How to Free Up iCloud Storage Space?
Posted: 16 Jan 2017 16:56
Apple offers 5 GB of free iCloud space to everyone, but you’ll run up against that storage limit sooner than you’d think. Device backups, photos, documents, iCloud email, and other bits of data all share that space.
If you have multiple iOS devices, you’ll run out even faster. That free 5 GB is per Apple ID, not per device, so it’s a good idea to free up wasted space before paying for more.
To see how much you currently have, open the Settings app, select “iCloud”, and find where it says “Storage” to view how much space you have left in your iCloud account.
If things are starting to get low, here are a few things you can do.
Manage Your Backups
Each iPhone or iPad you own automatically backs up data from your installed apps to your iCloud account. To see your iCloud backups, navigate to iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage in Settings. This screen shows how much space everything is using in your iCloud account, including backups and app data. iCloud only keeps the latest backup for each of your devices. Tap a device at the top to view more details about the backup.
Back Up Photos Elsewhere
To free up space, you can disable iCloud Photo Library and Photo Stream by tapping on “Photos” from the main iCloud screen and disabling these features.
Delete Documents & Data
Tap an app under the “Documents & Data” section to view files that are taking up space. Swipe a file to the left and tap “Delete” to delete it from your iCloud storage. Be careful when doing this, though, as you could delete important documents and other files you might want to keep.
Prune Your iCloud Mail
If you’re using Apple’s iCloud Mail, your email also counts toward your iCloud storage usage. Free up space by deleting emails, especially emails with large file attachments.
If you have multiple iOS devices, you’ll run out even faster. That free 5 GB is per Apple ID, not per device, so it’s a good idea to free up wasted space before paying for more.
To see how much you currently have, open the Settings app, select “iCloud”, and find where it says “Storage” to view how much space you have left in your iCloud account.
If things are starting to get low, here are a few things you can do.
Manage Your Backups
Each iPhone or iPad you own automatically backs up data from your installed apps to your iCloud account. To see your iCloud backups, navigate to iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage in Settings. This screen shows how much space everything is using in your iCloud account, including backups and app data. iCloud only keeps the latest backup for each of your devices. Tap a device at the top to view more details about the backup.
Back Up Photos Elsewhere
To free up space, you can disable iCloud Photo Library and Photo Stream by tapping on “Photos” from the main iCloud screen and disabling these features.
Delete Documents & Data
Tap an app under the “Documents & Data” section to view files that are taking up space. Swipe a file to the left and tap “Delete” to delete it from your iCloud storage. Be careful when doing this, though, as you could delete important documents and other files you might want to keep.
Prune Your iCloud Mail
If you’re using Apple’s iCloud Mail, your email also counts toward your iCloud storage usage. Free up space by deleting emails, especially emails with large file attachments.