Most cloud photo services do back up videos alongside photos, but videos often count differently against your storage (using much more space per item) and can have their own quality or length limits — worth checking your specific settings rather than assuming.
What you need
- The photo/video service you use
- An idea of roughly how many videos you have and their typical length
Why videos need a separate check
Videos take up far more storage than photos, so a backup that’s comfortably keeping up with your photos can still be quietly behind on video, or excluding video entirely under a plan’s specific terms.
How to check videos are included
- Check your backup settings specifically mention video. Most mainstream services (Google Photos, iCloud Photos) do back up videos by default alongside photos, but check the settings screen explicitly rather than assuming.
- Check for any video-specific quality or length limits. Some storage tiers or plans compress video more aggressively than photos, or cap video length or resolution for backup — check your specific plan’s current terms.
- Confirm a recent video actually appears in your backup. Find a video you took recently and check it shows up as backed up in your cloud library, not just visible locally on the device.
- Check your remaining storage with video in mind. Because video uses so much more space, recalculate roughly how much storage headroom you have if you’re filming regularly, not just taking photos.
- If space is tight, decide on a deliberate approach to video specifically. Options include a higher storage tier, offloading older videos to an external drive, or reviewing video length/quality settings on the camera itself.
Check a recent video actually backed up
Open your cloud photo library, filter or search for videos specifically, and confirm a video you took recently is there and plays properly at a reasonable quality.
If videos are missing from the backup
If videos aren’t appearing, check your backup quality setting isn’t set to photos only, and check you have enough storage headroom, since video is the most common way an otherwise-fine plan quietly runs out of space.
Next step
If storage is the constraint, it’s worth reviewing whether cloud storage or a personal backup drive suits your video-heavy library better — see the storage-versus-drive comparison in Choose a Tool.
Sources and date checked
Based on Google Photos’ and Apple’s own published documentation on video backup and storage handling. Checked 22 September 2026.