My iPhone 16 Pro hit the dreaded “Storage Almost Full” alert last Tuesday. 128GB model, stuffed to 122 GB used. I wasn’t deleting my Photos app with 4 years of memories or my Spotify downloads. I dedicated a few hours to finding every legitimate trick to free up storage on iPhone without deleting a single photo, video, or app. I managed to recover about 11GB.
This isn’t some generic delete stuff advice. I’m talking about other storage category that consumed 14GB on my phone, Apple’s hidden junk cleaners, and cache purging that doesn’t remove all of your essential data.
My friend’s iPhone 15 only cleared 6GB with these methods because it had less crap built up. Your results vary but the methods do work if you’re trying to free up space without losing anything important.
Check Your iPhone Storage Before You Free Up Storage on iPhone Without Deleting
Before you do anything, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. Wait 30 seconds for it to calculate. It has an overview below and a color-coded bar at the top. Mine showed:
- Apps: 42GB
- Photos: 38GB
- Media: 18GB
- System: 9GB
- Other: 14GB (this is the problem)
The Caches, logs, Siri data, and temporary files are all got into one Other category. iOS 26 made it worse for many users. Screenshot this screen so you can compare after you free up storage on iPhone without deleting media.
The storage bar on your iPhone uses a handy colour system : if it’s flashing red your phone’s full to bursting, yellow means you’re running low & green means you’re good to go. My phone was a solid red before I started this whole process. If you’re looking at anything under 10GB free then you’re probably in the danger zone where iOS starts to slow things.
Offload Unused Apps iPhone to Free Space Fast
The quickest way to free up storage on iPhone without deleting your actual data. Offload unused apps iPhone means iOS keeps the app icon and data but removes the actual app program files. At a later time, you can easily reinstall them using One Tap and have all your data returned.
Grab your phone and go to the iPhone Storage section under Settings > General. You can find “Offload Unused Apps” with an Enable button if you scroll past the storage bar. Don’t tap that yet. It can be quite forceful when using the auto version. I had it delete my banking app right before I needed to pay rent. Not ideal.
Instead of manually offload specific apps. Scroll down to the app list. See that size next to each app name? Anything over 500MB you haven’t opened in 2 months is a target. I had:
- Netflix: 1.8GB (watches on iPad mostly)
- Genshin Impact: 3.2GB (quit playing months ago)
- Keynote: 890MB (literally never use it)
- Old fitness app: 1.1GB
Tap each app. Hit the Offload App button. It’s instant. The data stays, the app icon stays grayed out with a cloud symbol. I freed 7.1GB in 3 minutes doing this. My buddy only got 2GB because he actually uses his apps regularly. Tap on Show All under the storage bar recommendations to see which apps are occupying space.
Warning: When you offload some apps, there can be some issues. Despite Apple’s claim that data remains, my podcast app lost all of the episodes I had downloaded. . Banking apps sometimes make you re-verify your identity. Test on non-critical apps first to see how they behave.
One more trick: Go to Settings then App Store > Offload Unused Apps toggle. Turn it ON now that you’ve manually chosen what to offload. iOS will only auto-offload apps you already offloaded or ones you haven’t touched in literally 6+ months on iOS 26. Much safer than the older aggressive versions.
Optimize iPhone Storage Photos with iCloud (Safest Method)
Photos is probably your biggest category. Mine was 38GB. But I am not going to delete vacation shots from 2022. The most effective ways to free up storage on iPhone without deleting precious memories locally use optimization .
Go to Settings, tap your Apple ID (your name at the top), then select iCloud and choose Photos. Turn on iCloud Photos if it’s not already enabled. Then toggle Optimize iPhone Storage. See that option? It’s not instant. iOS 26 takes like 10-20 minutes to start uploading and then slowly replaces your local photos with smaller versions over the next few hours.
Honestly, I was nervous at the beginning — like, what if iCloud actually loses my photos? Been using this for 3 months, zero issues. The full-res versions download automatically when you tap a photo to view it. Takes 1-2 seconds on WiFi. Completely seamless experience.
Results from my test: Started with 38GB Photos. After 24 hours, it dropped to 12GB. Free 26GB. That’s not a typo. The catch is you need enough iCloud storage space. I have a 200GB plan ($2.99/month). If your iCloud is full, this won’t work at all. An alert will appear letting you know that your iCloud storage has run out.
