iMOVIE on iPHONE WON’T EXPORT NOT ENOUGH SPACE (5 Quick Steps to avoid rage)

Hopefully, this video is helpful. If you have any revelations to add please share in the comments. If this worked for you or didn’t work please share that as well!

[@joserogan7794]

None of this worked for me when I tried exporting a heavily edited 40-minute video. I was on the verge of screen capturing the whole video. What did end up working was going into the exporting options and changing the quality from 1080p to 720. It finally exported, and I could care less about the minor downgrade in pixel count as long as I'm able to actually share it. Apple really needs to get moving on a solution to this bug. It's a huge pain-in-the-ass.

[@MisterStubstep]

Thanks for this! You’ve earned the pin spot and hopefully it helps people

[@AllisonTibbs]

Thank YOU this helped me!

[@anything8804]

Thank you so much!! Only thing that worked

[@healingvibes1270]

The issue with filesize and storage constantly keep creating issues for me when exporting/save to files so that I can upload them. ~my videos happen to be about 3+ hours and after 3 Created in iMovie I run into issues further exporting video. I prefer to keep the size, and potentially increase as well. I hope this explanation is clear enough, And the issues are flat out annoying. The phone quickly becomes filled up and unusable. Even being brand new. But thanks for your question, and I believe you can further help due to similar issue and similar intentions for uploading.

[@destroyerofmorons]

THANK YOU! FUCKING FINALLY! THIS STUPID SHIT WAS ON 4K!

[@harrellhomecooking6730]

Great info. And “RAGE” is the exact right word 😂

[@MisterStubstep]

I’m glad this helped! Thanks for watching!

[@OnFireFit]

Something about this whole video made me feel like I'm not alone in the world lol. I have searched for troubleshooting on this or other topics many times and for some reason this video calmed me down like no other haha. I think it's because you said things that I relate to and also they are useful. Sometimes I just need to settle down and remember that apps need time to collect themselves too, just like me! Give it a little time...walk away... I had already done a number of the things you mentioned before I got to your video but the thing that worked was walking away and letting my phone cool down from my mad rush! Thank you for being real. You did more than troubleshoot a problem, I don't feel like an imbecile and for that I thank you :)

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad this could help! I wish you the best

[@JoyOfodu]

Number 2 (removing sped up portions) worked for me IMMEDIATELY on a 44min video where my phone AND iCloud seemingly had TERABYTES of space! Thanks for this!

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course glad you found something that worked!

[@JDubs161]

I found this video mid rage mode! You are a LIFESAVER!!!!

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad you found a solution! Good to hear further rage was avoided 😂

[@seagypsys-sailingastra4624]

Hey everyone, i have had the same issue, i purchased as much space on my phone as I could and still got the same issue. Then i figured it out (twice) if your iphone has a pending update (check in settings) then this will be the issue. Download the update and you will then be able to export movie providing you do actually have the right amount of free space. Has worked for me both times now exporting 30 min videos

[@MisterStubstep]

Great stuff! Thank you!

[@junninhoo]

THIS WORKED, thank you, nothing but praise🙏🏼

[@Lj2fleeGaming]

Great info but none of the steps worked for me and idk if there’s something im doing wrong... i have a 30 mins video ive been trying to export for the past 2 hours.... and i tried air dropping it to my mac and it didnt work... I deleted all of my recently deleted... ive given it time to back up It didnt work for me is there really anything else that i can do

[@MisterStubstep]

Hmm usually when the videos get that big you usually need a ton of storage space. The solutions I’ve seen are cutting the video, splitting it into multiple videos, or editing it on a computer instead of the phone. I’m sorry this wasn’t more of a help 😔

[@ya.boii_angel2828]

If your looking in the comments to see if this video is worth looking at just watch the damn thing cause it’s definitely worth it and yea will save you from raging 🤣🤣 thanks for the help my Boy 🙏🏾

[@MisterStubstep]

I appreciate your kind words

[@baronvg]

Wtf, man. My phone is 512GB and it shows I’ve used less than 200GB. That’s over 300GB of free space and I can’t save a 45 minute video???? I’m trying to save it as 4K/60fps. It FINALLY worked when changing it to 720p/60fps but I don’t f’n what that!!! This is beyond ANNOYING af!

