How to Completely Delete Voice Memos on iPhone or iPad
Reading Time: 3 minutes You can use the native Voice Memos app on your iPhone or iPad to record audio for classroom lectures, business meetings, interviews and more. Your audio recordings are available from any device with iCloud. I use Voice Memos often. If you use Voice Memos, you may have noticed that the Voice Memos app is taking up too much storage space on your iPhone or iPad, even though you deleted some of your recordings. When you delete a recording, by default, it won’t be immediately deleted. Instead, it is moved to a folder called Recently Deleted. In this article, I explain how you can completely delete your voice memos so that you can free up space on your device.
How to delete a Voice Memos recording
1. Open the Voice Memos app and tap All Recordings.
2. Find the recording you want to delete and tap it. Then, tap the Trash icon to delete it. Alternatively, you can swipe left on the memo, then tap the Trash button.
3. You can also delete multiple recordings at once. Open your recordings list. At the top right, you will see the Edit button. Tap it.
4. Now select the recordings you want to delete and tap the Trash icon.
How to delete from the Recently Deleted folder
By following the steps above, you can delete your recordings. However, they are not really deleted yet. They will stay in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days by default in case you change your mind. If you change your mind, you can restore your deleted recordings by going to this folder. To restore, open the Recently Deleted folder, tap the recording you want to restore, and tap Recover. Here is how you can completely delete your voice memos:
1. Open the Recently Deleted folder. Then swipe left on a memo and tap Delete.
2. Alternatively, tap the recording, then tap on Delete.
How to change how long deleted recordings are saved
My last note is that you can change how long you want deleted recordings to stay in Recently Deleted. As I stated above, the default is 30 days. To change this, on your device, open Settings, then select Voice Memos and tap on Clear Deleted. Select one of the options: Immediately, After 1 Day, After 7 Days, After 30 Days, Never. Obviously, if you select Immediately, you do not have to open Recently Deleted and delete again because once you delete a recording, it will be deleted permanently.
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