I've always been a bit of a hoarder when it comes to my memories. I love capturing photos and videos, but I've never been a fan of paying for cloud storage. So, I've developed my own DIY method for storing my memories, and I'm here to share it with you. But here's where it gets controversial... While some might argue that cloud storage is the most convenient and reliable way to back up your files, I believe that relying on external hard drives is a more sustainable and cost-effective solution. And this is the part most people miss... While cloud storage might seem like a great option, it can be expensive and unreliable in the long run. So, let's dive into my method for storing photos and videos without breaking the bank. First, let's talk about why I use an external hard drive for storing photos and videos. If you don't want to pay for cloud storage, you may be tempted to get a phone with a higher storage capacity. But even the most future-proofed 1TB phone will eventually need to be replaced. And if I want to carry over all my old files, my next phone will need to have at least as much storage as my current one, plus additional capacity for my future photos and videos. Image file sizes continue to grow, and as phone cameras improve, the footage they capture results in higher-megapixel files. My iPhone estimates that each 12-megapixel image is approximately 2MB and each 24-megapixel image is 3MB. Video takes up even more space: a minute of 4K footage can easily exceed 1GB. At these rates, even a phone with 256GB of storage (the new minimum for the iPhone 17 series) can fill up fast. Digital storage on an external drive doesn't have to be expensive. You can easily get a 1TB solid-state drive for less than $100. The best part of using an external drive is that you can save files across multiple devices. You can also keep using it long after you've upgraded to a new phone. Generally, HDDs last three to five years, while SSDs last a minimum of five years. Using an external drive requires more effort than backing up everything to the cloud. You need to wait for your files to transfer from your device to the drive, and then sort everything into folders. Then, after the file transfer is complete, you must delete those files from your phone or computer. Fortunately, once you've figured out the process and done it a few times, it becomes quite straightforward. Here's how I do it. My process for backing up photos When I'm due to back up my photos and videos (or my phone is running low on storage), I like to make two copies of each file: one for my laptop, and one for my external SSD. My MacBook runs fewer apps and has more storage than my iPhone, so it receives a copy of all my phone's photos and videos. The Photos app on my Mac also has a handy 'Delete items after upload' checkbox, which I recommend selecting. Once all the files have been transferred, I plug my external drive into my computer and select all the photos I want to back up. The Photos app helpfully sorts everything by upload date. I can select all the images from the newest batch by clicking on the first photo, holding the Shift key, and then clicking on the last photo. I then drag and drop them into the external drive. If I have a lot of photos (over 500), I tend to split up this step and select 200 to 300 at a time, or there can be some interruptions to the transfer process. I try to back up my photos at least once a month, or after a special occasion, such as a vacation. Sometimes, to be on the safe side, I'll also make a backup before a major software update (like iOS 26). The process has become a way for me to mark the end of one period and the beginning of another. I used to struggle with organizing the files on my external drive. However, I now simply create a folder for each batch of uploaded photos and videos. I'll label these folders either by the date (e.g. July 2025), or the occasion (Trip to London, Summer 2024). You may find that a similar system works for you. Perhaps you'll opt for more or less frequent backups. Either way, I highly recommend this final step: Make a backup of the backup on a separate external drive. That way, if one of your drives fails, you'll still have the other. I'm more intentional about the images I capture One issue with keeping all my files on external drives is that I don't always have access to them. But I think that's a reasonable trade-off. I don't need to carry every single image I've ever captured in my pocket. I can usually find the photos I need on my Instagram page or in my email inbox. I do leave certain photos and videos on my phone indefinitely, but only ones that I need to refer back to often (a screenshot of my insurance information, for example). I also keep some photos that I enjoy seeing from time to time: an image from a family reunion, a day out with friends. It's a curated collection, much like the one or two images that people used to keep in their wallets. Yes, it can be a hassle to manage all those files on an external drive but it's well worth the extra effort. Not only do I spend less money in the long run, but I also feel reassured: My memories are saved on a physical object that I own, rather than being dumped onto someone else's computer. Even if I did pay for Google One or another cloud storage option, I would feel as if someone else owned my files. What if Google Photos makes another change to its storage policy or raises prices again? I would have no choice but to go along with it. My memories would be at the mercy of a corporation. And what if Google shuts down someday? Indeed, it's one of the largest companies in the world at present. But that was also true of Kodak, not too long ago. There's one more unexpected benefit: By being responsible for creating these manual backups, I've become more intentional about capturing images in the first place. I've realized that I don't have to take a picture of every single thing I see. Most of the time, I can just remember it.
