iPhone storage still full after deleting photos? Check these first
By Ahmet Karaca, Akaya Labs, maker of Bytebye · Updated
Deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days and keep using space until that album is emptied. If Optimize iPhone Storage is on, your phone may only have held smaller copies, so deleting frees less than you expect. And photos may not be what is filling your iPhone at all.
1. Empty Recently Deleted
This is the most common cause. To free the space now: open Photos, tap Collections, swipe up and tap Recently Deleted under Utilities. iOS asks for Face ID or Touch ID. Tap Select, choose the items, tap More, then Delete or Delete All.
This cannot be undone. Apple says items deleted from this album cannot be recovered, so look through it first.
2. Check Optimize iPhone Storage
With this setting on, Apple keeps full-resolution originals in iCloud and space-saving copies on your device when needed. Deleting such a photo frees the size of the small copy on your phone, not the size of the original. The rest comes back in your iCloud storage. The setting is in Settings → Apps → Photos on recent iOS versions, and Settings → Photos on older ones.
3. Tell iPhone storage and iCloud storage apart
They are separate. iPhone storage is the space on the phone. iCloud storage is your online allowance, 5 GB for free. Deleting from iCloud Photos can fix a full iCloud without changing much on the phone, and the other way round.
4. Remember that deleting is not local
With iCloud Photos on, Apple says a deleted photo is also deleted on your other devices using the same Apple Account. If you want to keep a copy elsewhere, make it before you delete.
5. See what is actually using the space
Go to Settings → General → iPhone Storage. If apps or system data take more than Photos, no amount of photo cleaning will solve it.
Where Bytebye helps, and where it does not
We make Bytebye. It works only with your photo and video library: it finds duplicates, similar shots, screenshots, blurry photos and large videos. It cannot touch apps or system data. Its space figure adds up the file sizes iOS reports, so with Optimize iPhone Storage on, your phone may free less than the figure and iCloud the rest. Deleted items go to Recently Deleted as usual, so step 1 still applies.
Sources
- Apple: Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad
- Apple: Manage your photo and video storage
- Apple: How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad
Related guides
Free to scan · no account · iOS 15 or later
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