Alex Whitfield is always drowning in files. Between the podcast he hosts and the clients who come through his Oshawa, Ont., recording studio, he routinely blows through all the space he has on hard drives and cloud storage platforms.
"We are regularly dealing with hour-long 4K videos, which are super time-intensive and really big files, so finding the best storage service has been a bane of my existence," he said.
Whitfield is not alone. As cellphone cameras continue to improve, the itch to post on social media grows, and cloud storage proliferates, even those not in the content creation business are running out of space for all their files.
Experts say getting a handle on it all can be time consuming and costly but there are several ways to reduce the headaches and fees while ensuring your memories or hard work don't disappear when your computer or phone winds up on the fritz.
First, they recommend looking across all your devices and platforms and seeing whether you can easily free up some space. Weed out old screenshots, outtakes, duplicate files saved in many different spots and drafts of long-finished projects, they suggest.
"Sometimes you have to do multiple revisions and most of it is just the same file with small changes," reasons Eduek Brooks, who runs financial education business Two Sides of a Dime.
Whitfield saves projects in two places, so if they get deleted or a system fails, his files are still accessible elsewhere. Before trashing anything, he gives people who might need the file notice that it may soon be deleted.
If you're still out of space, once you've whittled down your files, Brooks recommends exploring services you may already pay for.Â
Several Microsoft Office software plans give some free storage through OneDrive and many Amazon Prime users get unlimited photo storage and some video space with their subscriptions.Â
If you don't subscribe to anything offering you more space or you've tapped it out, it's time to start to looking at hard drives or more cloud storage.
Hard drives and other physical storage, which offer file access when they're connected to a computer, can be a good choice for someone who is willing to pay upfront for the devices because they want to avoid monthly or annual subscription fees that come with many cloud services.Â
However, physical hard drives can mean extra weight in your backpack, not to mention they're another device to keep track of and require added time when you need to retrieve files from them.
The alternative is cloud storage platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive and Apple's iCloud. Because they're completely virtual, they have no bulk, make it easier for users to share files with others and often seamlessly work across phones and computers. But they're also easier to hack and usually come with fees for anyone wanting large amounts of storage space.
Whether you choose a hard drive or cloud storage, the more space you need, the higher your bill.
As an example, Brooks collectively pays almost $800 a year for a patchwork of cloud platforms that all together give her more than three terabytes of storage. Each has a purpose — iCloud for personal photos, two Google Workspaces for videos she needs to collaborate on with clients, OneDrive for files related to a course she runs and Dropbox to serve as an additional phone backup — and can easily be accessed on the go.Â
"I'm always working on my computer. I don't want to just always have an external hard drive attached to it," she said. "And sometimes I'm not working at home, so I carry my laptop to a café and I don't want to forget that external drive at home."
Meanwhile, Whitfield uses an external hard drive and a network-attached storage unit because they offer more security and don't come with recurring fees. He also subscribes to Sync, a cloud-based system that charges him $60 a month for unlimited storage, because it's good for collaboration.
If you opt for cloud storage, both Whitfield and Brooks recommend looking for free trials or short subscription windows, so you can get a feel for how conducive a storage option is for your needs before committing for longer.Â
"To start off, month to month is great, and then, once you are ready to lock in, go yearly, for sure," said Whitfield.
No matter what you choose, don't be afraid of making a switch if something better comes along or your needs change.
Whitfield, for example, adopted Sync because upsizing his Google Drive storage yet again would have cost him thousands, but he is always checking out other options because "there is no one shoe fits all right now."
This report by ¹ú²úÓÕ»ó¸£Àû was first published April 9, 2026.
