icloud storage full iphone reddit - Brave Search

What do you do to clear iCloud storage without buying more?

reddit.com › r › iphone › comments › 15rrwp2 › what_do_you_do_to_clear_icloud_storage_without

Check what’s using your iCloud storage, could be iMessage. Are you deleting your recently deleted photos folder? Answer from shootamcg on reddit.com

reddit.com › r/icloud › icloud storage space

r/iCloud on Reddit: iCloud Storage Space

May 9, 2024 -

My iCloud storage is almost full. Other than paying for additional storage, what can I do to free up more space? Step by step guide to delete old storage and gain more space in iCloud?
How do I efficiently delete photos or mail or text messages in order to create more space for iCloud? Any tips or advice for re-gaining more space?
I have the iPhone 12. Thanks!

Go see what’s taking up space and delete it. For me it’s messages and photos. I uploaded large videos and pics to Google Photos. I also went into attachments in Messages and deleted attachments(pics and videos)

Start with videos . Check the duplicates album and merge them all. If that still doesn’t work, maybe switching to using a NAS (such as synology bee if you’re a beginner to that kind of stuff)

reddit.com › r/icloud › why is my storage always full?

Why is my storage always FULL? : r/iCloud

May 31, 2025 - iCloud storage. 50gb is .99/month and 200gb is $3/month. Sounds like you are hitting the 50gb cap. Or you could work on deleting some stuff you don’t need anymore. ... I have the 50GB for 99 cents. My point is how does 4000 pics get to 50GB?? I’m checking my storage and I don’t see how ...

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reddit.com › r/icloud › icloud storage almost full

r/iCloud on Reddit: iCloud storage almost full

October 3, 2024 -

My iCloud backup size is 4.6 GB.

The only things I have turned on to backup are passwords/keychain (202 items), notes (8 items), contacts and voice memos (32.2 MG).

I do not have any apps turned on to backup. I don't backup my photos on iCloud either.

So why is my backup size that large?

Check at iCloud.com which devices are connected to iCloud, and what all is stored there. Disconnect any old devices still listed there; also look for any backups that you don’t need or can be moved elsewhere.

You need to go to your Backup details to see what app data is being uploaded. A general iPhone backup, saves every data and cached documents/files so they’re ready to use when restored. Not to confuse a backup with “apps using iCloud”, those are separated from the full backup. It also includes settings, Drive files and cached system files. The “this iPhone” backup contains current data which when you delete apps and stuff, it sometimes doesn’t refresh the already uploaded data and keeps it saved. But if you hit “turn off and delete” it will delete the full current backup (and old data), it then reinstates storage and then you can create a new backup with ONLY current data in your iPhone (without old data being there).

reddit.com › r/ios › my iphone storage said that it was full so i bought more icloud storage but it still says that it’s full

r/ios on Reddit: My iphone storage said that it was full so i bought more icloud storage but it still says that it’s full

July 3, 2022 -

The title basically explains it. Every single time i open the camera app to take a picture or try to download a new app something pops up saying that i don’t have enough storage. I have an iphone 11 pro max

Your phone is complaining about running out of internal storage not iCloud storage. Try this… On the iPhone go to Settings > Photos and make sure that iCloud Photos’ is enable and ‘Optimize iPhone Storage’ has been enabled.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206504

reddit.com › r/iphone › what do you do to clear icloud storage without buying more?

r/iphone on Reddit: What do you do to clear iCloud storage without buying more?

August 15, 2023 -

I feel like no matter how many videos or photos I delete, I never have enough and I don’t want to rely on subscribed iCloud storage in case something happens.

Check what’s using your iCloud storage, could be iMessage. Are you deleting your recently deleted photos folder?

I see a lot of people recommending hard drive backup, which is fine but if these are important photos that’s not good enough on its own. You should have an offsite backup (iCloud, Google, OneDrive, etc.) and a hard drive backup. Any one is not 100% reliable so if you have baby photos or anything you might need for legal reasons or any other important reason you should have redundancy. None of these solutions are going to be free if you have a large number of photos.

reddit.com › r/applehelp › iphone running out of storage- but i have icloud?

r/applehelp on Reddit: iPhone running out of storage- but I have iCloud?

August 27, 2024 -

Hi all, attached supporting photos. My phone keeps saying it is running out of storage (and clearly it is), but my photos are taking up 10GB’s when I have them backing up to the iCloud.

