How to Delete Videos on iPhone and Get the Space Back

To delete videos on iPhone, open Photos, tap Collections and open the Videos collection. Tap Select, tap or slide a finger across the videos to remove, then tap the Trash button and confirm. Apple moves them to Recently Deleted for 30 days, so empty that album to get the space back.

Videos use the same delete controls as photos, the ones used for deleting photos on iPhone. The Videos collection holds only videos, so only videos can be selected there.

How to Delete Videos on iPhone

How do you delete videos on iPhone?

To delete videos on iPhone, select them in the Photos app and tap the Trash button. Apple's page on deleting photos and videos gives the same steps for both, and the deleted videos then wait in Recently Deleted.

Find Every Video in the Videos Collection

Apple's guide to albums in Photos, written for iOS 26, gives this path:

1. Open Photos and tap Collections.
2. Scroll down to Media Types.
3. Tap Videos.

Apple adds that Videos can also be opened from the Pinned collections. Selecting inside Videos leaves your photos untouched.

Delete One Video

Open the video, tap the Trash button (the bin icon), then tap Delete Video to confirm. One video is enough when a single long clip is the problem.

Delete Many Videos at Once

1. Open the Videos collection and tap Select.
2. Tap each video to delete, or slide a finger across several to select them in one movement.
3. Tap the Trash button.
4. Confirm the deletion.

Scroll back through the selection before confirming. A slide across a row picks up every video it passes, including the one clip you meant to keep.

Confirming moves the videos out of the library. It may not free the space they use yet.

Get the Space Back From Recently Deleted

Why is iPhone storage still full after deleting videos?

iPhone storage is still full after deleting videos because the videos are kept in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Apple says they can be recovered from there until then. Until the album is emptied, they can keep using space.

To remove them now, follow Apple's steps:

1. In Photos, tap Collections, swipe up and tap Recently Deleted under Utilities.
2. Tap View Album and unlock it with Face ID or Touch ID.
3. Tap Select and choose the videos. To clear everything, Apple says to tap Cancel, then Select again.
4. Tap the More button, then Delete or Delete All.
5. Confirm with Delete from All Devices or Delete Photos I Added.

Apple warns that an item deleted from this album cannot be recovered. The album also holds every photo deleted in the last 30 days, so emptying Recently Deleted clears those too. Until it is emptied, an iPhone can stay full after deleting photos or videos.

What iCloud Photos Changes

With iCloud Photos on, deleting a video on the iPhone deletes it on every device signed in with the same Apple Account, Apple says. A video worth keeping has to be copied somewhere else first, and backing up iPhone photos covers where to put it.

Keeping a video in iCloud without its full size on the phone is a different setting. Apple's photo storage page says Optimise iPhone Storage keeps full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and, when needed, space-saving copies on the device.

Which Videos Take the Most Space

Apple's pages on deleting photos and on albums in Photos describe no way to sort the library by file size. A developer asked on Apple's developer forum why Photos shows no file sizes, and the thread has no answer.

Length and recording settings are the next best guide. Apple's iPhone User Guide, in its iOS 15 edition, says that faster frame rates and higher resolutions make larger video files. Apple's HEVC page says HEVC uses less space than H.264.

To see the effect, open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage. Apple's storage page lists Photos as "photos and videos stored in the Photos app". Note that figure, then check iPhone storage again once Recently Deleted is empty.

Trim a Long Video Instead of Deleting It

Trimming keeps the part of a video that matters. Apple's video editing page gives these steps:

1. Open the video in Photos and tap the Edit button.
2. Move the sliders on both sides of the timeline to set the start and end.
3. Tap Done, then tap Save Video or Save Video as New Clip.

The two save options do not save the same space. Save Video keeps only the trimmed version. Save Video as New Clip keeps the original and adds a trimmed copy, so the library grows until the long original is deleted. Check the new clip plays as expected before deleting the original.

Record Smaller Videos From Now On

New videos can take less space from the start. Choose a lower resolution or frame rate for video recording. Apple's User Guide says the options depend on the iPhone model, and that toggles on the camera screen change both.

The format matters too. In Settings, tap Camera, then Formats. Apple says High Efficiency records HEVC video, which uses less storage than the H.264 video that Most Compatible records.

Videos Outside the Photos App

Films and TV programmes downloaded in the Apple TV app are not in Photos. Apple's TV app page says to tap Library, then Downloaded, swipe left on an item and tap Delete.

For other apps, Apple says tapping an app's name in Settings, General, iPhone Storage shows more about its storage. WhatsApp manages the media from its chats separately from Photos, and clearing WhatsApp storage has its own steps.

Clearing the Rest of the Library

Once the large videos are gone, what remains is mostly photos, and the steps to free up space on iPhone cover the other categories.

Some photo cleaner apps work through a library one photo at a time and delete only what you confirm. Apps such as Swipe Quick do this on the device, month by month or by album: swipe left to delete, swipe right to keep. Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted for 30 days.

Frequently asked questions

Does deleting a video from iPhone delete it from iCloud?

Deleting a video from iPhone deletes it from iCloud when iCloud Photos is on. Apple says the video is then deleted on all other devices signed in with the same Apple Account.

Can you get a deleted video back on iPhone?

You can get a deleted video back on iPhone for 30 days. Open Recently Deleted and unlock it, tap Select, choose the video, tap the More button and tap Recover. After that, recovering deleted photos depends on a backup.