How to check your iPhone storage
Three taps in the Settings app.
- SettingsOpen the Settings app.
- GeneralTap General.
- iPhone StorageTap iPhone Storage.
The space you have left is shown at the top of the screen, above a coloured bar. Under it you find suggestions for saving space and a list of your apps with how much each one uses.
What each part of the bar means
The bar is split into the kinds of content on your iPhone.
- ApplicationsEvery app on your iPhone, plus everything those apps keep. That includes files saved On My iPhone in the Files app, and Safari downloads. Tap an app in the list to see its size. Some cached and temporary files may not be counted.
- MusicSongs, albums and playlists you downloaded to play offline. Songs you only stream are not downloads. Removing a download keeps the song in your library, and it then plays only when you are online.
- PhotosEvery photo and video in the Photos app. Photos you delete go to Recently Deleted for 30 days, so they keep using space until then. With iCloud Photos and Optimize Storage on, your iPhone keeps smaller versions and the full size ones stay in iCloud.
- iOSThe iPhone's own software. You cannot remove it, and its size depends on your iPhone model.
- System DataThings your iPhone needs that you cannot remove: Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, logs, caches, the search index, and saved data like your passwords. It goes up and down by itself, because your iPhone clears caches and temporary files when it needs space.
Your bar can show other parts too, like Messages, depending on what is on your iPhone.
The names can change a little with each version of iOS.
Hidden apps still use space
Hiding an app does not remove it.
When you hide an app, it leaves your Home Screen and moves to the Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. It is still installed, so its size still counts towards Applications. To see which apps you have hidden, open Settings, tap Apps, then Hidden Apps.
What Offload App does
Tap any app in the iPhone Storage list to see what it uses.
- App SizeThe app itself.
- Documents & DataWhat the app has saved, like your files, settings and downloads.
- Offload AppRemoves the app but keeps its documents and data. The icon stays on your Home Screen with a small cloud. Tap it to download the app again.
- Delete AppRemoves the app and everything it saved. Data kept in iCloud is not deleted.
Example: a game shows App Size 2 GB and Documents & Data 300 MB. Offload App frees the 2 GB and keeps the 300 MB, so your saved games are still there. Download it again later and it picks up where you left off, as long as the game is still in the App Store.
To clear space, see how to free up storage on your iPhone.