iPhone Storage Full? What to Delete First

Your iPhone says Storage Almost Full and you need space now. Before you start deleting photos at random, take a moment to see what is actually using the space. Then work through the list below from the top: the first steps free space with the least risk, and your photo library comes last, because that is where the things you can't get back live.

Everything here uses tools built into iOS. Menu paths follow Apple's current guides (iOS 26 and iOS 27), with iOS 18 noted where it differs.

See what is filling your iPhone

Open Settings → General → iPhone Storage. The available storage is shown at the top of the screen. Below it you'll find:

• Recommendations: tap Show All to see them, read each description, then tap Enable to turn one on, or tap the recommendation to review what you can delete.
• A list of your apps with the space each one uses. Tap an app's name for more detail. Apple notes that cached and temporary data might not count in that number.

Apple sorts the space into categories. The ones you can do the most about:

• Photos: photos and videos stored in the Photos app.
• Messages: messages and their attachments.
• Media: music, videos, podcasts, ringtones, artwork and voice memos.
• Apps: installed apps and their content, files stored On My iPhone in the Files app, and Safari downloads.

If one of these is far bigger than the rest, jump to its step below. Apple's own advice for the Storage Almost Full alert is to check the recommendations or remove some content, such as videos and apps.

Back up what you want to keep

Apple's advice before deleting photos is simple: make sure you back up the photos and videos you still want. Two things to know first:

• iCloud Photos syncs, it does not archive. When you delete a photo on one device, it is deleted everywhere you use iCloud Photos. Apple also notes that photos in iCloud Photos are not duplicated in your iCloud backup, so keep backup copies of your library.
• A computer copy is a real copy. Apple suggests transferring the photos and videos you don't want to store in iCloud to your computer.

What to delete first, in order

Ordered by most space for least risk:

1. Empty Recently Deleted (things you already chose to delete)
2. Large videos you don't need
3. Messages attachments
4. Apps you don't use (offload them, keep their data)
5. Downloaded music, podcasts and shows
6. Safari website data
7. The photo library itself: duplicates, screenshots, bursts

Step 1: Empty Recently Deleted

Photos and videos you delete don't leave your iPhone right away. They are kept in the Recently Deleted collection for 30 days before being permanently removed from your iPhone, iCloud and your other devices. If you have already deleted a batch of photos, the space is still waiting here.

1. Open Photos. On iOS 26 and later, tap Collections, then Recently Deleted (below Utilities). On iOS 18, swipe up and tap Recently Deleted below Utilities.
2. Tap View Album and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
3. Look through it one last time.
4. Tap Select, choose the photos and videos, then tap the More button and Delete, or Delete All to clear the whole album. Confirm.

Step 2: Delete large videos you don't need

Videos are the first thing Apple names when your iPhone shows Storage Almost Full. To see only your videos:

1. Open Photos. On iOS 26 and later, tap Collections, scroll down and tap Media Types. On iOS 18, scroll down to Media Types.
2. Tap Videos. Long recordings you've already shared, watched or kept a copy of are good candidates.
3. Tap Select, choose the ones to remove, then tap the Delete button.

Want to keep a video but not carry it around? Copy it to a computer first, then delete it from the phone. Deleted videos go to Recently Deleted too, so finish with step 1 again when you need the space now.

Step 3: Clear out Messages attachments

Every photo, video and file in your conversations is stored in Messages, and it all counts toward the Messages entry in iPhone Storage. You can delete attachments without deleting the conversation:

• iOS 26 and later: open a conversation, tap the contact or group icon at the top, tap a category such as Photos, then tap Edit and Select. Tap the attachments to remove, tap the Delete button and confirm.
• iOS 18: tap the name of the person or group at the top of a conversation, scroll down to a category such as Photos and tap See All. Tap Select, choose the items, then tap Delete.

To delete a whole conversation, swipe left on it in the conversation list and tap the Delete button.

Stop it building up again: go to Settings → Apps → Messages, scroll down and tap Keep Messages (below Message History). Instead of Forever, iOS can remove messages older than 30 days or a year, on an ongoing basis.

