SweepiusQuick answer: open Settings › General › iPhone Storage to see what’s using the space, then clear the big wins in this order: large videos, retakes and near-duplicate photos, old screenshots, and unused apps. Finally empty Recently Deleted in Photos — deleted photos keep using space there for 30 days.
Step 1: See what’s actually using the space
Go to Settings › General › iPhone Storage. Give it a few seconds to calculate. You’ll see a coloured bar (Apps, Photos, Media, Messages, System and more) and a list of apps sorted by size. If iOS shows recommendations such as Offload Unused Apps, tap Show to see them all.
For most people, Photos is the biggest slice. That’s good news: it’s also the easiest to shrink without losing anything you care about.
Step 2: Start with your biggest videos
Video is by far the hungriest thing on your phone. One minute of 4K at 30 fps is about 170 MB; at 60 fps it’s about 400 MB. In Photos, open Collections › Media Types › Videos and look for long clips you no longer need. The iPhone storage calculator shows how fast it adds up.
If you want to keep a video but not its size, compress it to a smaller copy rather than deleting it.
Step 3: Clear retakes, duplicates and screenshots
- Exact duplicates: Photos has a free Duplicates album under Utilities that merges copies. See how to delete duplicate photos.
- Retakes and bursts: the ten near-identical shots of one moment. Apple’s Duplicates album usually doesn’t catch these, so you have to scroll and pick by hand.
- Screenshots: Collections › Media Types › Screenshots, then Select › Select All. Full steps in how to delete all screenshots.
Step 4: Offload apps you don’t use
In iPhone Storage, tap an app you rarely open and choose Offload App. It removes the app but keeps its documents and data, so reinstalling puts you right back where you were. Delete App removes the data too.
Step 5: Empty Recently Deleted
This is the step everyone misses. Deleted photos and videos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days and keep taking up space. Open Photos › Collections › Recently Deleted, unlock with Face ID, tap Select, then More › Delete All. Details in why storage is still full after deleting photos.
What doesn’t help
Restarting, “clearing RAM” and cleaner apps that promise to boost speed won’t free meaningful storage. Neither will buying more iCloud on its own — the phone only gains space if iCloud Photos is set to Optimize iPhone Storage.