iPhone StorageSource: iMore

Whether you have the best iPhone with 64GB or 512GB, getting a storage space error message sucks. When you run out of storage space, it halts your ability to enjoy the phone the way you want. Taking photos, downloading music, installing apps, and other everyday tasks on your iPhone require space. You may also need to reconsider which iCloud storage plan you should get if you haven't already. But if you don't want to pay more for iCloud, you're not out completely of luck.

Luckily, there are a few options to free up storage space on your iPhone that streamline the process of deleting files, apps, and other data to make it easier and faster for you to free up some storage space; here's how!

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How to enable offload unused apps on your iPhone and iPad

If you haven't used an app in a long time, it's just sitting on your home screen, taking up space. Obviously, you can delete apps individually at any time; however, iOS gives you the option of removing all the apps you haven't touched recently. This will definitely free up storage space on your iPhone if you aren't particularly good at organizing your apps.

  1. Launch Settings from your Home screen.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap iPhone Storage.

  4. Tap Enable beside Offload Unused Apps.

    Enable Offload unused apps: Launch Settings, tap General, tap iPhone Storage, tap Enable beside Offload Unused Apps.Source: iMore

This will delete apps that you haven't used in quite some time; however, it will keep all your documents and data so that you won't lose anything too important. The app icon will remain on your iPhone, so you can quickly reinstall it by tapping it when you want to use it again.

How to disable offload unused apps on your iPhone and iPad

While the aforementioned enabling of offloading unused apps is supposed to help you clear out the clutter of apps you haven't used in a long time, sometimes that can prove to be problematic. What happens if an offloaded app is no longer available on the App Store, for example, and you can't redownload it? If you decide you want to disable this setting, it's easy to do.

  1. Launch Settings from your Home screen.
  2. Tap App Store

  3. Tap the Offload Unused Apps On/Off switch. When the switch goes gray, that means it's off.

    Disable Offload unused apps: Launch Settings, tap App Store, tap the toggle on Offload Unused Apps so it's off.Source: iMore

How to review large attachments on iPhone and iPad

When you send and receive images, animated GIFs, or other media through messages, those create attachments that can end up taking up a lot of storage space. iOS gives you the option to review them all in one convenient place so you can free up storage space on your iPhone.

  1. Launch Settings from your Home screen.
  2. Tap General.

  3. Tap iPhone Storage.

    Review large attachments on iPhone and iPad by showing Phone Storage in Settings: Launch settings, tap general, and then tap iPhone storage.Source: iMore

  4. Tap Messages. You may need to scroll down the page to see it.

  5. Tap Review Large Attachments

    Review large attachments in iPhone Storage: Tap Messages and then tap Review Large Attachments.Source: iMore

From here, you'll be able to see every attachment you have in your messages and will be able to delete them. Unfortunately, there is no quick way to delete all of them, so you'll have to do it one by one.

Any questions about how to free up storage space on iPhone?

When it comes to freeing up storage space on your iPhone, it can be done in a few taps. This guide has been updated for the latest version of iOS 14. But if you still have questions about how to reclaim your storage space back, drop them in the comments, and we'll do our best to help you out.

Updated April 2021: These are still the best ways to free up some storage space on your iPhone.