Where did Camera Roll go in iOS 26 Photos?

Where did Camera Roll go after updating to iOS 26?

Your Camera Roll is now the Library tab in the bottom-left corner of Photos, which Apple describes as showing all your photos organized by date. Everything that used to sit under the old Albums tab, from your own albums to Duplicates, Recently Deleted and Hidden, now lives under the second tab, Collections.

Below is where each thing went, with the paths from Apple’s own support pages.

The iOS 26 Photos layout, tab by tab

Library is one long grid of every photo and video. Apple’s guide to browsing your photo library says to make sure Library is selected in the bottom-left corner, then swipe down to browse, or tap Years or Months to jump to a point in time. This is the view people used to call Camera Roll.

Collections holds everything else. Tap it, then swipe up to scroll through the sections. According to Apple’s pages on finding your favorites and albums in iOS 26, these are the ones people go looking for:

• Pinned, at the top. By default it holds Favorites, Recently Saved, Map, Videos and Screenshots.
• Albums, your own albums. Tap the Albums heading to see all of them.
• Memories, Recent Days and People & Pets, the sets Photos builds for you.
• Media Types, with Videos, Selfies, Portrait photos, time-lapses and more.
• Utilities, near the bottom, with Duplicates, Recently Deleted, Hidden and other housekeeping collections.

Two settings cut down the scrolling. You can pin any collection, Recently Deleted included: tap Collections, tap Edit next to the Pinned heading, then tap Any Collection or Album. You can also move sections up by scrolling to the bottom of Collections, tapping Reorder and dragging Utilities higher. Apple covers both in its guide to browsing your photo collections.

Where is the Merge Duplicates option in iOS 26 Photos?

Merge lives inside the Duplicates collection: open Photos, tap Collections, swipe up to Utilities and tap Duplicates. Apple says that if you don’t see the Duplicates album, your iPhone has not identified any duplicates yet, which is why plenty of people can’t find the option right after updating.

Once you’re in, these are the steps from Apple’s Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad page:

1. Tap Merge next to a set to combine that one set.
2. To do several at once, tap Select, then tap Select on each set, or tap Select All.
3. Tap Merge, then tap Merge [number] Items to confirm.

Apple says a merge keeps one photo in your library with the highest image quality and relevant data from the set, and the other copies move to Recently Deleted for 30 days. We go through what survives a merge in what “Merge exact copies” does in iPhone Photos, and whether you lose the original in does deleting duplicate photos delete the original.

Why the Duplicates album might be missing

Apple’s explanation is short. Since iOS 16, Photos finds duplicates by indexing your library, and that detection requires iPhone to be locked and connected to power. Depending on library size and what else is running, Apple says it can finish quickly or take up to a few days.

How to tell: open Photos, tap Library and scroll to the bottom. If iOS is still indexing, a status message shows there.

Fix: leave the phone locked on a charger overnight, then check Collections > Utilities again. A common report on Reddit is that the album goes missing for a few nights after a major update while the index rebuilds, though Apple doesn’t document that. Our guides to the Duplicates album not showing and how long iPhone takes to find duplicates cover the other causes.

Recently Deleted and Hidden moved too

Both sit in Utilities now, and both are locked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode by default. Apple says deleted items stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days before they’re removed for good. Until then they still take up space on your iPhone, although Apple says items in Recently Deleted don’t count towards your iCloud storage.

To empty Recently Deleted for good, per Apple’s Delete photos page:

1. Open Photos and tap Collections.
2. Swipe up and tap Recently Deleted under Utilities.
3. Tap View Album and confirm with Face ID or Touch ID.
4. Tap Select, then the More button (…), then Delete All.
5. Confirm. Once you do, those items can’t be recovered.

Hidden works the same way: Collections > Utilities > Hidden > View Album. To skip the Face ID prompt on both, go to Settings > Apps > Photos and turn off Use Face ID. To remove Hidden from view entirely, turn off Show Hidden Album in the same screen. Apple lists both settings in its guide to deleting or hiding photos and videos. If you’re wondering why storage hasn’t dropped, see do photos in Recently Deleted take up storage.

What changed again in iOS 27

Very little here. Apple’s iOS 27 user guide still splits Photos into Library and Collections, and the paths to Duplicates, Recently Deleted and Hidden are the same as in iOS 26.

The addition Apple documents is inside collections. In iOS 27 you can filter a collection by Edited, Rating or Captured by Me, and sort it by Newest First or Oldest First. Everything else above applies to iOS 26 and later.

What the Duplicates album won’t catch

Apple’s pages describe the collection as duplicate photos and videos, and on iPad the confirm button reads Merge [number] Exact Copies. Ten frames from a burst, five retakes of the same group shot, or a blurry photo next to a sharp one are similar, not copies. Expect them to still be in your library after you’ve merged everything.

Inside Photos, the quickest manual route for those is the Pinned row. Screenshots and Videos are pinned by default, so open one, tap Select and slide your finger across the grid to pick many at once, then tap the Trash button. It works, but you’re judging every set by eye.

If you want to clear photos faster

LuminaClean scans your library on the iPhone. Nothing is uploaded and there’s no account. On top of exact duplicates, it groups similar shots and flags screenshots, blurry photos and large videos, then you swipe to keep or delete. Every delete goes to iOS Recently Deleted first, with the same 30-day window, and video compression is free for everyone.

What it can’t do: it doesn’t change where anything sits in Apple’s Photos app, it doesn’t combine copies into one file the way Merge does (you pick which shot stays), and emptying Recently Deleted still happens in Photos with the steps above. You get 65 free deletes to start, then 10 more every day, and an optional Premium subscription if you want to clear a big backlog in one go.

Related guides

• iPhone Photos Duplicates Album Not Showing? — every cause and its fix.
• What “Merge Exact Copies” Does in iPhone Photos — what a merge keeps and removes.
• Does Deleting Duplicate Photos Delete the Original? — which copy survives.
• How Long Does iPhone Take to Find Duplicates? — typical scan times.
• Do Photos in Recently Deleted Take Up Storage? — iPhone versus iCloud.

Frequently asked questions

Why can’t I find my Camera Roll in the iOS 26 Photos app?

Because it no longer has that name. In iOS 26, the Library tab in the bottom-left corner of Photos shows every photo and video organized by date, which is what Camera Roll used to be. Your albums and everything else moved to the Collections tab.

How do I get to my albums in the new iOS 26 Photos app?

Open Photos, tap Collections, then tap Albums. Tap the Albums heading to see all of them. If you open one album often, pin it: tap Edit next to the Pinned heading, then tap Any Collection or Album.

Why is there no Duplicates album in my iOS 26 Photos app?

Apple says the Duplicates album only appears once your iPhone has identified duplicates. Detection needs the iPhone locked and connected to power, and it can take up to a few days. Leave it charging overnight, then check Collections, then Utilities, again.

What happens to the other copies when I merge duplicates on iPhone?

Apple says a merge keeps one photo with the highest image quality and relevant data from the set, and the other copies move to Recently Deleted. You can recover them from there for 30 days.

How do I permanently empty Recently Deleted in the iOS 26 Photos app?

Open Photos, tap Collections, swipe up and tap Recently Deleted under Utilities. Tap View Album and confirm with Face ID, tap Select, then the More button, then Delete All, and confirm. Items deleted from there can’t be recovered.