How to find large videos on iPhone

Videos are almost always the biggest thing in an iPhone photo library, and a handful of long clips can take more space than thousands of photos. The problem is finding them: the Photos app in iOS 26 still cannot sort by file size. Here are the methods that work, fastest first.

How big is a video on iPhone?

Your iPhone shows the answer itself. Open Settings > Camera > Record Video and the screen lists roughly how much space one minute takes at each setting. With the default High Efficiency format, recent iPhones list figures like these:

Recording setting	About one minute
1080p HD at 30 fps	60 MB
1080p HD at 60 fps	90 MB
4K at 24 fps	135 MB
4K at 30 fps	170 MB
4K at 60 fps	400 MB

Your model may show slightly different numbers. Slow motion, Cinematic and, on Pro models, ProRes video use more. The takeaway: a ten-minute 4K clip can easily pass 1.5 GB, the same as several hundred photos.

Method 1: browse the Videos collection

1. Open Photos and tap Collections.
2. Scroll to Media Types and tap Videos.
3. Scan the thumbnails. Each one shows the clip’s length in the corner.

Length is a good first clue. The ten-minute clips from a concert, a school play or a screen recording you forgot to stop are usually the ones you are looking for.

Also open Screen Recordings under Media Types. Recordings are videos too, and an accidental one can run for a long time.

Method 2: check the exact size in the info panel

Open a video, then swipe up or tap the info button. The details panel lists the file size along with the camera, resolution and frame rate. It is the only way to see a video’s exact size in the Photos app, one video at a time, so use it to confirm the long clips you found in Method 1.

Method 3: a shortcut that lists your longest videos

The Shortcuts app can search your library and sort by duration, which Photos cannot:

1. In Shortcuts, create a new shortcut and add the Find Photos action.
2. Add a filter: Media Type is Video. Optionally add Duration is greater than, say, 2 minutes.
3. Set Sort by to Duration, Order to Longest First, and turn on Limit to get the top 20 or so.
4. Add a Quick Look action to page through the results, or Delete Photos to delete them. Shortcuts asks you to confirm before deleting anything.

It still sorts by length, not size, so a short 4K clip can rank below a long 1080p one.

Method 4: videos outside Photos

Not every big video lives in your photo library:

• Files. Videos you downloaded or saved to Files can be sorted by size. Open Files, browse to On My iPhone or iCloud Drive, tap the More button and choose sorting by Size.
• Streaming downloads. Episodes and films downloaded in the TV app and other streaming apps show up in Settings > General > iPhone Storage under each app.
• Messages. In a conversation, tap the name at the top, tap Photos, then filter to Videos to see the clips people sent you.

What these methods miss

The Videos collection shows length but not size. The info panel shows size but one video at a time. The shortcut ranks by length but gives you a list rather than a calm way to decide. None of them lets you watch a clip and decide in a second, then move straight to the next biggest one.

Find and delete big videos with PrunePic

PrunePic’s Videos mode shows only your clips and screen recordings and can sort them longest first, so the clips most likely to be large come first. Like the Photos app, it sorts by length rather than file size, but each card can show the file size in its corner, so you see exactly what you would free before you decide. Videos play inside the card.

Then it is one gesture per video: swipe left to delete, up to keep, right to add to Favorites. Swiped videos wait in the PrunePic Trash, which shows the total space they take, until you empty it.

Videos mode is one of PrunePic’s cleaning modes. Your photos and videos never leave your device.

Keep the moment, lose the bulk

Not every long video should go. Some are the only recording of something you care about. Before deleting:

• Trim it. Edit the video in Photos, trim it to the part that matters and save it as a new clip. Then delete the long original.
• Keep a still. Pause on the best moment and take a screenshot.
• Favorite it. If you keep it, swipe right in PrunePic or tap the heart in Photos so it is easy to find later.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting Recently Deleted. Deleted videos keep their space for 30 days. Empty Recently Deleted after a cleanup.
• Trusting length alone. A 40-second 4K60 clip can outweigh a five-minute 1080p one. Check the info panel when in doubt.
• Deleting your only copy. With iCloud Photos on, deleting removes it from iCloud too. To keep a copy in iCloud only, read how to delete photos from iPhone but not iCloud.

The bottom line

Start in Photos > Collections > Media Types > Videos, check the longest clips in the info panel, and don’t forget Screen Recordings. A shortcut can rank your videos by length if you want a list. Deleting a few big videos is usually the fastest way to free up storage on iPhone, and it frees iCloud storage at the same time. If you are out of space right now, see iPhone storage full.