Short answer: for new photos, keep Settings › Camera › Formats on High Efficiency (HEIC), shoot at 24 MP or 12 MP instead of 48 MP, and leave ProRAW off unless you edit. To send one photo smaller, pick a smaller size in Mail or resize it with a Shortcut. The Photos app has no option to shrink photos you already have; a converter such as Spaceclear turns big JPEG, PNG and RAW photos into HEIC and keeps their date and place.
Steps
- Open Settings › Camera › Formats and choose High Efficiency. Most Compatible saves photos as JPEG, which takes more space for the same picture.
- On models that offer it, open Settings › Camera › Formats › Photo Mode and choose 24 MP or 12 MP.
- In the same screen, turn off Resolution Control or ProRAW & Resolution Control (the name depends on the model) if you don't need 48 MP or RAW photos.
- If you keep it on, check the format control at the top of the Camera before you shoot, so you're not on HEIF Max or RAW by accident.
- In Settings › Camera › Preserve Settings, leave the ProRAW & Resolution Control switch off, so the Camera goes back to the standard format each time you open it.
- To send a smaller copy, share it to Mail and choose a smaller image size if Mail asks, or use the Shortcut below.
- For photos already in your library, convert big JPEG, PNG and RAW photos to HEIC, then delete the originals and empty Recently Deleted.
What makes iPhone photos big
| Setting | What you get | Size |
|---|---|---|
| High Efficiency (HEIC) | standard photos up to 24 MP | the smallest of these |
| Most Compatible (JPEG) | the same photos as JPEG | larger: HEIF compresses better at the same visual quality |
| HEIF Max | up to 48 MP | twice the pixels of 24 MP, so larger files |
| ProRAW 12 MP | RAW data for editing | about 25 MB (Apple) |
| ProRAW 48 MP | RAW data at full resolution | about 75 MB (Apple) |
| Live Photo | a photo plus a short video | roughly twice a still |
Apple puts ProRAW files at 10 to 12 times the size of HEIF or JPEG files, and notes that the resolution drops when you zoom or use Night mode or flash. HEIC vs JPEG in detail: HEIC vs JPEG on iPhone, and RAW in detail: ProRAW file size.
Resize or compress a photo before sending
- Mail: when you send large photos, Mail can offer Small, Medium, Large or Actual Size. Pick Small or Medium for a quick look, Large for most uses.
- Messages: Settings › Apps › Messages › Low Quality Image Mode sends smaller images, which helps on slow connections.
- Share sheet Options: when you share from Photos, tap Options. Current keeps the HEIC; Most Compatible converts to JPEG, which is usually bigger, not smaller.
A Shortcut that makes smaller copies
The Shortcuts app can resize and recompress photos in a batch. Build it once:
- Open Shortcuts, tap +, open the new shortcut's details and turn on Show in Share Sheet, with images as the input.
- Add the action Repeat with Each and set it to Shortcut Input.
- Inside the repeat, add Resize Image and set a width, such as 2048.
- Add Convert Image, choose HEIF or JPEG, lower Quality a little, and leave Preserve Metadata on so date and location carry over.
- Add Save to Photo Album, still inside the repeat.
- In Photos, select photos, tap the share button and choose your shortcut.
The smaller copies are new photos; the originals stay until you delete them. Apple notes that shortcuts run from the share sheet have limited memory, so do a few dozen at a time rather than hundreds. Resizing removes pixels for good, so keep originals of anything you might print or crop later.
Doing it with Spaceclear
Spaceclear has two tools for the photos you already have. Compress Photos finds big JPEG and PNG photos and saves each as HEIC, the same picture at about half the size, with date, place and favorite kept. RAW Photos converts RAW and ProRAW photos to a high-quality HEIC with your edits included, typically saving 80–90% of each file. In both, the new copy is saved first and you review the originals before they're deleted. Photos that are already HEIC aren't recompressed. The free plan includes ten conversions a day, and Spaceclear Pro is $8.99 once. Live Photos have their own tool: see convert Live Photos to stills.
FAQ
Does compressing photos on iPhone reduce quality?
Converting JPEG to HEIC at a high quality setting looks the same on a phone screen. Resizing to fewer pixels does lose detail, which shows when you zoom, crop or print. Keep originals of photos that matter for those uses.
What is the best photo format on iPhone to save space?
High Efficiency (HEIC). It keeps the same visual quality as JPEG in less space and supports Live Photos and HDR. Your iPhone converts to JPEG automatically when you share with apps or devices that need it.
Does cropping a photo make the file smaller?
No. Edits in Photos, crops included, keep the original so you can revert to it later, so cropping doesn't free space.
Does Optimize iPhone Storage compress my photos?
Not the originals. With iCloud Photos on, it keeps smaller versions on the iPhone and the full-size originals in iCloud, which frees iPhone space but not iCloud space (how it works).
Updated 2026-11-14