How to Turn Off Burst Mode on an iPhone and Remove the Photos

You, I, and almost everyone else who uses Burst mode without the proper gallery hygiene usually regret it right after–Burst photos can be very tedious to clean up, especially if you have a lot of them.

Even if you don’t use this mode intentionally, it’s too easy to enable it unknowingly and fill up your gallery in the process.

This guide will help you with both problems. We’ll show you different ways to disable Burst mode and get rid Burst photos efficiently.

What is Burst Mode on an iPhone?

Burst mode is a camera setting for the iPhone that lets you take multiple photos rapidly, one after the other. It’s useful for:

• Taking photos of a moving subject
• Capturing multiple similar shots at once (e.g., to choose the best one)
• Capturing photos while you’re moving

However, we’ve also mentioned Burst mode in several guides as a very common source of junk files and clutter. Specifically, it creates non-duplicate but similar photos that the native Photos app doesn’t detect automatically.

How to Turn Off Burst Photos on iPhone

There are 3 different ways to turn off Burst Mode depending on how your iPhone camera is set up—both in the live camera interface and in the Settings app. We’ll demonstrate each of these methods in the sections below so you can try them all.

Method 1: Turn Off Timer

When you enable your iPhone camera’s timer, Burst Mode is also enabled by default. In theory, users enable the timer feature when they are far from the device when the photo is taken. In this scenario, having multiple copies to choose from is super useful.

Unfortunately, that means you can’t stop Burst Photos with the timer enabled. To turn off photo burst, you have to turn off the timer as well.

To turn off burst photos with the timer:

Step 1. Open the camera app and tap the small arrow at the top of the screen IF it’s pointing up (if it’s pointing down, skip this step).

Step 2. New icons will appear on-screen above the shutter. Tap the Timer button, which looks like a clock.

Step 3. Tap Timer Off.

Method 2: Switch to HDR or Live Photo

Want to guarantee above-average quality output without saving dozens of Burst Photos? Consider switching to HDR or Live Photos.

Like Burst Photos, HDR takes multiple consecutive photos really quickly but with different exposures. Then, HDR “combines” the best parts so you’re left with one super nice picture.

Live Photos, on the other hand, captures a photo as well as recorded clips of 1.5 seconds before and after the photo is taken.

To switch to Live Photo mode:

Open the Camera app and tap the Live Photos button in the top-right corner of the screen. It looks like a bullseye with a dotted line on the outermost line.

To switch to HDR Mode manually:

Step 1. Open the Settings app. Then, scroll down the menu and tap Camera.

Step 2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and toggle OFF the Smart HDR setting.

Step 3. Close the Settings app and open the Camera app. You should see the HDR button in the top-right corner of your screen, beside the Live Photos button. If the HDR button has a slash across itself, tap it to enable it (the HDR button stays white when enabled, unlike the Live Photos button).

Method 3: Turn Off Use Volume Up for Burst in Settings

Both volume buttons on the iPhone can be used as a shutter button by default. However, the Volume Up button may also be set up to take Burst Photos.

You can simply stick with the Volume Down button to avoid taking Burst Photos but you can also disable the setting altogether to avoid mistakes and/or if you prefer simply prefer it.

To disable the Use Volume Up for Burst setting:

Step 1. Open the Settings app and scroll down the page until you find Camera. Tap it.

Step 2. Switch OFF the toggle beside Use Volume Up for Burst.

How to Remove Burst Photos from an iPhone

In this section, we’ll cover 2 different methods to remove Burst Photos from an iPhone—one using the native Photos app, and the other, a third-party program. Each method has its pros and cons, so we recommend reviewing both mini-guides to see what best suits your needs.

Option A: Select Photos Manually in Bursts Album

If you don’t have dozens of Burst Photos on your iPhone, cleaning them up manually on your via the Bursts album is super convenient. Not only can you easily delete multiple sets of Burst Photos at once, but you can also select one or more favorites per set to keep in your library.

To manually select and clean up Burst Photos via the Bursts album:

Step 1. Open the Photos app and tap Albums. Scroll down and tap Media Types.

Step 2. Tap Bursts.

Step 3. Select a Burst cluster you want to review.

Step 4. Choose which photos among the set you want to KEEP. Then, tap Done in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 5. Finally, tap Keep Only Favorites.

Option B: Use a Third-Party iPhone Cleaner App

The native Photos app is useful, but apps that were specifically designed to eliminate clutter simply have more (and better) cleanup features.

For example, for this guide, we’ll be using an app called Clever Cleaner: AI Cleanup App. It’s completely free with no ads and usage limits, unlike many of its competitors. Most importantly, Clever Cleaner is capable of identifying similar photos that aren’t exact duplicates—perfect for finding clusters of identical Burst photos.

Aside from similar photos, Clever Cleaner also compiles screenshots, Live photos, and “Heavies” (large media files) automatically for you so you get rid of as much clutter as possible.

Step 1. Download Clever Cleaner: AI Cleanup App from the App Store.

Step 2. Open the app and tap Similars in the bottom menu. You should see groups of duplicate and similar photos clustered together. Tap one to review it.

Step 3. Clever Cleaner will automatically select the best copy among the cluster for you, but you can also select the photos you want to delete yourself. Once the photos have been selected, tap Move to Trash.

Step 4. Tap Empty Trash in the pop-up that appears on the screen to permanently erase the photos you deleted.

You can also tap the pop-up itself—avoiding the Empty Trash button—to open a menu where you can review all the media items you have already deleted. Then, you can choose to restore them or erase them permanently.

Got More Junk?

Burst photos are only one of the many types of clutter you’ll soon notice building up on your device. Unfortunately, there are several more that take up even more storage space than Bursts do–especially altogether. So, we wrote a complete guide on how to get rid of various iPhone clutter using native features and third-party apps–we show you how to remove obsolete cache files, clear system junk, and remove unwanted personal data from your device!

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