I’m trying to free up storage on my iPhone, and videos are taking up the most space. I checked both the Photos app and Settings but can’t find a way to sort videos by file size so I can quickly delete the biggest ones. Is there a built-in option for this, or do I need a different method?
I kept running into the same dumb wall on iPhone. My storage was packed with videos, and Photos still gave me no clean way to sort them by size. iOS 26 showed up, and nope, still no plain 'sort by size' option. So if you’re trying to find the giant clips without opening every file one by one, these are the two routes I found useful.
Method 1: Use Clever Cleaner
I tried the manual route first. Got tired of it fast. If you want the quickest way, this app does the job with less messing around. Clever Cleaner is free, and from what I saw, it skips the usual ad spam and paywall nonsense. More importantly, it has a section built for large files.
- Install Clever Cleaner from the App Store, then open it.
- Allow access to your Photos library so it can scan your videos.
- At the bottom, open the Heavies tab.
- Tap the sort menu near the top and switch it to By Size.
- You’ll get your videos lined up from biggest to smallest.
- Open any clip to preview it, or select everything if you’re clearing house.
- The app shows how much space you’re about to get back, which helped me avoid deleting random stuff blindly.
- Tap Move to Trash.
- Then tap Empty Trash inside the app to finish the step.
If your goal is speed, this is the least annoying option I found.
Method 2: Move Videos to Files, Then Sort There
This one feels like a workaround because it is one. Apple’s own Photos app still refuses to do size sorting, but the Files app does support sorting by file size. So the trick is moving videos there first.
- Open Photos.
- Pick the videos you think are taking up a lot of space.
- Tap Share, then choose Save to Files.
- Save them into a folder under “On My iPhone” or anywhere easy to find.
- Open the Files app and go to the folder you used.
- Tap the three-dot icon in the top right.
- Choose the sorting option for Size.
- Now your transferred videos show up ordered from largest to smallest.
One catch. If you delete a copy in Files, the original video in Photos might still be sitting there. I learned this the annoying way, so check both places.
Why Photos Still Doesn’t Help
I looked for this inside Photos longer than I should have. It isn’t there. Apple never added it. So if you stick to the default app, you’re left with two clunky methods.
- Judge by video length. Longer clips often take more space, but this falls apart fast if one file was shot in higher quality or different frame rates.
- Open each video and check the info panel. Tap the video, hit the info button, then read the size in MB or GB. Repeat for the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Fine for five videos. Awful for 300.
I did this once with a full vacation album. Never agian.
Check Recently Deleted Too
This part gets missed a lot. Deleting a video from Photos doesn’t wipe it right away. iPhone moves it into Recently Deleted first.
If you need space back now, open Photos, go to Recently Deleted, and remove the files there too. If you don’t care about immediate storage, leave them alone and iPhone clears them after 30 days.
So yeah, those are the two workable methods. Clever Cleaner saved me the most time because it sorted the biggest files fast and showed the storage total before deleting. The Files app trick still works if you don’t want another app on your phone. Either way, it beats tapping into every single video like it’s 2012.
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Nope. Apple still does not give you a true sort by file size inside Photos or Settings.
What you do get from Apple:
- Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Review Personal Videos. This surfaces large videos, but it is more of a smart list than a clean sortable view.
- Photos > Media Types > Videos. Then open a clip and swipe up for file size. Slow and kinda anoying if you have a lot.
- Albums like Screen Recordings, Cinematic, Slo-mo. These often hide the worst storage hogs. Check those first.
I slightly disagree with @mikeappsreviewer on one point. The Files workaround is messy for most people, because you end up managing copies and originals. Easy way to delete the wrong one and save zero space.
If you want speed, a cleaner app is the better route. Clever Cleaner is one of the few people keep mentioning because it groups heavy files and makes large video cleanup faster. If you want a user take on it, this thread is decent: see this Reddit review of Clever Cleaner for iPhone storage cleanup
One more thing people miss. After deleting videos, empty Recently Deleted. If you skip that step, your storage won’t come back right away. That part trips up tons of ppl.
You can’t really do it natively. That’s the annoying part. Photos lets you view videos, and Settings gives you storage summaries, but neither gives a proper biggest-to-smallest list you can work through.
I’d actually push back a little on the Files workaround that @mikeappsreviewer mentioned. It works, sure, but for cleanup it’s kinda clunky and easy to mishandle because you’re sorting copies, not necessarily the originals eating space in Photos. Feels like extra chaos if your library is already a mess.
A better Apple-only trick is this:
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
- Wait for the storage recommendations to load
- Check for “Review Personal Videos” if it appears
- Also look at apps like Photos, Messages, and editing apps, because exported video copies sometimes live outside Photos
That won’t “sort” everything by size, but it does surface some of the worst offenders faster than manually tapping every clip.
Also, if you use iCloud Photos, be careful what “freeing space” means. Deleting a video from Photos deletes it from iCloud too, not just your iPhone. A lot of ppl miss that and regret it 10 seconds later.
If you want an actual size-based view, then yeah, something like Clever Cleaner makes more sense since it’s built for spotting large files in your photo library. That’s probly the closest thing to a real “sort iPhone videos by size” tool right now.
If you want extra context, this video on clearing iPhone storage and finding large videos faster is worth a look too.
Short version:
- Photos: no true sort by size
- Settings: only partial suggestions
- Best manual check: iPhone Storage recommendations
- Best practical shortcut: Clever Cleaner for large video cleanup
And yeah, empty Recently Deleted after, or your storage gain is basically imaginary for a while.
