How much storage does your phone really need in 2026? Probably less than you think

iPhone 17 in Sage Jada Jones/ZDNETZDNET's key takeawaysPhones today have storage up to 1TB.You probably need less storage than you think.Most users only need 128GB or 256GB of storage on their phone.When most people buy a new phone, they focus on things like the camera, the screen, or the latest AI features. Over the past several years though, an arms race of sorts has risen, and phones are getting massive amounts of storage – all the way up to 1TB.A huge amount of storage sounds nice, and many people pick flagship phones because of it, but do you really need all that? Probably not. Also: How much RAM does your phone really need in 2026?Aside from apps, videos are probably the single biggest storage hog. And thanks to the ease of cloud storage services, it's never been easier to free up this space on your phone. Unless you're downloading a lot of intensive apps and keeping videos locally instead of the cloud, you probably need less storage than you think.Phone storage breakdown64GB Motorola G Play Cesar Cadenas/ZDNETThis is the absolute minimum for storage in 2026. Most manufacturers haven't made a phone with just 64GB in several years, and there are only a few very budget models even available (like the Motorola Moto G Play and the BLU View 5). At this level, you have room for only a handful of apps. Who needs 64GB of storage on their phone?People who are only using their phone as a simple communication device to call and text and don't install many apps or take pictures and video.128GB Google Pixel 9 Pro Adam Breeden/ZDNETMost modern phones start with 128GB of storage as a baseline. While it might seem small, it's enough for many (maybe even most) people. It's enough for around 100 casual apps or more, several thousand photos, and some videos. You might run into storage issues after a year or two, but you can probably manage by deleting old things. I have 128GB on my Pixel 9 Pro XL, and while I'm nearly full (113GB used), that includes over 300 apps (many of which I don't use) and 12GB of photos and videos that are in the cloud as well, I just haven't deleted them. Also: Why Apple's iOS 26.6 is worth installing (it's not just for the 91 security fixes)Who needs 128GB of storage on their phone?People who download casual apps, take mostly photos, stream content instead of downloading, aren't afraid to use cloud storage, don't mind deleting old things, or upgrade their device often.256GB Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus and S26 Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETThis is the sweet spot for most phone releases today. 256GB lets you shoot plenty of videos and photos, download hundreds of apps (including some graphics-heavy games), update your phone on the regular, and rarely worry about storage. You can probably go a while without purging apps or files. The majority of people don't need more than this.Who needs 256GB of storage on their phone?People who want to use their phone without ever thinking about storage or who keep their phone for four years or more and don't want to rely on the cloud. 512GB iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max Kerry Wan/ZDNETNow we're getting into niche territory. At 512GB, you'll want to have a specific reason you need this much space, like video editing, gaming, or offline media. Your phone is becoming a portable hard drive at this point, as it will hold tens of thousands of photos, a massive music library, years of work documents, or hours of video.Who needs 512GB of storage on their phone?People who use their phone professionally, who store large offline content libraries, or who use the same phone for five years or more. 1TB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Ultra Kerry Wan/ZDNETYou'll only see 1TB of storage on premium phones from Google, Samsung, and Apple, and even then on the most expensive configuration. Very few people actually need this much, as it's desktop-levels of space. This is an immense amount of storage for a phone, and will hold tens of thousands of photos, hundreds of hours of video, and hundreds of apps. Also: Everything announced at Galaxy Unpacked 2026: Can Samsung compete with the rumored foldable iPhone?Who needs 1TB of storage on their phone? People who shoot hours of 4K video for content creation, who don't use cloud storage, who keep a massive library of offline content, or who plan to keep the phone for many years. Other factors to consider Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 Prakhar Khanna/ZNDETWhen you buy a phone, no matter how much storage the box says you have, you'll have less space you can actually use. This is because a chunk of that space is reserved for the phone's operating system (usually 20 to 30GB), pre-installed apps, on-device AI systems, and more. So when you're considering how much space you might need, remove at least that much to start. But also consider the following: Future updatesOperating systems are larger and larger each year. If you keep your phone for three years or more, you might find your OS taking up a significantly larger percentage of your available space than before. If you keep your phone for a long time, you might want to make sure you future-proof with more storage. High quality videoVideo is a storage hog, especially if you're shooting in high quality. A single video can take the space of hundreds or thousands of photos. If you take more photos than video (or store all your videos in the cloud), you'll probably be ok staying at a more moderate level like 256GB or even 128GB.Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Z Fold 7: How the first 'Ultra' foldable compares to last year's modelGamesIt's not uncommon for a mobile game to take up 10GB of space, and a few of the more popular titles can exceed 20GB. If you plan on playing A list games, you might want to opt for a larger storage option.Social media and messagingSocial apps like X and Instagram and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram can sneakily take up a ton of storage in their cache over months of use – even 15GB or more. If you notice your phone's storage is getting low, you can clear your cache on one of these apps without deleting any photos or videos. Featured reviews