How to find large videos on iPhone

Updated October 2026 · By Mohamed Elatabany

If your iPhone is full, a handful of long or 4K videos is often the reason. The Photos app can't sort by file size, but there are several built-in ways to find big videos, and an app can list them largest first.

How big are your videos?

Video size depends on resolution, frame rate, format and length. iOS tells you the approximate size per minute for your current camera setting: open Settings → Camera → Record Video, and the list shows an estimate for each option. 4K at 60 fps uses far more than 1080p at 30 fps. Slo-mo, Cinematic mode and ProRes (on Pro models) can be larger still.

Method 1: browse the Videos album

Where Photos keeps its albums: on iOS 17, tap the Albums tab and scroll down. On iOS 18, scroll down below the photo grid to the collections. On iOS 26, tap Collections. Media Types (Videos, Live Photos, Screenshots, Bursts) and Utilities (Duplicates, Recently Deleted) are listed there.

Open Photos and go to Media Types → Videos.
Each thumbnail shows the duration in the corner. Long videos are the obvious first candidates.
Open a video and swipe up, or tap the i button, to see details including the resolution and file size.
Delete the ones you don't need with the trash icon. Check Media Types → Slo-mo, Cinematic and Screen Recordings as well.

The catch: duration is only a rough guide. A short 4K clip can be bigger than a long 1080p one, and you have to open each video to see its size.

Method 2: check iPhone Storage recommendations

Open Settings → General → iPhone Storage.
Look at the recommendations under the storage bar, and tap Photos in the app list.
If iOS offers to review personal videos, it lists your videos with their sizes, and you can delete from there.

Whether this recommendation appears depends on your device and library, so it is not always available.

Method 3: list videos by size with Photo Cleaner

Photo Cleaner's Largest Files view sorts your photos and videos by size, so big 4K videos come first. It runs on your device; nothing is uploaded.

Install Photo Cleaner and allow Full Access to your photos.
Open Largest Files. The biggest items are at the top, with their size shown.
Swipe left to delete a video, right to keep it. The Videos category lets you go through only videos.
Open the Trash Bin, recover anything you want to keep, and empty it. iOS asks you to confirm, then the videos go to Recently Deleted.

Because a few files account for most of the space, a short session in Largest Files often frees more storage than an hour of deleting photos.

Keep the video, lose the size

You don't have to delete a video to save space:

Trim it. Open the video, tap Edit, drag the ends of the timeline, tap Done and choose Save Video as New Clip. Then delete the original if you only need the trimmed part.
Move it off the phone. Copy it to a computer or external drive (USB-C iPhones can save to a drive via the Files app), and delete it from Photos once you have checked the copy.
Use iCloud. With iCloud Photos and Optimize iPhone Storage on, full-size originals live in iCloud and the phone keeps smaller versions. See iPhone storage full with iCloud Photos.

Record smaller videos from now on

Use 1080p or 4K at 30 fps for everyday clips; save 4K at 60 fps for moments where you need it. Change it in Settings → Camera → Record Video.
Keep Settings → Camera → Formats on High Efficiency, which records in HEVC and uses less space than Most Compatible.
Turn off ProRes when you don't need it, on models that support it.

Don't forget Recently Deleted

Deleted videos stay in Utilities → Recently Deleted for 30 days and still count against your storage. Open it, unlock it, tap Select → Delete All to free the space now. If iCloud Photos is on, the videos are removed from iCloud too.

Try the faster way

Photo Cleaner is free to download, with 100 deletions free, one time.