All the apps, photos, and text messages that you have stored on your iPhone can quickly take up too much space. Your iPhone might experience other issues or slow down if it gets too full. This article will show you how to determine how much storage your iPhone has and how you can free it up.
How to check the storage on iPhone
Go to Settings >General > iPhone Storage to see how much storage is left. Apple will then suggest ways to free up storage on your iPhone. You can also manually delete photos, apps, and other files that are taking over the most space.
The bar graph at top of the screen will display which categories are taking up the largest space on your iPhone. In the upper-right corner, you can see how much storage has been used and the total storage on your iPhone.
Here are some ways to make your iPhone screen more usable if the bar graph at top is too full.
How to free up storage on iPhone
Apple’s recommendations for iPhone storage settings
Apple offers several options to free up space on iPhones based on what apps and files are installed. Go to Settings >General > iPhone Storage to see Apple’s recommendations. Scroll down to enable, or click the “>” icon next to a recommendation.
Note: To see more suggestions, tap Show All at the top-right.
Based on specific conditions, the Enable button can automatically delete data from an iPhone’s device. You can, for example, choose to delete all text messages older than one year.
The arrows next to the recommendation will let you delete any app data manually. You can choose to delete large attachments manually from text messages by selecting Review Large Attachments.
Large apps can be deleted or offloaded
In the last few years, apps have become much more popular. You can clear up space on your iPhone’s storage by uninstalling apps that you haven’t used in a while. Go to Settings >General > iPhone Storage. To delete an app from your iPhone, click em>Delete App. Scroll down and select an app. Then, tap Delete App.
Notice: The app list is sorted alphabetically by its size, starting at the largest and ending at the smallest. This site includes all documents, data, and files that are associated with each app. You will also find the “Last Used” date under each app.
You can also tap the Offload app if you don’t wish to delete the entire app. You can uninstall the app by tapping em>Offload App. This will remove all data and documents from the app. You will still be able to see the app in your App Library or on your home screen, but it will be greyed out.
Offloading an app means that you can redownload it at any time and be able to use it exactly as before. If you download a game app to your iPhone and then offload it again, your saved games files will be preserved.
By going to Settings > App Store, you can set your iPhone to automatically download any apps that have been inactive for a while. Next, tap the slider next Offload Unused Applications.
It is important to remember that any apps you have offloaded will require an internet connection to be re-downloaded. Don’t download any apps you don’t need.
Photos and Videos can be deleted
Photos and videos are likely to be the biggest files on your iPhone. Open the Photos app and navigate to Library. Next, tap All photos and then tap Select at the top-right. Select the photos or videos that you wish to delete, then tap the trash icon.
Note: To select multiple photos tap and hold the photo, while moving your finger up or down on your screen.
Continue reading: How to delete all photos from your iPhone in one go
You can delete photos from your iPhone after they are deleted. However, the photo will remain on your iPhone for 30 calendar days before being removed. To free up space on your iPhone’s memory, go to Albums, and scroll down to Recently Destroyed. To permanently delete them, tap Select at the top-right corner.
Learn More: How can I transfer photos from my iPhone to my Mac?
Large attachments from messages can be deleted
Images and videos stored on your iPhone’s storage can be a big problem. These files can be deleted by going to Settings >General > iPhone Storage. Scroll down and select Messages. Next, tap Photos, and Videos.
Next, tap Edit at the top of the screen. Select the photos that you wish to delete and then tap the trashcan icon at the top-right.
You can also delete other documents from your Messages app to free up space, but conversations are not usually large.
Automatically Delete Old Text Messages
Although a single message may not take up much space on your iPhone’s storage, it can quickly add up. Go to Settings > SMS > Keep Messages, and select 30 days or 1 year.
Remove Downloaded Music
You might be able free up space if you save music to your iPhone to listen offline. Go to Settings >General > iPhone Storage, and then select the Music app. Next, swipe left to select an artist and choose Delete.
Notification: The songs will be deleted from your iPhone immediately when you tap delete.
To see all the albums of an artist, you can tap it from the list. You can then delete an album, or tap it to view the songs that you have downloaded to your iPhone.
Disable Podcasts
Podcasts can be quite long so you may find yourself with a lot of storage space on your iPhone. Open the Podcast app, then go to Library > Deleted. Tap and hold a podcast to select Remove downloads.
To delete all podcasts at once tap the three dots icon in the upper-right corner. Select Remove All Podcasts.
To stop your iPhone from downloading new episodes of podcasts that you are following, go to settings > Podcasts. Turn off the slider under Enable While Following as well as Automatic downloads.
Turn on iCloud Storage to Save Your Photos
Enabling iCloud can help prevent photos from taking up too much space on iPhones. Go to Settings, then tap the Apple ID name at top of the screen. Next, go to > Photo and enable iCloud photos.
After you have enabled iCloud, be sure to enable Optimize iPhone storage. When your iPhone storage is full, this option will replace full-resolution photos with lower-resolution ones. You can still download the original from iCloud.
Apple gives you only 5 GB of free iCloud storage. Upgrade to iCloud+ if you require more storage.
What does “Other” mean in iPhone Storage?
Don’t be alarmed if you notice that your iPhone has a lot of “other” storage. Your iPhone will automatically delete any files that are not required by “other” storage.
How to delete ‘Other Storage’ on your iPhone
When you search the internet, download a movie or do other things, temporary files are created in the Other storage section of an iPhone. These files can be deleted by clearing your browser’s cache. Or, you can remove an app and reinstall it to clear its cache.
