Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 251534752
iPhone storage keeps going back to full a… - Apple Community
July 2, 2020 - Have had this problem recently, deleted all apps, photos etc and still in an hour's time my storage would go from 40GB free to full! It feels like I tried it all, eventually I restored the phone after backup, and now the problem is solved. It's a pain but it worked well. Reply · Link · User profile for user: Lawrence Finch · Lawrence Finch Community+ 2025 · User level: Level 10 · 228,200 points · Jan 10, 2021 7:18 AM in response to SethCN · See this Apple support link→Clear Other storage on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support ·
India Today
indiatoday.in › technology › news › story › iphone-full-after-update-some-users-who-updated-to-ios-15-now-receiving-iphone-storage-almost-full-message-1856146-2021-09-23
iPhone full after update? Some users who updated to iOS 15 now receiving "iPhone storage almost full" message
September 23, 2021 - New Delhi,UPDATED: Sep 23, 2021 13:10 IST · Some users are receiving iPhone storage almost full message pop-up after updating to iOS 15. Some users are also reporting that the device onboard storage, in some cases, show more available storage ...
Videos
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AppleVis
applevis.com › forum › ios-ipados › storage-full-even-though-you-have-plenty-storage-space-left
Storage full even though you have plenty of storage space left | AppleVis
My wife has been seeing this same notice on her iPhone 11 Pro Max ever since she upgraded to iOS 15. She's now running iOS 15.2 and it's still happening. Her iPhone storage used is 43GB out of 64GB. That shouldn't trigger this notice. I agree. This should not be coming up like this · Is a bug.
BGR
bgr.com › tech › iphone-storage-almost-full-bug-plaguing-users-who-update-to-ios-15
'iPhone Storage Almost Full' Bug Plaguing Users Who Update To iOS 15 - BGR
December 27, 2022 - — SI (@ftbrowsr) September 22, 2021 · The good news is that the notification is not actually affecting the amount of storage available. Apple hasn't said what is causing the bug, but it shouldn't affect the actual storage available on your device. The bad news is that users can't remove the "iPhone Storage Almost Full" warning from the Settings app.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/ios › ios takes up almost a third of my storage
r/ios on Reddit: iOS takes up almost a third of my storage
September 28, 2025 -
My system data takes up 36.59 GBs.
I know that’s not excessive for an operating system in general, and yes, I know 128 gigs isn’t very much these days, but it still seems crazy to me that the system data is almost 1/3 of a devices storage.
I know they appear to be slowly moving iOS, iPad, OS, and macOS towards some unified multi device operating system (which would be amazing), so there is probably some foundations for that bloating the system that aren’t getting used right now…
But even with that, it just feels kind of nuts for a phone’s operating system to take up such a huge portion of the phones memory.
———
P.s., no Settings doesn’t actually show you how many gigabytes your system data is taking up. I gave a screenshot to ChatGPT that was cropped to the width of the line chart, and I had it right Python code that would use the number of pixels in the system data section divided by the total width of the chart to approximate the gigabytes taken up by system data. Prompt in the comments.
Top answer 1 of 5
20
37Gb of System Data on an iPhone is not normal; it’s a sign something’s gone wrong. “System Data” is a part of the operating system’s way of managing icons, photos, caches, etc. It goes up… and it goes down… and you can’t get rid of it (under normal circs.) Anything up to the size of the operating system itself? That’s fine. It’s how iOS (and iPadOS, come to that) operates. Again under normal circumstances. Very occasionally, due to one or more different things (a bad update, an app not behaving as it should, an app not releasing the cache when it’s finished, a few other reasons) the operating system doesn’t/won’t release the data in there… and the “System Data” grows… and grows… and grows… Again, this only happens very rarely, but when it does, and the system data gets to 30Gb, 40Gb, I’ve even personally seen 60Gb+, the only guaranteed way to clear it is to do a full backup/restore. Again, though, in normal operation, you should never have to do this. It’s only when something goes wrong and the system data grows and grows. If your System Data is that huge? Yeah, something’s gone wrong, When I had it on my iPad, roughly 45Gb that wasn’t going down after a week or so, everyone - including Apple Support - told me to go with the nuclear option: back up to Mac/PC => reset device as new => restore from Mac/PC. Yes, it’s a pain. Yes, it takes some time. And yes, it shouldn’t happen. But again, something has, at this point, gone wrong. It might work, ie get rid of the vast majority of the System Data, if you do an iCloud backup, reset as new, then restore from iCloud backup… but it absolutely does work when it’s backed up/reset as new/restored from backup via a Mac or PC. When I did it, the System Data not only immediately reduced down to single figures, it’s stayed around the 10Gb mark ever since.
2 of 5
8
Same lmao
iDrop News
idropnews.com › how-to › iphone-storage-mysteriously-filling-up-it-might-be-this-system-data-bug › 211540
iPhone Storage Mysteriously Filling Up? It Might Be This System Data Bug
April 11, 2024 - While it’s normal for System Data on your iPhone to take 1–2GB of storage, some people have seen their iPhone’s System Data consume far more than this. In fact, 9to5Mac reported that in one case, iOS System Data consumed 60 GB of storage — ...
Apple Support
support.apple.com › en-us › 102563
If you can't back up to iCloud - Apple Support
Check to make sure that you have enough iCloud storage for the backup.
