Check What is Using Your Storage First

  1. 1

    Go to Settings → General → iPhone Storage

    Wait for it to load fully. You will see a colour-coded bar showing what is using your storage (Apps, Photos, Media, Mail, Messages, System and Other) and recommendations from Apple.

The Best Ways to Free Up Space

  1. 2

    Offload unused apps (automatic)

    Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Enable Offload Unused Apps. This automatically removes apps you have not used recently while keeping their data and icon. Re-downloading restores them exactly as they were. Tap Offload App on individual apps to do it manually.

  2. 3

    Delete large apps and their data

    In iPhone Storage, apps are listed by size. Tap any app to see how much storage it uses (the app vs its documents and data). Tap Delete App to remove it completely, or Offload App to keep data but remove the app itself.

  3. 4

    Clear Messages attachments

    Old photos and videos sent via iMessage accumulate silently. In iPhone Storage, scroll to Messages and tap it to see how much space attachments use. Delete old conversations or go to Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Messages to review large attachments.

  4. 5

    Clear Safari cache

    Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data. This clears browsing history and cached website data.

  5. 6

    Move photos to iCloud

    Settings → Photos → iCloud Photos → Optimise iPhone Storage. This stores full-resolution photos in iCloud and keeps smaller versions on your device, freeing up significant space.

  6. 7

    Delete downloaded podcasts and music

    Podcast downloads and downloaded Spotify or Apple Music tracks take up a lot of space. Streaming uses no storage. Delete downloads you have already listened to.

About System and Other storageThe System and Other categories in iPhone Storage cannot be directly cleared — they contain iOS itself, Siri data and app caches. The most effective way to shrink Other storage significantly is to back up your iPhone and restore it, but this is a last resort for most people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other storage contains cached files, Siri voices, logs and miscellaneous system data. You cannot directly delete it but it shrinks naturally over time. To force it smaller, back up your iPhone to iCloud or a computer, then restore it — this clears accumulated caches. This is a significant process so only worth doing if Other is very large (over 10GB).
Apple recommends keeping at least 1GB free for smooth operation, but 5–10% of total storage free is a better target. iPhones slow down and struggle to update when storage is near capacity.