser, go to photos.google.com and delete the items.
- On the phone, wait a few minutes on Wi-Fi, then close and reopen the app.
Leave backup off afterwards. Turning it back on can upload the deleted item again, or delete the phone's copy. To remove everything from this phone's backup in one go, use Backup > Undo backup in Photos settings. That also takes the items out of albums, shared albums, search results and memories.
Trash
Anything you delete from the Google Photos app waits in Trash for 30 days, then it's gone for good and can't be restored. Deleting from Trash by hand is permanent too. Google Takeout can't recover permanently deleted items either.
Deleting in Google Photos doesn't remove copies in Blogger, Drive, Gmail or YouTube. A photo on a removable memory card may stay there; delete it from the card in the phone's gallery app. On an iPhone or iPad you can delete up to 1,500 items at once.
To hide a photo without deleting it, use Archive: it leaves the photo in albums, search and device folders.
Sources
- Google Photos Help — Delete photos & videos (checked Nov 9, 2026)
- Google Photos Help — Free up space on your device (checked Nov 9, 2026)