How to Reclaim “Other” Storage on Your iOS Device

If your iPhone or iPad is running low on storage, you may think you have too many apps installed or that your music collection is spiraling out of control. However, this may not be the case entirely. Instead, there may be a lot of hidden files taking up space on your iOS device. Getting rid of apps isn’t that easy, but there are ways to free up that space.

When you connect your iOS device to your computer and open iTunes, you can see exactly what’s taking up space on your iPhone or iPad. You can also see the different categories under which memory used is used, such as Apps, Games, Music, Movies, TV Shows, and a mysterious category known as “Other”.

For some users there is over 10GB of storage used by this category, while for other users it may be just a gigabyte or two. Either way, it would be nice to know what those files are.

Fortunately, we know what types of files are stored in the “Other” category. Essentially, any file that doesn’t fit into the other categories falls under the “Other” category. Basically, it consists of data other than apps, photos, music or videos on your iOS device. However, operating system settings and data usually fall into this category, as do Safari cache, Siri cache, reminders, notes, stocks, weather data, email, text messages, and cache data for iMessages and all other apps. on your iOS device.

How to Release “Other” Data

About 1GB of data stored in the “Other” category is normal, but if you have significantly more than that, it likely means you have a lot of junk to clean up. A big storage hog for us Must Be Mobile It is iMessage. Some of us even have 10GB of “Other” data, mostly clogged with iMessage data, so if someone sends you a photo via iMessage and you save it in your Photos app, it won’t delete it from iMessage and you now have two copies of the photo on your iOS device.

So, make sure to delete old iMessages and text messages regularly. Before doing that, make sure to back up your device in iTunes, the old-fashioned way of plugging over WiFi or USB. If you ever need these deleted iMessages, you can still get them by restoring them from a backup so you can access those old, deleted iMessages.

Delete Old Reminders and Notes

You can also delete old reminders and notes in related apps. We think you have a pile of old, finished reminders that take up valuable space, so it’s always a good idea to clear them out to reclaim storage space. You can do this by opening it in the Reminders app and then tapping . From there, swipe left on a reminder and tap .

In the Notes app, just do the same thing: swipe left on a note and press . Again, be sure to back it up before deleting anything. You may think you no longer need a particular note, but that may change in the future.

Clear Cache and History

In certain apps, such as web browsers, you can easily navigate to their settings and clear the cache.

To do this in Safari, open the app and scroll down. Then tap on it. You can also tap on it to free up even more storage.

In Chrome, you can clear the cache by opening the app and tapping the icon that looks like three parallel lines (in the upper right corner) and then tapping . Next, tap on it and you can delete various Chrome browser data from there.

This will also clear the space in the “Other” category. However, not all apps allow you to do this, so any cache or data from certain apps will stay there until you delete the entire app.

Delete Locally Stored Emails

Email can be another big culprit. If your preferred iOS email client downloads emails to your device and stores them locally, it uses the “Other” category to store them. With the amount of email most people receive, the footprint can increase. While deleting emails is sometimes frowned upon (as you may need it in the future), be sure to back them up in iTunes before deleting them from your iOS device.

When Everything Else Fails…

If clearing all those old files didn’t help (and this seems like a big problem for iOS users), you can try restoring from a new backup: sometimes the “Other” category is much larger than the data it contains, thanks to data corruption. This is what usually happens if it shows 5GB or more being used. Restoring from a recent backup may fix this. But if that still doesn’t work, the best way to free up space is to start fresh and restore your device to factory settings. It’s not ideal, but every now and then you can save your apps, music, photos, videos, etc. It might be a good idea to check.