Step by step
How to delete burst photos on iPhone and keep the best shot
To delete burst photos on iPhone, open the burst in Photos and tap Burst (number) at the top left, or Select on iOS 18 and earlier. Tap the circle on the shots you want, tap Done, then choose Keep Only Favorites. The other shots go to Recently Deleted. To delete a whole burst, open it and tap the Trash button. Every burst is listed in Media Types › Bursts.
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Three things you can do with a burst
A burst is one stack of photos taken while you hold the shutter. Photos shows it as one thumbnail, but keeps every shot. When you finish picking shots, Photos asks what to do with the rest.
| Choice | What you keep | The other shots | Frees space |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep Only Favorites | Marked shots, as separate photos | Go to Recently Deleted | Yes, after Recently Deleted is emptied |
| Delete the whole burst | Nothing | Go to Recently Deleted | Yes, after Recently Deleted is emptied |
| Keep Everything | Marked shots, plus the whole burst | Stay in the burst | No |
Sources: Apple Support, Capture action shots with Burst mode on your iPhone camera and View photo bursts in Photos on Mac, which describes the same two choices as Keep Only Selection and Keep Everything.
In the Photos app
How to keep the best shots and delete the rest
The steps use the Photos app on iOS 26 and 27. The table after the steps gives the path and button names on older versions.
- 01
Find your bursts
Open Photos, tap Collections, scroll down and tap Media Types, then Bursts. Photos collects every burst there, so you don’t have to spot the stacked thumbnails in your library.
- 02
Open a burst
Tap a burst, then tap Burst (number) at the top left. The number is how many shots it holds. A strip of thumbnails appears below the photo; gray dots under some of them mark the shots Photos suggests keeping.
- 03
Mark the shots you want
Swipe through the shots and tap the circle in the lower-right corner of each one you want to keep as its own photo. The suggestions are a starting point: check eyes, focus and motion blur yourself, and keep one or two shots, not ten.
- 04
Keep only those shots
Tap Done, then Keep Only Favorites. The marked shots become ordinary photos in your library, the burst is gone, and the other shots move to Recently Deleted. Choose Keep Everything only if you want the burst to stay as it is.
- 05
Empty them from Recently Deleted
The removed shots keep using space for 30 days. To get the space back now, open Collections, scroll to Utilities, open Recently Deleted (it asks for Face ID or Touch ID), tap Select, choose the shots and delete them. They can’t be recovered after that.
Sources: Apple Support, Burst mode on your iPhone camera, Locate photos and videos by media type on iPhone and Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad.
By iOS version
Where are burst photos on iPhone?
In the Bursts collection under Media Types. Apple moved Media Types twice, and the button that opens a burst changed in iOS 26. To check your version, open Settings, tap General, then About.
| iOS version | Bursts collection | In a burst, tap |
|---|---|---|
| iOS 26 and iOS 27 | Photos › Collections › Media Types › Bursts | Burst (number) at the top left |
| iOS 18 | Photos › scroll down below your library › Media Types › Bursts | Select |
| iOS 16 and iOS 17 | Photos › Albums › Media Types › Bursts | Select |
Many at once
How to delete many bursts at once
Photos has no way to trim several bursts in one go: picking shots happens one burst at a time. Deleting whole bursts in one go works like deleting any photos.
Open Media Types › Bursts and tap Select. Tap each burst you don’t need, or slide your finger across a row to select several. Tap the Trash button and confirm. Each selected burst goes to Recently Deleted with every shot in it.
A good order for a big backlog: first delete the bursts you never wanted, such as a pocket shot or a burst set off by accident. Then trim the ones from moments you care about, keeping one or two shots each.
With iCloud Photos on, deleting a burst on your iPhone deletes it on every device signed in with the same Apple Account. Apple’s guide for Photos on Mac describes the same Bursts collection and choices, so you can also trim bursts on a Mac with a bigger screen.
Fewer bursts
How to stop taking bursts by accident
On current iPhones, a burst starts when you drag the shutter button to the left and hold it; it stops when you lift your finger. A quick drag while reaching for the shutter is the usual cause of a burst nobody meant to take. Apple documents no setting that turns this gesture off.
Volume Up for Burst. If you turned on Settings › Camera › Use Volume Up for Burst, holding the volume up button also takes a burst. Turn it off if you hold the phone by its side buttons.
When a burst is the right tool. Kids, pets, sports and anything moving. Plan to trim the burst the same day, while you still remember which moment you were after.
After the bursts
Bursts and PhotoCleanse
We make PhotoCleanse, so weigh this section with that in mind. PhotoCleanse doesn’t open bursts: its duplicate scan and its Swipe decks see a burst only as its cover photo, so trim bursts in the Photos app as described above.
What it does handle is what bursts leave behind. The shots you keep become ordinary photos, and together with retakes, copies saved from chats and edited versions they make up the rest of a cluttered library. PhotoCleanse compares photo content on your iPhone, groups copies and similar shots of the same moment, and marks one BEST photo to keep: a favorite first, then the largest pixel size, clearly better face quality, the larger file and the earliest capture. You choose what to delete, and iOS asks you to confirm.
Your photos aren’t uploaded. The free plan cleans up 3 groups a month; PhotoCleanse Pro removes the limit.
How to delete similar photos on iPhone without losing the best shot
How do I delete burst photos on iPhone?
Open the burst in Photos and tap Burst (number) at the top left; on iOS 18 and earlier, tap Select. Tap the circle on each shot you want to keep, tap Done, then choose Keep Only Favorites. The other shots go to Recently Deleted. To delete the whole burst instead, open it and tap the Trash button.
Do burst photos take up storage?
Yes. Your library shows a burst as one photo, but every shot in it is kept until you trim the burst or delete it. Trimming long bursts to the one or two shots you want is one of the quicker ways to get photo storage back.
How do I select all burst photos on my iPhone?
Open Media Types › Bursts (on iOS 26 and 27, under Collections). Tap Select, then tap each burst or slide your finger across a row to select several. Tapping the Trash button then deletes those bursts with every shot in them, so save the shots you want from each one first.
How do I turn off burst mode on iPhone?
Apple documents no setting that turns off the shutter gesture: a burst starts only when you drag the shutter button to the left and hold it. If you set holding the volume up button to take bursts, turn it off in Settings › Camera › Use Volume Up for Burst.
Can I get burst shots back after Keep Only Favorites?
Yes, for 30 days. Apple’s guide for Photos on Mac says the shots you don’t keep are placed in Recently Deleted. Open Recently Deleted under Utilities, select the shots and tap Recover. Once they’re deleted from there, they can’t be recovered.
Why can’t I find the Bursts collection?
Either your library has no bursts, or you’re looking in the wrong place for your iOS version. On iOS 26 and 27, tap Collections, then Media Types. On iOS 18, scroll down below your library to Media Types. On iOS 16 and 17, tap Albums and look under Media Types.
Does deleting burst photos on my iPhone delete them from iCloud?
Yes, if iCloud Photos is on. Apple says a photo deleted on one device is deleted on every device signed in with the same Apple Account. Save any shot you want to keep before you delete a burst.
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