So here’s my issue- correct me if I’m wrong, but even with the photos backed up onto the iCloud, if I delete photos from my phone, I get a prompt saying that photo will be “deleted across all devices including iCloud”. So, how in the heck am I supposed to free up space on the phone?

Also, before it is recommended- since the photos are backed up to iCloud, I cannot transfer them to my computer/external hard drive. I tried but the folders were just empty. :/

Any help is appreciated because other than this my phone still works just fine.

While most of your photos are stored in iCloud when you are actively viewing a photo or video the phone reserves space locally so it can download the full resolution copy. Over time when various photos and videos haven’t been viewed they are then offloaded to the cloud again this saves space on your phone. The reason why the phone says it would delete the photo in iCloud is because that’s where the photo is primarily stored. Unfortunately 64GB is not a lot of storage space nowadays so even if your phone is doing its best to optimize storage and only keep recently viewed photos/videos locally stored it’s going to be a struggle, combined that apps and iOS updates continue to get bigger in file size. Definitely doesn’t hurt to consider upgrading especially if you need more local storage and it’s important to also be able to keep your phone up to date software wise so the more up to date security fixes, bug fixes and new features are implemented. If you want to keep your current phone then see what else you can delete from your phone.

I mean.. the short blunt answer is:.. Delete some Apps (since that's the category of things taking up most of your space). Dealing with a 64gb phone... you're going to be constantly struggling for space no matter which way you approach things. Data tends to grow over time. Apps get slightly bigger. iOS updates get slightly bigger. Long term solution. .you need a newer device that has more internal storage.

reddit.com › r/applehelp › how do i solve this "icloud storage is full" for good?

r/applehelp on Reddit: How Do I Solve This "iCloud Storage Is Full" For Good?

November 3, 2024 -

I keep getting this pop-up on my screen and iPhone. Both my Mac Mini and phone have 256 GB of space each. There was a time I actually lost all my files on my Mac because of it. I clicked on my files and they wouldn't load. I can't seem to stop this. Is there a solution to this with a video that shows how? I remember trying something, and it gave me a warning that I might lose all data, so I kept putting it off.

Buy more iCloud storage. You can cancel the increase anytime once you remove files that you wish to

Move stuff out of iCloud...

reddit.com › r/icloud › my icloud storage is full, but i have nothing filling it?

r/iCloud on Reddit: My icloud storage is full, but i have nothing filling it?

August 22, 2024 -

So i realized i had over flowing storage and set out too fix it and i had deleted practically everything on my phone. yet it still says my photos take up 4.6 GB / 5 GB. i only have 600 photos and it's also telling me on the bottom of my recents there are 1,000 items aren't synced too icloud. this makes no sense too me when i don't even have 1000 items 😭

Check Settings -> Name -> iCloud -> Storage. It should tell you what filled up your storage.

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reddit.com › r/icloud › icloud storage full. how do i clean up my files & photos/videos?

r/iCloud on Reddit: iCloud storage full. How do I clean up my files & photos/videos?

April 23, 2024 -

Hi. it is time for me to clean up

i tried to google but i find only weird tools/blogs and stuff

what can i do? to identify big videos and big files

Thank you for posting on r/iCloud . If you are asking a question, please remember to change your post flair to “Answered” once your question has been answered. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

On your phone... Follow this trail... Settings. Top box (your name). iCloud. Manage Account Storage. Now you have a list of all apps that are using your data. Some will have options to remove the larges files etc (for example, backups of phones you no longer own). For your photos... its a manual process in the main, but you can go through and quickly check/delete duplicates, burst photos, and for the love of God turn off 'Live Photo' mode.

reddit.com › r/icloud › i bought extra icloud storage and my iphone storage is still full with photos

r/iCloud on Reddit: i bought extra icloud storage and my iphone storage is still full with photos

January 4, 2025 -

why is that since all my photos were downloaded to icloud and i choose not to keep the originals in gallery? My storage is the same as before i bought the extra icloud storage

ps i have ip14 and i didnt upgrade to 18.2

Make sure "Optimize iPhone Storage" is on

iCloud Photos needs an exorcism to work correctly

reddit.com › r/ios › bought more icloud storage but it still says it’s full

r/ios on Reddit: bought more iCloud storage but it still says it’s full

May 25, 2024 -

My iPhone said that I am out of storage. I had the same issue with a previous version of iOS, so I bought storage and followed the steps here

https://www.quora.com/I-just-bought-more-iCloud-storage-but-it-still-says-it-s-full-how-do-I-fix-this

, and it worked after merging. My phone had enough storage then. Now, I have used all my storage, so I had to buy 2TB of storage. I am also using the latest version of iOS, which is 17.5.1(iPhone 15pro). I followed the same steps, but my phone is not asking me to merge. And it’s just not using the storage I bought.

