10 tips to save hard drive space

Monday 5 October 2026, 16:16 by Nando Harmsen | 3,444 views | 20 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

If you take a lot of photos, you use a lot of hard drive space. If you have been taking photos for a long time, you have used a lot of space. The days when hard drive space was cheap are over. These ten tips can save valuable space.

Storing photos takes hard drive space. If you did not want to or could not delete photos, you could use the excuse that hard drive space costs (next to) nothing. That is no longer true.

Putting the cost aside, does it really make sense to keep every photo you take? And every edit you may have made in Photoshop, Affinity or Topaz? What are you going to do with all that image material?

You only have so much space available on your computer. Of course, you can use external drives. Storage space always costs money.

Keeping everything is pointless. The chances of you looking back at those old photos are very small. Especially if they did not make it through your selection. But of course, you can decide that for yourself.

With the following tips, you can save hard drive space. You will notice that your photo collection becomes more organised. And the quality of your collection will improve too. After all, the bad photos will no longer be there.

Tip 1 - Do not shoot in both raw and jpeg

When you shoot in both raw and jpeg, you end up with two files for every photo. That is pointless. Do you edit your photos? Then only create raw files. Do you never edit them? Choose jpeg.

Choose jpeg or raw, not both. There is absolutely no point in doing that.

Having the camera save both files makes no sense at all. Choose the format you prefer to use. Forget about the other one.

Tip 2 - Delete failed and duplicate photos

Not all the photos you take are good. Sometimes you have photos that have failed completely. Delete them. Do not keep photos that you know are definitely no good.

Have you taken several photos of the same setting? Do not keep them all.

The same applies to duplicate photos. Moments when you accidentally took two images one after the other. Or when you took the same or almost the same photo three times. You only need one.

Tip 3 - Keep only the best photos

After a day of photography, you come home with lots of photos. You then need to select from them. Choose the photos you like and that are worth keeping. Keep only those photos. The rest are not as good anyway.

Be critical. Only the best photos count. The rest are simply not good enough to use.

You do not have to delete them straight away. Do it periodically, for example once every quarter or every six months. Or when you have completed an assignment and delivered the photos.

Tip 4 - Delete separate photos from composite images

Do you often take photos that are later combined? Delete them after successfully combining them. Think of photos for a panorama, an HDR image or focus stacking.

Is the composite photo good? Why keep the separate images then?

You can keep them all, but the composite photo is what matters. If you still want to use one photo from the series, keep only that one. Delete the rest.

Tip 5 - Do not keep all TIFF and PSD files

Do you edit your raw files in Photoshop or Affinity? Or perhaps in other software that creates its own file? Remember that these edits require an enormous amount of storage space.

Have you got a TIFF or PSD? It takes up a huge amount of storage space. Sometimes even 20 times as much or more. That is not a problem for one photo, but it soon adds up when you have hundreds.

It is fine to keep them like this for a while, but consider deleting them after some time. This can save an enormous amount of hard drive space. Per photo, this can amount to 500 MB or more.

Tip 6 - Do not use an unnecessarily high resolution

The higher the resolution, the more storage space you need. A high resolution can be achieved with panoramas, a high-resolution mode in the camera, or upscaling.

The resolution of a real panorama can become enormous. Sometimes a panorama crop is just as good. You should only choose the high-resolution mode if you really need it.

It is a nice option, but do you need it? In 99% of cases, you do not.

Super-resolution is a nice option, but do you need it? In 99% of cases, you do not.

Upscaling photos is often unnecessary. In many cases, the quality is not only questionable, it also creates a new file that sometimes requires an enormous amount of storage space.

Tip 7 - Delete backups from Lightroom and other programmes

Many photo-editing programmes have a database or catalogue. It is important that it remains intact. That is why you need to make or have a backup made regularly.

All those backups are pointless. The last three are more than enough.

Do not keep all your backups. You only need to keep the last two or three backups. You can delete all the others, because they do not contain the most recently added photos.

Tip 8 - Clear out previews regularly

Photo-editing programmes often create previews so that you can work quickly and efficiently. They naturally take up some space. Often, it is not a lot of space.

