How to Check Storage on iPhone

Your iPhone says storage is almost full, or a photo will not save. The iPhone Storage screen shows exactly where the space went and lets you clear it app by app.

Open iPhone Storage

Open Settings, General, iPhone Storage. The screen can take several seconds to load while it calculates sizes, so wait until the numbers stop changing.

Read the bar at the top

The line above the bar reads, for example, 118 GB of 128 GB used. The colored bar below it splits that total into categories such as Apps, Photos, Media, iOS, and System Data. This is the quickest way to tell whether apps or photos are the problem.

Review the recommendations

Below the bar, iOS suggests fixes under Recommendations, such as Offload Unused Apps, Review Large Attachments, or Review Downloaded Videos. Tap Show All to see every suggestion. Each one shows how much space it would free before you commit to it.

Scroll the app list

Every installed app is listed from largest to smallest with its total size on the right. That number combines the app itself and everything it has stored. Messaging and streaming apps usually sit near the top because of cached media and downloads.

Tap an app to see what it uses

Tap any app. The detail screen splits its footprint into App Size, the app as downloaded from the App Store, and Documents & Data, the files, caches, and downloads it has created since. When Documents & Data is the larger number, clearing content inside the app (downloaded episodes, cached chats) frees more than reinstalling it.

Offload or delete the app

Two buttons sit at the bottom of the detail screen. Offload App removes the app but keeps its documents and data and leaves its icon on the Home Screen, so a tap on the icon reinstalls it with everything intact. It frees only the App Size number. Delete App removes the app and all of its data and frees the full amount. Confirm when asked.

System Data grows over time. It holds caches, logs, and temporary files that iOS manages on its own, and there is no button to clear it. It often shrinks after a restart or after the phone sits on a charger overnight.

If Photos is the biggest category. Turn on iCloud Photos and choose Optimize iPhone Storage in Settings, Apps, Photos (Settings, Photos on iOS 17 and earlier). Full-size originals stay in iCloud and the phone keeps smaller versions, which can free tens of gigabytes without deleting anything.