Free Up Space on Your iPhone (iOS) — Step-by-Step

If iPhone Storage Full keeps popping up, use these safe, Apple-supported methods to free space without losing photos or messages you care about.

Before you start

• Time needed: 10–15 minutes
• You’ll need: iPhone on iOS 16/17/18, Apple ID for iCloud options (optional)

Step-by-step

1. Check what uses space
   Open Settings → General → iPhone Storage. Wait a minute for the bar chart and recommendations to load.
   
2. Enable Optimize Photos
   Go to Settings → Photos → turn on iCloud Photos and Optimize iPhone Storage. Full-res photos live in iCloud; smaller versions are kept on the phone. Originals download on demand.
   Tip: You can still keep recent albums offline; older ones will be optimized automatically.
3. Offload unused apps (keep data)
   In Settings → General → iPhone Storage tap Offload Unused Apps. This removes the app binary but keeps your documents and data. Reinstall to continue where you left off.
4. Clear large Messages attachments
   In Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Messages, review Photos, Videos, GIFs & Stickers, Documents. Delete large attachments you no longer need (the conversation can remain).
5. Review Downloads and media apps
   In apps like Netflix/Spotify/YouTube, remove offline downloads. In Files → On My iPhone, delete old PDFs/ZIPs. Empty the “Recently Deleted” album in Photos to actually reclaim space.
6. Safari cache (optional)
   Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data. This frees cache space but signs you out of websites; skip if that’s inconvenient.
7. Enable iCloud Drive for big documents
   Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Drive → On. Move large Keynote/Pages/Numbers files to iCloud Drive so they don’t live fully on the device.
8. Auto-delete old conversations (optional)
   Settings → Messages → Keep Messages → 1 Year or 30 Days. This automatically prunes old threads and attachments going forward.
9. Reinstall storage-heavy social apps
   Some apps (Instagram, TikTok) build large caches. Long-press the app → Remove App → Delete App, then reinstall. You’ll free cache without losing your account.
10. Final pass: iPhone Storage recommendations
    Return to Settings → General → iPhone Storage and apply any remaining recommendations (e.g., Review large attachments, Offload unused apps).

Tips

• Keep at least 2–5 GB free to ensure updates and camera work reliably.
• If Photos dominates and iCloud isn’t an option, export old videos to a computer or external drive periodically.
• Open iPhone Storage monthly and offload apps you haven’t opened in a while.

Related tools

• Data Size Converter — makes sense of MB vs MiB when checking app sizes.
• QR Code Generator — share this checklist with friends or family.

FAQ