You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

5gb more than actual storage used

Hello! My ipad has 16gb of storage. so i have trouble downloading large apps, i wanted to delete some apps to free up some space and i even deleted almost all the apps! but the used storage is still so big and the system takes about 6.19gb of the storage space. the used storage has gone down 1gb when i deleted some apps. but i just realized when i calculated all the storage used by the remaining apps and the system, it all should be less than 8gb but it says the storage used is 12.9gb. 5gb more than the totality of all my apps, photos and system. is this because of iCloud? or because something that takes up space doesn't show up in the storage section? or maybe because of a glitch or something wrong?

iPad mini 4, iPadOS 14

Posted on Sep 14, 2022 7:58 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 15, 2022 6:56 AM

Starting at the beginning…


If your internal storage is full, your only option is to better manage the storage that you have - and delete unused Apps or unneeded data. 


These support pages should prove to be helpful:

About storage on your device and in iCloud – Apple Support

What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? – Apple Support

Manage your iCloud storage – Apple Support

How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – Apple Support

Clear Other storage on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support


“Offloading” Apps can be a helpful method of creating temporary space for the software update.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/01/21/how-to-offload-apps-in-ios-to-save-space-without-deleting-their-data/


Additional information about creating sufficient space for installation of a software update can be found here:

If you need more space for an update on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


Updating your iPad using a PC or Mac computer can reduce the amount of free-space necessary to perform the update - as the initial download, unpacking and verification is performed on the computer prior to installation. However, even this method is not possible if your iPad has too little free space.


As for your System Data…



As you can see from this screenshot, System Data includes various system caches, logs and system resources. The only element that you can directly influence is perhaps your browser caches - which you can manually clear if you wish to do so.


For Safari:

Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data


For other browsers, you’ll need to find the relevant section of the App settings - which may be within the App itself.


Otherwise, transient system caches can be significantly reduced by performing a forced-restart of your iPad - although caches, by their nature, will again accumulate and be automatically managed by the operating system.


Forced-restart


  • On an iPad with a Home button: Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.
  • On other iPad models: Press and quickly release the volume up button, press and quickly release the volume down button, then press and hold the top button. When the Apple logo appears, release the button.


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 15, 2022 6:56 AM in response to sgc32

Starting at the beginning…


If your internal storage is full, your only option is to better manage the storage that you have - and delete unused Apps or unneeded data. 


These support pages should prove to be helpful:

About storage on your device and in iCloud – Apple Support

What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? – Apple Support

Manage your iCloud storage – Apple Support

How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – Apple Support

Clear Other storage on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support


“Offloading” Apps can be a helpful method of creating temporary space for the software update.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/01/21/how-to-offload-apps-in-ios-to-save-space-without-deleting-their-data/


Additional information about creating sufficient space for installation of a software update can be found here:

If you need more space for an update on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


Updating your iPad using a PC or Mac computer can reduce the amount of free-space necessary to perform the update - as the initial download, unpacking and verification is performed on the computer prior to installation. However, even this method is not possible if your iPad has too little free space.


As for your System Data…



As you can see from this screenshot, System Data includes various system caches, logs and system resources. The only element that you can directly influence is perhaps your browser caches - which you can manually clear if you wish to do so.


For Safari:

Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data


For other browsers, you’ll need to find the relevant section of the App settings - which may be within the App itself.


Otherwise, transient system caches can be significantly reduced by performing a forced-restart of your iPad - although caches, by their nature, will again accumulate and be automatically managed by the operating system.


Forced-restart


  • On an iPad with a Home button: Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.
  • On other iPad models: Press and quickly release the volume up button, press and quickly release the volume down button, then press and hold the top button. When the Apple logo appears, release the button.


5gb more than actual storage used

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.