Clean up your phone's storage once a month if you take a lot of photos and video, or as soon as you see a low-storage warning. Start with the big, replaceable stuff: downloaded shows and music, long videos in your camera roll, and apps you haven't opened in months. Those free far more space than clearing caches one app at a time.
Whatever else you do, confirm your photos are backed up before you delete any of them from the phone. That's the step where people lose pictures for good, so it gets its own section below.
Find out what's using the space#
On iPhone#
Open Settings, tap General, then iPhone Storage. Apple's guide to checking storage on iPhone and iPad explains that this screen shows recommendations plus a list of apps sorted by how much space they use. Give it a minute to finish calculating.
Tap any app to see how much is the app itself and how much is its documents and data. A messaging app that's small on its own can be holding years of photos and videos.
On Android#
Open Settings and tap Storage, then pick a category to see what's in it. Google's Android storage help page notes that the exact menus vary by phone, so Samsung, Pixel, and other brands may label things a little differently. Many phones also have a Files app with a cleanup tab that suggests duplicates, old screenshots, and large files.
On both, the "System" or "Other" category is mostly out of your hands. Focus on what you can identify.
A 10-minute monthly phone cleanup#
- Delete downloaded episodes, films, music, and podcasts you've finished. Do it inside each app (Netflix, Spotify, your podcast app), since that's where the downloads live.
- Sort your camera roll by size or open the Videos album. A few minutes of 4K video can take up more space than hundreds of photos. Delete the shaky clips and accidental recordings.
- Clear out screenshots and screen recordings. Most of them were only needed for a day.
- Remove apps you haven't used in a few months. On iPhone, Offload App removes the app but, according to Apple, keeps its documents and data, so you can reinstall later and pick up where you left off. Android has a similar archive option.
- Check your Downloads or Files folder for PDFs, installers, and old attachments.
- Empty Recently Deleted (iPhone Photos) or Trash (Google Photos), but only once you're sure.
That last step is easy to forget. Deleted photos usually sit in a holding folder for 30 days and keep taking up space until they're gone for good.
Before you delete any photos, check the backup#
How deletion works depends on how your photos are set up, and getting this wrong is how people lose years of pictures.
If you use iCloud Photos, deleting a photo on your phone deletes it everywhere. Apple's page on deleting photos on iPhone says the photo is removed from all devices signed in with the same Apple Account, then kept in Recently Deleted for 30 days before it's permanently gone. Your iPhone is not a separate copy.
If you want a smaller photo library on the phone without deleting anything, turn on Optimize iPhone Storage in the iCloud Photos settings. The phone keeps smaller versions and the full-size originals stay in iCloud.
If you use Google Photos on Android, its Free up space tool only removes photos that are already backed up. Google's guide to freeing up space with Google Photos still tells you to make sure your photos are properly backed up first, and notes that photos and videos under 30 days old may stay on the device.
To check a backup is real, open your photo service on a computer or in a web browser and find a few recent photos and an older video. If they open at full quality, you're set.
One cloud account isn't a complete backup, though. The FTC recommends that you regularly back up the data on your phone to the cloud or your computer. For photos you can't replace, copy them into your computer backup as well, so losing the phone and getting locked out of the account at the same time doesn't wipe them out.
Messaging apps, the hidden space hog#
WhatsApp, Messages, Telegram, and similar apps keep every photo, video, and voice note anyone has sent you. Group chats are the worst.
- On iPhone, Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages shows the largest attachments. You can delete them there without deleting the conversations.
- WhatsApp has its own storage manager under Settings > Storage and data > Manage storage, which sorts files by size.
- Turn off auto-saving received media to your camera roll if your photo library is full of other people's memes.
Save anything that matters before deleting it. Some apps sync deletions across your devices.
Clear cache vs. clear storage on Android#
On Android, each app's storage page has two buttons that sound similar and aren't. Google explains that Clear cache deletes temporary data, and the app may be a bit slower the next time it opens. Clear storage permanently deletes all of the app's data, including logins, settings, and anything saved inside it. Use Clear cache freely. Only use Clear storage if you're prepared to set the app up from scratch.
iPhone doesn't have a cache button. When storage runs low, iOS removes things it can download again, like streamed music caches and temporary files, on its own.
What not to do#
- Don't install "cleaner" or "booster" apps. They ask for broad access to your phone, and the built-in tools do the same job.
- Don't delete your authenticator app, password manager, or banking app to save space without checking how you'd get back into those accounts.
- Don't factory reset to free space unless your backups and account recovery details are confirmed. A reset deletes everything on the phone.
- Don't stop the moment there's room for one update. Phones need free space for the camera, downloads, and system updates. Frequent low-storage warnings mean the margin is too thin.
When cleanup isn't enough#
If storage fills up again within days, something specific is growing. Go back to the storage screen and compare with what you saw last time. It's often a stuck download, a messaging app's media, or an offline-maps or music app that downloaded far more than you asked for. Restart the phone and install any pending system and app updates (our software update guide covers why those matter anyway).
If your email app keeps lots of mail offline, an inbox cleanup can help a little, though email is rarely the biggest category.
If you're cleaning up every week just to take photos, the phone may simply be too small for how you use it. Compare the cost of a larger cloud storage plan with a new phone before you buy anything. A monthly reminder (ChoreLists.com can repeat it) will usually keep a reasonably sized phone from getting there.