Samsung Android smartphones come with ample internal storage space options. On average, almost every Samsung Android phone features the standard 128 GB onboard storage. Though 128 GB may seem a big storage option to many but we only get around 100–110 GB as manageable storage on the phone. Even this much storage can become full if you download a lot of apps, shoot Full HD or 4K videos from your phone’s camera, and edit videos and photos.
You may now be wondering how editing images and videos makes your Samsung phone’s storage full. The answer is that when you edit large videos and photos on your Samsung phone, the video editor/converter in the Gallery app creates an invisible backup of the original files.
The Gallery app creates backups in order to restore the videos or photos to their original version whenever you want. However, these invisible backups take up much of your phone’s storage space. Therefore, we must delete them or transfer them to a different storage device.
If you do not wish to keep these invisible backups, then deleting them would be ideal to save storage space on your phone. However, these invisible backups are not easily accessible.
So, in this post, I’ll teach you how to find and delete such invisible backups, thereby freeing more storage space on your Samsung phone.
What Are Invisible Backups on Samsung Phones?
Let’s discuss this topic in detail. You may not know, but many Samsung Android smartphones that run on an Exynos chipset feature a built-in video editor and converter. With this built-in Samsung video editor, you can do basic video editing such as cropping videos, adding filters, and adding emojis and text overlays. You can also use the built-in video converter to reduce the video size on your Samsung phone.
Now, let’s say you are editing or converting (reducing the video size) a video on your Samsung phone. The Gallery app first creates an invisible backup of the original file before giving you the edited or converted video or photo. The original file gets stored somewhere in your phone’s storage with no direct way to access it.
Whenever you wish to revert the edits, the Gallery app restores the original file from this invisible backup. If you edit and convert videos frequently on your Samsung phone, these invisible backups keep building up silently in a hidden storage location.
Over time, you will see that your phone's storage is getting nearly full besides deleting large files. If you find yourself in this situation, then you can clearly think of removing those invisible backups, created as a result of video editing and conversion.
Step-by-Step: How to Delete Invisible Photo and Video Backups on Samsung Android Phones
Here's a complete step-by-step guide on how to delete invisible backups on Samsung Android phone. Following this tutorial will significantly release more space on your phone.
- Open the 'File Manager' app on your Samsung Android phone and tap 'Manage storage' option at the bottom of the screen.
- Under 'Suggestions', tap 'View more' to get the option to access invisible backup.
- Tap 'Select files' under the section which mentions invisible backups of your pictures and videos.
- You will now be able to see the original backup files here with their original file size.
- If you do not wish to keep these backups, then simply select all the files or the ones that you wish to delete, and then tap the 'Delete' button.
- A popup will open, asking you for permanent deletion confirmation. Tap 'Delete' to delete those invisible backups.
- If you wish to share or save images/photos from here, then tap the desired image/photo with a double ended arrow. This will open the image/photo with a share button. Tap the 'Share' button to share the image/photo via Quick Share, Bluetooth, WhatsApp, etc.
Note: The invisible backups of videos can't be saved or shared from the hidden backup location. Sharing of invisible backups is only allowed for images and photos.
How to Restore Original Photos and Videos From the Invisible Backups
At times, you may feel the need to restore your original photos and videos from the invisible backups. Let's say you edited a video on your Samsung phone and applied several cuts, filter effects, text overlays, and emoticons, and saved it.
The Gallery app creates an invisible backup of the original image/video file in this case for you to restore it later. However, please note that restoring to original files will remove the edited photos and videos.
- Open the Samsung Gallery app, and tap the photo or video that you previously edited and now wish to restore to original.
- Once the photo/video opens, tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner and tap 'Revert to original.'
- Your edited version of the photo/video will be deleted, and the original file will be restored.
Note: When you restore photos and videos from invisible backups, then the edited versions will be deleted. If you do wish to keep the edited versions of your photos and videos, then you must create a backup of these files before restoring them to original.
You can share or transfer the edited photos/videos to your PC, to a different phone, or to a USB OTG drive. After restoring the original files, you can then move the edited photos/videos back to your phone's storage.
FAQ - Samsung Invisible Backups
Check the most common frequently asked questions about Samsung invisible backups below.
Q1. What happens if I delete invisible backups on Android?
If you ever delete the invisible backups of your photos and videos on your Samsung phone, then you will never be able to restore your photos and videos to their original version. Only delete the invisible backups if you no longer need them.
Q2. Is it safe to delete invisible backups on Samsung Android phones?
Yes, it is pretty safe to delete invisible backups on Samsung Android phones if you don't want the original files anymore.
Q3. Where can you find the Samsung invisible backups location?
The Gallery app stores the invisible backups to /data/sec/photoeditor/0, which is a protected system directory. You can't access this directory without root access or ADB tools. Due to Android restrictions, this directory is restricted to system apps only.
Q4. Will deleting invisible backups delete photos?
Yes, deleting invisible backups will delete the original photos (not the edited ones). Invisible backups only exist for photos that you edited previously. The backup remains there so that you can restore the edited photo to its original version. If you delete the invisible backups of photos then you won't be able to restore the edited photo to original version. Also, deleting the edited photos will not remove or delete the invisible photo backups. You can still share these backed up images using Quick Share, Bluetooth, WhatsApp etc.
Conclusion
Deleting invisible backups on Samsung Android phones is a useful step if you are running out of storage space. If you frequently edit or convert photos and videos on your Samsung phone, these invisible backups are created automatically and can slowly consume a large portion of your internal storage without you even noticing.
If you no longer need the original versions of your edited photos or videos, removing these invisible backups can free up a significant amount of space. However, if you think you may need the original files later, it is always a good idea to keep the backups or transfer them to another storage device before deleting them. I have explained the restoration process in detail above so that you can decide what works best for your needs.
If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends or family members who use Samsung phones and may be facing similar storage issues. Thank you for reading 🙂.
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