[@MisterStubstep]

4K dang that’s fancy. I’m honestly not sure how much space 45 min of 4K video would take. I feel like 200gb should be enough but 🤷

[@baronvg]

@@MisterStubstep It’s maddening! I have 1TB (out of 2TB!) of iCloud storage, so again…wtf gives, Apple?!?!

[@dkettlewood]

3 years later and these problems do still exist, I do wonder now if my recently deleted on iPad causes my issues. I really do like the functionality for split screen videos compared to others I have tried so hoping this list will help down the road!

[@MisterStubstep]

@@dkettlewood it’s such a shame! You think they would’ve fixed this by now lol

[@michelleelias00]

DUDEE!! Thank you so much you saved me more stress than I already had 😂😂😂

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! I’m happy you found something that worked!

[@MariaCardenas-hs7od]

My iMovie is like an hour and a half long. Just pictures and some videos. I am new to iPhone and am confused as to what the difference it makes as to iPhone storage and iCloud storage. Listening to your first point I definitely do not have space on my iPhone storage but have plenty of space on my iCloud. How do I approach this?

[@MisterStubstep]

Has everything in your camera roll been backed up already? You can check this if you look at the very bottom of your camera roll stating if anything has been uploaded. The biggest video I did was 40 min and I think I needed about 10 gigs for that to upload but it didn’t take that much space. So a movie that long might take double. What is the memory size on your phone? And is it possible to break the video up in smaller sections?

[@BoostBl1P]

You’re a saint. Thank u idk which one worked but one of them did!

[@MisterStubstep]

Haha that’s all that matters! Best to you!

[@hunkyhomemaker9448]

This was extremely helpful to me , seriously! Thanks so much 😀

[@rayotberg4089]

Thank you. I had already tried Steps 1-4, but it was Step 5 worked for me. Something so simple but frustrating. Thanks again.

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Finally reaching step 5 is what prompted me to make this video lol

[@the_knit_purl_girl]

You are my favourite person on the planet right now. THANK YOU.

[@MisterStubstep]

Keep doing great things!

[@harviepartridge6297]

Great Video, the last one worked for me ahah. Thanks for your help.

[@MisterStubstep]

Happy you found something that works! Have a good weekend!

[@JUntappp3d]

Yoooo!!! Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou... I have done so much research and this was the most helpful❤️🙏🏾

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! I did the same thing I got so frustrated

[@ReneeChristie]

You just saved me! I was “raging” since last night! 🤣 Found your video, made some minor edits and poof it worked. Thanks!!! 🥳

[@MisterStubstep]

Sweet! Raging since last night?! Woah glad it’s come to an end haha. That would wear me out

[@pyrodrenthe7429]

Thanks, great video. Imovie used 50gb of storage before seeing this video. And after making a few edits it brought it back to 1gb. Now it finally lets me export it.

[@MisterStubstep]

Thank goodness! I’m glad you found something that worked!

[@NondualChristian]

You are an absolute lifesaver thank you so much. Tbh I didn’t even realise you could delete items from recently deleted folder! This did the trick for me. Thanks again ❤

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Glad you found something that worked!

[@GregsWorkshopOregon]

Skipped ahead to "5", worked great. Thank you!

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad it worked out! Have a good one!

[@fbswish444]

The sped up portions was my problem. Thank you man!

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course!

[@brikay]

I’m literally doing that right now! Like I want to shave my head bald! God Bless You for this!!

[@MisterStubstep]

Best to you!

[@ncc628]

Bro thank you so much I tried exporting like 15 times and it wouldn’t work and then I deleted a slo mo part and it worked! Thanks for the help

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Glad this could help!

[@pocketlintpey]

IK THIS IS AN OLDER VIDEO BUT THANK YOU OMG just adding a small edit literally fixed the entire problem and it was exported in less than ten minutes. I use a different app than imovie but it still worked so THANK YOU 😭😭

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad something worked for you!

