How to clean iCloud storage on iPhone

Determine what is consuming the most iCloud storage?

The first tip is to immediately determine the reason why iCloud is full. How to find the source of full occupancy of your iCloud storage?

  • On your iPhone go to Settings.
  • Go to Apple ID.
  • Select iCloud.
  • Now. Storage Management.

Now you can see what exactly is filling your storage space. Usually the first positions are located:

  • Photo.
  • Video.
  • Backups.
  • Messages and attachments to them.
  • Messenger cache (WhatsUp, Telegram, etc.).
  • ICloud cloud storage.

Note that movies, books, and music purchased from iTunes do not count towards your iCloud. Also, the snapshots you take, located locally on the device, do not take up space in the cloud storage. But, if you still don’t have enough memory, let’s move on to how to properly clear iCloud.

Delete unnecessary files

Extra and unnecessary files are the biggest reason you run out of iCloud space. Accordingly, they need to be removed. You can do this directly on your phone or using a computer on the cloud storage site. Consider the first option.

  • Open Settings.
  • Go to Apple ID. iCloud.
  • Select Manage Storage. iCloud Drive.
  • Find the files you don’t need. To delete selectively, swipe left on the file and click on the trash can icon.
  • Using a computer, you just need to go to the Apple cloud website and select folders / files that have not been used for a long time. Surely a lot of all kinds of garbage are stored there (in principle, this is always the case for me).

Delete Photos from iCloud

Photos usually take up a lot of iCloud storage. To reduce the amount of iCloud storage you use for photos, you can exclude them from iCloud backups and download all media content to your computer. But remember that Mac also uses iCloud and the transfer to PC process will not work. You can transfer data to a Windows computer or other external storage device. so your precious memories will always remain with you. After that, you will be able to delete all photos and videos from your iCloud storage.

In general, I still advise you to buy paid storage, because external drives are completely unreliable devices. So that you do not worry about data integrity. buy more space on iCloud.

Now let’s start deleting photos and videos from your iCloud. You need to disable photos from cloud backup and delete them.

  • Open Settings.
  • Go to Apple ID. iCloud.
  • Go to the Photos section and click the Disable button.

After that, delete the files from the storage manually, because they have already been copied to your computer and are not needed in iCloud.

Empty your mailbox

Few people know that messages with various attachments in your mailbox take up a lot of iCloud space. This advice is relevant for those who use Apple ID as their mail and iCloud storage to save emails.

  • Open the Mail app.
  • Find letters with the largest attachments. Perhaps someone sent you a video, photo or music. delete them if the media content has been viewed and downloaded to the media for a long time.
  • Swipe left on the email and tap the trash can.
  • Now go to Trash and click the Delete All button to completely erase all emails.

Clean up old backups

To find iCloud backups you need:

  • Go to “Settings”. “Apple ID”.
  • Go to “iCloud”. “Storage Management”.
  • Press the “Backup” button.

If your iCloud backups start to take up too much space. extract important data from them, delete backups that you no longer need, and use an alternative backup solution.

Once you’ve found the backups, click on the old one, which will never be needed again, and select Delete backup. This will greatly free up space on your cloud storage.

tips on how to clear your iCloud storage

Many people run out of iCloud space. Today we’re going to talk about five helpful tips to help you clean up your storage properly. Instructions. further in the material!

Today’s article will surely help you switch from a paid iCloud plan to a free one, because here I will give tips so that your storage will not be 100% full.

By following the tips above, you can significantly free up iCloud cloud storage space. When you start checking how much garbage is stored on your cloud, you will be surprised that most of the data you do not even use, and it starts to weigh a lot over time. Clean up old and unnecessary letters with large attachments, copy all photos, files and backups to your external drive or computer, and then delete them from the cloud. you can free up at least 2-3 gigabytes. I have acquaintances who switched to a free plan with 5 GB of cloud storage after they started to follow it, so everything is in your hands.

How To Delete iCloud Storage | Free Up iCloud Space on iPhone

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How to free up space on iCloud?