Step 4: Offload apps you don't use

Offloading is the gentle way to remove an app: it frees the storage used by the app but keeps its documents and data.

• One app at a time: in Settings → General → iPhone Storage, tap an app you rarely open and choose to offload it. Deleting it there instead removes the app and its related data.
• Automatically: on iOS 26 and later, go to Settings → Apps → App Store and turn on Offload Unused Apps. On iOS 18, tap Enable next to Offload Unused Apps in iPhone Storage. From then on, when storage is low, your iPhone removes apps you don't use and keeps their data. The icon stays on your Home Screen with a cloud symbol, and tapping it reinstalls the app.

If an app's data is stored in iCloud, such as photos or documents you saved through it, deleting the app doesn't delete that data. Apple notes it may take a moment for available storage to update after you delete an app.

Step 5: Remove downloaded music, podcasts and shows

Downloads for offline listening and viewing are copies of things you can usually stream or download again, which makes them low-risk to clear:

• TV app and other streaming apps: review the videos you downloaded for offline viewing and remove the ones you've already watched.
• Podcasts: in the Library tab, tap Downloaded. Touch and hold a show and tap Remove Downloads, or tap the More button and Remove All Downloads. To download fewer episodes in future, go to Settings → Apps → Podcasts and, under Automatic Downloads, tap Automatically Download and choose Off or fewer episodes. By default, played episodes are removed 24 hours after you play them (the Remove Played Downloads setting).
• Music: touch and hold a downloaded song or album and choose Remove Download; music from the Apple Music catalog stays in your library and plays when you're online. Settings → Apps → Music → Optimize Storage removes downloaded music you haven't played in a while when your iPhone is low on storage, and Downloaded Music on the same screen lets you remove all songs or certain artists.
• Files: find and delete files you no longer need in the Files app.

Step 6: Clear Safari website data

Go to Settings → Apps → Safari → Advanced → Website Data, tap Remove All Website Data, then Remove Now. Your browsing history stays. Apple notes this clears the data websites use for tracking and to save login information, so some sites may ask you to sign in again.

To clear your history as well, use Clear History and Website Data on the Safari settings screen instead and pick the timeframe.

Step 7: Clean up the photo library itself

Now the part that takes judgement. Start with what iOS can find for you:

• Duplicates: on iOS 26 and later, open Photos → Collections → Utilities → Duplicates (on iOS 18, Utilities → Duplicates). Tap Merge on a set and confirm. Photos keeps one copy with the highest quality and the relevant data, and moves the others to Recently Deleted. Details for every iOS version: how to delete duplicate photos on iPhone.
• Screenshots: open Media Types → Screenshots, tap Select, choose the ones you no longer need and delete them. Step by step: how to delete screenshots on iPhone.
• Bursts: tap a burst's thumbnail to pick the frames worth keeping (grey dots mark the ones your iPhone suggests), or delete the whole burst if none is.

For a full pass through the rest of your library, see how to clean up your iPhone photo library. Everything you delete here lands in Recently Deleted, so go back to step 1 when you need the space right away.

What about System Data?

Part of the iPhone Storage list is space that iOS keeps for itself, and it can look surprisingly large. Here is what Apple says about it, without the myths:

• System is the space taken by the operating system. It varies by device and model.
• Other, in Apple's words, holds non-removable items: Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, non-removable logs and caches, the Spotlight index, and system data such as Keychain and the CloudKit database.
• Caches clean themselves. Apple says your iPhone removes cached and temporary files when it needs more space, so you don't have to. When storage is low, it frees space by removing items you can download again or that aren't needed.

Apple calls these items non-removable and describes no way to clear them yourself. The practical answer is to free space in the categories you control (steps 1 to 7) and let iOS manage its own share.

iCloud Photos and Optimize iPhone Storage

If Photos is your biggest category and you use iCloud Photos, check this setting before deleting anything:

1. Go to Settings, tap your name, then iCloud. Under Saved to iCloud, tap Photos.
2. Make sure Sync this iPhone is on.
3. Choose Optimize iPhone Storage. On iOS 27, tap iPhone Storage first, then choose it there.

