---
title: How much disk space do I need?
url: https://photostructure.com/getting-started/how-much-disk-space-do-i-need-for-my-photostructure-library/
description: Learn how much free disk space you should have when running PhotoStructure.
date: 2018-12-10
keywords: library, disk
---


Your library's disk space depends on the number of photos and videos you have, and whether you choose to have PhotoStructure [organize your photos and videos by copying them into your library](/automatic-library-organization/).

**See also:**

- [What is a “PhotoStructure library”](/library/)?
- [Where should I install PhotoStructure](/where-to-install/)?

## How big are photos and videos?

Digital photo and video file sizes vary greatly between cameras.

1 [gigabyte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte) (8 billion bits) will store:

- thousands of pictures from a digital camera from 10 years ago
- about 100 [JPEGs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG) from a recent full-frame
  [SLR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-lens_reflex_camera)
- about 20 [RAW](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_image_format) photos from a
  recent full-frame SLR
- less than a minute of [4K](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution) 60
  [fps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate) video

## How do I safely store my files?

The secret is to have more than one copy. Read more about [safe file storage
here](/faq/how-do-i-safely-store-files/).

## How much additional disk space does PhotoStructure need?

PhotoStructure builds preview images and transcodes videos so they are viewable
across most mobile and desktop browsers. This consumes, roughly,
2[GB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte) per 1,000 photos and videos in
your library.

As an example, if you have 250,000 images and videos, your
previews will consume about .5[TB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terabyte). If
your library is predominantly videos, this may be much larger.

Note that transcoded videos consume strictly less data than the original video, but can
still be very large (see the prior section).

## How can I minimize the disk space that PhotoStructure uses?

The default settings are optimized for viewing your images and videos on a 4K
display, but there are several ways to reduce disk consumption, at the expense
of browsing speed.

Change the following [library settings](/advanced-settings/):

1. Shut down PhotoStructure, navigate to your library, and open
   `.photostructure/settings.toml` in a text editor. TextEdit on Mac and Wordpad
   on Windows will work fine.
2. If you don't need to stream videos, set the `transcodeVideos` setting to `false`.
3. Edit the `previewResolutions` to contain fewer resolutions. Setting this to
   an empty array will still create a
   [qqvga](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_display_resolution#160_%C3%97_120_(QQVGA)>)
   preview (as it is required for image analysis), and is equivalent to using
   `["qqvga"]`.
4. Restart PhotoStructure, and run `rebuild` from the `☰` nav menu. Note that
   this will take a while, depending on how large your library is.

## Oops, I've changed my mind: I want my videos to be transcoded

Just follow the above steps, but set `transcodeVideos` setting to `true`.