How much space and data does video use?
A simple way to estimate storage and mobile data for any video — from a 3-minute Short to a two-hour film — at 480p, 1080p and 4K.
2 min read · Updated
“How much data does an hour of 1080p use?” has no single answer, because two videos at the same resolution can be very different sizes. But there's a simple formula, and once you know it you can estimate any video in seconds.
The one formula you need
Video bitrate is measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Storage is measured in bytes, and there are 8 bits in a byte. An hour has 3,600 seconds. Put together:
Gigabytes per hour ≈ Mbps × 0.45
So a video streamed or saved at 5 Mbps uses about 2.25 GB an hour, and one at 2 Mbps about 0.9 GB. Divide by 60 for a per-minute figure.
Typical ranges, as a rough guide
Bitrates vary with the platform, codec and content, so treat these as ballpark figures for online video rather than rules:
- 480p — roughly 0.5–1.5 Mbps, or about 0.2–0.7 GB per hour.
- 720p — roughly 1.5–4 Mbps, or about 0.7–1.8 GB per hour.
- 1080p — roughly 3–8 Mbps, or about 1.4–3.6 GB per hour.
- 4K — roughly 12–25 Mbps or more, or about 5–11 GB per hour.
- Audio only — typically around 0.13–0.16 Mbps, or under 0.1 GB per hour.
Newer codecs such as AV1 and H.265 sit at the lower end for the same visible quality; fast motion and 60fps sit at the upper end.
Why the same resolution can be very different sizes
A slideshow lecture barely changes from frame to frame, so it compresses to a small file. A football match or a game changes almost every pixel every frame, and needs far more data to look acceptable. Two 1080p videos of the same length can differ in size several times over.
That's why 1080p vs 4K recommends checking actual sizes rather than trusting resolution labels.
Get the exact number before you download
Estimates are useful for planning a data allowance; for a specific video, the file size is the real answer. The YouTube downloader and the other platform pages list each version's size before anything is downloaded, so you can see exactly what a 1080p or 720p copy will cost.
Planning phone storage
For a trip or a long commute, add up the sizes and leave some headroom — phones slow down when storage is almost full. 720p looks sharp on a phone and uses a fraction of 1080p's space. Downloading videos for a flight or trip has a fuller checklist.