The system storage eventually fills up. Once your cell phone runs out of space, that junk accumulation causes slowdowns and other troublesome issues, such as apps crashing. That’s why it’s crucial to clean out your phone and free up space. In this article, we show you several ways to clean up your Android device. How to free up phone Memory space on Android. How to free up internal storage on Android. How to clean phone memory on Android. How to clean unnecessary dat.
Apple automatically gives 5Gb of free storage to every iCloud account, which doesn’t seem like enough at first, but if you play it smart, you can easily get by with just those free 5 GB. This article will help you reduce your iCloud storage so you can downgrade your iCloud storage plan and stop paying for iCloud. See our 7 tips on how to use less iCloud space:
Alternatively, consider clearing more space on your iPhone.
How to see what’s taking up space in iCloud
First, you should see what data you have in iCloud and how much space it’s taking up. To do this, navigate to Settings> Apple ID> iCloud> Manage Storage. The data that typically take up a lot of iCloud storage space are:
- Photos
- Videos
- iCloud backups
- Email messages with attachments
- WhatsApp Backups
Note: Movies, apps, books, and music bought in iTunes will not count towards your iCloud storage.
Photostream and the photos uploaded there don’t take any iCloud space because these images are stored locally on the device.
See what is causing you the most trouble and find a tip on how to deal with it below!
Download and delete photos from iCloud
Photos usually use up a lot of iCloud storage space. To reduce iCloud storage you use on photos, you can exclude them from iCloud backups and download your photos and videos to your PC. This way, your precious memories will always be at hand. You will then be able to delete all the photos and videos from your iCloud.
To help you, we have made a program called CopyTrans Cloudly. It will download all the photos in one go and allow you to settle the score with what’s still in your iCloud. You can download and try it here:
After you’ve done that, follow the steps:
- Exclude photos from iCloud Backup
- Back up all iCloud photos to the PC
- Delete pictures from iCloud
- BONUS: Transfer the pictures you need from PC to iPhone
To do this, go to Settings> Apple ID> iCloud> Manage Storage> Photos> Disable and Delete. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to restore your pictures from the iCloud backup later.
You can do that in a few clicks with CopyTrans Cloudly. All the photos will be stored on your PC or external hard disk. If you need help, see this guide on how to download all the photos and videos from your iCloud to your PC.
Now erase all photos from iCloud to create even more iCloud storage space. If you don’t want the new photos to be uploaded to iCloud, you can disable your iCloud Photo Library. If the iCloud Photo Library is still enabled on your iPhone, your new photos will be uploaded to iCloud like before.
If you want to transfer some of the images to your iPhone, use our CopyTrans Photo app to transfer these photos back to your iPhone. By using it in combination with CopyTrans Cloudly, you can truly become the master of your photos! Download and try it here:
After you’ve done it, transfer the photos to your PC fast and easily!
Extract and delete old iCloud backups
To find information about your iCloud backups, go to Settings> Apple ID> iCloud> Manage Storage> Backup. If your iCloud backups are starting to take too much space – simply extract the important data from them, delete the backups you no longer need and use an alternative backup solution!
- Extract the data from iCloud backups
Take this step if you are not sure what is inside your iCloud backup or it contains some data that you would like to retain. In this case, you can find and extract data from your iCloud backups with CopyTrans Backup Extractor.
- Delete old iCloud backups
- Exclude apps from the backup
- Secure iPhone files locally on the PC
After this, you will be prepared to erase old backups from your iCloud storage.
Delete all your old iCloud backups – i.e. backups of the devices that you no longer have. To do this, Select the backup> Delete Backup> Disable & Delete. This way you can free up tons of iCloud storage.
If you have iCloud backup enabled, every app you install will automatically be backed up. To change this, go to Settings> Apple ID> iCloud> Manage Storage> Backups and tap the icon of your device. Here you can see which apps are included in your iCloud backup and how much space they take. Please note that if you restore this iCloud backup, the app data of the apps you excluded from the backup will no longer be there.
