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How to free up iPhone storage without losing your photos

Updated

Photos and videos are usually the biggest thing on an iPhone, but you can often get space back without deleting any of them. Start by finding out what is actually using the room, then use the settings below. The one thing to avoid is deleting photos from the phone in a hurry. If iCloud Photos is on, that can delete them everywhere.

The safe order is: look, copy everything somewhere else, then clear space.

Before you start

See what is using the space

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap iPhone Storage.

A bar at the top shows how full the phone is, and a list underneath shows each app with the space it uses. Tap an app to see details. Apple notes that cached and temporary data may not be counted in these numbers.

Below the bar you may see recommendations. Tap Show All to read each one. Tap Enable to turn one on, or tap the recommendation to look at what it would remove before you decide.

Turn on Optimize iPhone Storage

This only works if you use iCloud Photos. With it on, your full-size photos and videos live in iCloud, and the phone keeps smaller versions to save space. Apple says it is on by default when you use iCloud Photos.

  1. Open Settings and tap your name.
  2. Tap iCloud, then tap Photos.
  3. Make sure Sync this iPhone is on.
  4. Make sure Optimize iPhone Storage is on.

Apple’s page says that in iOS 27 and later you tap iPhone Storage first in this screen, then find the Optimize option. The menus above match iOS 18 and iOS 26.

Optimize iPhone Storage only helps if your iCloud storage has room for the full library. Check that under Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Storage before relying on it.

What deleting does when iCloud Photos is on

With iCloud Photos on, your iPhone, iPad and Mac are mirrors of one library. Apple says that when you delete a photo or video on one device, it is deleted on every other device signed in to the same Apple Account.

Deleted items go to the Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After that they are removed permanently. Deleting an item from inside Recently Deleted removes it at once, and Apple says you can’t get it back.

So “delete some photos to make room” really means “delete them from iCloud too.” If you only want them off the phone, use Optimize iPhone Storage instead.

Copy everything somewhere else first

Before you delete anything, make one complete copy of your library on a computer or an external drive. Check that you can open a few of the copied files. Only then is it safe to clear space.

Bigger wins that are not photos

Unused apps

In Settings > General > iPhone Storage, tap an app and choose Offload App. This frees the space the app uses and keeps its documents and data. Reinstalling the app brings it back. If you see an Offload Unused Apps recommendation, you can enable it to do this automatically.

Messages

Texts with lots of photos and videos can take up a surprising amount of room. In the iPhone Storage list, tap Messages and look at what is listed there. Apple’s storage page doesn’t give detailed steps for this, so the options you see may vary by iOS version.

Videos

A few long videos can use more space than hundreds of photos. Look at your longest videos first, copy them to a computer, and then decide.

If you’re a Photo Organizing Co client

Please don’t delete anything from your phone to make room before the job. Deleting can remove photos from iCloud as well, and I want to work from everything you have. If the phone is full, tell me and we will sort out a copy together. Turning on Optimize iPhone Storage is fine if you already use iCloud Photos.

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