3 Different Ways to Manage Storage on iPhone

iPhones have for a long time now been offering the same base storage for their phones, which is 64GB. Filling this space is very easy if you don't have iCloud already. Plus, the most annoying thing about iPhones is that the apps on your phone store cache and junk files that you can't even delete.

So, if you're someone with a base-variant iPhone or you're running out of storage, then this article is for you. Continue reading to better manage storage on your iPhone.

How to Manage Storage on the iPhone

There are just three things to keep in check to solve 90% of your storage problems. Here they are:

• Uninstall apps that you aren't using anymore
• Disable Photo Stream
• Delete unplayed music

Are you curious to know how fixing this would solve 90% of your storage problems? Continuing reading to figure it out yourself!

Method 1. Uninstall and reinstall storage hungry apps

The main culprit behind excessive storage usage is storing apps that you stopped using or rarely use. These apps keep updating in the background whenever an update is released by the developers. This also creates more cache data for these applications that you don't use anymore.

By uninstalling the applications, you remove all the app data, including cache files.

Here's how to uninstall apps and manage storage on your iPhone in bulk:

Step 1. Open "Settings" from the home screen.

Step 2. Tap on "General."

Step 3. Tap on "iPhone Storage."

Step 4. Now, see which apps are consuming a lot of storage. If any apps are taking up a lot of storage but you don't use them, delete them.

Step 5. You can delete an app in two ways. Tap on the app and then select "Delete App." Or you can also tap on the app from the menu itself, slide your finger to the left, and then tap on the "Delete App."

Step 6. Now all the files associated with the app will be deleted including caches and other junk files. Download the app again from the App Store to use it again.

Step 7. When you download it again, it will install fresh without any previous junk files on your iPhone.

I know you're wondering why we don't offload an app instead of deleting it. The answer to this is that, though offloading an app works like deleting it, your data and files remain on your phone. Sometimes the size of those apps will have significantly increased from KBs to MBs. It is unclear how an offloaded app increases in size. 

This is why it is better to uninstall and reinstall an app.

Method 2. Wade out of the stream

If you own multiple different iOS devices, the "Photo Stream" feature lets you share photos with your other iOS devices seamlessly. If you have "Photo Stream" turned on, all the photos will now start syncing in the background if both your iOS devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, taking up your iPhone's space.

Turn off "Photo Stream" to manage storage on your iPhone. Here's how to turn it off:

Step 1. Go to "Settings."

Step 2. Open "Photos"

Step 3. Now, tap on the "Photo Stream" toggle to turn it off/on.

Method 3. Remove unwanted music

If you listen to a lot of music, it's obvious that you will download it over Wi-Fi to your phone to listen to it later without exhausting your cellular data. And if you are someone who has thousands of songs downloaded to their phone but only listens to their playlist, that has only a few hundred songs in it. It is best to delete the music that you do not listen to from your music library.

Here's how to delete unwanted music on your iPhone:

Step 1. Open "Settings."

Step 2. Go down a bit and tap on "Music" and then open "Downloaded Music."

Step 3. Now, you will see all the artists whose music you've downloaded.

Step 4. If you don't listen to an artist, you can tap on the artist's name, drag your finger to the left, and then tap on "Delete."

Step 5. If you want to delete only the songs you don't listen to, open the artist page and then select each track separately.

Step 6. Additionally, you can turn on "Optimize Storage" so that iOS can delete all your unplayed music automatically.

Bonus Tip: How to Clear Cache From Category Other

Unlike Android, which clearly says "Cache storage" as cache storage, on the iPhone, Apple uses strange terms for caches and other junk files. It is also not easy to clear them, as you would do with your Android phone. In fact, most OEMs give you the option to clear the cache manually, or you can also do it by downloading third-party applications.

iPhones are unlike Android phones. You won't really know why "Other" inside the storage is taking up so much space or what files it is holding.

But, actually, "Others" is basically showing how much storage cache and junk files are taking on your iPhone.

The simple solution to remove this is to reset your iPhone after backing it up to iCloud or your PC or Mac. Or if you use a lot of streaming apps, uninstall them and install them again—this is another method to clear your "Other" storage.

Concluding Thoughts

Managing storage on an iPhone is easy and difficult. It is easy if you use iCloud or other Apple products such as a Mac computer. This way, you can backup files to iCloud or backup your files to your Mac, then reset your iPhone completely to get rid of all the files and start your iPhone afresh.

Once resetting your iPhone, you can recover your files from iCloud/Mac. Although you can do the same with Windows PCs, it's not as straightforward as it is with an Apple product, and that is by design.

Also, updating your software clears up your "Other" data, and your iPhone, too, periodically keeps cleaning it up. But the issue arises if you want to install an app or an update. In that case, simply follow the steps outlined above to manage the storage on your iPhone.

FAQs

Here are some more answers to your question about storage on the iPhone:

1. What is taking up so much storage in my iPhone?

It depends; it could be your apps, your photos and videos (if you aren't subscribed to a premium iCloud plan), cache files, and others. So, the answer depends on how you use your phone.

2. Do emails take up storage on my phone?

Yes, emails do take up a lot of space on your iPhone. What you can do is use a third-party email application instead of the in-built Mail app, as third-party apps don't store emails on your iPhone.

3. What takes up the most storage in my iCloud?

By default, your photos and videos consume the most iCloud storage. If you save files and documents in iCloud, then those can be big contributors; otherwise, for most users, photos and videos are what consume a lot of your iCloud storage.