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Phone says storage is full but I still have 12 GB of storage

HELP. My phone will not let me download apps, take pictures, sometimes even send messages because it says my storage is all used up. But, when I go into manage storage it says 20.3 GB of 32 GB have been used. If anyone has any tips I would be so grateful. This is extremely frustrating :)

iPhone 7

Posted on Sep 20, 2019 8:55 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 20, 2019 8:59 AM

If your device is almost full and iOS can't free up space on your device, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, you should check the storage recommendations or you need to offload some less-used content like videos and apps. 


Content categories

iOS divides the used content in these categories:

  • Apps: Installed apps and their content
  • Photos: Photos and videos stored in the Photos app
  • Media: Music, videos, podcasts, ringtones, and artwork
  • Mail: Emails and their attachments
  • Apple Books: Books and PDFs in the Books app
  • Messages: Messages and their attachments
  • iCloud Drive: iCloud Drive content that has been downloaded locally to your device.
  • Other: Everything else, like system files, software updates, Siri voices, cached files, logs, and more.

iOS only displays the top categories. If a category doesn't take much space, it might be counted as "Other." Storage space taken by "System" is a combination of space taken by iOS and its supporting files. The amount of space required by "System" varies from device to device depending on the device type, model, country, carrier, Siri voices, and more.

Use recommendations to optimize storage

In the Storage section of Settings, iOS might offer recommendations for optimizing your device's storage. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.

Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.


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



4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 20, 2019 8:59 AM in response to annieblanch

If your device is almost full and iOS can't free up space on your device, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, you should check the storage recommendations or you need to offload some less-used content like videos and apps. 


Content categories

iOS divides the used content in these categories:

  • Apps: Installed apps and their content
  • Photos: Photos and videos stored in the Photos app
  • Media: Music, videos, podcasts, ringtones, and artwork
  • Mail: Emails and their attachments
  • Apple Books: Books and PDFs in the Books app
  • Messages: Messages and their attachments
  • iCloud Drive: iCloud Drive content that has been downloaded locally to your device.
  • Other: Everything else, like system files, software updates, Siri voices, cached files, logs, and more.

iOS only displays the top categories. If a category doesn't take much space, it might be counted as "Other." Storage space taken by "System" is a combination of space taken by iOS and its supporting files. The amount of space required by "System" varies from device to device depending on the device type, model, country, carrier, Siri voices, and more.

Use recommendations to optimize storage

In the Storage section of Settings, iOS might offer recommendations for optimizing your device's storage. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.

Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.


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



Oct 1, 2019 11:58 PM in response to NinaNikKing

I did all of the recommendations read all instructions everywhere already 2 weeks dealing with this. Deleted all messages cash history apps pics and still full. Can’t connect to iTunes on pc and this morning I’ve tried to back up to iCloud and it drops off WiFi connection and it show that backup wasn’t completed. This grey with other I see only when I do factory reset otherwise it shows I have 17 gb available but nothing works. Sometimes I can’t even call because shows no storage

Phone says storage is full but I still have 12 GB of storage

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