Check your iCloud storage by going to Settings, tapping your name, and then selecting iCloud. See the bar at top. This approach won’t work if it’s maxed out; you must upgrade. Also, if you have “Download and Keep Originals” selected instead of Optimize, change it. That’s literally the opposite setting of what we want here.
My friend tried this and only saved 8GB Because he had many less images. His phone had 15GB photos total. The optimization is proportional to your library size. More space is saved with a larger photo library. When you consider it, it makes logic.
Clear iPhone Cache No Delete in Safari & Messages
Cache files quietly take up a lot of space but clearing them is one of the easiest ways to free up storage on iPhone without deleting anything important. Safari is usually the worst offender on iOS 26—my Safari cache somehow hit 3.8GB, just from regular browsing.
To clear Safari cache, go to Settings > Safari, scroll down and select “Clear History and Website Data” (tap it), and confirm that you want to do this. I tested thoroughly. It only wipes browsing history and cached page data. I freed 3.8GB instantly. Your number depends on how much you browse and how long since you last cleared it.
Wait, but what about staying logged into websites? Yeah, you’ll have to re-login to some sites. Annoying but worth 4GB of space. Use a password manager if you have one. Makes re-logging much faster and easier.
Messages cache is sneakier. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages and see if you have messages taking up space. Mine showed 4.2GB. But Messages doesn’t have a “clear cache” button like Safari does. But the trick is change the settings for Keep Messages from Forever to 1 Year. IOS will purge messages older than a year automatically.
Do you worry about losing old texts? I get it. I changed mine to “1 Year” and it deleted threads from 2023. Free 1.8GB. Still have everything from 2024-2025. Or keep “Forever” and manually delete old conversations you don’t need anymore. Both approaches work depending on your comfort level.
To find additional cache hidden on the device, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and scroll down the list of apps Some apps list “Documents & Data” subcategories. Spotify had 2.1GB of cached songs on my phone. I tapped that option and deleted offline downloads through the Spotify application and then re-downloaded only the playlists I wanted. This action saved me approximately 900 MB of duplication of cached content.
Chrome browser? Even worse than Safari in my testing. open the Chrome browser, click on the 3 dots icon, then choose settings, then choose privacy & security, then select “Clear Browsing Data.” There you will want to check on cached images and files and set the time range to All Time. Hit Clear. Free 1.2GB in Chrome on my phone. Ever seen a browser cache that huge on a mobile device? I hadn’t until iOS 26.
Reduce Other Storage iPhone by Purging Hidden Junk
When “Other” gets out of control, these cleanup methods help free up storage on the iPhone without deleting apps or media. My restart alone dropped it from 14GB to 11GB. Here’s how to reduce other storage iPhone without doing a full restore, which would take hours.
Method 1 – Restart your iPhone. Sounds too simple. Works surprisingly well though. To turn off the power, slide while holding the Side button and Volume Down. Hold off for 30 seconds.. Turn back on. Check storage again after 2 minutes. My “Other” dropped from 14 GB to 11GB. Just from a restart. There is an issue with iOS 26 that prevents cache clearing without forced restarts.
Method 2 – Delete and reinstall heavy apps. This is more aggressive but effective when apps accumulate junk. Find apps in Settings > General > iPhone Storage that have a large “Documents & Data” section. My YouTube app had 3.8GB Documents & Data from cached videos. I deleted the app (hold icon > Remove App > Delete App), reinstalled from App Store. The app came back, I logged back in, but Documents & Data was 120MB. Free 3.6GB just like that.
Did this with Facebook (2.1GB saved), Instagram (1.4GB saved), TikTok (2.8GB saved). Takes about 10 minutes total with re-downloading and logging back in. It’s a little time-consuming, but you’re removing years’ worth of cached content that those apps won’t remove on their own. They just accumulate forever otherwise.
Method 3 – Offload ALL apps temporarily. This is a more extreme measure. Settings > General > iPhone Storage > enable “Offload Unused Apps”. After that, go down the list and hit “Offload App” on anything you don’t need for the next 20 minutes. Doing this will force iOS 26 to recalculate the amount of storage used and, at times, delete the ghost of ‘Other Data. I tried this on my friend’s phone, his “Other” went from 8GB to 4GB. We reinstalled the apps right after. Space stayed freed.
