What is Other in iPhone storage and how to delete it to save space? Three methods are provided to help you get rid of Other in iPhone storage easily.
"I went from my IPhone 8+ with 256GB and I had 39GB used, about 7GB was other storage no big deal. I decided to go with an iPhone 12 Pro Max 128GB. I now have 60GB used of which 26GB is other storage!!! I have done 3 clean installs from different iCloud backups and no change. I do not buy an iPhone to see half of my storage being used by Other and system storage. Is that a bug? Is my iPhone flash memory corrupted? What is Other in iPhone storage and how to delete?”
When you try to download an app or a movie, you may receive the note that you’re almost out of storage. Since iPhone 7, users could store iPhone photos as HEIC files by default to reduce files size. Limiting the number of photos, videos, and apps could free up some space, but after tapping “Settings” > “General” > “iPhone Storage” to check iPhone space, the “Other” part still remains.
You must be wondering what “Other” is in iPhone Storage and why “Other” takes up so much in iPhone storage space. Continue reading to find out what Other means and how to get rid of Other data on your iPhone.
The "Other" storage section is usually the gray portion on the right of the iPhone storage graph. For iOS 15 and above, this part is called "System Data". On your iPhone and iPad, the "Other" category stores all of your caches, settings preferences, saved messages, voice memos, some deleted app data, and others. Cached data in apps like Google Maps and Chrome can quickly occupy your iPhone's available storage.
It means nothing if you have enough iPhone storage space. But if you’re running out the space and want to free up iPhone storage, deleting “Other” data could be a workable way to save space. Usually, the “Other” category includes the following data:
After knowing the meaning of the "Other" category and what types of files are labeled "Other", you could delete some data to free up iPhone space or restore your iPhone from backups. Before you start deleting data from your iPhone to shrink “Other” storage, you’d better make a backup in case you need to recover important iPhone data when accidentally deleted.
If you often use Safari browse, history and website data in Safari are two culprits that take up “Other” space on your iPhone and iPad. They are useful for quickly accessing websites. You could clean Safari history and website data and the offline reading list to free up iPhone storage.
Step 1. Go to “Settings”. Scroll down to “Safari”.
Step 2. Scroll down to tap “Clear History and Website Data” and confirm.
Closing Safari tabs also could free up storage space and make your iPhone run smoothly. Go to “Settings” > “Safari” > “Close Tabs”, you could set the frequency to close Safari tabs in one day, one week, or one month.
Follow the steps below to remove items from your Safari reading list:
Step 1. Go to “Settings” > “General” > “iPhone Storage” > “Safari”.
Step 2. Swipe left on Offline Reading List and tap “Delete”.
When you use the Mail app and send iMessage, your iPhone saves a cache of all the files, photos, and videos you’ve viewed on your device. It could speed up reloading them but not a necessity. You could clear the caches by deleting your email account and then resign.
For useless photos, videos, and other data in iMessage, you could delete entire conversations to free up space. Moreover, you could set to stop storing texts forever.
Step 1. Go to “Settings” > “Messages”.
Step 2. Scroll down to “Message History” and select “Keep Messages”.
Step 3. There are three options to choose from: 30 Days, 1 Year, and Forever. You could select one on your need.
If the two methods above don’t work, the files in the “Other” category may be deleted apps data. You couldn’t delete them directly. The easiest way to get rid of “Other” data is to back up the iPhone to a computer and restore your iPhone.
Some users could encounter kinds of errors when using iCloud or iTunes for iPhone backup. Compared with iTunes or iCloud, free iPhone backup software-AOMEI FoneBackup has faster backup and restoring speed and a more stable connection. You could preview and select files via AOMEI FoneBackup.
Step 1. Download and install AOMEI FoneBackup on your Windows PC, and connect your iPhone to your computer via a compatible cable.
Step 2. Go to “Phone Backup” on the left panel. Click "Get Started".
Step 3. Set a backup storage path to save your iPhone backup files and click “Start Backup”. Tips: you can choose to enable backup encryption or not.
Step 4. After the backup process completes, go back to the main interface and select "Toolbox" > "iPhone Eraser" to delete everything on iPhone.
Step 5. Your iPhone will be started as a new one. After iPhone settings, connect your iPhone to the computer and launch AOMEI FoneBackup. Go to "Backup History" and click "Start Restore" to restore your iPhone from backups. The deleted app data stored in “Other” will be deleted automatically.
Hopefully, you have a comprehensive understanding of what Other is in iPhone Storage and get three methods to get rid of Other data on iPhone.
AOMEI FoneBackup not only helps you free up Other space when iPhone storage is full but supports custom backup: Photos, Music, Videos, Contacts, and Messages. It means you don’t have to delete photos, videos, and messages for freeing up iPhone space. Besides, you could easily transfer your iPhone data to computers.
