How to free up iCloud space

Apple doesn’t offer much in the way of free iCloud storage, backups and app data can quickly consume hundreds of gigabytes. If your iCloud is full, here are some ways to free up iCloud space. If you delete something from your iCloud storage and don’t have a backup, that data will disappear forever. Be careful and make sure you don’t remove the only copy of a file.

You have 30 days to restore files that you have deleted from your iCloud storage, after which time they cannot be recovered. If you have chosen to permanently delete a file, it will disappear immediately with no possibility of recovery. We are not responsible for any data that you permanently lose by following the instructions below.

Also Read: How To Delete iCloud Backups

Before you start freeing up iCloud space, you need to know why all your iCloud space has run out. You can see the breakdown of iCloud space usage in several ways. If you are using iPhone the iPad, apri Settings> Your name> iCloud. Su Macselect Menu Apple > Preferenze di Sistema > ID Apple > iCloud. If you only have access to a web browser, go to iCloud.com, sign in and select Account settings. Using this simple breakdown, you can quickly know what is consuming all of your iCloud space.

How to free up iCloud space

Some applications make backups of their data and then store those backups on iCloud. This is obviously a good thing, but some apps may be running too many backups or having excessively large ones. You can manually delete app backups on an iPhone or iPad. You open Settings> Your Name> iCloud> Manage Storage. Select Backup. Select the device you want to manage. Disable any apps you don’t want to back up.

By default, you’ll only see the five apps with the largest backups, but if you select Show all apps you can disable any application from being part of your iCloud backup. This is useful if larger app backups are indeed crucial. Many smaller app backups can add up quickly, and you probably don’t need to back up all the apps on your device.

Manage and delete backups

Out of iCloud space is likely to be the fault of iCloud device backups. You open Settings > Your name > iCloud > Manage space of archiving. Select Backup. Select the device you want to manage. Select Delete backup, so Deactivate and delete. This option has a double effect. It removes the backup from your iCloud storage, and also prevents creating new backups for that device. If you have a device that you still use but don’t need to back up, this is the way to go.

How to make space on iCloud by deleting iMessage attachments and voice memos

Some Apple applications can take up a large chunk of iCloud space after a while due to the accumulation of many small files. Apple iMessage is a major culprit, some users have huge chat history logs. Text messages take up a negligible amount of space, so if you just want to save space it’s not worth deleting. What can take up a lot of space in iMessage are multimedia elements like photos. Fortunately, it’s easy to view and delete images quickly, allowing you to delete the ones you no longer want.

Open theMessages app on your iPhone or iPad. Open the conversation in question. Select the contact name. Select theInformation icon. Select See all. Tap the Select button. Choose the photos you want to delete, then use the Delete button to remove them. It is worth mentioning that you can set iMessage to automatically delete messages and their attachments after a certain time. If you look in Settings > Messages > Message history > Keep messages you can choose to keep messages for only 30 days or a year, rather than indefinitely.

Read also: How iPhone warranty works

Delete iCloud photos

Deleting a photo on your local device will also delete it in iCloud Photos and any other devices connected to your Apple ID, with iCloud Photos turned on. This is the easiest way to free up iCloud space, just delete unwanted photos and videos on your local Apple device. You can also go to iCloud.com and select and delete videos and photos in the Photos section.

Apple provides a 30-day safety net when you delete photos or videos. You will find the items you deleted in the Recently Deleted Photos section. You can recover the ones you accidentally deleted, but you can also permanently delete them before the 30-day window from this screen as well.

Delete folders and files to free up iCloud space

If you delete folders and files from iCloud, you will have more space available. While it’s simple in practice, many users probably have no idea how to permanently delete folders and files from iCloud. The easiest way to do this is from a browser. Go up iCloud.com in the browser that you prefer. Log in using your Apple ID credentials. Select iCloud Drive. Select the folder or file you want to delete, and select the Delete icon.

If you want to delete files or folders using iPhone or iPad. Open theapp File. Select Browse. Under Locations, select iCloud Drive. Delete files and folders as you normally would.

Also Read: How to Backup iPhone to iCloud

Buy more iCloud space

If you are very careful and only store selected data, you can manage iCloud and get within 5GB for free. However, we strongly recommend that you purchase a larger iCloud space. Using the Family Sharing feature, you can share a 200GB or 2TB membership with all members of your Family Sharing group. They all have separate private accounts, but the available storage space is dynamically shared between users. Usually, we don’t propose to spend any money, but Apple’s storage plans are exceptionally cheap and are definitely worth more than the hassle of managing your iCloud space.