Isn’t it really frustrating when your iPhone prompts up the message “Storage Almost Full”?And you cannot take any more photos, cannot download any more apps, your phone becomes slow, and even the already installed apps on your phone do not function properly. Lack of space on your iPhone can lead to many such iPhone problems and as a result of which the functionality of your phone decreases. This can become problematic for you; it makes your everyday life hard. So, you have come to the right place. Here, we will be discussing the different ways to solve the space problem in your iPhone and to free up space. Instead of deleting files and apps, though, there are a few simple ways to free up space on your iPhone to make room for new data. Find out how to get rid of the iPhone ‘Storage Almost Full’ message right now. Simply follow the tips below to fix your iPhone storage problem.
With photos, videos and apps taking up a substantial amount of space, it’s easy to run out of the room when using an older iPhone or one with a smaller capacity. This tutorial will show you how to free up storage space on your iPhone without sacrificing the apps and features you love and hate to delete.
Space management in your iPhone can be problematic when you have one of the reasons behind your iPhone memory shrinkage (not an official term), aside from your music, photos and videos, is your cache. Cache is simply storage of old data for memory. Your apps accumulate a lot of caches, especially if they do not self-clean.
How to free up space on your iPhone?
Without sacrificing your photos and your favorite apps, you can free up space on your iPhone by following the ways I have discussed below:
1) Know the Storage Statistics of Your iPhone
First of all, find out how much space you are using and how much is left in your iPhone so you can get an overview of the storage space in your phone. To do this, head over to Settings >> General >> Storage & iCloud Usage. The figures displayed under Storage (not iCloud) reflect the amount of space used locally and the amount which is still available.
Next, within Storage Settings click on Manage Storage. The list will be populated with applications ranked largest to smallest. If you spot any big offenders occupying a large amount of space that you no longer need, deleting them will certainly free up space. However, this how-to tutorial will focus on freeing up space without deleting important files and apps.
Alternatively, you can also view storage stats by connecting your iPhone to a computer running iTunes and view storage usage there, including the amount of space occupied by “Other” data.
2) Target Apps you don’t use
It’s healthy for your phone to delete the apps which are unnecessarily using up the storage on your phone and you do not use that app as well. For example travel apps, booking apps, etc., are better off deleted if you are having space problems in your iPhone. You should consider deleting them.
Go back to Settings >> General >> Storage & iCloud Usage >> Storage >>Manage Storage. Scroll through the list of apps and look for apps you don’t use; it’s much easier to do this here than on your home screens, where apps are likely to be scattered across several pages and bunched into folders.
To delete apps, go to your iPhone or iPad’s home screen. Place your finger on an app you want to delete and hold (don’t press down on iPhone 6s and 7 or 3D Touch will be activated). Apps will start to wiggle, and a small X appears on each icon. Press the X, and confirm to delete. Press the home button to stop the wiggling of the apps.
3) Use the Cloud
Cloud is an online drive for Apple users which you can use to store your files online and helps you to free up space locally on your iPhone. You should first set up an iCloud account on your phone.
Like stated earlier, moving files to the Cloud is an easy way to free up space locally on your iPhone. For those with large Camera Rolls, enabling Apple iCloud offers 5GB of space for free. If you need more than 5GB and can afford to buy it then you can, plans start at $0.99 per month for 50GB and go up to $9.99 per month for 1TB of space. There’s also an option under Settings >> iCloud >> Photos (when iCloud Photo Library is turned on) called Optimize iPhone Storage which still saves photos and videos on your device, but they’re in a smaller format. The full-resolution originals are then stored in iCloud for easy access. So, you can have your photos, videos, files and other documents stored in a safe place and remove them from your phone freeing a lot of space.
There are other apps also which offers online storage of photos and videos. Google Photos is one of those apps which offers 15GB of free photo and video storage. The app gives users the ability to create albums with advanced search capability, and the latest update allows you to limit cache size under Settings. Paid plans start at $1.99 per month for 200GB and go up to $299.99 per month for 30TB of space, which can be used across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
Dropbox is another well-known alternative for file storage. The Basic plan, which is free for individuals, includes 2GB of storage space, while the 1TB plan will set you back $9.99 per month. The mobile app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices running iOS 8.0 or later.
Additional apps, such as ShoeBox and IceCream, offer unlimited photo and video storage for free. IceCream also includes a tool which tells you how many photos can be backed up to free up x amount of space, which is a handy feature.
4) Modify offline data settings
Setting music, podcasts, and reading materials to download for offline use might be consuming more space than you realize. Hence, if space is an issue in your phone, it may be worth assessing which tunes you want to access when there’s a lack of a wireless or cellular connection – or if data usage is an issue. Streaming music and videos will save you space in the long run. Same goes for Safari’s Offline Reading List and Podcasts. If you have done the reading or listening to a piece and tend to have access to a Wi-Fi connection, offline reading may not be of value when your focus is to save space on your phone.
5) Get rid of temporary files and cache
If you want an easy way to free up some space in your iPhone immediately and with no out of pocket expense, the solution would be to delete temporary files and clear your cache. To purge your history, cookies and browsing data in Safari, go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data. It’s a simple way that can free up space in case of a hurry.
5) Don’t Store Messages Forever
The messages you get and the messages you send on your phone can be bulky if you have not deleted it for a very long time. Most of the iPhone users do not usually delete messages on their phone and are stored forever. Without you realizing, the messages are using up a certain percentage of spaces on your phone. So, consider deleting them when the situation is problematic due to the shortage of storage problem on your iPhone.
6) Reset your device
To clear RAM and cache, you can reset your device. This is also called resetting the hardware of the phone or factory resetting your phone. For force restarting your phone, you need to click on the power and home button at the same time for few seconds until the apple logo appears on the screen as given below. Let the phone restart. When the phone restarts, RAM and cache will be cleared.
7) Make Use of Redditor ( Proceed at your own risk)
This is the ultimate hack if you have tried other solutions and they didn’t work, then you can try this solution. But remember that you can try this solution but only at your own risk because there is a possibility of being charged for a download you don’t want. Redditor can significantly free up a large amount of storage space in a short amount of time. The trick is that you need to find a file that is larger than the amount of space available on your device like a film. Go to iTunes and click to download the film. You must ensure that iTunes purchases require a password or TouchID verification. Then click Rent. If your device can’t download the file due to a lack of space, you’ll receive a warning with the option to hit OK or go to Settings. Upon clicking Settings, the amount of free space will increase due to the deletion of cache and temporary files.
There are also a variety of other paid tools out there like “Memory & Disk Scanner Pro” and “iMobie PhoneClean” which help to maximize free space on your iPhone, that can be especially helpful when running an older device.
Therefore the above-discussed methods would surely help you to free up space on your iPhone or iPad. Let us know if we have missed out something on this topic. Suggestions are always appreciated.
