How to Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone

This wikiHow teaches you how to free up iCloud space on an iPhone by clearing unneeded photos, videos, and app data.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Clearing Photos and Videos

  1. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 1
    1
    Open the Photos app. It’s the white icon with a multicolored floral symbol inside. You’ll usually find it on the home screen.
  2. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 2
    2
    Tap Select. It’s at the top of the screen.[1]
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  3. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 3
    3
    Tap all photos and videos you want to delete. This adds a blue and white check mark to the bottom-right corner of each thumbnail.
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    4
    Tap the trash icon. It’s at the bottom-right corner of the screen. A confirmation message will appear.
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    5
    Tap Delete. The button will actually say something like ″Delete 45 Videos″ or ″Delete 2 Photos.″ This deletes the selected media from your iCloud library, which frees up iCloud storage space.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Unsyncing App Data

  1. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 6
    1
    Open your iPhone’s Settings
    iPhone Settings App Icon
    .     You’ll usually find this app on your home screen.
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    2
    Tap your name. It’s at the top of the menu.
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    3
    Tap iCloud. It’s at the top of the second section. A list of apps currently syncing to your iCloud account will appear with green switches. Apps that are not syncing have white switches.
    • Synced data can take up a lot of space in your iCloud account. If there’s anything you don’t need to sync, it’s best to disable it if space is becoming an issue.
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    4
    Slide an app’s switch to the Off
    iPhone Switch Off Icon
    to stop it from syncing.     A pop-up will appear.
  5. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 10
    5
    Decide what to do with the existing app data. If you want to keep the data on your iPhone, tap Keep on My iPhone. To free up space on your iPhone as well, select Delete from My iPhone. The app’s data will now be removed from iCloud.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Optimizing iPhone Storage

  1. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 11
    1
    Open your iPhone’s Settings
    iPhone Settings App Icon
    .     You’ll usually find this app on the home screen.
    • This method makes more space available on your iPhone, but may use up extra space in iCloud.
  2. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 12
    2
    Tap your name. It’s at the top of the menu.
  3. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 13
    3
    Tap iCloud. It’s at the top of the second section.
  4. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 14
    4
    Tap Photos. It’s the first option under ″APPS USING ICLOUD.″
  5. Image titled Clear iCloud Storage on iPhone Step 15
    5
    Tap Optimize iPhone Storage. This adds a blue check mark to the option, which means that full-resolution photos and videos will now be replaced with optimized (smaller) versions, while the full-resolution versions will be saved to iCloud.
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References

  1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205856

About This Article

Nicole Levine, MFA
Written by:
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 23,810 times.
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Co-authors: 2
Updated: March 29, 2019
Views: 23,810
Categories: IPhone
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