All those smart previews add up. Be very deliberate about using them.

But with lots of photos in your catalogue, the number can increase considerably. In the end, they still take up a lot of space on your hard drive. Consider clearing them out regularly.

Tip 9 - Create only temporary jpeg files

If all your photos are in a database or catalogue, that is where you view and find them. Are you going to use a photo? Then you need to export it as a jpeg. Or another file format.

Create a folder for all temporary jpeg files. Delete the files again after use.

Treat these as temporary files. Have you used them for their intended purpose? Then delete them. You no longer need them. The original edited raw files are still available, after all.

Do not routinely export jpeg files in different sizes, or in another format. This is pointless hard drive clutter. Only export them when you need them.

Tip 10 - Take fewer photos

The simplest way to save hard drive space is to take fewer photos. At the same time, this is also the most difficult. Be a little more critical when you press the shutter button.

You can take it as far as you like. Do you take hundreds or even thousands of photos?

Do not think that continuously taking photos will produce better images. It then becomes more like spray and pray. Think before you take the photo. Selecting will then become much easier too.

More tips?

Do you have any more tips for saving hard drive space? Perhaps using a camera with a lower resolution? Deleting raw files after completing an assignment? Or something else?

Let us know in a comment below this post. I am curious to know what you do to prevent your hard drive filling up with images that you will never use again.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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20 comments

Maarten wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 11:18 | reply
Useful tips, which require the necessary discipline (I often think: I'll clean up later, and then nothing comes of it). Regarding your comment about photographing in Raw and Jpeg at the same time: I do that, but only copy the Raw files to my computer/hard drive. The Jpeg files are a kind of backup for me in case something does go wrong in the whole process (I also rotate between several numbered SD cards, so those also form a kind of backup)
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 11:24 | reply
When you call JPEG a backup, I think of 'back-up'. The only thing is that a JPEG is never a backup of a RAW. It is an edited RAW file.
Does your camera have two memory card slots? Then write the RAW file to both cards simultaneously. Then you do have a real backup.
Do you only have one memory card slot, well, then JPEG is a kind of (meager) backup.
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Paul van Aken wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 12:38 | reply
I personally think the last tip is the best.
When I see how people "photograph" these days, I always wonder what they are actually doing, "just keep shooting, then maybe there'll be a good one among them" or something like that.
And indeed, if you shoot in raw, don't save all the edits and (jpg) copies.
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Bernard Veerman wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 13:56 | reply
For one part I agree, but for another part I don't. If you are a "snap away photographer" I think the article does not apply because every hard drive will be too small. On the other hand, the comment about the price of hard drives (but also SD cards or otherwise) being so favorable compared to decades ago means you don't have to stumble over that. For example: in my Canon 5D4 I use 64GB SD cards. When they are full and the good photos are on the hard drive + the backup hard drive, the SD cards go into the archive. They are only used once. The price for a quality card is still around 20 euros and in my opinion you don't have to take risks of losing photos for that price. A comment about JPG or JPEG is appropriate, with every edit + save the quality degrades.
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Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 09:43 | reply
A 64GB SD card for around 20 euros isn't a fast card. If you don't need the speed, that's fine of course.
But a slightly faster card actually costs between 3 and 5 times as much.
If your camera needs a CF Express or XQD card, it doesn't work at all anymore.

Don't be mistaken. When you reach 1TB of storage, that's 15 cards. That's 300 euros.
You can get a simple (but slow) external SSD for half that amount.

However, if the system you use works for you, perfect, right?
Translated from Dutch.

