How to delete 13GB of Contact Photos from iCloud when only 39 contacts exist?

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How to delete 13GB of Contact Photos from iCloud when only 39 contacts exist?

Question:

I’m having a serious iCloud storage issue. My iCloud shows 13GB used for “Contact Images”, even though I only have 39 contacts. This caused my iCloud to exceed the free 5GB limit, and I stopped receiving emails because of it. I had to upgrade to the 50GB plan just to get mail working again.

The bigger problem: I can’t delete these 13GB at all.

This issue has been going on for about two months. I’ve already tried everything I can think of: restart, sign-out/sign-in, disabling iCloud Contacts, factory reset, etc. Nothing fixed it.

I know my device is old and I’m planning to upgrade to an iPhone 17, but because of this bug I’m honestly reconsidering staying in the Apple ecosystem.

I’ve attached screenshots.

Has anyone experienced this before, and is there a real solution?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Can’t delete the data - iCloud shows 13GB used by Contact Photos even though I only have 39 contacts

iPhone X

Posted on Nov 26, 2025 12:26 AM

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Answer 1

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zinacef

Level 10

88,720 points

Dec 4, 2025 4:06 PM in response to mia__20

This severe "Contact Images" storage bug is a known server-side database corruption often called a "Zombie Container," where data marked for deletion fails to purge and remains stuck in a "pending" state indefinitely. Since the "Being Deleted" banner has persisted for months, standard phone troubleshooting like resetting will not work because the error lies on Apple's servers rather than your device.

Your best immediate option is to back up your contacts locally, log into iCloud.com on a computer, and delete all contacts there to attempt a forced recalculation of the storage container; however, if this fails, you must contact Apple Support and specifically request a Senior Advisor to perform a "server-side storage allocation reset" or clear the "orphaned container" to fix the corrupted reserved storage.

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