Why do my photos take up so much space on iPhone?

How much does a minute of video cost?

The Record Video screen in Settings, Camera lists an estimate for each setting. As a ballpark, a minute of 1080p at 30 frames per second is on the order of tens of megabytes, and a minute of 4K at 60 frames per second can reach several hundred. One long clip of a child's recital can therefore weigh as much as thousands of photos. That is why video is where most phones carry the most weight.

Do Live Photos double the size?

They add to it. A Live Photo stores the still image and a short clip of roughly 1.5 seconds before and after the shot. The clip is small compared with real video, but across thousands of shots the total is noticeable. The guide on Live Photos and storage shows how to turn Live off or convert one to a still.

Which format saves space?

iPhones can save photos as HEIF/HEIC or JPEG. In Settings, Camera, Formats, High Efficiency uses the smaller format, and Most Compatible uses JPEG. Wikipedia's article on HEIF describes the format as designed to produce smaller files than JPEG at similar quality. The practical difference is covered in HEIC vs JPEG on iPhone.

Where do I see what is using space?

1. Open Settings, General, iPhone Storage.
2. Wait for the bars to load, then tap Photos if it appears in the list.
3. Read the recommendations, which may include Recently Deleted or reviewing large attachments.
4. Open the Photos app and check the Videos album, since video is usually the largest part.
5. Check Recently Deleted for items still holding space.

Why does my library look bigger than I remember?

Because it holds more than the photos you took on purpose. Screenshots, saved memes, images from group chats, receipts, retakes and bursts count the same as a good portrait. A library of 20,000 items is two or three items a day for twenty years, or fifty a day for a year and a half. Most people have a long tail of items they never looked at twice.

What actually reduces the total?

• Delete large videos you no longer need.
• Merge duplicates and thin out bursts.
• Clear old screenshots.
• Use Most Compatible only if you need JPEG, since it makes bigger files.
• Turn on Optimize iPhone Storage if you use iCloud Photos and have enough iCloud space.

Can sorting by month help?

It makes the work possible. A library of 20,000 items is a wall, while one month is an evening. Rollmark, an iPhone app in development, splits your roll by month and shows an estimated size on each month card. It marks sizes as "about", because iOS does not give the app real file sizes. Swipes build a let-go list that you review before iOS asks you to confirm. See month-by-month sorting.

A worked estimate with invented numbers

Suppose a library has 12,000 photos at about 2.5 MB each, 800 Live Photos with a clip of about 3 MB each, 150 videos averaging 300 MB and 3,000 screenshots at about 0.7 MB. The photos come to about 30 GB, the Live clips add 2.4 GB, the screenshots about 2 GB and the videos about 45 GB. Fewer than 200 items hold most of the weight. The figures are examples, but the shape is common, and it is why the video pass comes first in most clean-ups.

Should I lower my video quality?

That depends on what you film. For clips you will share in a chat, 1080p at 30 frames per second looks fine on a phone screen and costs far less. For family events you want in the best form, 4K is a reasonable choice, and you can trim the footage afterward in Photos. Record at the quality you need, then delete the failed takes. A good habit costs less than a bigger phone.