[@kemarios]

thank you so much bro been trying to finish editing my video all weekend 5:48

[@MisterStubstep]

Cheers bro! Glad you found something that worked!

[@realitycanoftenbedisappoin1437]

I’ve been trying to export three long videos (40-60 minutes each) and it’s been an absolute nightmare. I was starting to run low on storage so I decided to export them in order to free up a lot of space. I tried everything and nothing works. I can’t put it on KZbin because it says the video is “too long”. Anytime I try exporting it to another app it says “you need to free ___ of space to export”. I even tried using other options like downloading it to my files but the video doesn’t even show up. It’s starting to boil down to just deleting the movies all together because there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it at this point. Your video is helpful, but none of it worked for me unfortunately.

[@MisterStubstep]

Shoot I’m sorry. Three videos of that length are pretty hefty at the same time

[@realitycanoftenbedisappoin1437]

@@MisterStubstep it’s been an infuriating process (still trying at the moment), I’ve decided to just remake the movies on another software and hope it’ll let me free some space by storing the clips on the app itself and allowing me to delete the videos from my device. Although I’m pretty sure it’s not gonna make a difference but what other options do I have at this point?

[@MisterStubstep]

@@realitycanoftenbedisappoin1437 for my really long videos I just jumped to a laptop/computer to do the edits because my phone’s space just couldn’t take it and I hated having to delete bits that I wanted to keep in the videos just for saving space

[@realitycanoftenbedisappoin1437]

@@MisterStubstep 5 hours later and I’m still in the process of making space, and I’ve only gotten about 10 gigabytes free which is absolutely not what I was hoping for, considering the amount of material I’ve deleted and moved, it seems like it’s a waste of time for the amount of work I’m putting in

[@MisterStubstep]

@@realitycanoftenbedisappoin1437 I keep seeing your picture and username and thinking it applies to this situation 😅

[@Eklundz_Productions]

Thank you very much! Number 4 did the trick for me - that was new! :) I get this all the time for my movies (from 15-60 minutes long) even if I have >60GB free storage. Read more below for a tip number 6... I have one step more that I've tried before that worked that time and that is to remove the space that iCloud Drive is taking up on my iPhone. This is another dumb thing with iPhone.. I back up my movies on iCloud and somehow the recent files takes up a huge space on the local storage. I don't remember the steps exactly but you get a scary notice when you are disabling the iCloud synchronization (temporary), after one have done it the local storage will be free so you can export your movie from iMovie and you can later turn on the iCloud again (without any loss of data - which the scary notice intend that you might do...). Hope you understand what I mean. :)

[@MisterStubstep]

Ah I see! That is great info as well. Yeah the data iCloud takes up can be finicky at times for sure. Thank you!

[@michaelharrod815]

Waiting overnight and trying again worked for me. 😊

[@MisterStubstep]

That is wonderful! Glad you found something that worked!

[@cordyincali]

I am beyond frustrated with trying to save iMovie projects so that I can then upload to KZbin! AHHHHHHHHH If you make a phone that records 4K 60 FPS, then you need to make sure there are no issues exporting. I have 72 GB available on my phone, and this is after literally crying and then factory resetting my iPhone 13 pro because of “OTHER” in storage. I thought I was clear, but today I tried to save a 4.4 GB iMovie so that I could upload to KZbin and it says I only have 1.2 GB available. This is a wonderful list but I think it’s an Apple issue

[@MisterStubstep]

I’m sorry about all that! I hope you find a solution!

[@luna_london]

Thank you 😊 you helped me, i was straggling

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Glad something worked!

[@auditionwell9404]

THANK YOU!!!!! It was the "recently deleted' files that did it.

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad this helped!!

[@gwen_plans]

Thee most helpful video I’ve watched!!! #5 is what I needed to do! Thank You

[@MisterStubstep]

Thanks for stopping by!

[@jordangarber4017]

I offloaded a bunch of apps and tried downloading it again. That worked for me. I’m gonna redownload em after

[@MisterStubstep]

Ah yes! Another excellent option! I hate doing it but it works 😅

[@AirsoftTactical]

Thank you so much I finally exported a 13 min veido just had to change it from 4k to 720p 🎉

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Glad you found something that worked!

