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With more and more people relying on their iPhones for almost everything such as taking pictures, watching videos, and playing games, clearing up enough gigabytes has been a challenging task for all iPhone users. Because of the limited storage capacity of iPhones, users may often experience sluggish performance and even not being able to install new apps or do other things they want. This blog post will guide you on how to clear up disk space on your iPhone effectively.
Video Tutorial:
The Challenge of Clearing Up Disk Space on iPhone
The iPhone’s built-in storage capacity ranges from 16GB to 512GB, depending on the model you have purchased. Though Apple has optimized the storage usage by automatically removing temporary and cached data that is deemed unnecessary, many users would still face the problem of too little storage space. The challenge of clearing up disk space on iPhone also comes from the limitation of the files that can be deleted. iOS does not allow users to delete preinstalled Apple applications and other important files that are deemed necessary by the system. This leaves only a limited space for users to manage with their own files such as photos, videos, and documents.
Things You Should Prepare for
Before starting clearing up your iPhone’s storage space, there are a few things to prepare in advance:
- Check your iPhone’s current storage status. Go to "Settings" and then "General," tap on "iPhone Storage," and you can see how much storage is currently used.
- Backup your iPhone’s data. Whether it’s to iCloud or to a computer using iTunes, data backup is always essential before making any changes to your device.
- List what you can and cannot delete. As mentioned, there are certain files and apps that you can’t delete as they are necessary for the iOS system to function correctly.
Method 1: Cleaning Up Your Photos & Videos
Photos and videos usually take up a lot of storage space on your iPhone. Deleting the items that you don’t need anymore can effectively reduce the storage space they consume.
Steps:
- Open the "Photos" app.
- Select "Albums" at the bottom of the screen, tap "Recently Deleted."
- Tap "Select" in the upper-right corner and hit "Delete All."
- Go back to the "Albums" screen and then select the "Videos" album.
- Choose the videos that are no longer useful to you and swipe left on them.
- Select "Delete."
- For photos and screenshots that you still want to keep, you can transfer them to your computer by syncing to iCloud or iTunes.
Pros:
- It provides a simple and efficient way to clean up a massive amount of data, especially photos and videos which are usually the primary culprits for storage issues.
Cons:
- You may accidentally delete photos or videos that you still want to keep if you are not paying attention.
Method 2: Deleting Applications
Applications take up a lot of space on your iPhone, and you may not need all of them. Removing apps that you don’t use frequently can offer you a lot of space to fill with other things like new apps or media files.
Steps:
- Hold down an app until the icons begin to wiggle after you are on the home screen.
- Tap the small X in the corner of the app you want to delete.
- If the app was installed from a third-party app store or if you want to free up more space, go back to the home screen and tap "Settings."
- Select "General," then "iPhone Storage."
- Tap on the app in the list and select "Delete App."
Pros:
- You can delete multiple apps at once in the Settings app.
- The storage space freed by this method can be considerable – especially if you have numerous apps installed.
Cons:
- You may delete an app that you may need in the future and forget to re-download it.
Method 3: Cleaning Up Message Conversations
If you seldom clean out your message conversations, note that the amount of space being consumed for texts, messages and attachments can compound over time. Cleaning up these conversations can be one of the easiest ways to reclaim some of that storage.
Steps:
- Open the "Messages" app and select the individual or group conversation you’re looking to clean up.
- Swipe left on an individual message or on a group, tap on "More."
- Select the messages that you want to delete.
- Select "Delete" in the lower-right corner of the screen.
- To clean up the message attachments. Scroll down and select "Delete All."
Pros:
- It is the best option to free up storage space related to your messages and its attachments on your iPhone.
Cons:
- You may accidentally delete an important text message or conversation.
Method 4: Offloading Unused Apps
Offloading an app can be your new favorite feature on iOS, particularly if you’re heading towards filling up your iPhone’s storage. Rather than deleting an app altogether, you can offload it. In doing so, you get trash the app while keeping its data and preferences preserved.
Steps:
- Select "Settings" and scroll down to "General."
- Select "iPhone Storage" and tap on the app you want to offload.
- Select "Offload App."
- Alternatively, select "Enable" under "Offload Unused Apps" to have your iPhone automatically offload unused apps when storage is low.
