Free Up Space In Phone
- Internal memory gets full? Here are some tricks to free up Android internal memory without root.
- If you’re lucky enough to have a device with Android 8.0 Oreo or later, you can look in Settings Storage and simply tap the Free Up Space (or Manage Storage) button at the top.
If there isn't enough space to download and install an update, your device temporarily removes some downloadable parts of installed apps. You shouldn't need to remove or relocate any content. If you still need more space than you have on your device, there are a few ways you can update. Depending on your phone and version of Android, you can also move apps to the SD card to free up space. Users with Android Marshmallow and above can do this by formatting the SD card as internal storage. Then, the SD card will be seen as local storage on that device.
If you’ve been using an iPhone for a while, you’ve probably seen the “Storage Almost Full” pop-up. Suddenly, you can’t take any cute pictures of your pet or download any new apps. While Apple doesn’t tell you how to free up space on your iPhone, tests show that it starts to slow down when you have less than 500 MB of free space.
What’s Taking Up so Much Space on Your iPhone?
The first step to getting more free up space on your phone is to know what’s eating up all your storage in the first place. To see what’s taking up so much space on your iPhone, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
At the top of your screen, you will see a horizontal bar graph that shows how much total storage you have and how much of that is used. The graph is broken down into five color-coded categories: apps, media, photos, messages, and “other.”
If your bar is full, here’s how to free up space on your iPhone in 13 ways:
How To Free Up Space oniPhone
- Enable Recommendations. Check to see if you have Recommendations in the iPhone Storage menu and enable them.
If you want to free up space on your iPhone, you will probably see storage-saving tips from Apple just below your iPhone Storage bar. The recommendations shown will change depending on your usage. Just click on Enable to turn on the recommended option.
Note: Certain recommendations will make unwanted changes to your phone. Make sure to read their description before enabling them.
- Delete large and unused apps. To remove an app, select one from the list at the bottom of the iPhone Storage screen, then tap Delete App.
While you’re still in the iPhone Storage screen, you can scroll down to see a list of all the apps you have on your phone. Each app in the list is sorted by size, with the largest ones on top. The apps also provide information about the last time you opened them. Clicking on any of the apps will give you the option to delete it. You can also delete an app from the Home screen. You can do this by pressing and holding an app you want to delete until it begins to jiggle (probably out of fear of being deleted). Tap the “X” on the top left of the app, then click Delete on the confirmation pop-up.
Warning: Deleting an app will remove it from your phone entirely. You will lose all your data associated with the app (such as saved games, passwords, etc.). And you will have to visit the App Store and download it again if you want it back on your phone.
- Offload large apps. To offload an app, tap on one from the iPhone Storage screen and then click Offload App.
Rimworld get rid of addiction. Offloading apps lets you reduce the size of an app, without losing any documents or data associated with it.
When you offload an app, it doesn’t disappear from your Home screen. But the app now has an icon of a cloud with a downward-pointing arrow to the left of the name. You can reinstall the offloaded app by tapping on it.
Note: You will need an internet connection to reinstall the app. So, don’t offload any apps that you will want to use outside of a wireless network.
You can also automatically offload unused apps by going to Settings > iTunes & App Store > Offload Unused Apps. Apps will automatically be offloaded when the slider is green.
- Delete downloaded music. To delete your music, go to iPhone Storage > Music and tap Edit. To delete all of your songs, tap the red minus sign next to the “All Songs” option and then tap the delete button that appears. You can also delete individual artists by tapping the red minus sign and then Delete.
- Delete old podcasts. To delete podcasts, go to iPhone Storage > Podcasts and click Edit at the bottom of the screen. Then click the red minus sign next to a podcast and then the delete button that appears. When you delete a podcast, all the episodes will be removed.
You can also stop the Podcast app from automatically downloading new episodes by going to Settings > Podcasts. Under the Episode Downloads screen, check the Off option.
If you want to make sure your podcasts are not taking up too much space in the future, you can also enable the Delete Played Episodes option. This will delete podcasts from your phone after you have finished listening to them.