[@bipolargamechanger]

I didn't know that about the slomo. Recently deleted worked for me this time Thanks!

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Glad you found something that worked

[@strikerbricks7947]

Thanks man, the IMovie struggle is real

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad you found something! Best to you

[@TuckerTime_Science]

Currently have a 45 min video stuck. I’m deleting everything possible and nothing is working. Right now I’m backing up on my desk top and I movie has synced the clips I used but not the projects 😭

[@MisterStubstep]

Yeah there's no way that I know that can sync the projects from within your phone on the app unless you export the projects and back those clips up... :(

[@TuckerTime_Science]

@@MisterStubstep I have no idea what I’m even doing. I’m just crossing my fingers and saying prayers….with a whole lotta swear words in between. 🤣 I had to down load two files to do this project and I knew it would do this when i was done editing. I’m gonna cry myself to sleep and call the Apple store tomorrow because I can’t delete anymore from my phone at this point. I find besides this current problem I’m always running into issues with this app. I love how easy it is. But there are a lot of issues. I know it’s probably the device. Wish me luck please. It’s a project for my son’s channel and it was big for him. Your video was very helpful though. I know it would work if the project wasn’t 45 minutes!

[@MisterStubstep]

@@TuckerTime_Science I wish you the best!

[@FitFoodAE]

HI thank you so much, I deleted all the sped up parts (I had a lot lol) and it worked!!!

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad something helped!

[@farmgirlpicker6423]

Thank you ! #5 worked for me!

[@MisterStubstep]

Wonderful!!!

[@MsLuminous]

Super useful, thanks.

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad this could help!

[@CarnivorousGrama]

Thank you for this video!

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Thanks for stopping by!

[@SimpliStaci]

Thanks! I literally deleted everything off my old phone and only use it to edit and unload 1 video at a time. I have a 256 GB iPhone XS and the other storage data is 80GB with no apps and my photos being under 6! I have been trying to export iMovie for 2 days. I just deleted intro and added it back and it exported with no issues 🤯

[@MisterStubstep]

Nice! Glad something helped!

[@blacksheephouse]

The RAGE!!!! Haha thank you!!!

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Thanks for stopping by

[@jenniferkirschfitness]

Just proceed directly to #5 lol!!!! Thanks :)

[@MisterStubstep]

😁

[@Verse28]

This video is amazing

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad you found it!

[@gabriellegavi9002]

Thanks for the help man. I have been having the same issue

[@MisterStubstep]

You’re welcome!

[@sidsminecrafttutorials6427]

Strange, clearing my deleted photos changed the error from saying I only had 1 GB available out of 10 GB Necessary to saying I only had 5 GB available, so it was helpful in a way... but still not enough... now I'm trying to find out if there are other apps that I could maybe empty the trash on... thanks for the idea though!

[@MisterStubstep]

Hmm interesting. Maybe if you have a bunch of saved messages with photos/videos that might help too

[@TheAfterHoursLV]

I have the exact same shit going on

[@maz_tv]

LIFESAVER! Thank you!

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Thanks for your time

[@man0fgod113]

Thank you very helpful!

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad this could help!

[@Jarrettkeith]

Bro thank you so much man

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Thank you for stopping by

[@coffeeplansflipfloptans]

STEP 5!! Thank you.

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Glad this helped

[@bigmac6760]

You're a life saver dude

[@MisterStubstep]

Lol np

[@wiseasserpents8871]

Shoot. I just spent a week making my first video, and it’s 90 minutes, so I’m probably not going to be able to export it... I managed to free up about 20 gigs, and if I upgrade my iCloud so I can get all my photos off of my drive here, it probably still won’t be enough space even with 40 gigs. What an unnecessary hassle. Come on, Apple! They should really have some kind of warning before letting me waste 12 hours a day for a week on this.

