Learn how photos and videos use the storage on your iPhone and iPad, and how you can optimize storage and save space on your devices using iCloud Photos.
The photos, music, apps, and other content that you use and enjoy on your iPhone and iPad take up space in your device’s storage capacity. Your device can fill up quickly depending on the size of its storage capacity and how much content you have. If you see a message that your device's storage is full, you can free up space by using iCloud Photos or deleting content on your device.
See how much storage you have left on your device and in iCloud, and which apps use the most space.
Go to Settings.
Tap General.
Tap [device] Storage.
You might see recommendations for optimizing your storage, a list of your apps, and the amount of space that each one uses.
Go to Settings.
Tap your name.
Tap iCloud.
You see how much space you have left in iCloud and if you need to upgrade your storage plan. Tap Manage Account Storage to see how apps are using your storage.
By default, your photos and videos are stored on your device in their original, high-resolution version. This means that they use a lot of space on your iPhone and iPad. With iCloud Photos, you can make more space available on your device and still have access to your entire full-resolution collection wherever you go.
Get started with iCloud Photos:
Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos.
Tap Sync this iPhone. In iOS 15 or earlier, tap to turn on iCloud Photos.
Select Optimize iPhone Storage to save space on your device.
When Optimize Storage is turned on, full-resolution photos and videos are stored in iCloud, and, when needed, space-saving copies are stored on your device. And as long as you have enough space in iCloud, you can store as many photos and videos as you want.
When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. If you need more iCloud storage, you can upgrade to iCloud+.
If you need more storage on your device, you can transfer the photos and videos that you don't want to store in iCloud to your computer.
If you need more help with your storage plan — for example, if you bought more storage but you don't see it in your account — contact Apple Support.
With Recommended for You in iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 or later, you can check if there are photos, large files, or backups that you might not need anymore and can delete.
iOS and iPadOS monitor the storage on your device by analyzing how much space each app uses. You can also check the storage on your device in Settings, or in iTunes or the Finder on your computer.
If your device is low on storage, it automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS or iPadOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.
To make more storage available, your device may also remove items that can be downloaded again or aren't needed anymore. This includes things like apps that you don't use and the local cache for files in iCloud Drive. Your device also removes temporary files and clears the cache on your device.
Go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage. You might see a list of recommendations for optimizing your device's storage, followed by a list of installed apps and the amount of storage each one uses.
Tap an app's name for more information about its storage. Cached data and temporary data might not be counted as usage.
In the detailed view you can:
Offload the app, which frees up storage used by the app, but keeps its documents and data.
Delete the app, which removes the app and its related data.
Depending on the app, you might be able to delete some of its documents and data.
If your device is almost full and can't free up space, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, check the storage recommendations or offload some less-used content like videos and apps.
The used content on your device is divided in these categories:
Apps: Installed apps and their content, and content stored in "On My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch" directory in the Files app, and Safari downloads.
Photos: Photos and videos stored in the Photos app.
Media: Music, videos, podcasts, ringtones, artwork, and Voice Memos.
Mail: Emails and their attachments.
Apple Books: Books and PDFs in the Books app.
Messages: Messages and their attachments.
iCloud Drive: iCloud Drive content that has been downloaded locally to your device.1
Other: Non-removable mobile assets, like Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, non-removable logs and caches, Spotlight index, and system data, such as Keychain and CloudKit Database.2
System: Space taken by the operating system. This can vary based on your device and model.
In the Storage section of Settings, your device might offer recommendations for optimizing your storage. To optimize your storage:
Tap Show All to see the recommendations for your device.
Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.
On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open the Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes.
Connect your device to your computer.
Select your device in the Finder or in iTunes. You'll see a bar that shows how much storage your content uses, divided by content type.
Move your mouse over the bar to see how much storage each content type is using.
Here's a list of the types of content on your device, and what each type includes:
Audio: Songs, audio podcasts, audiobooks, voice memos, and ringtones.
Video: Movies, music videos, and TV shows.
Photos: Content in your Photo Library, Camera Roll, and Photo Stream.
Apps: Installed apps. The content of the apps is listed under Documents & Data.
Books: iBooks books, audio books, and PDF files.
Documents & Data: Safari Offline Reading List, files stored within installed apps, and app content like contacts, calendars, messages, and emails (and their attachments).
Other: Settings, Siri voices, system data, and cached files.
Synced content: Media content that is synchronized from your computer when you click Sync in the Finder window.3
The Finder and iTunes categorize cached music, videos, and photos as Other instead of actual songs, videos, or photos. Cached files are created when you stream or view content like music, videos, and photos. When you stream music or video, that content is stored as cached files on your device so you can quickly access it again.
Your device automatically removes cached files and temporary files when your device needs more space.
Since the Finder and iTunes categorize cached files as Other, reported usage for Music or Videos might differ. To view usage on your device, go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage.
Your device automatically deletes cached files and temporary files when it needs more space. You don't need to delete them yourself.
1. iCloud content cannot be deleted automatically.
2. Cached files can't be deleted by the system.
3. Data in Synced content cannot be removed using your iPhone. To remove this data, open the Finder on your computer, deselect the data, and click Sync.
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