How to organize your iPhone to save storage (2023)

In this article, we will discuss some tips and tricks on how to organize your iPhone to save storage. In today’s world, smartphones have become an integral part of our lives, and Apple’s iPhone is one of the most popular ones out there. However, as we use our iPhones more and more, the storage space becomes limited, and we need to organize our devices to optimize storage usage.

Smartphones have become an indispensable part of our lives, and we use them for almost everything, from browsing the web to taking photos and videos. With the increasing use of our iPhones, the storage space becomes limited, and we need to optimize storage usage to make the most out of our devices. In this article, we will provide you with some useful tips and tricks to organize your iPhone and save storage space.

Backup Your iPhone

Before we start organizing our iPhone, it’s essential to back up all the data on our device. We can back up our iPhone data to iCloud or our computer using iTunes. This way, we can restore our data in case of data loss or when we get a new iPhone.

Delete Unused Apps

We all have apps on our iPhones that we don’t use anymore. These unused apps take up a considerable amount of storage space, and deleting them can help us save storage. To delete unused apps, we need to press and hold the app icon until it starts shaking. Then, we can tap the ‘X’ icon on the app to delete it.

Offload Unused Apps

If we don’t want to delete an app but still want to save storage, we can offload the app. Offloading an app removes the app from our iPhone, but it keeps the app’s data and documents. To offload an app, we need to go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘General’ -> ‘iPhone Storage’ and tap on the app we want to offload. Then, we can tap on the ‘Offload App’ option.

Manage Photos and Videos

Photos and videos take up a significant amount of storage space on our iPhones. To manage our photos and videos, we can follow these tips:

Use iCloud Photos

iCloud Photos is a cloud-based service that stores all our photos and videos in the cloud, allowing us to access them from any device. We can enable iCloud Photos by going to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Photos’ -> ‘iCloud Photos’ and turning it on.

Delete Unwanted Photos and Videos

We can go through our photo library and delete any photos or videos we no longer need. To delete a photo or video, we need to tap on it and then tap the ‘Trash’ icon.

Use ‘Optimize iPhone Storage’

‘Optimize iPhone Storage’ is a feature that allows us to store our photos and videos in iCloud while keeping a lightweight version of them on our iPhone. To enable this feature, we need to go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Photos’ -> ‘Optimize iPhone Storage.’

Manage Music

Music also takes up a significant amount of storage space on our iPhones. To manage our music, we can follow these tips:

Use Apple Music

Apple Music is a music streaming service that allows us to listen to our favorite songs without taking up storage space on our iPhone. We can subscribe to Apple Music by going to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Music’ -> ‘Join Apple Music.’

Delete Unwanted Music

We can go through our music library and delete any songs we no longer listen to. To delete a song, we need to swipe left on the song and tap on the ‘Delete’ option.

Clear Safari Cache

Safari is the default web browser on iPhones, and it stores cache data to load websites faster. However, this cache can take up space over time. To clear Safari cache, we need to go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Safari’ -> ‘Clear History and Website Data.’

Clear App Cache

Many apps store cache data to enhance their performance. However, this cache can accumulate and take up storage space. To clear app cache, we need to go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘General’ -> ‘iPhone Storage’ and tap on the app we want to clear cache for. Then, we can tap on the ‘Offload App’ option.

Delete Unused Messages and Attachments

Messages and attachments, including photos, videos, and audio messages, can quickly accumulate and take up storage space. We can go through our messages and delete any unnecessary conversations or attachments to free up storage space.

Utilize iCloud Storage

iCloud is Apple’s cloud-based storage service that allows us to store our data, including photos, videos, documents, and app data, in the cloud. This can help us free up storage space on our iPhone. We can enable iCloud storage by going to ‘Settings’ -> ‘iCloud’ -> ‘Manage Storage’ and selecting the files or data we want to store in iCloud.

Organize Apps into Folders

Having multiple apps scattered across our iPhone’s home screen can make it difficult to find and access apps, and it can also make our home screen cluttered. To organize our apps, we can create folders by dragging and dropping apps on top of each other. We can then label the folders based on the category of apps they contain, such as ‘Social Media,’ ‘Games,’ ‘Productivity,’ etc.

Use Optimized Storage Settings

iOS has several built-in optimized storage settings that can help us save storage space on our iPhone. Some of these settings include:

Auto Delete Old Conversations

We can enable the ‘Auto Delete Old Conversations’ setting in the Messages app, which automatically deletes messages and attachments that are older than a certain period of time, such as 30 days or 1 year.

Review Large Attachments

We can use the ‘Review Large Attachments’ setting in the iPhone Storage settings to identify and delete large attachments, such as photos, videos, and documents, that are taking up storage space.

Utilize External Storage Options

If we have a lot of data, such as photos, videos, or documents, that we don’t need to access frequently, we can consider using external storage options to save storage space on our iPhone. Some external storage options for iPhones include using external hard drives, cloud storage services, or wireless storage devices.

Conclusion

Organizing our iPhone to save storage space is essential to optimize the performance and usability of our device. By following the tips and tricks mentioned in this article, such as deleting unused apps, managing photos and videos, clearing cache and data, utilizing iCloud storage, organizing apps into folders, using optimized storage settings, and utilizing external storage options, we can effectively free up storage space on our iPhone and ensure smooth functioning of our device.

FAQs

Q: Can I recover deleted apps or data from my iPhone?If you have backed up your iPhone using iCloud or iTunes, you can restore deleted apps or data. Otherwise, save storage, deleted apps or data cannot be recovered.
Q: Can I use external storage options on my iPhone to save storage space? Yes, external storage options such as external hard drives, cloud save storage services, or wireless storage devices can be used to save storage space on your iPhone.
Q: How often should I clear my Safari cache? As per the recommended practice, clearing Safari cache should be done periodically, at least once every few months, to free up storage space and ensure smooth browsing experience.
Q: Can I use iCloud storage for free?Apple provides a limited amount of free iCloud storage, usually 5 GB. However, additional storage space can be purchased with a subscription plan.
Q: Can I organize apps into folders on my iPhone?Yes, organizing apps into folders is a convenient way to declutter the home screen of your iPhone. Simply drag and drop apps on top of each other to create folders and label them based on app categories.