[@MisterStubstep]

I agree! You would need a phone with a ton of memory. I’m surprised it doesn’t prompt you when making the video that there’s a limit to avoid time wasted

[@wiseasserpents8871]

@@MisterStubstep Yeeeep. I guess I’ll have to just do a screen recording and suffer the decreased quality... I’ll be sure to credit the iMovie app for that 😅

[@MisterStubstep]

😂😂 credit where credit is due

[@caseygrundman5333]

same thank u apple😝

[@irawhitlock1084]

Ty so much

[@MisterStubstep]

:)

[@HuntsASMR]

Thank you so much!

[@MisterStubstep]

Thank you for coming by!

[@ForeverEmilyH]

Thanks so much 😊

[@MisterStubstep]

You’re very welcome!

[@IslandEmpressTarot]

thank you!

[@MisterStubstep]

Of course! Glad something worked!

[@FrankCapybara]

it said it failed to export the project due to space or something but then the project gladly takes my space anyways (which was enough space to begin with, and I still have don’t access to it) please help

[@MisterStubstep]

Hmm that’s tough… you deleted all your excess stuff and deleted your recently deleted?

[@FrankCapybara]

somehow it fixed itself after some time, weird. I genuinely panicked at the beginning. Thanks tho.

[@MisterStubstep]

@@FrankCapybara glad it worked out

[@dialupchronicles]

Thank You

[@MisterStubstep]

Thanks for stopping by!

[@span]

THANKYOUUUUU 😊✨

[@MisterStubstep]

No problem! Thanks for watching

[@Talkwithdulci]

It worked thank you ❤️

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad it worked for you!

[@CooknVibewithannmarielove]

Yup my 22 min video won’t export from iMovie

[@MisterStubstep]

Did any of the steps work for you?

[@CooknVibewithannmarielove]

@@MisterStubstep I had to cut it down from 22 mins to 17 thanks

[@MisterStubstep]

@@CooknVibewithannmarielove best to you

[@ForeverEmilyH]

How can i see how many GB my video is taking up? My phone is 128GB and i have 69 free GB of space so I’m confused as to why my 30 minute video won’t export :-( … I’m thinking point #3 and #4 just give it some time like 24 hours or so to back up… so odd…

[@MisterStubstep]

Yeah I’ve given it some time to back up in the past and it worked. Also if you have videos in your recently deleted folder it won’t reflect on the total remaining but they will still take up space. That’s why #5 was such a facepalm moment for me

[@cirlzmontejo]

#2 the sped up portion and it must be change pitch.

[@MisterStubstep]

Ah very interesting!

[@Urbex_Mieres_Asturias]

APPLE , WHY ??? Why I have a less functional App and phone than the cheaper phone (Android) of my friends???????

[@MisterStubstep]

My thoughts exactly 😩

[@kearaajayy3983]

#5 worked for me 😆

[@MisterStubstep]

👍😂

[@fantasygoodesports]

Fantastic video bruh bruh! I can’t find my recent deleted videos!

[@MisterStubstep]

If you have an iPhone go on your photo app and click the album tab at the bottom then scroll all the way to the bottom and you should see it labeled “recently deleted”

[@fantasygoodesports]

@@MisterStubstep you are awesome! Sub

[@MisterStubstep]

Thank you very much! But idk if you will be interested in the rest of my content haha. I’m just glad I could help because this gave me so much frustration

[@micheleholdenart]

#5worked!

[@MisterStubstep]

Glad it helped!

[@miaxoxo9967]

I literally only had a 20 min vid tht was sped up and maybe like one clip and it still won’t export

[@MisterStubstep]

Is the whole thing sped up?

[@Monstermania101]

The issue with what’s going on for me is that it exports but a good 10 mins into the video the audio is out of synch. It’s a 30 minute video with voice overs and music and video game clip. Any idea ?

[@MisterStubstep]

Hmm how did you capture the video? Because you should be able to move voiceovers around if need be and the raw video should never change

[@Monstermania101]

@@MisterStubstep I used the screen capture app on my phone

[@MisterStubstep]

@@Monstermania101 and then you added everything afterwards on iMovie? Or is the screen recorded video out of sync?