After going to Settings → Apple ID (your first and last name) → iCloud → Manage storage, you will probably see the “heaviest” sections “Backups”, “Photos” or iCloud Drive at the top of the list. They are the ones who litter the place in iCloud. Delete unnecessary files to free up space in Apple cloud storage.

clean, icloud, storage, iphone

In addition, you should disable the future creation of automatic backups to iCloud (completely or selectively).

To completely disable iCloud backups, go to Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Backup and disable the Back up to iCloud option.

The optimal option for most users is to manually specify files when creating backups (selective prohibition on copying Media Library data).

Go to Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Storage Management → Backups;

Move the “checkbox” opposite the item “Media Library” (and other applications as desired) to a passive position;

In the same menu, click the “Delete copy” button to clear the cloud;

Return to Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Backup to iCloud and create a new copy without gluttonous photos and media files.

Why iCloud memory ran out

Of course, 5 GB by modern standards is not very much, to put it mildly. However, even this memory is often filled with data that is not really necessary for the user. Usually, the lion’s share of disk space is “eaten up” by backups unnecessary to most, as well as photos and media files, moreover, saved twice.

How does this happen? When the Back up to iCloud option is enabled, the device, being connected to a power source and Wi-Fi, automatically copies the entire library to the cloud, and then additionally creates a backup copy, which also includes all media files.

Why did we call iCloud backups unnecessary for most users? Because, first of all, users are interested in recovering contacts, notes and photos. You don’t need to use automatic iCloud backup to save your contacts, notes, and photos to the Apple cloud. Here you should understand the difference between the concepts: Backup to iCloud and Synchronization with iCloud. We talked about this in detail in this material.

How to view data (photos, videos, files) stored in iCloud?

You can view data stored in iCloud (and optionally delete it) using the web version of Apple’s cloud service hosted at iCloud.com. The main sources of “severity” of the occupied space are data from the Mail, Photos and iCloud Drive web applications. You can delete them if you wish.

How to free up iCloud, or how to clear Apple cloud storage

As you know, Apple gives each registered user (when creating an Apple ID) 5 GB of disk space in the iCloud cloud for free, but many iDevice owners fill up the storage in a matter of weeks and then face the problem of creating a backup copy, copying important data, etc. It is noteworthy that in 99% of cases this situation is the result of incorrect synchronization settings.

Free space on iPhone or iPad is not the same as free space on iCloud

Unfortunately, many users, seeing on the screen the message “Cannot create a backup for this iPhone, because there is not enough free space in iCloud”, without understanding its meaning, begin to delete everything, freeing up the storage of the iOS device.

  • Free space on iPhone or iPad. the remaining space on the iOS device’s storage (internal storage). Everything that is downloaded to the device is stored here (software, applications cache, downloaded and created photos and videos, etc.).
  • ICloud Free Space. Remaining iCloud cloud storage space. Mainly iCloud cloud is for creating automatic backups, as well as for syncing personal data.

How do I increase my iCloud storage? It’s not free?

You can change your iCloud storage plan by going to Settings → Apple ID (your first and last name) → iCloud → Manage storage → Change storage plan.

Current billing plans for iCloud space and their prices:

How to check how much free space is left in iCloud?

It’s quite easy to check this. go to Settings → Apple ID (your first and last name) → iCloud → Storage. The diagram that appears will visually represent the iCloud storage, including the volume used and sorting by type of content.

And what about iCloud Drive?

Another feature that many would like to get rid of is syncing app data to iCloud Drive. For most users, the need to use these data arises less often than the appearance of Halley’s comet. Therefore (if you do not use the Files application on iOS), you can safely recommend completely or selectively disabling this automatic procedure in the Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → iCloud Drive menu.

How to free up space on iPhone

It is important to note that the device’s internal storage and iCloud cloud storage are not the same thing at all. The internal memory of the iPhone or iPad stores all our files and applications that we upload to the device. The cloud storage stores personal data and backups, and also stores an archive of personal files that we want to share with our loved ones.

