How come "delete from device" option doesn't show for all of my media in google photos?

[Android Central Question]

I'm familiar with the concept of deleting on the device and keeping it in the cloud. I'm trying to do that with my larger sized files such as videos, but it seems only sometimes the 3 dot menu shows the "Delete from device" option, and when I hit the trash can, it shows some language at the bottom confirmation that says this will delete from your device and your cloud storage.

Any ideas how I can "delete from device" for all media? It used to be possible, all the forum posts I see are from 2016-2018 so I think may be outdated. Any recent posts I've seen are related to deleting out of multiple galleries or something else.

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: How come "delete from device" option doesn't show for all of my media in google photos?

Welcome to Android Central! Are you certain those videos are still saved locally to the device? If the photo or video you're looking at was backed up to the Google Photos cloud and is no longer saved locally to your device (e.g., if you already used the Free Up Space feature, or if you're viewing a photo or video that was backed up from a different device), then you won't see the Delete from Device option.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[androidtehk21]

Re: How come "delete from device" option doesn't show for all of my media in google photos?

Hi, sorry for the delay, ended up creating an account but wasn't sure how to tie this post to this account.

So we can tackle videos first, they do exist in the cloud. How do I check if it's locally stored vs just showing me the video from the cloud? I tried to delete just from photos.google.com and it is prompting me to delete from all devices etc, so I can't delete it just from one location.

I did use the free up space feature, but it only took care of like 56mb, I'm sure I have more than that in photos and videos, and it doesn't explain why some photos are still available to "delete from device" right?

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: How come "delete from device" option doesn't show for all of my media in google photos?

Is this a video that you took with the phone's camera, or one you downloaded from the web?

If you took it with the camera app, then use a file manager app and look directly in the /DCIM/Camera directory and see if you can find that video file. (If your phone also has an SD card, also check the /DCIM/Camera directory on the card.)