Why is my photo vault app taking up so much storage?

A vault app that keeps growing is a common complaint. In our study of 836 App Store reviews of vault apps, 13 reviews were about space. The app took more space after deleting, or several times the size of its content. One Keepsafe user wrote that “17GB of content in keepsafe was consuming 85GB of space”. This guide covers where the space usually goes and how to get it back without losing anything. We checked Apple’s, Google’s and Keepsafe’s help pages on 2026-10-09.

Where the space usually goes

Cause	Why it uses space	Fix
Originals still in Photos or your gallery	Each photo is stored twice: in the vault and in the library	Remove originals from the library after the vault checks its copy
Recently Deleted in Photos	Apple keeps deleted items 30 days	Empty Recently Deleted
The vault’s Trash	Deleted vault items often keep their space	Recover what you need, then empty Trash
Full-size downloads	A storage saver turned off downloads every original	Expected. Check free space first
Caches and previews	Thumbnails and temporary files	Usually small, and the app manages them

Check what the vault uses

On iPhone: open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage. The apps list shows each app’s size.

On Android: Google’s steps are Settings, Storage, then Free up space, or open the app’s own page in Settings to see its storage. Settings can vary by phone maker.

Compare the app’s size with the size of what you keep in it. A big gap points to Trash, duplicates or files waiting to upload.

Free space safely

1. Remove originals from the library, but only after the vault shows that it has every item. Then empty Recently Deleted on iPhone, or the trash in Google Photos. See our Recently Deleted guide.
2. Empty the vault’s Trash once you are sure. Keepsafe says its Trash items “also take up cloud space”, and that items deleted from Trash “can never be restored”. On Keepsafe for iPhone: Settings, Trash, Select All, Delete, then Delete again. Keepsafe says to keep cloud backup on while you do it, so the cloud matches.
3. Use the vault’s storage saver, if it has one, knowing what it does. Keepsafe’s Space Saver keeps compressed copies on the phone and originals in its cloud, “which is why the smaller copy might look blurry”. It is part of Premium.

What not to do

• Do not tap Clear storage for a vault app on Android. Google says it “permanently deletes all app data”. For a vault, that is your photos.
• Do not clear cache for Files by Google if you use its Safe folder. Google says clearing storage or cache with other apps can make Safe folder files unreadable.
• Do not delete and reinstall the app to reclaim space. On iPhone, Apple says deleting an app removes it and its data. See does deleting a vault app delete your photos.
• Do not rely on offloading. iPhone’s Offload Unused Apps keeps data but removes the app, which you then need from the App Store again.

If you are leaving Keepsafe because of space, our Keepsafe move guide has the export steps.

How York Vault handles space

York Vault’s storage screen shows the library size, Trash, cache and items waiting to upload. It also shows free space on the phone and the size of each album. A delete plus Empty Trash returns the space within a minute. York Vault skips exact copies at import for free, and in Plus and Pro it finds duplicates and similar photos for you to review. See duplicates and storage.

After York Vault checks its copy of each item, Remove from Photos deletes the originals, so photos are not stored twice. See import and cleanup and how to remove originals safely. Plus and Pro can also keep previews on the phone and download originals when you open them. This is off unless you turn it on. Download York Vault.