#Cleaning iphone memory how to#

Apple also notes that this data will “fluctuate according to the system needs,” which means your iPhone should automatically remove system data when it is no longer needed.Īs an example, even though Safari is an app, your Safari browsing history isn’t indexed as app data. What is Apple system data?Īccording to iOS, system data includes “caches, logs, and other resources currently in use by the system.” Apple doesn’t specify what the data is but it generally consists of temporary files and other elements that don’t strictly form a part of an app’s storage. In this example, “system data” is using well over half of the phone’s storage. You’ll see how much storage is being used and get a color-coded breakdown of the categories of data that your phone is storing. Head to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

#Cleaning iphone memory how to#

While photos and messages are straightforward enough and easy to delete to free up more space, “system data” is not so obvious-and yet it tends to occupy a substantial portion of your phone’s storage.Ī bit of background on how to check your iPhone storage (for our other readers). So your iPhone is perilously close to running out of storage-seemingly all the time. I can’t think of any other reason this could be happening.ĭo you have any input you can add or wild ideas on why this continues on a daily basis and how to stop it? Thank you in advance. On my iPhone 13 Pro Max, 29GB of storage is taken up, and only 5GB maybe is me, the rest is iOS and mostly system data.

I am constantly having to factory-erase my devices. I monitor my storage, and none of the music services are taking more than 1 GB of storage, and my photos also take up less than 1GB. I do not download things very often, but I do stream a lot of music.

On my Apple devices, system data is always really high, at more than 15GB. If you have questions about your ExpressVPN subscription or need troubleshooting help, please contact Support. Tech Friend is our advice column covering cybersecurity, privacy, and everyday technology.