The best tips for managing your iPhone’s storage

One of the most frustrating prompts an iPhone user can get is ‘Storage Almost Full.’

Whether you’re trying to update your phone, download a movie before catching a flight, or record video, having no storage on your iPhone is incredibly frustrating. With any device, it’s ideal to have approximately 10 percent unused storage to ensure ample space for cached files and daily tasks. Letting your device’s storage get too close to full could result in sluggish performance, freezing and crashes. 

It sucks attempting to comb through photos and apps figuring out what to remove just to recover a sliver of space. In an ideal world, getting more storage than you currently have to prepare for your future storage needs is always best as apps and files get larger. Of course, we don’t always operate in the ideal world and sometimes come up against storage limitations. 

So, here are seven tips to help you better manage your iPhone’s storage.

Check iPhone Storage

Before haphazardously deleting photos and apps, it’s best to check your iPhone’s storage, how much is being used, and what’s taking up that space. Apps themselves and the data they store vary in size. Sometimes, that data is just cached files, with social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat being major culprits of their apps slowly growing larger over time. Other times, that app data could be downloaded content, like how I have YouTube download my Watch Later list, inflating the app’s size. 

iPhone storage is measured in gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB), with current models being 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. Meanwhile, apps and files are mostly kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), or gigabytes. 1TB=1,024GB. 1GB=1,024MB. 1MB=1,024 KB. Notice a pattern? The larger unit is made up of 1,024 smaller units. When reviewing data to be removed to free up storage on your iPhone, focus on the largest files and apps. Deleting a 3MB doesn’t impact a 128GB iPhone much, while removing a 1.5GB video makes a much greater difference. 

To check your iPhone’s used storage:
1. Open Settings
2. Tap General
3. Tap iPhone Storage

Offload and Delete Apps

Now that you’re reviewing your iPhone’s storage you can pick out apps that take up a lot of space or that you just aren’t using anymore. The iPhone Storage page lists all apps installed organized by name, last used date, or file size. Swiping right to left or tapping on an app in the list presents you with two options: Offload App and Delete App.

Delete App is the default option for most, as it removes the app and its associated data from the device. Delete App is the best option for apps you do not intend to use again. In contrast, Offload App is likely best described as a soft de