[@Monstermania101]

@@MisterStubstep the screen recorder worked fine, everything plays insync but when I export it the audio cuts out 10 or so minutes into it. I did use the voice recorder to record my voice as well over some clips so I’m not sure what to do :(

[@MisterStubstep]

@@Monstermania101 so if everything is good within the project, you might be able to screen record the project to skip the exporting step altogether. Also after doing some reading there may be a limit to the amount of audio tracks you can have in a particular project. It might also be worth while to split the audio in certain sections to readjust it to sync up again.

[@Scottsmusiccave]

If I purchased a nice MacBook would all of my editing problems go away?

[@MisterStubstep]

Haha probably! I need to do the same lol. I’m tired of relying on my phone

[@Scottsmusiccave]

@@MisterStubstep It's frustrating. I was looking at computers last weekend. So expensive but I need to do it. Thanks for the video!

[@MisterStubstep]

@@Scottsmusiccave yeah… I gotta start saving for one lol. Best of luck!

[@laurajohansen9914]

i love you

[@MisterStubstep]

Much love in return. I’m glad you found something that helped

[@calloway7116]

How do you do the airdrop method? I only have 1 phone and if you could tell me how to do it then I will sub, like your videos

[@MisterStubstep]

Do you have a computer you can air drop to? Also see @Nomi comment below. They had success with screen recording and doing it that way

[@calloway7116]

@@MisterStubstep Thank you, it worked by airdropping it through google drive

[@MisterStubstep]

@@calloway7116 glad something helped!

[@HeraldofRighteousness]

I cleared all my deleted items in photo.. then imovie exported as normal. Thanks

[@MisterStubstep]

Happy for you!

[@nomi2547]

This didn't work for me. My solution, screen record your movie on the iPhone and it'll automatically save to camera roll and then export via air drop

[@MisterStubstep]

That’s another great solution! That’s actually how I filmed this video haha. I did not use air drop though. That’s cool!

[@hunkyhomemaker9448]

I like this suggestion too ,,,, but how would I screen record? I have not tried that before.

[@MisterStubstep]

@@hunkyhomemaker9448 If you have an iPhone i can speak on that but if not I am not sure and would probably just google it. For iPhone, if you don't have it set up in your control center already, you can go to >settings and then down to >Control center and then you go down to add >screen recording. Once that is included you should be able to go to your control center from the home screen by swiping down from the top right and pressing the screen record button that you saw in settings. Once it lights up it is recording and if you want to record voice as well hold it down to include external audio or else it will only record sounds internal to the phone

[@IrinaIdahoUSA]

It didn’t work for me. Give me error 1835 message!😤

[@Ida03]

thanks lol i was going insane

[@MisterStubstep]

You and me both

[@matthewperry8579]

Worked!!!

[@MisterStubstep]

Excellent!

[@normanalexanderstudios1478]

This didnt work for me any of the five tips didnt work for me.

[@MisterStubstep]

Did you try the airdrop method? Someone mentioned below that none of these worked but they airdropped to export and it worked

[@normanalexanderstudios1478]

Airdrop what? The video is not being generated. The only hack is to play it in full screen and do a screen recording but that is not a solution.

[@MisterStubstep]

@@normanalexanderstudios1478 what do you mean it’s not being generated? It’s a file in iMovie no? And how long is your video?

[@Ahopelessromantic]

I’m screaming cause the last option helped that’s so annoying it just won’t delete it right away I had 750 things to delete come on Apple XD

[@MisterStubstep]

No I feel you... i raged for so long to learn it was something so simple

[@MariaGarcia-ec3he]

I turned it on and off and then it worked. After raging for 30 minutes.

[@MisterStubstep]

😅 glad something worked for you!

[@niasheri]

So I put my sped up clips to normal speed and it worked .. thanks because I was getting annoyed😂😂

[@MisterStubstep]

Yeah idk why it works but it does! Glad you figured something out

[@bunkerrq7945]

Didnt help

[@MisterStubstep]

Did you try the air drip method? Someone below didn’t find any success but they were able to export by air drop