Why Does OneDrive Take up So Much Space on iPhone/iPad?

Why does OneDrive take up so much space on my iPhone/iPad? Here is the way to stop OneDrive from taking up space. Don't let OneDrive take up unnecessary space on your iPhone.

Clara

By Clara / Updated on September 4, 2024

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Why does OneDrive take up so much space on my iPhone? And I have no option to remove local documents & data!

- Question from Reddit

Why Is OneDrive Taking up So Much Space on iPhone/iPad?

You may be confused when you find that OneDrive is taking up a lot of storage space on your iPhone or iPad. As a cloud storage service, OneDrive can help us back up the data on your iPhone. After the backup is completed, we can clean up some data to increase the available space on the phone. In theory, files should be stored in the cloud instead of taking up local space on the device. Why does OneDrive take up so much space on my iPad/iPhone?

onedrive take up much space

However, in reality, OneDrive may take up so much space on your iPhone because of the synchronization function and cached data. Here are a few main reasons:

▶ The first is the synchronization settings.

When you turn on the file synchronization function of OneDrive, it will download files from the cloud storage to your iPhone for offline access. Especially for some large files and media files, OneDrive will continue to download and upload these data in the background, resulting in rapid consumption of local storage.

▶ Data caching problem.

When you browse or edit files, OneDrive may cache thumbnails, previews, and temporary files of some files, and these cached data will also take up storage space on the device.

▶ Some files support offline availability.

If you set some files or folders to be available offline, these contents will be downloaded and saved in the local storage of the device, taking up a lot of space.

▶ App cached data issues.

In addition, cached data generated by OneDrive applications and their operation may also take up some space. These cached data include temporary files and downloaded files when the application is running.

How to Stop OneDrive from Taking up Spaceon iPhone/iPad

OneDrive is an application for data backup and transfer. If you are bothered by the problem of OneDrive take up so much space on my iPhone, why not use another reliable tool to backup iPhone on Windowsor other external hard drives? This operation can help you free up the iPhone storage space.

AOMEI FoneBackup is a professional iOS data management software. It supports you to backup iPhone/iPad to Windows PC, Laptop, NAS, etc., and it provides two backup modes: one-click backup of iPhone data or selective backup. You can choose the photos, videos, music, contacts, text messages, etc. you need according to your needs. All of the backup model are simple and fast.

Full Backup iPhone to External Hard Drive

With AOMEI FoneBackup, you can easily backup all your iPhone data to your computer or external hard drives with just one click. This includes backing up apps like WhatsApp from your iPhone to a Windows PC.

★ Advantages of AOMEI FoneBackup:
AOMEI FoneBackup provides a superfast backup speed, for example, backup1000+ photos to a PC can be completed in about 3 minutes.
AOMEI FoneBackup allows you to decide where you want to locate the backups. It means that you can backup iPhone/iPad without space limitation.
It is compatible with iPhone/iPad/iPod, even works well with the latest iOS version.

Below is the detailed guide to fix OneDrive take up so much space on iPhone.

Step 1. Download and open AOMEI FoneBackup on the PC > Click Phone Backup on the left panel.

Download FreewareWin 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 2. Choose Full Backup icon > Tap Get Started.

full backup

Step 3. Enable Backup Encryption if you want to backup private data, like Keychain. > Click Backup Storage Path to decide where to save the backup files > Then tap Start Backup.

start backup

After the backup process is completed, you can easily find your backups on My Backups. You can Restore to another Apple ID/device with ease.

my backups restore

Selective Backup Data from iPhone to Windows PC

If you prefer to backup some of specific files, you can choose to selectively backup iPhone data with AOMEI FoneBackup.

★ Highlights of AOMEI FoneBackup:
With the user-friendly interface, you can easily backup your data with a few steps.
You can preview and select the iPhone data before you backup.
AOMEI FoneBackup also allows you to select specific data types, including photos, videos, contacts, messages, etc.

Check the below steps to learn how to backup data selectively.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone with a PC > Open AOMEI FoneBackup, choose Phone Backup > Go to Selective Backup > Tap Get Started.

backupP photos or all

Step 3. Choose the file icon you need, w take backup picture as an example, click Photos > Select the files you want to backup >Tap OK button to backup photos to your computer.

select pictures

How to Optimize OneDrive Storage and Free up iPhone Space

To solve the issue of OneDrive taking up too much space on your iPhone or iPad, you can take below measures:

  1. Choose to only sync data that you need to access offline.
  2. Adjust the syncing strategy to save space.
  3. Check and clear the app's cache data in the OneDrive app.
  4. Regularly check the downloaded folder in the OneDrive app and delete any local copies that are no longer needed.

If none of these solutions work and OneDrive still take up so much space on iPhone, you can use AOMEI FoneBackup mentioned in the previous section.

Conclusion

The above content explains why does OneDrive take up so much space on my iPhone. Through the detailed introduction in this article, you can understand the reasons why OneDrive takes up space and take effective measures to optimize storage settings.

If you want to completely stop OneDrive from taking up device space, then you can choose to use AOMEI FoneBackup to replace OneDrive, helping you back up iPhone/iPad to other external storage, thereby saving space on your phone.

Clara
Clara · Editor
Clara is the editor of Aomei FoneBackup and has received professional training and learning. She is good at solving iOS-related problems, including iPhone data transfer, backup, recovery, and iCloud-related problems. Helping others solve their problems makes her happy. She loves her family, watching movies, and taking walks with friends on weekends.