How many pictures can I store on a CD or DVD?

Updated: 09/12/2023 by Computer Hope
CD-RW disc

A standard CD (compact disc) has a storage capacity of 700 MB, a single-sided DVD (digital versatile disc) has a storage capacity of 4.7 GB, and a single-sided Blu-ray disc has a storage capacity of 25 GB. The number of pictures you can store on a CD or DVD depends on the file size of each picture, which increases as picture resolution increases. File sizes will differ depending on the settings of the camera that took them. However, the table below has some good estimates:

Size of File Approximate Pictures
on CD
Approximate Pictures
on DVD
Approximate Pictures
on Blu-ray
500 KB 1400 9400 50,000
1 MB 700 4700 25,000
2 MB 350 2350 12,500
3 MB 233 1566 8333
5 MB 140 940 5000
Note

These estimates are the maximum picture counts per CD or DVD. Actual counts may be less than these estimates, due to disc formatting.