What it does: iCloud keeps your photos and videos in their original, full resolution, and your iPhone keeps space-saving versions. When your iPhone needs more space, it optimizes the library starting with the photos and videos you open least, and you can download the originals over Wi-Fi or cellular.

What it doesn't do:

• It doesn't delete anything, and your photos still use your iCloud storage as well as some space on the iPhone.
• It relies on your iCloud storage. If you run out, new photos and videos won't upload to iCloud Photos.
• It isn't a backup. A photo you delete on your iPhone is deleted on all your devices that use iCloud Photos.

One more iCloud detail: items in Recently Deleted don't count toward your iCloud storage. But if you are over your iCloud storage limit, photos and videos you delete are removed immediately and can't be recovered from Recently Deleted, so be sure before you delete.

Why storage is still full after deleting photos

You deleted a pile of photos and iPhone Storage barely changed. The usual reason is Recently Deleted: deleted photos and videos stay there for 30 days before they are permanently removed from your iPhone. Empty it (step 1) to remove them for good.

Two more places to check:

• Messages has its own Recently Deleted folder. Deleted messages and attachments stay there for up to 30 days, and you can remove them permanently sooner from that folder.
• Deleted apps take a moment. Apple notes that available storage may take a moment to update after you delete an app.

Another way to sort the photo part: Picmori

Picmori (our app) is a free photo cleaner game for iPhone and Android. It is a pixel-art adventure across a map of 10 worlds, and each chapter is a level of 25 photos built from your own gallery: one year, one colour, your heaviest files and so on. Mori, a purple ghost, walks with you.

• How you sort: swipe left to delete, right to keep, with undo.
• Nothing is deleted while you swipe: you confirm at the end of the session, then iOS moves the photos to Recently Deleted. Empty it (step 1) when you need the space now.
• Copies come as one group: exact copies and burst shots arrive together, with a suggested shot to keep, picked by resolution, file size and your favourites.
• Heaviest first: Quick Cleanup, a Premium mode, starts with your heaviest files and duplicates.
• Free version: no ads, no account and no daily limit on sessions or deleted photos, only a short pause after each chapter on the map. Optional Premium (weekly or yearly with a free trial, or a one-time Lifetime purchase) removes the pauses and opens Premium points with extra review modes.
• Privacy: photos are analysed on your phone and never uploaded.

Picmori does not detect blurry photos and does not group photos that merely look alike. It needs iOS 16 or later, or Android 7.0 or later. To see how the free versions of other photo cleaners compare, read free photo cleaners with no daily limit.

App Store · Google Play

Keep going

Photos turned out to be the problem? These guides go deeper: how to clean up your iPhone photo library, how to delete duplicate photos on iPhone and how to delete screenshots on iPhone. Choosing an app to help? See which photo cleaners are free with no daily limit.

Questions about a full iPhone

Why is my iPhone storage still full after I deleted photos?

Deleted photos and videos are kept in the Recently Deleted collection for 30 days before they are permanently removed from your iPhone. To get the space back sooner, open Recently Deleted in Photos, check that nothing important is there, and delete the items. Messages has its own Recently Deleted folder too, where deleted messages and attachments stay for up to 30 days.

What is System Data on iPhone, and can I delete it?

It is the space iOS uses for itself. Apple describes this storage as the operating system, plus non-removable items such as Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, non-removable logs and caches, the Spotlight index, and system data such as Keychain and the CloudKit database. Apple calls these items non-removable and describes no way to clear them yourself. It says your iPhone removes cached and temporary files by itself when it needs more space.

Does Optimize iPhone Storage delete my photos?

No. With iCloud Photos and Optimize iPhone Storage on, the full-resolution originals are kept in iCloud and your iPhone keeps space-saving versions, starting with the photos and videos you open least, when it needs more space. Your photos still use your iCloud storage, and deleting a photo on your iPhone still deletes it on all your devices.

Will offloading an app delete my data?

No. Offloading frees the storage used by the app but keeps its documents and data. With Offload Unused Apps turned on, the icon stays on your Home Screen with a cloud symbol, and tapping it reinstalls the app. Deleting an app is different: it removes the app and its related data from your iPhone.