The problem is the photos.

Do you know what I should do, please?

Make sure Photos is set to optimize storage. iCloud is not known for its speed. Patience.

Could it be the system data? Funny enough that thing fluctuates. What I do is just reboot my phone then system data goes down by a ton!

reddit.com › r/icloud › how do i use icloud when my storage is full?! my phone is breaking

r/iCloud on Reddit: HOW DO I USE iCloud when my storage is full?! My phone is breaking

October 8, 2025 -

I pay the 29.99 a month for iCloud storage 6TB. I’m using about 2TB right now. I need to update my iPhone to the latest version as nothing is working I’m on iOS 18 I think. iPhone 15 Pro max. I thought the whole point of me paying $30 a month for space is so I could back everything up via sync and then delete photos but they’d still be on my iCloud but NOT on the iPhone device. 😭 I’m so confused if I delete them after backing up they still delete off of iCloud I have 55,000 photos who knows how many videos. My phone is gonna fry if I can’t get storage to update, I need help idk what to do and I can’t make my way to a Apple Store to ask atm 😭 my storage is at 251.34 out of 256. I’m gonna crash out.

UPDATE: I’m really confused because there’s like 5 different responses I want to fallow and over all one easy answer I’ve gotten that seems to go to be true and almost 70 replies I appreciate all of it. SO WITH THAT SAID I updated my phone I’m hoping it stops acting like it’s dying and not a new phone.

My optimize is on IT HAS BEEN ON since I bought it. My storage is still almost full tho mainly from photos… I do ALOT of editing I’ve deleted about 20,000 photos SS AND older videos I don’t need I’m still at very high storage usage. I’ve deleted everything out of the recently deleted file. ;-; i’ve deleted almost every app on my phone I don’t use a that was taking up storage. I deleted every message besides my GMs LMAO. I deleted every download media IDK WHAT ELSE TO DO. Besides re start the device and idk what I’ll lose doing that. Mind you I was having this problem on the iPhone 12 Pro and when I finally upgraded my entire iCloud restored to the new phone 🥲 I work with animals for a living OF COURSE I have I have pics and vids LMAO but also 55,000 photos ranging from 2015 to 2025. I think I’m just using my iCloud’s WRONG and I need to learn to use it. And I’m confusing my self. Sighhhhhh

icloud is a sync service, NOT a backup If you to use your icloud for photos and then delete them from your device, they will also be deleted from icloud.

Have You turned on photo optimization? Also check the Tips app and Support app to learn more……

reddit.com › r/applehelp › what is the best and easiest way to fix running out of of icloud storage space without deleting everything?

r/applehelp on Reddit: What is the best and easiest way to fix running out of of iCloud storage space without deleting everything?

April 19, 2023 -

I already have the 2 TB iCloud storage plan and I keep hitting 2TB. I delete a bunch of of big files and I'm right back there at 2 TB in no time. I pretty sure that's what's causing my phone to be bugging out and so slow. It's getting frozen randomly in messages or photos etc.

I would love to just drag and drop all the files on this phone onto an external HD in one shot but I haven't found a workaround to doing so. I know that you can go online to your iCloud account and download 1000 pics at a time but that's PITA and also freezes up my computer. What is the best way and or easiest way to get my iCloud size down without deleting everything?

Download your data at http://privacy.apple.com It will split up into 25GB sized files for downloading.

you can move it somewhere else, like an external drive buy an apple one subscription, you can pay that and an individual 2tb plan too. 4tb. Your phone is laggy because you PHONE storage is full. Phone and iCloud are two different things. Turn off iCloud sync for whatever is taking space and upload what isn’t going to iCloud to a backup on a computer or something.

reddit.com › r/applehelp › any advice on clearing icloud storage?? i’ve deleted so many things and it has not helped 😭

r/applehelp on Reddit: Any advice on clearing iCloud storage?? I’ve deleted so many things and it has not helped 😭

December 11, 2024 -

I have spent the morning organizing files, photos, books, notes etc. I've deleted most of what I don't need and it STILL didn't free up any space 😭 I need a solution other than deleting.

