How to Free Up iPhone Storage: 9 Fixes That Work

To free up space on an iPhone, open Settings > General > iPhone Storage, follow the recommendations at the top, then work through the app list from largest to smallest. The biggest wins are usually photos and videos, old message attachments, and apps you no longer use, which you can offload without losing their data.

Below are the fixes in rough order of how much space they tend to recover, plus what that mysterious “System Data” bar actually is.

Step 1: See what’s using your storage

Open Settings.
Tap General > iPhone Storage.
Wait a few seconds for the colored bar to finish calculating.
Review the Recommendations section, then scroll through the app list, which is sorted by size.

Tapping any app shows two numbers: App Size (the app itself) and Documents & Data (what it has stored, such as downloads, caches and offline files). If Documents & Data is huge, the fix is usually inside that app rather than in Settings. Apple’s guide to checking storage on iPhone and iPad explains each category on this screen.

Step 2: Offload or delete apps you don’t use

Offloading removes the app but keeps its documents and data. The icon stays on your Home Screen with a small cloud symbol, and tapping it reinstalls the app (as long as it’s still available in the App Store) with your data intact.

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
Tap an app you rarely use.
Choose Offload App to keep its data, or Delete App to remove everything.

To let iOS do this automatically when space runs low, tap Enable next to Offload Unused Apps in the Recommendations section. The same switch is also available in the App Store settings. Don’t offload apps you might need when you’re offline, such as a boarding-pass or authenticator app.

Offload vs delete at a glance

Action	What’s removed	What’s kept	Best for
Offload App	The app itself	Documents, data, settings	Games and apps you use a few times a year
Delete App	App and its local data	Only what the app synced to its own cloud or iCloud	Apps you’re done with
Offload Unused Apps	Apps iOS decides you rarely use	Their data	People who don’t want to manage storage by hand

Step 3: Shrink Photos and videos

For most people, the Photos library is the biggest item. You have a few options:

Turn on Optimize iPhone Storage. If you use iCloud Photos, this keeps full-resolution originals in iCloud and smaller versions on the phone. Find it in the Photos section of Settings (under Settings > Apps > Photos on iOS 18 and later). This only helps if your iCloud plan has room for your library.
Empty Recently Deleted. Deleted photos stay in the Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days and still use space. Open Photos, find Recently Deleted under Utilities, and delete them for good once you’re sure.
Clean up duplicates. The Photos app has a Duplicates album under Utilities where you can merge identical shots.
Review big videos. 4K and slow-motion clips are large. Check your camera format under the Camera section of Settings if you don’t need the highest resolution for everyday clips.

If you’d rather keep everything but move it off the phone, copy your library to a computer first. Our guide on backing up an iPhone to a Mac or PC covers that, and our comparison of Google Photos vs iCloud Photos helps if you’re choosing a cloud service.

Step 4: Clear out old Messages

Years of photos, videos and voice notes in iMessage can take up several gigabytes.

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages.
Tap categories such as Photos, Videos or GIFs and Stickers.
Tap Edit, select large items, and delete them.

You can also set Keep Messages to 1 year or 30 days in the Messages section of Settings (Settings > Apps > Messages on iOS 18 and later). Be careful: this permanently deletes older conversations and their attachments from the phone. If you use Messages in iCloud, deletions sync to your other Apple devices too.

Step 5: Clean up streaming downloads and caches

Music, podcasts and video apps: Downloaded episodes and playlists add up. Remove downloads inside each app, or turn off automatic downloads. If you load your own music onto the phone, see our guide on adding music to an iPhone for ways to keep only what you play.
Safari: Clearing history and website data frees some space but signs you out of sites. It’s in the Safari section of Settings.
Chat and social apps: WhatsApp, Telegram and similar apps have their own storage managers in their settings that list large media by chat.

What is “System Data” and can you shrink it?

System Data (called “Other” on older iOS versions) holds caches, logs, temporary files, Siri voices and other items iOS manages itself. Apple says the system removes these files when it needs space, so you can’t delete them directly. A few things often help:

Restart the iPhone, then check the storage screen again after a few minutes.
Clear large app caches inside streaming and social apps, which can be counted here.
Install the latest iOS update once you have enough room, since leftover update files can be cleaned up afterward.

As a last resort, backing up, erasing the iPhone and restoring from the backup usually rebuilds System Data at a smaller size. Only do this after confirming your backup is complete.

Should you just buy more iCloud storage?

Paying for iCloud+ doesn’t add space to the phone itself, but combined with Optimize iPhone Storage and offloading it lets you keep more on a smaller iPhone. If your phone is constantly full even after cleanup, a larger-capacity model is the long-term fix, since iPhones can’t take memory cards.

Bottom line

Start at Settings > General > iPhone Storage, act on the recommendations, then go after photos, message attachments and offline downloads. Offload apps instead of deleting them when you might want them back, and empty Recently Deleted so the space is actually returned. System Data mostly takes care of itself.

FAQ

How much free space should an iPhone have?

There’s no official number, but leaving a few gigabytes free keeps the phone running smoothly and leaves room for iOS updates, which need temporary space to install.

Does offloading an app delete my game progress?

No. Offloading keeps the app’s documents and data on the phone. Reinstalling restores the app with that data, provided the app is still in the App Store.

Why didn’t my storage go down after deleting photos?

They’re still in the Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days. Delete them from there, then give the storage screen a minute to recalculate.

Will deleting messages remove them from my Mac and iPad?

If Messages in iCloud is turned on, yes. Deleting a conversation or attachment on one device removes it from all devices signed in to the same Apple Account.