Apple’s advancements in iPhone photography have been monumental, bridging the gap between professional and everyday shooters. However, with great quality comes hefty file sizes, encroaching upon precious device storage. How to get more space on an iPhone? The simplest and most logical option is to use iCloud. Even with iCloud as a backup option, you’re bound to hit a ceiling there, too.
Today, we’ll explore several strategies to free up space on your iPhone, aiming for a seamless, uncluttered experience with your device.
How to Free Up iPhone Storage?
1 Delete Apps
To quickly identify which applications are consuming the most space on your iPhone, visit `Settings > General`, then tap on `iPhone Storage`. This section displays your apps, arranged by the amount of space they use and the last date each was accessed.
If you stumble upon an app that you wish to uninstall from the storage list, simply swipe left across the app’s name and tap `Delete App`.
For an even faster method, especially when you’re pressed for time and need to clear space rapidly, you can remove apps directly from the Home screen by long-pressing the app icon and selecting the delete option.
2 Use Smart Cleaning
Smart cleaning technology is offered by some applications that analyze what memory is occupied and remove only what is unnecessary. To clean up more memory on your device, they delete similar photos, multiple duplicates, temporary files and cache. Although this does not guarantee a complete memory cleanup, you will still be able to boost your phone, especially with virtually no effort. You can choose CleanUp App – Phone Cleaner, it has mostly positive reviews on the App Store. CleanUp is not only functional, it is also secure and does not collect user data.
3 Delete Data and App Cache
If you’re looking to free up some space by deleting data from your apps, you’ll need to handle it directly within each application. Below, we provide a guide for eradicating stored data from common apps including Books, Notes, and Messages. Also, consider examining other apps that store content:
- Google Maps: Navigate to ‘Saved’ in the menu, followed by ‘Maps,’ where you can scrutinize and dispose of previously downloaded map data.
- Streaming Services (Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, and others): Launch the respective streaming app and proceed to your ‘downloads’ section. From there, you’ll have the option to highlight and remove the files you no longer need.
4 Empty Your Browser’s Cache
To free up space on your iPhone or iPad and improve its performance, it’s a good idea to clear the cache from your Safari web browser or any other browser you might be using. If you’re a Safari user, simply head into your device’s Settings, scroll down to Safari, and tap on the ‘Clear History and Website Data’ option.
If you’re using Chrome on your iOS device, launch the Chrome app, tap on the three dots at the bottom-right of your screen, and go to ‘History’. From there, you have the option to select ‘Clear Browsing Data’ to completely purge everything or ‘Edit’ if you prefer to delete specific items only. Alternatively, you can clear your browsing data through Chrome’s settings by choosing Settings > Privacy > Clear Browsing Data. This allows you to individually clear browsing history, cookies, site data, cached images and files, saved passwords, and information filled in forms—or remove all of them at once. For additional guidance, check out our detailed guide on how to clear your browser cache on any web browser.
5 Delete Attachments in Messages
Clearing up space on your iPhone involves more than just managing text messages—you also have to deal with the slew of memes, spontaneous selfies, funny GIFs, and those adorable clips of your cat’s unexpected acrobatics off the couch. This content, even if not saved to your Photos, accumulates and takes up precious storage.
Want to free up some memory? Here’s how to efficiently remove message attachments:
- Head to your iPhone’s `Settings`, then tap on `General` followed by `iPhone Storage`.
- Look for `Messages` and give it a tap.
- Here you’ll find different categories such as `Top Conversations`, `Photos`, `GIFs and Stickers`, and `Other`. Choose the one that’s hogging the most memory. But a word of caution—if you select `Top Conversations`, you’ll be bidding farewell to entire message threads, not just the attachments. If that’s not the plan, better focus on `Photos` and other media types.
- In the top-right of the screen, hit `Edit`.
- Now, pick all the attachments you’re ready to part with.
- Finally, tap the `Trash` icon to dispose of them.
Conclusion
We may not be able to increase iPhone storage physically, but we can free up the memory that is already provided by the device manufacturer. Moreover, you can almost always find something that is outdated and of no value to the user. With the approaches listed above, you can free up space quickly and painlessly.