5gb is the free amount they give you. It’s a suitable amount of space for simple things like synching contacts and such, but it’s completely inadequate for doing any kind of real backup, unless you have practically no data. If you want to use iCloud as a full backup solution, you generally need to pay for upgraded storage. I’ll add on that files and notes take up practically no space. One short video can take up more space than 100 notes and documents. If you’re really looking to clear space, you gotta delete large data items like photos and videos.

Go into settings and tap your name, then tap on icloud > saved to icloud. Scroll down and toggle off anything you don't want backed up. Apps have data that may be included in your backups, making them bigger than the 3.6 gig space you have available in icloud. Alternatively, you can buy more icloud storage. It's nice if you have family members to share it with. I have 4 people sharing 200gigs for $2.99 a month. The convenience is worth it for me.

reddit.com › r/icloud › icloud plus has space but phone storage is full

r/iCloud on Reddit: iCloud plus has space but phone storage is full

January 29, 2024 -

I bought 200GB iCloud plus, I have so many photos and videos on my phone that take up storage.

My iCloud has lots of space but my phone keeps saying storage full? I did backup my phone today if that makes any difference.

Any advice please?

Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. Tap Sync this iPhone. In iOS 15 or earlier, tap to turn on iCloud Photos. Select “Optimize iPhone Storage” to save space on your device

If you are too full on your device itself this would affect the syncing and keep you from getting to the point where space could be saved. Syncing requires some free space overhead to work with before things can be reliably even uploaded to iCloud. 4GB of space would be good, 2GB free on your iPhone would be minimal-ish but should work. 1GB free or less your iPhone is at risk for not booting. How much free space do you have on your iPhone itself?

reddit.com › r/icloud › icloud full but iphone storage empty

r/iCloud on Reddit: iCloud full but iPhone storage empty

May 28, 2024 -

Hi,

how can I "tell" my phone to use more space on my iPhone storage insted of iCloud? My 200GB iCloud are almost full (most of it photos/videos) but I still have around 150GB free space on my iPhone 15...

Thanks!

That's not how iCloud storage works. The cloud is the primary storage space, and it only downloads/syncs/streams a copy to your local device if optimize storage is enabled, but that does not remove it from the cloud when that happens. If you need more space on your iCloud Drive, you will either need to start offloading it onto a computer and/or deleting it from the cloud. Or just buy the next higher storage tier temporarily until you work out your storage shortage.

Thank you for posting on r/iCloud . If you are asking a question, please remember to change your post flair to “Answered” once your question has been answered. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

reddit.com › r/applehelp › phone storage full, but have 2tb of icloud!!!!

r/applehelp on Reddit: Phone storage full, but have 2TB of iCloud!!!!

February 29, 2024 -

I’ve had this issue for a while, but I think it’s only been with my iPhone 12. I’ve spoken to Apple Support twice in the last year, and they can’t assist me. The closest Apple store is over an hour away, so I am hoping someone here can help?

What I have tried:

My iCloud backup is on.
I constantly delete old text threads/pictures etc. under the storage area
I upgraded my iCloud storage

Also, can someone tell me why my 2TB is not being used? When I try to downgrade it to save money, it doesn’t allow me to it says I don’t have enough storage? Is there a way to transfer all my iPhone storage to my icCoud storage?

Here’s what my phone is saying:

Please help!!!

