Your iPhone has a finite amount of space to store photos, videos, apps, and more, and when it fills up, you’re stuck with deleting things or upgrading to a bigger, better device. While the latter option is a solid choice, especially if you’re already planning to upgrade, it’s expensive. If you want more space, but don’t want to spend a lot of money, here are a few ways to get rid of unwanted data and give your other files a bit of wiggle room.
Difficulty
What You Need
Your iPhone
Fortunately, Apple offers various solutions that make the process a little less painful, whether you’re using theiPhone 16,iPhone 16 Pro, or an older model. It can be annoying to run out of space on your iPhone, but you have many ways to deal with it.
So, without further ado, here’s how to free up space on your iPhone.
How to see the storage on your iPhone
It’s always a good idea to check your iPhone storage status occasionally, even if you’re not completely out of space. Follow these steps to find this information.
Step 1:First, tap on theSettingsapp on your iPhone.
Step 2:ChooseGeneral, followed byiPhone storage.
Step 3:On this page, you’ll see a summary of how much storage you’re using on your iPhone vs. the maximum allowed. Scrolling down, you can also see which items are using the most storage. By default, the list is organized bySize, although this can be changed toNameandLast used date.
How to free up storage space on iPhone
There are various methods to free up storage space onyour iPhone, with some being simpler than others. Here are the methods listed from easiest to most challenging.
Step 1:How many apps do you have installed on your iPhone? If there are too many to count, there are probably more than a few that it’s best to delete. Remember, you can always reinstall the apps from the App Store if you ever want to use them again. Besides uninstalling apps, you can also “offload” them. This allows you to remove apps you don’t frequently use while keeping the documents and data for when you reinstall them. To either delete or offload an app, go into theSettingsapp, then chooseGeneral. From there, chooseiPhone storage. Next, find, thentap on the appthat you wish to delete. On the next page, chooseDeleteorOffload, then confirm.
Step 2:Another way to free up storage on your iPhone is to delete the Safari app cache. When you first visit a website, your browser downloads all the necessary files to display the page. These files are then stored in a cache so that the next time you visit the same site, the content can be loaded from your device’s storage instead of being downloaded again. While this can speed up page loading times, it also consumes storage space on your device. To clear the cache, open theSettings appand chooseSafari. Then, scroll down the page and tapClear History and Website Data. You’ll have the option to remove the cache from theLast Hour, Today, Today and yesterday, orAll history. Once you’ve made your selection, tapClear History.
Step 3:Another way to free up space on your iPhone is by deleting old iMessages. To get started, once again go into theSettings app. Scroll down, then selectMessages. Next, tapKeep messagesunderMessage history. Choose how long you wish to keep messages:30 days, 1 year,orForever. If you choose either of the first two, messages will begin to be deleted immediately upon making the selection.
Step 4:Photos and videos are a wonderful way to remember important events and people, but they also take up a lot of storage space on devices, such as iPhones. That’s why it’s important to regularly delete unwanted photos and videos to free up storage space. To do so, go into thePhotosapp, then choose an image or video you wish to delete. Next, tap theDeleteicon at the bottom right of the app. ChooseDelete photo(orDelete video) to remove it from your library. Note: Deleting a file from your Photos library does not actually delete it and therefore restore storage space. Instead, it sends it to theRecently deletedfolder in the app, where it will sit for about 30 days before it’s automatically deleted. To remove files immediately, you’ll have to also go into this folder and delete them.
Step 5:Do you download your Apple Music content to your device? If so, you can remove this content to save storage space. However, doing so means that to access the songs again, you’ll need to be online to stream them. To remove stored Apple Music content, go into theMusicapp on your iPhone. TapLibraryon the bottom of the app. SelectDownloaded. Choose thePlaylists, artists, albums, orSongs, you wish to delete. Tap thethree-dot iconat the top of the page, then chooseDelete from library. Confirm with tappingDelete. You can perform similar steps to delete content on the Podcasts app on iPhone.
Move photos and videos to iCloud
With regards to the Photos app, there are a few additional steps you can take to eliminate space on your iPhone.
Step 1:First, you cansubscribe to iCloud, Apple’s cloud storage device.
Step 2:Once you do, you can sync your Photos with iCloud. To do so, go into theSettingsapp, and tapyour nameat the top. Scroll down, then chooseiCloud. SelectPhotosunder Apps Using iCloud. Toggle onSync this iPhoneso that your photos and videos are synced and stored in the cloud.
