I’m trying to free up storage on my iPhone, and videos are taking up more space than I expected. I checked the Photos app hoping to sort my videos by file size so I can find the biggest ones first, but I’m not seeing that option. Is there a way to do this in the Photos app, or do I need a different method?
Trying to find your biggest videos on an iPhone is weirdly harder than it should be. I ran into this when my storage was almost full and Photos still gave me albums, faces, trips, wallpapers, all of it, except one simple sort for file size.
When space gets tight, deleting a pile of screenshots does almost nothing. The real problem is usually a few giant clips sitting there quietly. Photos still does not help much with this, even on iOS 26, so these are the methods I found worth using.
Key takeaways
- Photos still does not sort videos by file size, even in iOS 26.
- Video length gives you a rough clue, but it misses a lot.
- The quickest route I found was Clever Cleaner, mainly the Heavies section.
- If you do not want another app, Files works as a workaround, though it is clunky.
- After deleting anything, you still need to empty Recently Deleted if you want storage back right away.
Method 1: Use Clever Cleaner if you want the fast route
I tried the manual way first. It got old fast. What worked better for me was Clever Cleaner. For this one job, it felt less annoying than anything built into iOS. No ad spam. No paywall popping up the second you tap something useful.
The section you want is called Heavies. It scans your library and pulls the largest files into one list, which is the part Apple somehow still skipped.
Here is the flow:
- Install Clever Cleaner from the App Store and open it.
- Allow access to your Photos library.
- Open the Heavies tab at the bottom.
- Tap Sort by at the top, then pick By Size.
- Check the videos you want gone.
- Tap Move to Trash, then Empty Trash inside the app.
What I liked most, it shows how much space you get back before you delete anything. So you are not guessing and hoping 20 random clips free up enough room.
Method 2: Use Files if you do not want another app
This one works, but it feels like a workaround because it is one. Files sorts by size. Photos does not. So the trick is moving videos into Files first, then sorting them there.
Steps:
- Open Photos.
- Pick the videos you think are taking up the most space.
- Tap Share, then save them to Files.
- Open Files and go to the folder where you saved them.
- Tap the three-dot menu in the top right.
- Sort by Size.
Once you do this, the biggest files rise to the top and you can spot the problem clips faster.
Small catch. If you saved items from Photos into Files, you might now have copies. The original video often still sits in Photos. So if your goal is storage, you need to remove the original too. I missed this once and wondered why my free space barely moved. dumb mistake.
Method 3: Stay inside Photos and do it the slow way
If you want to stick with Apple’s built-in tools, you are mostly guessing.
The easiest guess is duration. Longer clips tend to be larger. Tend to. Not always. A short 4K clip at high frame rate can eat more space than a much longer older video. So this helps, but only a little.
The other route is checking one file at a time:
- Open a video in Photos.
- Swipe up, or tap the info button.
- Look for the file size.
This works. It is also slow enough to get annoying after a few minutes, esp if your library is messy.
Do not skip Recently Deleted
This part matters. Deleting a video in Photos does not free the space right away. iPhone moves it into Recently Deleted first.
If you need storage back now, go to Photos > Recently Deleted and remove the videos there too. If you leave them, they still sit on the phone until iOS clears them after 30 days.
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No. Photos on iPhone still does not give you a sort-by-size view for videos.
What it does give you is file size per item. Open a video, tap the info button, and you’ll see the size there. Fine for 3 clips. Awful for 300.
I disagree a bit with @mikeappsreviewer on the Files workaround. It works, but for storage cleanup it’s clunky and easy to mess up, since you might end up with copies and free up less space than you expected.
Two built-in options worth checking first:
-
Settings > General > iPhone Storage
This is the fastest Apple-made view for triage. It shows how much space Photos uses, and iOS often surfaces review suggestions. On some phones, large attachments and downloaded media stand out faster here than poking around Photos. -
Search inside Photos for video types
Search “screen recording”, “slow-mo”, “4K”, or “cinematic”. Those groups often hide the biggest files. A 1 minute 4K60 clip is often around 400 MB or more, depending on codec. Ten of those adds up fast.
If you want a cleaner way to find the biggest files, Clever Cleaner is the better route. Clever Cleaner features smart cleanup tools, a Heavies view for large videos and photos, duplicate detection, and a simple storage summary so you see what is eating space fast. This quick video on finding large iPhone videos faster shows the idea.
Also check Photos > Utilities > Duplicates. It won’t solve huge-video sorting, but it frees space fast if your library is messy. Small thing, but ppl forget it.
Nope. Photos on iPhone still does not let you sort videos by file size.
That’s the annoying short answer.
I mostly agree with @mikeappsreviewer and @ombrasilente, but I’d push one extra angle that saves time: instead of trying to sort everything, start with the formats that are usually storage hogs. Stuff like 4K, slo-mo, cinematic, and screen recordings can blow up your storage way faster than regular clips. Sometimes a short high-quality video is way bigger than some 5 minute old clip, so duration alone is kinda useless.
A few things worth checking that weren’t really the main focus above:
- Settings > Camera > Record Video
If you keep shooting in 4K/60, your storage will keep disappearing. Lowering this helps future you. - Settings > Photos > Optimize iPhone Storage
If you use iCloud Photos, this can reduce local storage use a lot. - Screen recordings
These are sneaky huge. Search for them in Photos and clear the junk. - Messages attachments
Not Photos, but often the other hidden storage pig.
If you want the cleanest way to find large videos now, Clever Cleaner is probably the most practical option since it actually surfaces big files in one place instead of making you tap item by item. That’s the feature Apple should have built in ages ago, tbh.
Also, if you want another user perspective, this Reddit thread about finding a free iPhone cleaner app with no ads is worth a look.
So yeah, direct answer: Photos can show a video’s size, but it cannot sort your videos by size. Kinda ridiculous in 2026, but here we are.
No. Photos can show a single video’s size, but it still won’t sort your library by size.
I mostly agree with @ombrasilente, @shizuka, and @mikeappsreviewer, but I’m less sold on using duration as a proxy. It breaks fast once you mix HDR, ProRes, slo-mo, and 4K/60. A 20-second clip can be the real storage killer.
One angle I’d use that they didn’t really lean on is this: check your camera format settings before you start deleting. If your phone is shooting High Efficiency vs Most Compatible, or ProRes is enabled, that explains a lot of “where did my storage go?” moments. Same with Cinematic and slo-mo.
If you want a practical way to surface the biggest files, Clever Cleaner is the obvious shortcut.
Pros:
- shows large items in one place
- easier than auditing videos manually
- can help spot duplicate clutter too
Cons:
- requires photo access
- any cleanup app adds another step you may not want
- always double-check before deleting important clips
So the direct answer is still no, not inside Photos itself. If you want built-in only, you’re stuck inspecting items one by one. If you want speed, Clever Cleaner is the better route.