Where your videos live and how to find them
Videos sit in different places depending on how you recorded or saved them. On a phone, they're usually in the Photos or Gallery app. On a computer, they're in a folder you chose when you saved them — often Documents, Downloads, or a folder you created yourself. Videos you uploaded to the cloud (like Google Photos, iCloud, OneDrive, or Dropbox) live on those services' websites or apps instead.
Before you delete anything, know that deleting from one place doesn't always delete it everywhere. If you delete a video from your phone's Photos app but it's also backed up to iCloud or Google Photos, the backup copy stays. If you delete it from cloud storage but kept a copy on your computer, that copy remains. You need to delete from each location separately if you want it gone completely.
The steps below cover the most common places people store videos. If your videos are somewhere else — like a USB drive, an external hard drive, or a specific app like TikTok or Instagram — the basic idea is the same: find the video, select it, and choose delete.
Key Takeaways
- Videos on your phone live in the Photos or Gallery app; videos on your computer live in a folder you can browse like any other file.
- Deleting a video from your phone does not delete it from cloud backup services like Google Photos or iCloud unless you delete it there too.
- On most devices, deleted videos go to a Trash or Recently Deleted folder first and stay there for 30 days before permanent removal.
- If a video is too large to delete or won't move to trash, restart your device and try again, or check whether another app is using the file.
Deleting videos from an iPhone or iPad
Open the Photos app and find the video you want to delete. Tap it once to open it full-screen, then tap the trash icon (it looks like a can) in the bottom right corner. A menu will appear asking you to confirm — tap "Delete Photo" or "Delete Video". The video moves to the Recently Deleted album, where it stays for 30 days before Apple removes it permanently.
If you want to delete it right now instead of waiting 30 days, go to the Photos app, tap Albums at the bottom, scroll down and tap Recently Deleted, find the video, tap Select in the top right, tap the video to mark it, then tap Delete in the bottom right. Confirm the permanent deletion when asked.
If the video is backed up to iCloud, deleting it from your phone also deletes it from iCloud automatically — you don't need to do anything else. If you want to keep the iCloud copy but delete only the phone version, go to Settings, tap your name at the top, tap iCloud, tap Photos, and turn off iCloud Photos. This stops the sync, but videos already on iCloud stay there.
Deleting videos from an Android phone
Open the Photos app or Gallery app (the name varies by phone brand). Find the video, press and hold it until it's highlighted, then tap the trash or delete icon at the top or bottom of the screen. The video moves to Trash or Bin, where it usually stays for 30 days. To delete it permanently right now, open Trash, find the video, press and hold it, and tap Delete Permanently or Empty Trash.
If your videos are backed up to Google Photos, deleting from your phone's gallery does not delete the Google Photos copy. Open the Google Photos app separately, find the video, tap it, tap the trash icon, and confirm. Google Photos keeps deleted items in Trash for 60 days before removing them permanently.
Some Android phones also back up to Samsung Cloud, OneDrive, or another service depending on your phone brand. Check your phone's settings under Accounts or Cloud to see what's active, then delete from each service separately if you want the video completely gone.
Deleting videos from a Windows computer
Open File Explorer (the folder icon on your taskbar). Navigate to the folder where your video is stored — check Documents, Downloads, Pictures, or Videos first, or use the search box at the top right to search by the video's name. Right-click the video file and select Delete. It moves to the Recycle Bin.
To permanently delete it right now instead of leaving it in Recycle Bin, right-click the video and select Delete, then hold Shift while pressing Delete. Windows will ask you to confirm permanent deletion. Once you confirm, the file is gone and cannot be recovered through normal means.
If the video won't delete and you get an error message, the file might be open in another program. Close any video players, photo editors, or cloud sync apps (like OneDrive or Dropbox) that might be using the file, then try deleting again. If it still won't delete, restart your computer and try once more.
Deleting videos from a Mac
Open Finder and navigate to the folder containing your video — usually Documents, Downloads, or Movies. Click the video once to select it, then press Command and Delete together, or right-click and select Move to Trash. The video goes to the Trash folder in your dock.
