Struggling with low storage on your Samsung Galaxy even though it has 128GB or more? You’re not alone.
While Samsung phones come with generous storage on paper, heavy camera use, 4K videos, and media editing can fill them up fast. A big but often overlooked culprit is the invisible backups created by the Gallery app.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to locate and delete these hidden backups to reclaim valuable storage space.
Table of Contents
What Are Invisible Backups on Samsung Phones?
If you regularly edit photos or videos on your Samsung Galaxy, you may have noticed your storage filling up faster than expected. A major hidden cause is invisible backups.
Most Samsung phones — whether Exynos or Snapdragon — include a built-in Gallery editor that lets you crop images, apply filters, erase objects, and reduce video sizes.
You can compress videos and use the Object Eraser tool directly in the app.
However, every time you edit or convert a file, the Gallery app quietly creates a complete invisible backup of the original. This backup stays hidden in your phone’s storage so you can revert to the unedited version later.
For example, I reduced a 6GB video to 2.5GB, but One UI kept the full original 6GB file as an invisible backup. Repeat this with multiple files, and these hidden copies can consume several gigabytes without any obvious sign.
This is why many Samsung users suddenly run low on storage even after deleting large files — these automatic backups keep accumulating in the background.
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. This tutorial has been tested on Galaxy M35 5G running Android 16 and One UI 8.0.
Following this tutorial will significantly release more space on your phone.
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Go to Settings > Device care > Storage or open the 'File Manager' app on your Samsung Android phone and tap 'Manage storage' option at the bottom of the screen.
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Under 'Suggestions', tap 'View more' to get the option to access invisible backup.
- If you don't see this section, it means you haven't edited any photos recently or your phone has already cleared the temporary cache.
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Tap 'Select files' under the section which mentions invisible backups of your pictures and videos.
Open invisible backups in Samsung File Manager - 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.
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A popup will open, asking you for permanent deletion confirmation. Tap 'Delete' to delete those invisible backups.
Samsung invisible backup delete confirmation screenshot -
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.
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.'
Reverting edited photos and videos to their original versions in Samsung Gallery - Your edited version of the photo/video will be deleted, and the original file will be restored.
How to Get Original Photos and Videos Back Even After Deleting the Edited Version
Usually, when you delete an edited photo or video from your Samsung Gallery and empty the Recycle Bin, the "Revert to original" button disappears. Since the edited file no longer exists, it feels like the original version is gone forever because the link between the two files gets broken.
But here is a pro-tip: Deleting the edited file doesn’t automatically delete the original invisible backup. These original files often stay hidden in your phone's storage as "orphaned data" until you manually clear them.
If you accidentally deleted an edited photo and want the original back, you can use this trick to recover that hidden data.
How to Recover Original Images, Photos, and Videos From Invisible Backups
Simply head to the invisible backup location on your Samsung phone. Here, you will see all the invisible backups of your photos and images. These are the original, unedited versions of your media.
Just tap any photo icon featuring a double-ended arrow. This will open the image with a "Share" icon visible on the screen. You can then share it using Quick Share, Bluetooth, or any other sharing option such as WhatsApp.
Note: This method works only for sharing photos and doesn't allow you to move or copy the files directly from the invisible backup location to your DCIM folder or an external drive.
How to Copy or Move Original Files to a Different Storage Location
- Open Samsung File Manager, tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner, and select Settings.
- In Settings, tap Edit menu layout and ensure Recent files is enabled. Go back to the main screen.
- If 'Recent files' option is not enable then this recovery trick will not work.
- Navigate to the invisible backups storage location as I have taught you.
- Here, you will see all the original backups of your photos and videos.
- One by one, open all the files. Open one file, close it, and then open the next. This registers the files in Android file manager's recent files location.
- Once finished, go back to the main screen and tap the ">" (greater than) icon next to Recent files.
- You will now see all the original backups in the Recent files section, where they can be shared via Quick Share, Bluetooth, or WhatsApp.
- For Videos: Do not tap to open them. Instead, long-press the file to reveal the Share option. I suggest using Quick Share for large files.
- It is important to note that the Move and Copy options do not work for these specific backup files; attempting to force this will result in an error.
- Once you share the original files to a different device using Quick Share, you gain full control. You can then move or copy those files back to your phone's DCIM folder.
Here's a detailed tutorial to share the invisible original backsups of image/photo and videos via Quick Share.
| Feature / Action | Invisible Backup Behavior |
|---|---|
| Editing a Photo | Original is hidden; the "Revert" button remains active in the Gallery app. |
| Deleting Edited Photo | Original stays in hidden storage as "orphaned data" and continues to occupy space. |
| Deleting Invisible Backup | The "Revert" option disappears, and storage space is permanently reclaimed. Original backups get deleted. |
| Sharing Backups | Possible for Photos and Video via the "Recent Files" trick. |
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.
You don't need to access this restricted directory as our trick to restore the original files is working even when you delete the edited files.
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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