Step 3:These steps by themselves won’t improve your storage situation on your device. For this to happen, on this same page selectOptimize iPhone storage. When this is selected, full resolution images and videos are replaced by smaller, device-sized versions. But don’t worry, full versions can be downloaded at any time in iCloud.
Remove apps on your iPhone
How many apps do you have installed on your iPhone? If there are too many to count, there are probably more than a few that it’s best to delete. Remember, you’re able to always reinstall the apps from the App Store if you ever want to use them again. Besides uninstalling apps,you can also “offload” them. This allows you to remove apps you don’t frequently use while keeping the documents and data for when you reinstall them.
Step 1:To either delete or offload an app, go into theSettingsapp.
Step 2:ChooseGeneral> iPhone storage.
Step 3:Tap on the app you want to delete.
Step 4:ChooseDeleteorOffload, then confirm.
Delete the Safari app cache
Another way to free up storage on your iPhone is to delete the Safari app cache. When you first visit a website, your browser downloads all the necessary files to display the page. These files are then stored in a cache so that the next time you visit the same site, the content can be loaded from your device’s storage instead of being downloaded again. While this can speed up page loading times, it also consumes storage space on your device.
Step 1:To clear the cache, open theSettingsapp.
Step 2:Scroll down and tapApps.
Step 3:Scroll down again toSafariand tap it.
Step 4:Then, scroll down the page and tapClear history and website data. You’ll have the option to remove the cache from theLast hour, today, today and yesterday, orAll history.
Step 5:Once you’ve made your selection, tapClear history.
Delete old iMessages
Another way to free up space on your iPhone is by deleting old iMessages. To get started, once again go into theSettingsapp. Scroll down, then selectMessages. Next, tapKeep messagesunderMessage history. Choose how long you wish to keep messages:30 days,1 year,orForever. If you choose either of the first two, messages will begin to be deleted immediately upon making the selection.
Step 1:OpenSettingsand then scroll toApps.
Step 2:SelectMessages.
Step 3:Next, tapKeep messagesunderMessage history.
Step 4:Choose how long you wish to keep messages:30 days,1 year,orForever. If you choose either of the first two,messages will begin to be deleted immediately upon making the selection.
Delete unwanted photos and videos
Photos and videos are a wonderful way to remember important events and people, but they also take up a lot of storage space on devices, such as iPhones. That’s why it’s important to regularly delete unwanted photos and videos to free up storage space.
Step 1:To do so, go into thePhotosapp, then choose an image or video you wish to delete.
Step 2:Next, tap theTrashat the bottom right of the app.
Step 3:ChooseDelete photo(orDelete video) to remove it from your library.
Note:Deleting a file from your Photos library does not actually delete it and therefore restore storage space. Instead, it sends it to the Recently Deleted folder in the app, where it will sit for about 30 days before it’s automatically deleted. To remove files immediately, you’ll have to also go into this folder and delete them.
Remove downloaded Apple Music content
Do you download your Apple Music content to your device? If so, you may remove this content to save storage space. However, doing so means that to access the songs again, you’ll need to be online to stream them.
Step 1:OpenApple Musicon your iPhone.
Step 2:TapLibraryon the bottom of the app.
Step 3:SelectDownloaded.
Step 4:Choose thePlaylists, Artists, Albums, orSongs, you wish to delete.
Step 5:Tap thethree-dot iconat the top of the page, then chooseRemove>Delete from library.
The media is removed as soon as you tapDelete from library, so be sure about your choice before proceeding.
Delete unwanted files
Another method to free up storage on your iPhone is by deleting files. This requires going into the Files app and finding content to delete. To get started, tap on theFiles appon iPhone. Under the Browse menu, chooseOn my iPhone. Hard press the file or folder you wish to delete, then tapDeletefrom the menu. Confirm your selection.
Step 1:To get started, open theFilesapp on iPhone.
Step 2:Tap the icon at the top of the page and selectOn my iPhone.
Step 3:Hard press the file or folder you wish to delete, then tapDeletefrom the menu. It will vanish the moment you make your choice.
Note:Certain files can’t be deleted this way. If a folder is created by an app or is designated as an app library, it cannot be deleted.
