How to delete ALL photos from Onedrive

Question

How to delete ALL photos from Onedrive

Scott Royle 10

I have not been able to "select all" on my photos to delete them. The way there were uploaded is not how I want them and I want to start over. It shows over 400 G in storage, and it must be almost all the pictures. I would like to wipe my whole one drive account and start over. Suggestions? Thanks

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Marcin Policht 109.8K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Follow https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/permanently-delete-your-entire-onedrive

Following these steps will result in permanent removal of all of your OneDrive files - everything!
If you want to delete specific files, photos or folders on OneDrive, read how to delete files or folders in OneDrive.
Alternatively, you can save disk space with OneDrive Files on Demand for Windows / Mac. You can also choose which OneDrive folders to sync to your computer or just unlink your computer from OneDrive.
If you delete files or folders that you have shared with other people, the content will no longer be available to them.
Files that have been deleted from your OneDrive recycle bin cannot be recovered.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

Scott Royle 10 Reputation points

2026-06-27T23:03:21.8+00:00

I can't select more than a few pictures or the option to delete disappears.
Marcin Policht 109.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-28T01:37:48.6966667+00:00
Try using PowerShell. As per https://www.sharepointdiary.com/2019/04/empty-recycle-bin-onedrive-for-business-powershell.html

When you have more than 5000 items in your recycle bin, both the UI method and PowerShell above may fail with the “Threshold exceeded” error message. So, Here is how to clear recycle bin items in batches:

PowerShell

# Install the module if not already installed # Install-Module PnP.PowerShell # Set your user URL and credentials $siteUrl = "https://tenant-my.sharepoint.com/personal/username_domain_com" Connect-PnPOnline -Url $siteUrl -Interactive # Clear the entire recycle bin (1st and 2nd stage) Clear-PnPRecycleBinItem -All -Force

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.
Scott Royle 10 Reputation points

2026-06-28T01:50:16.1766667+00:00

I can't delete them to get them to the recycling bin.

Answer 2

Craig Long 18,655

You can work in your computer's OneDrive folder, which is mirrored to the cloud.

You will find your OneDrive folder at C:\Users\username\OneDrive. If all your files are there, just sort them, and changes will be made to the cloud.

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