To permanently delete it right now, click the Trash icon in your dock, find the video, right-click it, and select Delete Immediately. Or empty the entire Trash by right-clicking the Trash icon and selecting Empty Trash. Once you confirm, the file is permanently removed.
If a video won't delete, it might be open in an app or protected by permissions. Close any video players or editing software, then try again. If you still can't delete it, right-click the video, select Get Info, scroll down to Sharing & Permissions, and make sure your user account has Read & Write permission. Change it if needed, then try deleting again.
Deleting videos from cloud storage services
Videos stored on Google Photos, iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox, or similar services need to be deleted through those services' websites or apps. Open the service on your computer or phone, find the video, and look for a delete, trash, or remove option — it's usually a trash icon or a menu option when you right-click or long-press the video.
After you delete, the video typically goes to a Trash or Recently Deleted section for 30 to 60 days. To remove it permanently before that time, open Trash, find the video, and select Delete Permanently or Empty Trash. Each service names this slightly differently, but the idea is the same.
Deleting from a cloud service does not automatically delete the video from your phone or computer if you downloaded it there. You need to delete it from each location separately. If you want to delete everywhere at once, delete from the cloud service first, then delete the local copy from your phone or computer.
What to do if a video won't delete
If you see an error message or the delete button doesn't work, the file is usually locked or in use. Close all programs that might be using the video — video players, photo editors, cloud sync apps, or even your web browser if you were watching it there. Then try deleting again.
If it still won't delete, restart your device. This closes everything running in the background and often fixes the problem. After restart, try deleting the video again. If you're on a computer and it still won't work, check whether the file is marked as read-only: right-click it, select Properties or Get Info, and look for a Read-Only checkbox. Uncheck it if it's marked, then try deleting.
On a phone, if a video is stuck and won't delete, try clearing the cache of the Photos or Gallery app. Go to Settings, find Apps or Application Manager, select Photos or Gallery, tap Storage, and tap Clear Cache. This doesn't delete your videos — it just clears temporary files. Then try deleting the video again.
Freeing up space after deleting videos
Deleting videos frees up storage space, but only after you empty Trash or Recently Deleted. A video in Trash still takes up space on your device. To actually free up that space, open Trash (on computer) or Recently Deleted (on phone), and empty it completely or delete the specific video permanently.
On a phone, you can also check how much space videos are using. On iPhone, go to Settings, tap General, tap iPhone Storage, and scroll through the list to see which apps and file types use the most space. On Android, go to Settings, tap Storage or Device Care, and look at what's taking up room. This helps you decide which videos to delete first if you need space quickly.
If you delete a lot of videos from cloud storage, it may take a few hours for your phone or computer to show the freed-up space. Cloud services sync in the background, so don't be surprised if your device shows the old storage amount for a while after deletion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recover a video after I delete it permanently?
Once you empty Trash or Recently Deleted, recovery is very difficult without special software. If you deleted recently, you might recover it using data recovery software on a computer, but this doesn't work reliably on phones. The safest approach is to never permanently delete a video unless you're certain you don't need it.
If I delete a video from my phone, does it delete from my computer too?
No. Deleting from your phone does not delete from your computer unless they're synced through a cloud service like OneDrive or Google Photos. If they are synced, deleting from one device may delete from the other — check your sync settings to be sure. If they're not synced, you must delete from each device separately.
Why does my phone still show "storage full" after I deleted videos?
You probably deleted the videos but didn't empty Trash or Recently Deleted. Videos in Trash still take up space. Open the Recently Deleted or Trash folder in your Photos app and empty it completely. Also check whether videos are still backed up to cloud storage — those copies take up space on the cloud service, not your phone.
What's the difference between deleting and archiving a video?
Deleting removes the video and moves it to Trash. Archiving hides the video from your main library but keeps it stored — you can find it later in an Archive folder. Archiving is useful if you want to clean up your library without losing videos. Deleting is permanent after you empty Trash.
Can I delete multiple videos at once?
Yes. On a phone, open Photos or Gallery, tap Select or Edit in the top corner, tap each video you want to delete, then tap Delete or Trash. On a computer, hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and click each video, then press Delete or right-click and select Delete. This is much faster than deleting one at a time.