Short answer: the Photos app can't sort by file size, even on iOS 26. Open Media Types › Videos, where the longest clips are usually the biggest, and swipe up on a video to see its exact size. To get a list sorted by size, use a cleaner such as Spaceclear, which shows your biggest videos first and can compress or delete them.
Steps
- Open Photos › Collections › Media Types › Videos (on iOS 18, scroll down to Media Types). Each thumbnail shows the video's length.
- Look for the longest clips first. At 4K 60 fps, one minute is about 400 MB.
- Open a video and swipe up (or tap the ⓘ button) to see its resolution, frame rate and file size.
- Check Screen Recordings and Slo-mo in Media Types too: long screen recordings are often several gigabytes.
- Delete the clips you don't need, compress the ones you keep, then empty Recently Deleted.
- For a list sorted by size, open Spaceclear › Large Videos: biggest first, with the size of each.
Why length isn't the whole story
| Video | Length | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| 4K 60 fps clip | 3 minutes | 1.2 GB |
| 1080p 30 fps clip | 10 minutes | 600 MB |
| Screen recording of a game | 20 minutes | 1–3 GB |
| Slo-mo 1080p | 1 minute | 170–480 MB |
A short 4K clip can be bigger than a long 1080p one, which is why sorting by length only gets you halfway. See how much storage 4K video takes for the full table.
Other places to look
- Settings › General › iPhone Storage › Photos shows the library's total size, and iOS sometimes offers a recommendation to review videos.
- Messages: big videos people sent you live in Messages, not in Photos. Use iPhone Storage › Messages › Review Large Attachments (Messages storage).
- WhatsApp and other chat apps keep their own copies; check each app's storage screen (WhatsApp storage).
Doing it with Spaceclear
Spaceclear scans your library on the iPhone and lists:
- Large videos, biggest first, with the total they take.
- Lookalike videos: the same scene filmed twice or three times.
- Screen recordings, which pile up unnoticed.
From there you can delete, or compress to High (1080p), Balanced (720p) or Small (540p), keeping the date, location and HDR. iCloud Space goes further: your biggest photos and videos, with a filter for items that are only in iCloud and not on this iPhone. Scanning is free; nothing is deleted until you review it.
FAQ
How do I check the size of a video on iPhone?
Open the video in Photos and swipe up, or tap the ⓘ button. The info panel shows the file size, resolution and frame rate.
Can I sort photos by size on iPhone?
Not in the Photos app; it sorts only by date captured or date added. The Files app can sort by size, but it doesn't show your Photos library. A cleaner app with photo access can list items by size.
Which videos take up the most space on iPhone?
Long 4K videos at 60 fps, ProRes clips on Pro models, slo-mo and long screen recordings. Videos with lots of movement and detail are larger than calm ones of the same length.
Updated 2026-11-13