If your phone is running low on space and you take a lot of photos and videos, this guide gathers several tweaks to make those files take up less without a noticeable drop in image quality. They take a couple of minutes to set up and free up internal storage, with no need to buy a new phone or give up your memories.
The exact menu names change from one manufacturer to another and between system versions, so the instructions are generic. In almost every case, these settings live inside the phone’s own camera configuration.
Before you start
- A phone with its camera and gallery in regular use, ideally with little free space left.
- Access to the camera settings so you can change the resolution and the recording mode.
- To remove duplicates: the Photos app on iPhone, or a dedicated app on Android.
- To free up space at scale: an account with a cloud service, or a drive with a USB-C connector.
Steps
1. Lower the megapixels of your photos
Megapixels set the size of each photograph. You do not need to shoot at 64 megapixels unless you plan to print the image at a large format: many phones already offer a reduced resolution of around 12 or 16 megapixels. Using those figures keeps the quality of the photo while cutting its weight. Save the maximum-resolution mode, and also the RAW format, for the specific images you really need at full size.
2. Record video in Full HD instead of 4K or 8K
Today’s phones can record in 4K and even 8K, but for most videos Full HD, the familiar 1,080p, is enough. The advice is the same as for photos: 1,080p is fine for everyday clips, and 4K should be reserved for important events or professional shoots. Keep in mind that video is by far the format that takes up the most space.
3. Find and delete duplicate photos and videos
It is common to build up bursts and near-identical copies: four shots of the same spot that stay there taking up space. On the iPhone, the Photos app includes a feature to track down duplicates; on Android you will have to turn to dedicated apps for finding repeated photos. It is worth reviewing your gallery after every trip and keeping only the best shots, paying special attention to videos, which are the heaviest files.
4. Turn on the camera’s space-saving options
Some phones include space-saving settings inside their camera. These options usually lower the resolution of photos and videos automatically, or make other small changes aimed at optimising storage without losing too much quality. If your phone has them, enabling them is one of the quickest fixes.
5. Move what you do not use to the cloud or a USB-C drive
If you are already sitting on a lot of photos and videos and do not want to lose anything, the way out is to spend some money. The easiest option is a cloud storage service such as Google Photos or iCloud Photos: you keep everything there, check it from any device and free up space on the phone. As an example of how these services fit together, Samsung already lets you sync its gallery with Google Photos. The other route is USB-C drives, the same connector you use to charge the phone: they are handy for offloading videos, which are the files that take up the most room.
How to check it worked
- Compare the free space your phone shows before and after the changes.
- Look at the weight of new photos: for the same scene, a shot at reduced resolution should take up less than one at maximum resolution.
- Check the resolution of a freshly taken photo to confirm the setting applied and did not revert to the maximum-quality mode.
Caveats and limitations
- The exact paths and names of the settings vary from one manufacturer to another and between system versions, so they may not match your menu word for word.
- Lowering the resolution or moving from 4K to 1,080p reduces the detail available if you later want to enlarge or crop the image.
- The maximum-resolution mode and the RAW format are still there for when you need them; what you avoid is using them by default.
- The cloud and external drives add a cost and, in the case of the cloud, uploading the files uses data and time.
