Delete and Recover Photos and Videos on Samsung Android

How to Delete and Recover Photos and Videos on Samsung Android.

Learn how to restore deleted photos on a Samsung Galaxy. Whether you are trying to free up storage space or just clean up your gallery, I will show you the steps to safely remove photos and videos. You will also learn how to use the recycle bin feature on Samsung Android devices to recover anything you delete by accident.

This guide works for a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra running Android 14 and OneUI 6.1. The steps are similar for most Samsung Galaxy phones.

How to Delete Photos and Videos in the Samsung Gallery App

The Gallery app is where all your photos and videos normally live. Here is how to remove the ones you do not want.

Delete a single photo or video

1. Open the Gallery app on your Samsung phone
2. Find the photo or video you want to delete
3. Tap on it to open it
4. Tap the trash bin icon at the bottom of the screen
5. A message will ask you to confirm. Tap “Move to recycle bin”

Delete multiple photos or videos at once

1. Open the Gallery app
2. Long press on one photo or video until it is selected
3. Tap on each additional file you want to delete
4. Tap the trash bin icon at the bottom
5. Confirm that you want to move the selected files to the recycle bin

How to Recover Deleted Photos and Videos from the Recycle Bin

When you delete something on a Samsung Galaxy phone, it is not gone right away. The files stay in the recycle bin for 30 days from the deletion date and time. After 30 days, they are permanently deleted.

Here is how to get your files back within that window:

1. Open the Gallery app
2. Tap the three horizontal lines (menu icon) in the bottom right corner
3. Tap “Recycle bin” from the menu
4. You will see all your recently deleted photos and videos
5. Tap and hold on one file to select it
6. Tap any additional files you want to recover
7. Tap the “Restore” button at the bottom

Your files will go back to their original folders as if they were never deleted.

How to Permanently Delete Files (Skip the Recycle Bin)

If you want to free up storage space right away and do not want files sitting in the recycle bin, you can delete them permanently. Just be careful with this option because you cannot recover them afterward.

Using the Google Files app

1. Open the Google Files app (or any file manager app)
2. Navigate to Internal storage then DCIM then Camera
3. Find the photos or videos you want to delete
4. Long press to select the files
5. Tap the three dots or the delete option
6. Choose “Delete permanently” instead of moving to bin

This option skips the recycle bin completely. Only use it if you are absolutely sure you will not need those files again.

Important Things to Remember

The 30 day limit – Files in the recycle bin are automatically deleted forever after 30 days. If you want to recover something, do it before that time runs out.

The recycle bin is not a backup – If you permanently delete a file, it is gone. There is no way to get it back.

Freeing up storage space – If the reason you are deleting photos and videos is because your phone is out of space, consider copying your files to a computer or an external SSD instead. That way you keep the files but clear space on your phone.

Alternative Method Using Google Files App

The Samsung Gallery app is the easiest way to manage your photos and videos. But you can also use the Google Files app. In that app you will see file names, file sizes, and creation dates. This gives you more detail before you decide what to delete. The same recycle bin feature works there as well.

Final Thoughts

Learn how to delete photos on your Samsung Galaxy without worrying about losing them forever. The recycle bin gives you a 30 day safety net. If you make a mistake, you can easily recover photos and videos in just a few taps. Just remember that after 30 days, those files are gone for good.