“Storage Almost Full” tends to arrive at the worst moment. The good news is that your iPhone already tells you what is taking space. You just have to look in the right place.
Check your storage
- Open Settings, then General.
- Tap iPhone Storage.
- Wait for the bar and the app list to load, with the biggest apps first.
- Tap an app for more detail. Apple notes cached and temporary data might not count as usage.
What each category means
- Apps: installed apps, files in On My iPhone and Safari downloads.
- Photos: photos and videos in the Photos app.
- Media: music, videos, podcasts, ringtones and voice memos.
- Messages: messages and their attachments.
- Mail: emails and attachments.
- System: space used by iOS itself, which varies by model.
- Other: non-removable items such as Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, logs, caches and the Spotlight index.
Ways to free space
- Use the recommendations. In iPhone Storage tap Show All, read each suggestion and tap Enable or review the content.
- Offload an app. This frees the app’s space but keeps its documents and data.
- Delete an app. This removes the app and related data. Some apps let you delete just some documents.
- Remove big videos and apps first, as Apple suggests in the “Storage Almost Full” alert.
Apple also says a device low on storage can free up space by removing things it can download again, such as unused apps and temporary files.
Check from a computer
Connect the iPhone to a Mac, open the Finder and select the phone. A bar shows storage by content type. On a PC use the Apple Devices app.
Back up before you delete
If you plan to delete photos, make sure they are backed up. For Mac users, our guide to Time Machine vs iCloud explains the options.
Frequently asked questions
What is “Other” storage?
Apple lists things like Siri voices, fonts, dictionaries, logs, caches and the Spotlight index.
Does offloading delete my data?
No. Apple says it keeps the app’s documents and data.
Sources
Last checked November 3, 2026. Apple changes its instructions between updates, so if a menu looks different on your Mac, check the linked Apple page.