Alternatively, you can create local iPhone backups on the PC with CopyTrans Shelbee. Your contacts, calendars, notes, SMS messages and iMessages, photos and videos, and settings and app documents will be included in the backup. You can also choose to back up to your PC to an external hard drive.
CopyTrans Shelbee will allow you to make validated backups to your PC which will further be available for full restore or restore of selected components. Also, this is going to be an encrypted backup stored on your PC and not in iCloud. Read our guide on how to restore iPhone without iTunes to learn more.
Delete files from iCloud Drive
You can also delete the files you have stored in iCloud Drive to free up iCloud storage. Go to Settings> Apple ID> iCloud> Manage Storage> iCloud Drive. You will see all the files stored in iCloud Drive. Swipe left and tap on the trash icon to delete the file.
To optimize iCloud storage, you can manage your documents, movies, and other data locally by transferring these files between your PC and iPhone, e.g., with CopyTrans Filey. Deleting heavy files from your iPhone will reduce its backup size and save space on your iCloud storage.
Most likely you have a lot of content you no longer need. It’s much easier to manage all those files from your PC rather than fish around in numerous apps on your iPhone where media files are probably scattered across different folders. With CopyTrans Filey you can browse through your files in a way that makes sense: find the heaviest, oldest, and latest ones with ease.
This program is a simple tool to clean up your device by sorting all the app documents in one window by size, date or name and delete the largest ones.
Here you can see an example of sorting by size and then mass deleting.
Clean your mailbox
If you use your iCloud address for your email, emails will also be backed up to your free 5GB of storage. You can delete unnecessary emails with large attachments to quickly get rid of several gigabytes in iCloud.
- Open the Mail app.
- Swipe left over an email and tap the trash button.
- Go to the Trash folder. Tap Edit, and then click Delete All.
Save WhatsApp backups to PC
Nearly everyone has long WhatsApp chat histories which often include photos, videos and GIFs. With iCloud backup enabled for WhatsApp, a significant portion of your iCloud storage will be taken. You can, however, enjoy both conversation history safety and free iCloud if you save messages and your WhatsApp chat history on PC. For that purpose, we developed a cpecific app, CopyTrans Contacts. Download and try it here:
CopyTrans Contacts will allow you to save full chats or chats for a specified period of time in DOC, PDF, TXT, RTF formats. In addition, it can export pictures and attachments to a separate folder on your PC. After you’ve exported what you need, you can exclude WhatsApp from your iCloud backup with peace of mind.
Organize contacts, calendars, notes, reminders
Apple also stores calendars, contacts, and reminders on iCloud servers. These take so little space that Apple does not even show how much space they take.
However, if you do not want to trust your personal information such as contacts and notes to iCloud, use the same trick as with WhatsApp and manage them offline with CopyTrans Contacts.
After you’ve downloaded, see how to organize your contacts, calendars, notes and reminders. If you are just looking to back up your iPhone contacts, CopyTrans Contatcs will also help.
Conclusion
With the tips above, you can easily get by with the free 5GB of iCloud storage. By finding an alternative way to store your photos, videos, and backupsand backing up data locally, you can use iCloud more efficiently and stop worrying about filling up your free iCloud storage.
Combined offer
If you are interested in two or more solutions from our list, you might want to look at our combined application suite, CopyTrans 7 Pack. It will allow you to become the ultimate master of your iPhone by allowing you to manage your music, photos, contacts, calendars, notes, backups and much more.
- You can clear an iCloud account's storage in several ways to free up space and avoid having to pay for extra storage.
- Apple gives you 5 GB of iCloud storage with the purchase of one of its devices, and that can fill up fast.
- Most often, your iCloud storage goes towards backing up your photos, files, voice memos, apps, and text messages.
Unless you pay for an iCloud subscription, Apple gives you 5GB of storage with any device's purchase. That's not a lot of space, and you can quickly find that you don't have enough room for your photos, iCloud Drive files, and other data from your phone or tablet.
You can upgrade your iCloud subscription, but it's cheaper to clear out space in your iCloud account. You can delete files, photos, app backups, voice memos, and more from your iCloud Drive directly on your Apple device or through the iCloud website.
