Samsung Galaxy phones automatically keep hidden “pre-edit backups” of any photo or video you edit in the Gallery app, and those invisible originals can quietly consume significant storage — even on a new device after using Smart Switch to transfer data.
How pre-edit backups work
Pre-edit backups are original copies retained by your phone so you can restore an edited photo or video to its unedited state, even after saving changes. They are not accessible from inside the Gallery app unless you undo an edit to restore the original. If you edit photos and videos frequently, these invisible backups can add up to gigabytes of storage over time. Deleting pre-edit backups will not remove the edited photos and videos themselves, but it will remove the ability to undo those edits and recover the original versions later.
How to delete pre-edit backups
You cannot remove pre-edit backups from within the Gallery app; use Device care instead. Open Settings > Device care > Storage. If your phone contains any pre-edit backups, Device care will show a suggestion to Review files. Tap Review files, select the pre-edit backups you want to remove, then tap Delete (or Delete all) and confirm. If no suggestion to review pre-edit backups appears on the Device care > Storage screen, your phone does not have any pre-edit backups stored.
The screenshots showing these screens were captured on a Galaxy Z Fold 8 using One UI’s tablet layout; the menus look slightly different on slab-type Galaxy phones, a Fold’s cover screen, or on older One UI versions, but the steps are essentially the same on Galaxy phones and Galaxy Tabs.
A word of caution: only delete pre-edit backups if you are sure you will not need to restore any original versions in the future.