Pros:
- Offloading unused apps is an excellent compromise between entirely deleting an app and keeping it in full operational status.
Cons:
- Having to download the app again if you decide to use it later, though a minor inconvenience, requires you to have an internet connection and to expend your cellular data plan if you’re not connected to WiFi.
Why Can’t I Delete Everything?
There are usually certain files that you don’t have the power to delete. Typically, these files are essential for the iOS system to function correctly. Below are the reasons and fixes for not being able to delete certain iPhone files:
1. Apple’s Pre-installed Apps and Services
These apps and services are an integral part of Apple’s operating system, and they can’t be deleted from your iPhone entirely. Instead, they can be hidden from the home screen, which is the closest you can get to deleting them.
Q1: Can I delete Apple’s pre-installed apps and services?
A: No, you cannot delete pre-installed Apple apps and services altogether, but you can hide them on the home screen by following these steps:
2. Other Third-party Apps
Apps that are installed from the App Store can be deleted or offloaded, but keep in mind that some apps may have files associated with your iCloud account.
Q1: Can I delete apps that I’ve installed from the App Store?
A: Yes, you can easily delete apps that you’ve downloaded from the App Store. Simply head to Settings>General>iPhone Storage. Tap on the app you want to delete. Inside, you’ll see two options: Offload App and Delete App. Choose between the two options and follow the prompts on the screen.
Q2: Why can’t I delete an app?
A: Certain applications on your iPhone may have files or data that are associated with your iCloud or Apple ID account. Suppose you have a subscription, or there are sensitive data files that you haven’t transferred elsewhere. In that case, you can’t delete the app until those items have moved to a safe location.
3. Photo Streams and iCloud Shared Albums
Photos and albums you’ve shared with friends and family will remain in your account and on your iPhone until you decide to remove them.
Q1: Can I delete an iCloud Photo Stream or Shared Album?
A: No, you can’t delete an iCloud Photo Stream or Shared Album altogether. However, you can delete specific items in the stream or album to free up some space. Simply open the shared album or photo stream in question and delete some of its contents by selecting the specific images or videos that you wish to remove.
Additional Tips
1. Review your large attachments in Messages and delete them:
Text messages with pictures and videos will consume large amounts of data on your iPhone over time. Go to Settings-Messages and scroll down until you see the “Message History” tab. Select it and then select “Keep Messages” to adjust how far back you want to see messages or whether you want to keep messages forever.
2. Disable My Photo Stream :
My Photo Stream can take up quite a bit of storage space because it syncs all the photos you click on all your devices set up with your iCloud account. To disable this feature, tap "Settings," 「Photos," and then "My Photo Stream." Turn it off.
3. Disable Automatic Downloads for Music, Apps, and Books:
By default, your iPhone will automatically download any music, apps, or books purchased on iTunes if your other devices are using the same Apple ID. If you’re not using the same Apple ID across all your devices, disabling this feature is undoubtedly recommended. Go to Settings-iTunes & App Store, and turn off "Music," "Apps," and "Books."
5 FAQs about Clearing Up Disk Space on iPhone
Q1: Why is my iPhone storage always full?
A: Your iPhone’s storage can become full for various reasons. These may include having too many apps installed, too many photos and videos, needless files, or your device’s operating system may be outdated.
Q2. How do I clean up my iPhone storage?
A: You can clean up your iPhone storage by deleting unwanted or unused apps, deleting messages and their attachments, managing your photos and videos, and clearing cache and history data in Safari.
Q3. Can I increase the storage space of my iPhone?
A: Unfortunately, there is no way to upgrade your iPhone’s internal storage capacity.
Q4. Should I delete text messages to save storage?
A: Yes, deleting unwanted messages and message attachments are an efficient way to create space on your iPhone.
Q5. Why do my apps take up so much storage on my iPhone?
A: Apps can grow in size over time because they always need to store new data as you use them.
In Conclusion
It’s not uncommon to face storage problems on your iPhone, as the files we keep on our devices increase daily. However, with a little bit of effort and knowledge, you can free up space on your device without compromising functionality. By following the tips outlined in this post, you should be able to recover a considerable amount of storage space on your iPhone.