Paulus van Aken wrote on Friday 9 October 2026 at 11:04 | reply
I don't know the exact prices, but for purely taking photographs you don't need the fastest cards, so you can do what Bernard wrote, and what I do too.
My first cards were 1 Gb for 10 euros, the original photos are still on them
Videos were much more expensive, but they are not reusable.
Indeed, the story applies less to xqd or Cf (express) cards, which are considerably more expensive, but still less expensive than a comparable amount of film ( +development costs)
In my view, the original cards are therefore the best backup
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Wouter Vroom wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 18:04 | reply
Save RAW files as DNG, saves around 15-20% in size.
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Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 09:29 | reply
Interesting.
If your camera can't save a compressed raw file, that indeed makes a difference. If your camera can save compressed raw files, and you choose that, I don't think saving as DNG makes sense.
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Jos Geusens wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 21:14 | reply
When I wanted to buy my "serious" camera, I considered what resolution I would need for a print 1 metre wide. That led me to at least 21 megapixels. Resolutions higher than 24 would simply be overkill. After many years, my decision has proved to be the right one because even with a crop of it I can still make a razor-sharp print 95 cm wide.
The RAW files are approx. 30 MB, which I think is ideal. Both in terms of SD card and hard drive.
Another lesson I learned is not to keep using the continuous mode for fast sports, but to practise capturing the right moment. Yes, there are situations where many images per second are useful, especially with fast things, but when it becomes a habit, I only spend many hours at the PC filtering out the right one. That makes photographing less fun for me. Capturing moments with the camera is more fun than sitting at the PC for hours. The result is that I once came home from an air show with 3600 shots, but afterwards had better photos with 1000 or so. In both cases, about 300 remained, which says a lot, I think.
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Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 09:36 | reply
Relatable story.
I can still remember having an EOS 1D Mark III with 10 fps. That was incredibly fast and created opportunities. Now people laugh at it because it is 'only 10 fps'
Nowadays I also often choose 12 fps instead of 20. I already find the latter too much.
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RCJB59 wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 09:55 | reply
Because of a big assignment in 1996, I could afford a Minolta RD-175 with 'a whopping' 1.75 million pixels. 🤣
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Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 10:11 | reply
If we go back even further: the Sony Mavica with floppy disks. Photos not quite at VGA resolution yet 😎
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Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 23:20 | reply
Nando, thanks for the good story and the good tips. SSDs in particular have risen enormously in price over the last 2 years. I may have an additional tip.
When you install photo editing software, that software ends up on the C drive by default, at least on a Windows PC. The catalogues and edited photos often end up there too. Catalogues also become quite large files over time. In this way, such a C drive fills up fairly quickly.
When I import the photos from my camera to the PC, I make sure that they end up on a drive other than the C drive. I do the same with the catalogues and edited photos. The C drive only contains the software for the apps I use. The data that this software generates ends up on other drives. In this way, programs such as Windows, Photoshop, Lightroom and others continue to work nice and smoothly and there is always sufficient working memory free on the C drive.

As far as storing photos is concerned, I keep virtually everything that cannot be considered a failure, for example: blurry photos. I throw that category away.
For the edited photos, I save the edits in a separate XMP file next to the original Raw. If I decide that I don't consider a particular edit good enough after all, I simply throw that XMP file away and start again. Those XMP files are not large and take up practically no space.
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RCJB59 wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 09:52 | reply
I have always had two drives in my PCs and when the NAS came out, that was quite a relief after all.
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Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 10:12 | reply
Note, a NAS is not a backup. Set to mirror, it does provide some backup, but it is still in the same little box.
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RCJB59 wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 11:47 | reply
That’s true, but it’s still just a little better than a drive in your PC. A friend who works as a system administrator was once called in a panic by a customer who had a NAS with 5 or six drives. One drive was defective and they figured they’d just replace it themselves. Except for one drive, they all failed one after another. So miracles do still happen.
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Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 14:47 | reply
Misfortune never comes alone.
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RCJB59 wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 15:14 | reply
🤣
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Martyn Foster wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 07:13 | reply
Thanks Nando, solid list. One extra tip: if you also create images with AI tools (I have been using Seedream 5.0 Pro for quick mockups and references), those exports pile up fast too. I keep a small set of lightweight previews and delete the heavy originals I will not reuse - it has saved me a surprising amount of space.

Nando wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 09:31 | reply
That is a good point.
You can then apply the same reasoning to the enormous Photoshop or Affinity files that can arise if you use them.
Translated from Dutch.

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