How do I free up storage space?

Storage panics almost always get solved by deleting the wrong things — apps and photos people actually want — while gigabytes sit in caches, old backups and a downloads folder nobody has looked at in three years. Start with the breakdown screen and you'll usually find most of what you need without losing anything.

Step by step

1. Open the storage breakdown and look at what's actually using the space.iPhone: Settings → General → iPhone Storage. Android: Settings → Storage. Windows: Settings → System → Storage. macOS: System Settings → General → Storage.
2. Empty the downloads folder and the bin.Deleted files still occupy space until the bin is emptied. This alone often frees several gigabytes.
3. Deal with photos and videos, which are usually the largest category on a phone.Video is enormous. Offloading to cloud storage or an external drive is usually the answer — but confirm the upload has completed before deleting anything locally.
4. Clear app caches for the biggest offenders.Streaming, social and map apps cache aggressively. Offloading and reinstalling an app clears its cache while keeping your account.
5. Delete old device backups you no longer need.Old iOS/Android backups and Windows restore points can consume tens of gigabytes.
6. Uninstall apps you haven't opened in a year.Both phone platforms will list apps by last used. It's usually a longer list than expected.
7. On a laptop, check for duplicate media and old system files.Windows: Disk Cleanup including 'Previous Windows installations'. macOS: check the Developer and System Data categories.
8. Set up automatic offloading so it doesn't recur.iCloud Photos 'Optimise Storage', Google Photos backup, or OneDrive Files On-Demand all keep recent files local and older ones in the cloud.

Tips

• Check that a cloud backup has genuinely finished before deleting local copies. 'Uploading' is not 'uploaded', and this is how people lose photos permanently.
• Videos are typically 10–50 times larger than photos. Clearing a handful of long videos often achieves more than deleting a thousand pictures.
• Messaging apps store every image and video ever sent to you. Clearing their media is often the single largest win on a phone.
• 'Other' or 'System Data' categories are usually caches. Restarting the device, then waiting a day, often shrinks them on its own.

Common mistakes

• Deleting photos before confirming the backup completed — The most common way people permanently lose photos. Verify first, on a different device if possible.
• Deleting apps to save space when media is the problem — Apps are usually a small fraction of the total. Check the breakdown before deleting anything.
• Emptying the downloads folder without looking — Occasionally something important lives there. Sort by size, glance at the top items, then clear.
• Installing a 'storage cleaner' app — They mostly do what the built-in tools do, with adverts and permissions attached.

Questions people ask