Quora
quora.com › Why-does-my-iPhone-storage-say-full-when-I-have-18-GB-available
Why does my iPhone storage say full when I have 18 GB available? - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): You have likely used up the storage space, to free up the storage you have to delete or of load apps On your phone go to system settings -looks like a cogwheel -tap system setting go to storage All the application that are on ...
ESRTECH
esrtech.com › blogs › how-to › how-to-fix-iphone-storage-full
How to Fix iPhone Storage Full? (10 ways) - ESR
July 27, 2020 - Running out of space is really very annoying in critical situations. You can solve your full storage issues by implementing these ways and keep using your iPhone without any troubles.
Beebom
beebom.com › users-report-iphone-storage-almost-full-warning-bug-ios-15
Users Report 'iPhone Storage Almost Full' Warning Bug After Installing iOS 15 | Beebom
September 24, 2021 - Home > News > Users Report ‘iPhone Storage Almost Full’ Warning Bug After Installing iOS 15 · Subin B · Published: September 24, 2021 Comments 9 · Share · Copied · Soon after Apple released iOS 15 earlier this week, users started noticing an ‘iPhone Storage Almost Full’ warning in the Settings app.
MacRumors
forums.macrumors.com › news and article discussion › macrumors.com news discussion
Some Users Plagued by Incorrect 'iPhone Storage Almost Full' Alert After Updating to iOS 15 | Page 5 | MacRumors Forums
September 22, 2021 - That’s not an iphone storage almost full. Not by any standard. This is already a documented bug. Third, it’s also already been documented that the notification doesn’t do anytime when you tap on it, unlike a true full storage notification (and I can confirm this myself), and that deleting stuff doesn’t clear the notification at all in this case. We have to wait for the next software update, which will presumably fix this bug. Last edited: Sep 26, 2021 ·
Facebook
facebook.com › groups › 131635646926724 › posts › 9944900222266835
How to fix iPhone storage issues?
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iDownloadBlog
idownloadblog.com › home › ‘iphone storage almost full’ bug impacting some early ios 15 adopters
'iPhone storage almost full' bug impacting some early iOS 15 adopters
September 21, 2021 - As noted today by AppleInsider, ... report says that the iPhone owners who have tried to fix it by deleting data from their device has not resulted in a fix....
Facebook
facebook.com › groups › 222818713883 › posts › 10161796431923884
Can anyone please help me with this issue I've got with my ...
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ZDNET
zdnet.com › home › tech › smartphones › iphone
'iPhone storage almost full' after installing iOS 15? Here's what NOT to do | ZDNET
September 22, 2021 - @AppleSupport I had the ‘iPhone storage almost fullI’ message through all iOS 15 betas. I reported it via feedback app but was never fixed. Just upgraded to final version & it’s still there. Tapping it does nothing. My phone storage is NOT full pic.twitter.com/VZkrRGAbLI— James Moore + (@mrjamesmoore) September 20, 2021
iMore
imore.com › ios › ios 15
'Storage almost full' bug affecting iOS 15 users | iMore
September 23, 2021 - It seems that it is a bug and many other people have it, so we have to wait for a fix by @Apple pic.twitter.com/DzJ4ogdx99— John Champ (@pixelcave_john) September 23, 2021September 23, 2021 · Unfortunately, there's no sign of a fix or workaround, ...
Gadget Hacks
apple.gadgethacks.com › how-to › iphone-system-data-bug-5-proven-fixes-that-actually-work
iPhone System Data Bug: 5 Proven Fixes That Actually Work << Apple :: Gadget Hacks
October 15, 2025 - Start with cache clearing, try the date trick if you need more help, keep the factory reset in reserve for the worst cases. An iPhone with free headroom boots faster, captures photos without delay, and installs updates without conflict.
9to5Mac
9to5mac.com › 2024 › 06 › 25 › iphone-system-data-bug-how-to-fix
iPhone System Data Storage: How to fix - 9to5Mac
June 25, 2024 - Update 6/25/24: Bugs are normal for betas, but we’ve noticed the System Data issue remains with the second iOS 18 beta. My iPhone System Data use jumped up from 8 to 35 GB while one of my teammates’ usage rocketed up to 140 GB. Across Apple’s Community forums, Reddit, and more, iOS users have complained about the iPhone System Data storage bug for years (some reports date back to iOS 13).
AppleInsider
appleinsider.com › articles › 21 › 09 › 21 › iphone-storage-almost-full-message-plaguing-some-ios-15-users
'iPhone storage almost full' message plaguing some iOS 15 users | AppleInsider
September 21, 2021 - Anyone else run into an iOS 15 bug that says "iPhone storage almost full" in Settings when there's plenty of space available? My device has 20GB free and I can't dismiss it. pic.twitter.com/fSQlkBuzA5— Matt Brian (@m4tt) September 20, 2021 · #iOS15 once updated says iPhone storage is almost full.
Macgasm
news.macgasm.net › iphone › iphone storage full? how to clear storage space on your iphone
iPhone Storage Full? How to Clear Storage on iPhone in 2025
However, iOS actually provides multiple ways to both manage and optimize your storage without having to expand it. As long as you’re mindful, you easily stretch that 64 (or even 32) GB. We’ll show you how to avoid the dreaded warning, “iPhone storage is full.”
Published February 24, 2025