If the iPhone displays a message that it cannot take a photo or video due to insufficient space on the device, it is necessary to free up space from the internal memory of the gadget. You can do this by deleting unnecessary files stored on your phone or tablet.

You can check the amount of available memory by going to “Settings”, “General”, “About this device”. Here, under the item “Memory capacity”, the column “Available” will be located. The remaining capacity will be indicated here.

What’s Stored in iCloud and Why Clean It Up

In addition to personal files, audio, video, photos, our contacts and backup copies of the system and various instant messengers are stored here. If we don’t have enough space for photos, we just dump them into a computer or upload them to Google Drive. But what to do if you get a message that the iPhone cannot back up due to free space in iCloud?

Free up space in iCloud

iCloud is Apple’s cloud storage. It is received by every user of the Apple device when registering an Apple ID. Only 5 GB is available to us for free. Even those tightening the nuts of Google, which recently began to count the contents of Google photos in the total amount of cloud storage, have 15 GB available. If 5 GB of free memory is not enough for you, the company will kindly provide you with additional gigabytes of total

Clean up space in iCloud

To find out how much free space is left in iCloud, go to “Settings”, “Apple ID” (click on the name under the avatar), “iCloud”, “Storage”.

A linear indication will be displayed here with the level of fullness of the cloud storage, sorted by the type of stored data.

To free up space, in the iCloud window, under the cloud fullness indicator, select “Storage Management”. This will open a list of file types that take up the most space in the cloud.

To disable their synchronization with the storage, it is enough to switch the toggle switch to an inactive state.

To see exactly what files are stored in iCloud, you need the web version of the cloud. Go to cloud.com, enter your Apple ID.

This will open a window with applications Mail, Photos, Contacts, iCloud Drive.

We go into any application and get acquainted with its contents, if necessary, delete unnecessary.

If you have difficulty cleaning iCloud, contact Apple Lab.

How To Delete iCloud Storage / Free Up iCloud Space on iPhone


,99 per month. And if you’re using 200GB or 2TB, you can share storage with your family.

How to clear iCloud storage on iPhone

Space optimization allows you to both clear iCloud storage and update it to fill with new data. Agree, it is strange when the space is occupied, despite the rare interaction with the storage. The problem is with Iclaud’s settings. After all, by default, it copies all iPhone information to the account in order to have access to photos and other resources from any other devices, knowing the AppleID and password.

Most do not want to clog the storage with duplicate information, but only have additional space to expand the amount of different data. This can and should be configured in the application options. It is enough to turn off the automated backup functions of the database of each application and multimedia files, after clearing the iPhone storage of the phone and you can use iCloud as a flash drive with additional data.

What is iCloud storage:

Built-in iPhone backup application for remote access to multimedia data from any device. Initially, iCloud was conceived as a file storage in which you can store additional data, like on a USB flash drive. over, this application can be configured for any of two modes of operation, and free 5 GB of space can be expanded for a fee.

The first problem on the way to cleanup is how to access iCloud storage from an iPhone. To do this, go to the general settings of the iPhone, select the iCloud section. All saved files will be visible in it, as well as their weight. If you select storage properties, you can configure what data should be backed up. multimedia, full phone backup and other application information.

While in the list of iCloud files, you can select separately the archive files that you want to delete. You can also use the Delete All feature to clear your iPhone’s iCloud storage in one go. All information is divided into categories, placed for backup. You can edit what information is allowed to be saved from the phone memory automatically. in the storage properties.

The iCloud location may be different on each iPhone version. If you cannot find on your phone how to clear iCloud storage on your iPhone, you can install iCloud on your computer and log in with your AppleID and password from your phone. Then you can clear the storage from there. The very configuration of the application, as described above, will have to be configured on a handheld device. application settings and other confidential information is saved directly on the smartphone.

Built-in iCloud storage is not only an additional storage space on a remote server, but also a protector for your phone. If you suddenly lose your smartphone, then using iCloud you can find its location. This function is available when logging into iCloud on a computer. You will not be able to change storage, or use someone else’s on the iPhone, because there is a hard link, which can only be removed when the device is completely formatted.