The usual reason: Recently Deleted
When you delete a photo or video in the Photos app, iOS doesn't erase it. It moves it to the Recently Deleted collection and keeps it there for 30 days, so you can get it back if you change your mind. Until it leaves Recently Deleted, it still takes up the same space on your iPhone. Merging duplicates works the same way: the copies that aren't kept go to Recently Deleted too.
So the space comes back in one of two ways: by itself, 30 days after each item was deleted, or straight away when you delete the items from Recently Deleted.
Get the space back now
- Open the Photos app and tap Collections.
- Below Utilities, tap Recently Deleted, tap View Album, then unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Tap Select, choose what you want gone for good, then choose Delete and confirm.
This can't be undone. Full steps, and what to check first, are in how to empty Recently Deleted.
Other reasons the number may not move
- iCloud Photos with Optimize iPhone Storage. With this setting (on by default when iCloud Photos is on), the full-resolution originals live in iCloud and the iPhone keeps smaller versions. Deleting a photo then frees only that smaller version on the iPhone, which can be much less than the photo's full size.
- iCloud Photos deletes everywhere. With iCloud Photos on, a deletion also applies to your other devices and to iCloud, and Recently Deleted holds the items on all of them for the same 30 days. If you were trying to free iCloud space, it comes back on the same schedule.
Why no app can do this for you
iOS doesn't give apps a way to empty Recently Deleted, or even to see what is in it. A cleaning app can only send photos there. So space shown as “freed” the moment you delete isn't free yet: it is waiting in Recently Deleted.
How Oxid Photos handles it
Oxid Photos (not released yet) is built around this. After you delete from its Review Pile, it says the items are in Recently Deleted for 30 days and that the space is freed when they leave it. Its Clean screen shows the items it deleted in the last 30 days as “Pending in Recently Deleted” — not as freed space — with the steps above to free it now. It can't take you straight into Recently Deleted, because iOS offers no link for that, so it gives you the steps instead. About Oxid Photos.
Sources
The iPhone steps on this page were checked on 13 October 2026 against Apple's own support pages. Menu names can move between iOS versions; if yours differs, Apple's page for your version is the one to follow.
- Delete or hide photos and videos on iPhone — Apple Support
- Merge duplicate photos and videos on iPhone (iOS 16 version) — Apple Support
- Back up and sync your photos and videos with iCloud — Apple Support
- How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad — Apple Support