- Store photos on the cloud. To save your images to iCloud, go to Settings > Photos > iCloud Photos. Then make sure the slider next to iCloud Photos is green.
When you enable this, your photos will be automatically uploaded to Apple’s cloud storage – and off your phone. Don’t worry. You can still browse, edit, and share your photos at any time. If you want to know how to transfer your photo to your Mac, check out our previous article here.
- Turn off photo streaming. You can turn off Photo Stream by going to Settings > Photos then toggle off the Upload to My Photo Stream button. You will know it is off when it is greyed-out.
Photo Stream syncs the last 1,000 photos from all your devices for the past 30 days and collates them in one feed. While it does not count towards your iCloud storage, it does take up space on your phone. But really, these are just duplicates of photos you already have, so you might as well turn this feature off.
- Only save HDR-quality photos. You can save space by going to Settings > Camera and toggling the Keep Normal Photo button off.
When you take a photo with an iPhone, it saves two versions: one with HDR (High Dynamic Range) and a normally exposed one. HDR combines 3 photos with different exposures to give you one with the best color and detail.
When you have the Keep Normal Photo option enabled, a normal version of the photo will be saved to your phone along with an HDR one. Turning it off means your photos only take up half the space, which is perfect if you want to free up space on your iPhone. - Delete content stored in Messages. You can manually delete content in Messages by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages.
The content is under five categories: Top Conversation, Photos, Videos, GIFs and Stickers, and Other. Each of the categories also displays the total size of all the files. Select a category then click Edit. Then choose the item or items that you want to delete. Finally, tap the Trash icon in the top right corner of your screen. Every photo, video, GIF, and stickers you use to jazz up your messages takes up a little space. Even if you only receive one of these, it takes up a little space on your phone. Even though they are small files, a lot of them can add up.
- Automatically delete messages. You can set your iPhone to delete messages automatically by going to Settings > Messages. Under Message History, click on Keep Messages, then choose either 30 Days or 1 Year. Tap on Delete on the confirmation dialog box.
By default, the message history in Messages is set to keep messages forever. But you don’t really need to hang on to all of them, unless you have legal or other important reasons for doing so.
You can also automatically delete audio messages. Go to Settings > Messages > Audio Messages, and click on Expire. Choose After 2 Minutes instead of the default option of Never.
What Does Other Mean in iPhone Storage?
The Other category consists of temporary files that the iOS does not recognize and cannot put into the standard categories. Other content consists of files like downloaded email attachments and web browsing caches. The Other category also includes device settings, Siri voices, voiceover data, and system files.
If you want to free up space on your iPhone, here’s how to delete all that other storage:
How to Delete Other Storage on Your iPhone
Unlike the apps, media, photos, and messages categories, the “Other” category is a lot less straightforward. You won’t be able to see what items comprise this category in the iPhone Storage menu.
- Clear your browser cache. To clear Safari cache files, go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data. You can delete website data individually or choose to Remove All Website Data.
Browsers like Safari and Chrome save data on their caches for web pages you visit often. This data is saved so the browser doesn’t have to load the content every time you go to the site. This enables your browser to load pages faster, but the data also takes up storage space. The same goes for music or video you download from Apple TV or Apple Music. The iOS categorizes the downloaded content as Media, but the cached files are stored in Other.
To clear your Google Chrome browser cache, just click on the ellipsis at the bottom navigation panel. Tap History then Clear Browsing Data.
- Delete old voice notes. You can delete a voice memo by opening the Voice Memos app and tapping Edit. Then select a recording you want to remove and hit Delete.
Voice Memos are a great tool for students to record a lecture or record interviews and meetings in a business setting. But like all other files, they can eat up your storage space. Keep in mind that one hour of recorded audio usually takes up 30 MB of space.
- Delete offline content from apps. To delete offline maps from Google Maps, just click on the hamburger menu to the top left (the one with three lines next to the Search Box). Go to Offline Maps and choose the one you’d like to delete.
Navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze store some data on your phone memory so you can use them even if you are offline. But if you don’t use these maps that often, then consider deleting them to free up precious phone space.
Just like the human body, your iPhone also needs a detox once in a while for it to work optimally. If all else fails, you can back up your iPhone data on iTunes before restoring it to factory settings. But until then, these tips should help you know how to free up space on your iPhone.
Free Up Space In Iphone
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How iOS and iPadOS optimize storage
If your device is low on storage, it automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS or iPadOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.
Cool surge cs100 manual. To make more storage available, your device can remove some of your items, like streamed music and videos, files in iCloud Drive, and parts of apps that aren't needed. It also removes temporary files and clears the cache on your device. But your device only removes items that can be downloaded again or that aren't needed anymore.
Use your device to check its storage
Go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage. You might see a list of recommendations for optimizing your device's storage, followed by a list of installed apps and the amount of storage each one uses. Tap an app's name for more information about its storage. Cached data and temporary data might not be counted as usage.
In the detailed view you can:
- Offload the app, which frees up storage used by the app, but keeps its documents and data.
- Delete the app, which removes the app and its related data.
- Depending on the app, you might be able to delete some of its documents and data.
If your device is almost full and can't free up space, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, you should check the storage recommendations or you need to offload some less-used content like videos and apps.
Content categories
The used content on your device is divided in these categories:
- Apps: Installed apps and their content, and content stored in 'On My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch' directory in the Files app, and Safari downloads
- Photos: Photos and videos stored in the Photos app
- Media: Music, videos, podcasts, ringtones, artwork, and Voice Memos
- Mail: Emails and their attachments
- Apple Books: Books and PDFs in the Books app
- Messages: Messages and their attachments
- iCloud Drive: iCloud Drive content that has been downloaded locally to your device. This content can't be automatically deleted.
- Other: Non-removable mobile assets, like Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, non-removable logs and caches, Spotlight index, and system data, such as Keychain and CloudKit Database. Cached files can't be deleted by the system.
- System: Space taken by the operating system. This can vary based on your device and model.
Use recommendations to optimize storage
In the Storage section of Settings, your device might offer recommendations for optimizing your storage. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.
Nuance dragon transcription. Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.
Use Finder or iTunes to check the storage on your iOS device
- On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15, open Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes.
- Connect your device to your computer.
- Select your device in Finder or in iTunes. You'll see a bar that shows how much storage your content uses, divided by content type.
- Move your mouse over the bar to see how much storage each content type is using.
Here's a list of the types of content on your device, and what each type includes:
- Audio: Songs, audio podcasts, audiobooks, voice memos, and ringtones.
- Video: Movies, music videos, and TV shows.
- Photos: Content in your Photo Library, Camera Roll, and Photo Stream.
- Apps: Installed apps. The content of the apps is listed under Documents & Data.
- Books: iBooks books, audio books, and PDF files.
- Documents & Data: Safari Offline Reading List, files stored within installed apps, and app content like contacts, calendars, messages, and emails (and their attachments).
- Other: Settings, Siri voices, system data, and cached files.
About cached files in 'Other'
Finder and iTunes categorize cached music, videos, and photos as Other instead of actual songs, videos, or photos. Cached files are created when you stream or view content like music, videos, and photos. When you stream music or video, that content is stored as cached files on your device so you can quickly access it again.
Your device automatically removes cached files and temporary files when your device needs more space.
Free Up Space On Iphone 10
If storage on your device differs from what you see in Finder or iTunes
Since Finder and iTunes categorize cached files as Other, reported usage for Music or Videos might differ. To view usage on your device, go to Settings > General > [Device] Storage.
If you want to delete the cached files from your device
Your device automatically deletes cached files and temporary files when it needs more space. You don't need to delete them yourself.
Learn more
Free Up Space In Mobile
- To reduce the size of your Photo library, turn on iCloud Photo Library and optimize your device storage.
- Optimize your music and videos storage in Settings > Music > Optimize Storage.
- Learn how iOS, iPadOS, and macOS report storage capacity.