Free up storage space on your phone: fix a full phone
Why does your phone run out of storage?
The "Storage Almost Full" warning is one of the most frustrating messages you can get on your smartphone. When your phone runs out of storage, you can no longer take new photos, install apps or download updates. Your phone may even become slower or freeze.
But how does your storage fill up so quickly? The culprits are usually photos and videos, app data, downloaded files and cache. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to free up space without losing important files.
What takes up the most space?
The following usually take up the most storage space:
- Photos and videos: High-quality videos in particular take up a lot of space
- Apps and app data: Games and social media apps can grow to several gigabytes
- Messages with attachments: WhatsApp photos and videos pile up quickly
- Downloaded files: Documents, music and downloads you forget about
- Cache and temporary files: Accumulated data that apps store
- System and other: Sometimes invisible files that take up space
Checking your storage usage
The first step is to find out exactly what is using your storage. Both iPhone and Android offer detailed overviews.
Viewing storage usage on iPhone
- Open Settings
- Tap General
- Select iPhone Storage
- Wait for the analysis to finish
You now see an overview with colored bars showing how much space each category uses. Scroll down for a list of all apps sorted by size.
Viewing storage usage on Android
- Open Settings
- Tap Storage or Storage space
- View the overview per category
On Samsung phones you can find this under Settings > Device care > Storage. You can tap each category for more details.
Cleaning up photos and videos
For most people, photos and videos are the biggest space hogs. There are several ways to save space here.
Permanently deleting removed photos
When you delete photos, they first go to a trash folder or a "Recently Deleted" album. These files still take up space!
On iPhone:
- Open the Photos app
- Tap Albums at the bottom
- Scroll down and tap Recently Deleted
- Tap Select and then Delete All or Erase All
On Android:
- Open Google Photos or your gallery app
- Tap Library > Trash
- Tap Empty trash or select and delete items
Moving photos to the cloud
By uploading your photos to a cloud service, you can remove them from your phone while they stay safely stored.
iCloud Photos (iPhone):
- Go to Settings > [Your name] > iCloud > Photos
- Turn on iCloud Photos
- Select Optimize iPhone Storage
This keeps small versions on your phone and the full versions in the cloud.
Google Photos (Android and iPhone):
- Open the Google Photos app
- Tap your profile picture > Photos settings
- Turn on Backup
- After the backup, you can remove the local copies via Free up space
Deleting duplicate and blurry photos
You probably have lots of duplicate photos or failed shots that you can delete.
On iPhone (iOS 16 and later):
- Open Photos > Albums
- Scroll to Duplicates
- Tap Merge to combine duplicate photos
On Android: Use the built-in feature in Google Photos or download an app such as "Files by Google" that finds duplicate files automatically.
Cleaning up and removing apps
Apps can take up a surprising amount of space, mainly because of stored data and caches.
Removing unused apps
Check which apps you no longer use and remove them.
On iPhone:
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
- View the list of apps and their size
- Tap an app and choose Delete App
Tip: iPhone also shows when you last used an app, which is handy for spotting unused apps.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Apps
- Sort by size to see the largest apps
- Tap an app and choose Uninstall
Clearing the app cache
Apps store temporary data in a cache. Clearing it can free up a lot of space.
On iPhone: Unfortunately, iOS has no general option to clear the cache. You have to delete and reinstall apps individually, or look for an option to clear the cache inside the app itself.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Apps
- Select an app (such as Chrome or Facebook)
- Tap Storage or Storage & cache
- Tap Clear cache
Offloading apps (iPhone only)
iPhone has a handy feature to remove apps temporarily while keeping their data.
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
- Tap an app
- Choose Offload App
The app icon stays on your Home Screen with a small cloud. Tap it to download the app again with all your data intact.
You can also automate this:
- Go to Settings > App Store
- Turn on Offload Unused Apps
Cleaning up messages and attachments
Messaging apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage and Telegram can store gigabytes of photos, videos and voice messages.
Cleaning up WhatsApp
- Open WhatsApp > Settings
- Tap Storage and data > Manage storage
- You see an overview of files per chat
- Tap Larger than 5 MB to find large files
- Select and delete files you do not need
Turning off automatic downloads:
- Go to Settings > Storage and data
- Under Media auto-download, turn off items for mobile data and Wi-Fi
Cleaning up iMessage (iPhone)
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
- Tap Messages
- Review Photos, Videos and other categories
- Swipe left on items to delete them
Setting up automatic deletion:
- Go to Settings > Messages
- Under Message History, tap Keep Messages
- Choose 30 Days or 1 Year instead of Forever
Cleaning up downloads and documents
Downloaded files are often forgotten, but they still take up space.
Finding and deleting downloads on iPhone
- Open the Files app
- Tap Browse > On My iPhone > Downloads
- Review and delete files you do not need
- Also check the iCloud Drive folder for downloaded files
Finding and deleting downloads on Android
- Open the Files app (or My Files on Samsung)
- Tap Downloads
- Select and delete files you no longer need
Tip: Use "Files by Google" for a handy interface to find and delete unnecessary files.
System and other storage
Sometimes "System" or "Other" takes up a lot of space. This can be tricky to solve, but there are a few options.
Clearing the system cache on Android
Some Android phones have an option to clear the system cache via recovery mode. This varies by manufacturer and model.
Restarting your iPhone
A simple restart can sometimes clean up temporary system files.
Backing up and restoring
If "Other" or "System" is inexplicably large, making a full backup and then restoring the phone can help. This is a drastic measure, so make sure your backup is complete.
Prevention: keeping your phone from filling up
After you have freed up space, you want to prevent the problem from coming back.
Tips for lasting space
- Turn on automatic backups of your photos to the cloud
- Clean up regularly: schedule a moment for it every month
- Delete downloads right away after use
- Use streaming instead of downloading music and videos
- Turn off WhatsApp automatic downloads
- Take photos at a lower resolution if you take a lot of photos
- Delete old conversations you no longer need
Frequently asked questions about storage space
How much storage do I need on my phone?
That depends on how you use it. For the average user, 64 GB is the minimum these days. Do you take a lot of photos and videos, or do you have many apps? Then 128 GB or more is recommended. Gamers and people who keep a lot of offline content (movies, music) are better off choosing 256 GB or more. Also consider cloud storage as a supplement.
Why does "Other" or "System Data" take up so much space?
The "Other" or "System Data" category contains caches, logs, Siri voices, software updates and other system files. This can add up to several gigabytes. Try restarting your phone, clearing the Safari cache and removing offline content from streaming apps. In stubborn cases, making a backup and restoring the phone can help.
Will I lose my photos if I use iCloud Photos and delete the local versions?
No, your photos stay safely stored in iCloud. When you use "Optimize iPhone Storage", the original full-quality photos are kept in iCloud and only smaller versions are kept on your phone. You can always download the original version when you need it. Do make sure you have enough iCloud storage for all your photos.
Can I expand my phone's storage?
On iPhones it is not possible to expand the internal storage. You depend on cloud storage. Many Android phones do have an SD card slot that lets you expand the storage. Check the specifications of your model. An alternative for both systems is using external storage via USB-C or Lightning, or transferring files to your computer.
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