You can’t pinpoint the exact reason for it, but there’s little doubt in your mind: you’re constantly running out of iPhone storage. Every time you try and take a video or download a larger file, you receive a pop-up announcing your lack of storage. Perhaps you act fast and try deleting as many apps as you can, but it proves an unsuccessful strategy that leaves you frustrated and contemplating spending more money on additional storage. Before you open up your wallet, consider some of the storage-snatching culprits on your phone that have nothing at all to do with apps. Khalid Hossen, co-founder and editor at VentCube.Com, clues us in on the one surprising reason why you’re running out of iPhone storage lately — as well as a few more potential problems you may be overlooking.
Too many photos
One of the most common reasons why people run out of iPhone storage fast is that they are taking too many photos and videos and leaving them to sit on their phone. “Photos are taking up too much space on your device,” Hossen said. “If you’re a photo buff, you’ll want to consider turning off iCloud Photo Library, which automatically syncs your photos across all devices, as well as delete older photos from your phone. It may also be wise to delete all your videos from iCloud if they’re taking up too much space.”
Old photos and videos
It isn’t enough to delete your old media — you have to also make sure they’re completely off your phone. “Deleting old photos or videos won’t delete them from your computer, but it will let your device store more data,” Hossen said. “It’s a good idea to periodically back up your photos and videos to a flash drive or an external hard drive, then delete anything you don’t need any more.”
Too many songs
Media consumes a chunk of space — and that includes things like songs. “If you’ve been streaming a lot of music from iTunes, try deleting songs that you haven’t listened to recently, which can save up to 10 GB of space,” Hossen said.
Old backup files
Finally, remember to clean up your old backup files once in a while. You probably don’t need most of them on your device, and doing a little spring cleaning can help free up major storage space. “Backups can take up a lot of space, and you don’t have to delete them,” Hossen said. “Simply check the settings to delete old backups.”
Give these tips a whirl if you struggle with storage pop-ups. It will take just a few minutes out of your day to address these common problems and it could restore your phone’s functionality.