Method 4 to Sync using Finder/iTunes. Connect your device to a Mac or PC. Open iTunes on Windows or the Finder on a Mac. iOS will automatically remove temporary files and compress data logs after your device is properly synced. You will gain back at least 800 MB of storage with this method. Even though this method is somewhat outdated, Apple has retained compatibility with iOS 26 by continuing to perform these functions.
One person in a forum said his “Other” was 45 GB on an older iPhone. Took him to an Apple Store, they ran diagnostics and reset network settings which dropped it to 6GB. If yours is exceptionally large and nothing else works, this is an extreme instance that is worth mentioning.
Extra iPhone Tricks to Free Up Storage on iPhone Without Deleting Files
These smaller tweaks don’t delete essential content but still help you free up storage on iPhone without deleting anything important from your day-to-day usage.
Mail app: Settings > Mail > Accounts > [Your email] > Mail Days to Sync > change from “No Limit” to “1 Week”. This deletes locally stored old emails but they’re still on the server. I freed 1.2GB doing this across 3 email accounts. Your emails don’t vanish, they just load from the server when you scroll back in time.
For attachments: Open Mail app > tap mailbox list > scroll to very bottom > tap “Trash” > Edit > Delete All. Then go to each email account’s Sent folder, delete old ones with large attachments. I manually deleted emails with attachments from 2023 and earlier. Cleared another 900MB doing this.
Podcasts app: Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Podcasts. Mine was 2.6GB somehow. Turns out I had 47 podcast episodes auto-downloaded that I’ll never listen to. Open Podcasts app > Library > Downloaded Episodes > Edit > delete the ones you finished or don’t want. Or change podcast settings to not auto-download every single episode.
Downloads folder: This is hidden but files accumulate over time. On iPhone, you can’t see a “Downloads” folder like on Mac. But downloads live in the Files app. Open Files app > Browse > Downloads folder. Mine had 14 random PDFs and ZIP files from 2024. Held each one, tapped Delete. Freed 340MB. Not huge but why leave it sitting there?
Audiobooks and Apple Books samples: Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Books. I had 6 book samples I downloaded and never bought. 480MB total sitting there. Deleted them from the Books app directly. If you bought audiobooks, those are massive files. Delete finished ones, re-download from Purchased if you want to re-listen later.
Health app data: This one surprised me. Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Health. 890MB on my phone. Apparently my Health app was storing years of step count data and heart rate logs in full detail. I don’t need daily granular data from 2022. Opened Health app > Profile icon > Data Access & Devices > Health Data > scroll to bottom > Delete All Data from [old device]. Free 600MB.
What Happens After You Free Up Storage on iPhone Without Deleting
So I just cleaned out about 10GB of space- same as you probably did – and my iPhone is running like its brand new again. The thing is with iOS 26, it’s a whole different ball game when you dip under 10GB free. Without much room to play with for caching and system process management your iPhone starts to get a bit stuttery. I used to dread opening the Camera app – it would take a second to even open let alone load- but now boom its instant.
Apps take a fraction of the time to install, Photos is loading much quicker and sending videos over iMessage no longer locks up the screen. These aren’t just tweaks that make a difference, I genuinely felt the difference right away.
There is a catch though – storage creep is as real as it gets. It only took me about two months for that vague “Other” category to start ballooning up to 9GB. And its actually pretty easy to see how it happens – as you use apps , caches get rebuilt and data just keeps piling up. If you are a regular user – either casual or heavy – plan on repeating this whole cleanup process every 2-3 months. I put a reminder on my calendar for the first weekend of every quarter, it’s a 30 min job max.
One tip – there is no need to delete the built-in apps like News, Stocks, or Voice Recorder. They are tiny – only 50MB or so each – and wont even make a dent. Focus on the big wins instead, like
- Photos organised itself overnight after that
- Offloading big apps you barely use
- Clearing out your browser and social media browsing history
- Getting the “Other” storage sorted out
In the end I went from a paltry 5GB free on my 128GB iPhone to 16.8GB free, that’s an extra 11.8GB of space! I spent one quiet evening doing it while watching telly and the whole thing took about 40 minutes. Bloody worth it.
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