See what is using your storage
Open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage. The bar at the top shows what kind of data takes the space, and below it every app is listed by size, biggest first. Photos is often at or near the top. Give the screen a moment, it can take a little while to add everything up.
The same screen may suggest quick wins, like offloading apps you have not used in a while or reviewing large attachments in Messages. Suggestions only show up when your iPhone finds something worth doing.
Start with videos
Videos are where the space goes. A minute of 4K video at 60 fps is about 400 MB, while a photo from a recent iPhone is a few megabytes. Three minutes of 4K can take as much room as a few hundred photos, so clearing a handful of long videos often frees more than deleting a thousand pictures.
The Photos app cannot sort videos by size, so read how to find large videos on iPhone for the quickest ways to spot them.
Clear duplicates, similar shots and screenshots
- Duplicates and similar shots. The Photos app can find copies of the same photo. See how to delete duplicate photos on iPhone.
- Screenshots. Every screenshot stays in your library until you delete it. See how to delete all screenshots on iPhone.
- Slo-mo and screen recordings. Both are videos, often big and rarely needed, and both have their own album under Media Types.
Clean up faster with Scrub
Scrub is our photo cleaner for iPhone. Sweep sorts your library into piles such as Duplicates, Similar shots, Screenshots and Big videos, and shows how much space each pile takes, so you can start with the biggest. Big videos can be saved as smaller HD copies and Live Photos kept as stills, which saves space without losing the moment.
Swipe takes you through your photos one at a time, left to delete and right to keep. Scroll plays your videos full screen, biggest first. Nothing is deleted until you review what you marked, and deleting always goes through Apple's own check.
Empty Recently Deleted
Deleted photos and videos are not gone yet. They wait in Recently Deleted for 30 days, still taking space, and then disappear for good. To get the space back now:
- Open Photos and tap Collections.
- Scroll down to Utilities and tap Recently Deleted, then unlock it with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Tap Select, then the More button, then Delete All.
Once Recently Deleted is emptied, those items cannot be recovered. With iCloud Photos on, deleting also removes them from your other devices.
Clear old Messages attachments
Photos and videos sent in chats are stored on your iPhone too. In iPhone Storage, tap Messages, then Review Large Attachments to see them biggest first and delete the ones you do not need.
You can also let your iPhone remove old messages for you by setting Keep Messages to 1 Year or 30 Days in the Messages settings. That deletes older messages and their attachments for good, so only do it if you are sure.
Offload or delete apps you do not use
In iPhone Storage, tap an app. Offload App removes the app but keeps its documents and data, so if you install it again you carry on where you left off. Delete App removes both. Turn on Offload Unused Apps and your iPhone does this for you when storage runs low.
Remove downloads
Downloaded shows, podcasts and music can quietly take gigabytes. Remove what you have already watched or heard. You can always download it again later.
Let iCloud Photos keep the originals
If you use iCloud Photos, check that Optimize iPhone Storage is on. It is in the Photos part of your iCloud settings and is on by default. Your full size photos and videos stay in iCloud, and your iPhone keeps smaller copies as space runs low. It frees space gradually rather than all at once, and it needs enough iCloud storage for your library.
What about System Data?
System Data is caches, logs and temporary files that iOS manages itself. You cannot delete it directly, but your iPhone clears temporary files on its own when space runs low.