Managing your iCloud storage can be a pain, but it doesn’t have to be. There are some easy and simple fixes that can help you stay within that 5GB limit. All of these options can be completed at home and mostly within minutes.

Delete old backups

Your iPhone will automatically back up data on your iCloud storage for you. This is a good thing, but can take a huge chunk of your storage if you do not manage it correctly. There could also be some backups on your iCloud storage from old devices that you no longer have. You will need to delete these by selecting the “delete backup” button in the backup area. Find this in your settings app under iCloud. You will want to continue doing this over time as your iPhone will again automatically back up your phone unless you change the settings. It helps to free up space that could be used for important documents or communications.

Manage app backups

Some apps are not as important as others. Most of the apps on your phone do not need to be saved to your iCloud storage. You can disable this feature in the iCloud storage menu. Go through the list of apps that are backing up and turn off this feature for the app. If you get a new iPhone or lose your iPhone you can always just log back into the app to retrieve that data. In the future, your iPhone will no longer back up that data that was taking up so much space. Also, deleting unused apps will also clear up space on your iCloud storage in future backups. This can also help you save data on any apps that are ongoing in the background. 

Store your photos elsewhere

Photos take up a significant amount of space on your iCloud storage. Try storing your photos on another service such as Google Photos, Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Drive, and many others. Using one of these other services can free up space on both your device and iCloud storage. Plus, you still get the benefit of backing up your photos to a cloud service. Just make sure not to forget your login information. Remember that once you upload all your photos to delete them from your iPhone device. Delete them from the album titled “recently deleted” as well. If you do not, they will still stay on your device for the thirty days taking up iCloud storage space. Try this and other iPhone hacks if photos are your biggest concern.

Delete your old iPhone messages

Although iMessage may not take up a large amount of space at first, as you use your phone its capacity will grow. That’s because iMessage stores all of your attachments and photos sent in your iCloud storage. You can set your iPhone to automatically delete old iMessages from your phone that are a year old. You do this by going into iPhone storage, selecting iMessage, and enabling auto-delete of old conversations. This saves you time from having to manually delete conversations and messages just to free up space on your iCloud storage.

Delete Mail messages or use another email app

iCloud stores all of your emails that are located in your mail inbox. This means if you have an active email (and who doesn’t) you could possibly eat up a large portion of your iCloud storage over time. You can negate this by emptying your trash as well as switching to another email app such as Gmail or Outlook. This can be a simple switch and an easy fix for those looking to save space on their iCloud storage.

Still don’t have enough space on your iCloud or need an iPhone repair? Come down to Houston iPhone Screen Repair where we can help you solve common iPhone problems. Contact us today and let us know how we can serve you!