Free up space on your device

You can use Google Photos to save space on your phone when you remove photos from your device that are safely backed up.

Before you get started

Download and install the Google Photos app.

Photos and videos older than 30 days can be deleted, but they’ll still be backed up in your Google Photos library.

Free up space on your iPhone or iPad

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Photos app .
Sign in to your Google Account.
Tap your account profile photo or initial # items to delete from this device .
If you're ready to free up space, tap Delete # items.
Open the iPhone or iPad Photos app (not the Google Photos app).
Tap Recently Deleted and delete those same photos and videos.
To see your photos and videos, including ones you deleted from your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Photos app .

For backed-up photos and videos, use Photos’ storage management tool to surface items that you might want to delete, like blurry photos, screenshots, and large videos. Learn how to manage your storage.

What happens when you remove photos and videos from your phone

If you remove copies of photos and videos on your phone, you’ll still be able to:

See your photos and videos, including the ones you just removed, in the Google Photos app and photos.google.com.
Edit, share, delete, and manage anything in your Google Photos library.

You won't be able to see photos and videos you removed if:

You use your mobile device's built-in gallery.
You're offline.
You're not signed in to the Google Photos app .

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