Typically, these things and all their associated data get backed up to iCloud by default. This can be both a blessing and a curse, particularly if the things you want to be backed up take up a lot of storage space. But you can save a substantial amount of space by disabling automatic backups, especially when it comes to your largest apps.
You can also delete text messages and any of the videos or images attached to them. While deleting individual texts won't save much space, you can remove entire conversations and the media associated with them, which can help significantly.
Here's how to clear your iCloud storage and free up more space.
How to clear iCloud storage
Delete photos from iCloud storage
By default, iCloud backs up all your photos and videos to the cloud. Over time, that adds up to a lot of pictures. You can save space by deleting any images you no longer want. It's possible to do this from your iPhone, iPad, or the iCloud website. As long as Google Photos is enabled, any pictures you delete in one location are automatically deleted everywhere. Here's how to delete photos from iCloud.
Delete files and folders from the iCloud website
1. Open iCloud.com in a browser.
2. Log in with your Apple ID.
3. Click 'iCloud Drive.'
4. To delete a folder, select it and then click the Delete icon.
5. To delete files, double-click a folder.
6. Hold down CTRL while clicking each file.
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider You can remove a single or multiple iCloud files using the CTRL-key. Dave Johnson/Business Insider7. Select the Delete icon.
Delete unwanted files in iCloud Drive from your iPad or iPhone
1. On your iPhone or iPad, launch the Files app.
2. Tap 'Browse' at the bottom of the screen.
3. In the Locations section, select 'iCloud Drive.'
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider You can delete files and folders to free up space in iCloud using the Files app on your iPhone or iPad. Dave Johnson/Business Insider4. To delete an entire folder, tap 'Select' in the screen's top right.
5. Then, choose the folder and tap the Delete icon.
6. To delete files, open the folder they're contained in.
7. Use 'Select' to choose files and delete them.
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider Select each file you want to delete and then send them to the trash. Dave Johnson/Business InsiderDelete app backups from iCloud on your iPhone or iPad
1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap your account name at the top of the screen.
3. Select 'iCloud.'
4. Choose 'Manage Storage' on the next screen.
5. Tap 'Backups.'
6. A list of your Apple devices being backed up to iCloud will appear. Select the name of the device you are currently using.
7. In the Choose Data to Back Up section, you should now see a list of the five apps that take up the most space on iCloud.
8. Turn off the backup feature for any of these apps by swiping the button to the left.
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider You can save a lot of storage space by not backing up your largest apps. Dave Johnson/Business Insider9. To see more options and disable more apps by tapping 'Show All Apps.'
10. Repeat this process for any of your other Apple devices from that respective device.
Delete voice memos from iCloud on your iPhone or iPad
1. Start the Voice Memos app on your iPad or iPhone
2. Swipe a voice memo to the left.
3. Tap the Delete icon.
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider You can delete any voice memo, but you'll need to remove it from the Recently Deleted section to reclaim the space immediately. Dave Johnson/Business Insider4. Select 'Recently Deleted.'
5. Tap the recording you just deleted.
6. Choose 'Delete' to permanently remove the voice memo, which will be erased on its own after 30 days.
Delete text messages and their large attachments on an iPhone or iPad
1. On your iPhone or iPad, start the Messages app.
2. Locate a conversation that has attachments you want to remove.
3. Select the person's name at the top of the screen.
4. Choose 'Info.'
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider A contact's info can often be found by tapping the 'i' icon. Dave Johnson/Business Insider5. On the Details page, photos should appear in a grid. Scroll and tap the 'See All Photos' link below them.
Free Internal Storage
6. Tap 'Select' at the top of the screen.
7. Select each photo you want to remove.
8. Tap 'Delete.'
How To Clear Your Internal Storage Kindle
9. Go to the iMessage app.
10. Select the text thread you want to delete.
11. Swipe it to the left.
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider This method will delete an entire conversation, including all its photo and video attachments. Dave Johnson/Business InsiderRapidsolution software sound cards & media devices driver download. 12. Tap 'Delete.'