Modern iPhones have more storage space than ever, and iOS is more efficient with that space than it’s ever been. However, the demands for storage have grown as well.
From 4K videos to RAW photos and high quality games, it’s all too easy to fill you your iPhone with stuff. Fortunately, Apple has equipped iOS with a range of tools to help free up space on your iPhone. Here’s how to use them.
What we used
We used the iPhone 13 Pro, but these methods will work on any iPhone
The Short Version
Check out your storage
Follow Apple’s recommendations
Delete unwanted apps
Delete message attachments
Optimise Photos storage
Step 1 Check out your storage To get an overview of your iPhone storage, along with a breakdown of how it’s being used, head into the Settings app and go to General > iPhone Storage. You’ll find a brief colour-coded breakdown of your storage usage at the top of the page.
Step2 Follow Apple’s Recommendations Below this storage breakdown you’ll notice a section called Recommendations. This offers simple one-tap ways to free up space, such as automatically deleting old conversations in Messages, or offloading unused apps. Tap the blue Enable button for each to instantly buy back the stated amount of storage
Step 3 Delete unwanted apps Below the above Recommendations tool in the iPhone Storage section, you’ll find a list of your installed apps organised by size. Tap on the larger apps that you don’t need and either hit Delete App to completely remove it from your iPhone.
Step 4 Delete message attachments Head into Settings > General > iPhone Storage, hit the Search icon in the top right corner, and search for Messages. Tap Photos and/or GIFs and Stickers, tap Edit in the tope right corner, and select the larger attachments you no longer need access to.
Step 5
Optimise Photos storage Head into Settings > Photos and ensure that Optimise iPhone Storage is selected. This will replace all of your locally stored images with more appropriately sized versions.