Fruity Support here. First, iCloud Storage is not the same as iPhone Storage and they cannot be used interchangeably. Second, you asked why you are not able to downgrade your iCloud Storage. The next level down is 200Gb and you are using more than that in your iCloud at this moment. So, looking at your iPhone Storage, it appears that your iPhone might not be fully syncing with iCloud. There could be a few different reasons, so here is what to look at: First, you have Low Power Mode turned on. iCloud will not sync while Low Power Mode is turned on. Go to Settings > Battery and turn off Low Power Mode Second, your iPhone Storage is full. Scroll down in your iPhone Storage screen and tap on the first app that's listed. In the App Details screen, choose "Offload App." This will remove the application itself but leave all of your data on your iPhone. Do this to a few apps until your storage used is under 60Gb. Now, make sure that iCloud Sync is turned on for Messages and Photos For Messages - Tap on Settings > Messages. First thing to check is iMessage. Make sure it is turned on. Also, tap on Send & Receive and make sure that you are signed in to your Apple ID. Next, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Messages in iCloud. This option will be under Apps using iCloud and you may need to tap on "Show All" to see it. Make sure that Messages in iCloud is turned on. For Photos - Tap on Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos. Make sure that it is turned on. You will also see an option for "Optimize iPhone Storage." Make sure that item is checked. Once you have these items setup, keep your iPhone connected to Wi-Fi and Power. As items sync with iCloud, you will notice your iPhone storage to start freeing up. Another space saving option is to have your iPhone automatically unload apps that are not frequently used. This will automatically do the same as in the second bullet point to allow for future storage savings. This option is in Settings > App Store > Offload Unused Apps

iCloud storage is used to backup your data, you can’t store your applications or messages on there, you can use it to backup your messages and your photos, you are actually using 353 GBs of your iCloud storage, check to see if iCloud Photos is enabled and if it is check to see if optimize storage is enabled. On your iPhone what is using your storage mostly is iOS, system data, messages and applications, then photos, messages and applications can be deleted, iOS and system data can not be. Photos may be reduced in size on the phone if optimized storage with iCloud is enabled

reddit.com › r/icloud › more icloud storage than physical iphone storage?

r/iCloud on Reddit: More ICloud storage than physical Iphone Storage?

September 21, 2025 -

I feel like this is a dumb question, but I am legitimately confused.

Let’s say you have a 128Gb phone, but a 2Tb ICloud storage. The part I’m confused about is can you have more than 128Gb of photos iPhone since you have 2Tb of ICloud storage? It’s my understanding that if you take a photo, it gets stored in your iCloud, but it also takes up physical space in your iPhone.

Am I thinking about this correctly or am I off?

For Photos specifically: "Need to save space on your device? Turn on Optimize Storage. When you do this, iCloud Photos keeps your photos and videos in their original, high-resolution version and space-saving versions are kept on your device." -- https://support.apple.com/en-us/108782 Also, you can have more than one Apple device.

You can select to have an offline copy of files or photos on your phone itself, but you can also choose to completely offload it which would allow you to have far more in storage on the cloud than on your device

reddit.com › r/iphone › icloud drive taking up over 100 gb of local iphone storage and it’s driving me crazy!

r/iphone on Reddit: iCloud Drive taking up over 100 GB of local iPhone Storage and it’s driving me crazy!

June 4, 2023 -

My iCloud Drive has been taking up over 100 GB of my local iPhone storage for months now. How do I get iCloud Drive to stop storing things locally and taking up so much space!?

(I understand it’s supposedly “recently accessed files” in the drive that have been downloaded locally. This is not my case! I haven’t accessed anything in my iCloud for months!)

Go to settings > tap on your name at the top > iCloud > underneath “APPS USING ICLOUD” tap iCloud Drive > and turn off Synch this iPhone > a thing will pop up and select the one that says delete. You can go back to your iPhone storage and see that the iCloud storage that was taking up space is now gone I also reenabled it again and it hasn’t popped back up. I have also been looking for how to do this but found nothing until I just started messing around myself , I hope this helps you out! c:

so after so many month.. is there a solution for this? or we had to wait for apple for an updates to cure the problem

reddit.com › r/iphone › iphone storage full, but plenty of space in icloud - how to offload photos onto icloud, or another way to open up storage?

r/iphone on Reddit: iPhone storage full, but plenty of space in iCloud - how to offload photos onto iCloud, or another way to open up storage?

September 2, 2023 -

Phone storage is maxed out
Photos take up a huge chunk of that
I have 150 GB free in iCloud storage
I have iCloud Photos turned on
I have Optimize iPhone storage toggled on

How can I “move” the photos onto the cloud and take them off my phone to open up space?

iCloud is a syncing system and not an offline backup (like Dropbox or OneDricpve). It's purpose is to give you access to your files on every device signed in with the same Apple ID. You need to use something different if you want to move files.

I ended up getting an external SSD, backed all my photos to that and deleted them from my iCloud. Was pretty surprised it took me so long to realize that iCloud isn’t a true off-device cloud backup.