- Your phone
- Your photos backed up first (see our photo backup guide)
See what's using space
Look before you delete.
📱 iPhone / iPad: Settings > General > iPhone Storage shows a bar chart, a list of apps by size, and suggestions.
🤖 Android: Open Settings > Device care > Storage (on some older Galaxy phones it's Battery and device care). On a Pixel: Settings > Storage, or the Files by Google app > Clean.
Remove apps you don't use
Delete apps you haven't opened in months.
📱 iPhone / iPad: In iPhone Storage, tap an app and choose Offload App (removes the app but keeps your documents and data) or Delete App. To do this automatically, tap Enable next to Offload Unused Apps in iPhone Storage. The same switch is also in Settings > Apps > App Store. An offloaded app stays on your Home Screen; tap it to download it again.
🤖 Android: In Device care > Storage, tap Unused apps, pick the apps you don't need, and tap Uninstall. You can also touch and hold an app icon and tap Uninstall. Some phones also offer Settings > Apps > [app] > Archive, which keeps your data. Pixel: uninstall from the Play Store, or touch and hold the icon.
Clear out videos and big downloads
Videos take the most room. Delete old ones you don't need, and clear your Downloads folder of old PDFs and attachments.
Use your photo backup
If your photos are backed up, let the phone keep smaller copies.
📱 iPhone / iPad: If you use iCloud Photos, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud > Photos. Tap iPhone Storage, then choose Optimize iPhone Storage. Your phone keeps smaller copies, and the full-size originals stay in iCloud.
🤖 Android: In Google Photos, tap your profile picture, then look for Free up space. It removes only photos that are already backed up.
⚠️ Careful: only do this after checking your photos really are in the cloud.Empty “Recently Deleted”
Deleted photos don't free up space right away. They wait in a Recently Deleted album (iPhone) or Trash (Samsung Gallery and Google Photos) for a while before they're gone. Empty it to get the space back now.
📱 iPhone / iPad: Open the Photos app and tap Collections. Scroll down to Utilities and tap Recently Deleted. Unlock it with Face ID (or your passcode). Tap Select, then the More button (three dots), then Delete All, and confirm. If you don't, items are erased on their own after 30 days.
🤖 Android: In the Gallery app, tap Menu (three lines, bottom right), then Trash (called Recycle bin on some phones), then the three dots, Empty, and Delete. Items are erased on their own after 30 days. If you use Google Photos (for example on a Pixel): Collections > Trash > three dots > Empty trash.
⚠️ Careful: once you empty it, those photos are gone for good. Look through it first.Tidy up messages
Long text threads with lots of photos and videos add up. Delete old ones, or set your phone to remove old messages automatically (iPhone: Settings > Apps > Messages > Keep Messages, then choose 1 Year or 30 Days).
On iPhone, deleted texts also wait in their own Recently Deleted list for up to 30 days. To clear them now, open Messages, tap the filter button at the top right (three lines), then Recently Deleted. Select the conversations, tap Delete, and confirm. Menu names vary by phone maker and software version. These steps were checked against official help pages in October 2026; if you don't see a label, search for it in your phone's Settings.
Learn where “the cloud” fits in: What does the cloud really mean?
Still full? See “Storage full”? Your photo options, explained.
Related game: Tech Term Match. Related explainer: What does “the cloud” really mean? .