I’m sure this sounds familiar to you: you’re trying to install the latest version of iOS, upgrading to a new iPhone, taking photos or recording videos, or just downloading that awesome app that all the everyone is talking, and your iPhone says storage is full.
You’ve already deleted all the apps you don’t think you need, and there’s always not enough space on your iPhone. So you open Settings, tap on GeneralSO iPhone Storage, and, of course, your iPhone is full. Worst of all, a enormous some of it is just listed as Other (renamed System Data in iOS 15). What’s that supposed to mean? How to get rid of it? The Other / System Data storage sections are mysterious and confusing, and there is no one answer that works for everyone, but I hope this guide helps you solve this problem.
Latest iPhone version: iPhone SE (2022), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max (2022)
Latest iOS version: iOS 16.3 (January 2022)
Latest iOS Beta: N / A
How to view your iPhone storage
To see how much storage all your apps and data are taking up on your iPhone storage, open the Settings app, select GeneralSO iPhone Storage. At the top, you’ll see a bar graph showing your iPhone’s total storage and the types of data filling it up. Below, you’ll find a list of apps on your phone and how much space they take up, both for the app itself and its stored data.
It may take several seconds for your iPhone to display the graph, as it takes time to scan and analyze its storage. Even after the graph first appears, you will have to wait several more seconds for it to stabilize, as the list of apps and storage sizes may change while your phone completes its scan.
You’ll find your iPhone’s storage details a few layers deep in the Settings app.
What is other data/system storage, anyway?
Your iPhone’s Storage menu will divide that bar at the top into familiar categories like Apps, Media, Photos, and Mail, but also a Other/System Data category that’s sometimes very big. It is common for system data to be between 5GB and 20GB, but if it exceeds 20GB, it has probably gotten out of hand. You can scroll to the bottom of the apps list where you will see iOS, which are system required files and are usually around 10GB in size, and System Data, which are files other than apps and downloads that are collected by iOS. Press on System data to see how much space it takes up.
The Other/System Data category is vast and varied because it is a real catch-all category. It includes system caches, logs, Siri voices (if you’ve downloaded more than one), updates, and more. One of the biggest culprits behind other system data growing out of control is streaming a lot of music and videos. When you download video or music from the iTunes Store, TV app, or Music app, it is indexed as media. But streams have caches used to ensure smooth playback, and these are categorized as Other/System Data.
Safari caches can also start to get quite large. And if you send tons of texts with images or videos, the caches for that can start to fill up a lot of space. Your iPhone is supposed to manage these caches to keep your storage from completely full, but it doesn’t always do a great job.
Deleting your Safari data may reduce the size of Other.
We explain how to delete other storage on a Mac and how to delete system data on a Mac in separate articles.
How to Reduce the Size of Other System Data on an iPhone
You can’t get rid of other system data entirely, but sometimes you can reduce its size.
Let’s try clearing your Safari caches first. Open Settings > Safari and choose Clear history and website data. If you have a plot open Safari tabs on your iPhone, you may also want to close most of them.
You can also edit Messages to save fewer old messages. Open Settings, then postsand scroll to Message history setting. By default, Save messages is set to For all timebut you might want to replace it with 1 year or even 30 days to reduce the data that the Messages app caches. Just beware that this means old messages will be deleted – so if you have messages you want to keep, find a way to back them up.
If you’re a heavy texter, your Messages app may fill up your storage space with a plot of data.
Finally, go back to iPhone Storage and check the list of apps. Most apps store data categorized as apps, but some keep caches categorized as other/system data. If, for example, the Podcasts app takes up a few gigabytes of space, it’s probably mostly cached data. Deleting the app and re-downloading it could put a dent in the Other/Ststem Data category.
The nuclear option: back up and reset your iPhone
You can go through your iPhone trying to delete every little cache that might increase the storage size of other system data, but if you really want to make it as small as possible, you need to backup your phone and reset it. It may take a while. The best way to do this is using your Mac or PC.
On a Mac running macOS 10.15 Catalina or later:
- First, connect your iPhone to your Mac with the supplied USB-C to Lightning cable.
- When prompted on your iPhone, tap “Trust” and enter your passcode.
- In the Finder sidebar on your Mac, select your iPhone under Pitches.
- Click it General tongue.
- Select “Back up all your iPhone data to this Mac”.
- To encrypt your backup data and protect it with a password, check the “Encrypt local backup” box.
- Click on Back up now.
- Note: You can also connect your iPhone to your computer wirelessly if you set up syncing over Wi-Fi.
Foundry
On a Mac running macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier, or a PC
On a PC or Mac with macOS 10.14 or earlier, you can use iTunes to back up your phone. After connecting your iPhone to your Mac or PC, select your iPhone by clicking the small phone icon in the top left, and under Backups, choose “This computer” and check the “Encrypt local backup” box to protect your backup with a password. Then click the button to Back up now.
Reset and restore
When the backup is complete, disconnect your iPhone and head to Settings > General > Reset and choose Erase all content and settings. This will return your iPhone to a ready-to-use state. When it restarts and is in the initial setup process, reconnect it to your computer with iTunes open and follow the on-screen instructions to restore your device.
This is the longest and most complicated way to reduce the size of Other/System Data storage, but it is also the best. There’s just no way to make it any smaller than it will be after another reset and restore.
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