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I get the "storage almost full" message several times a day. The iPhone has 16gb but realistically has 12gb usable storage space. If I check the storage it says zero kb available but if I add the used storage it only adds up to about 6gb, well short of almost full. Why is there so much unused storage while recieving constant reminders that it is almost full?
How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
iOS monitors the storage on your device by analyzing how much space each app uses. You can also check the storage on your device in Settings or in iTunes.
How iOS optimizes storage
If your device is low on storage, iOS automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.
To make more storage available, iOS can remove some of your items, like streamed music and videos, files in iCloud Drive, and parts of apps that aren't needed. It also removes temporary files and clears the cache on your device. iOS only removes items that can be downloaded again or that aren't needed anymore.
If your device is almost full and iOS can't free up space on your device, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, you should check the storage recommendations or you need to offload some less-used content like videos and apps.
Content categories
iOS divides the used content in these categories:
iOS only displays the top categories. If a category doesn't take much space, it might be counted as "Other." Storage space taken by "System" is a combination of space taken by iOS and its supporting files. The amount of space required by "System" varies from device to device depending on the device type, model, country, carrier, Siri voices, and more.
Use recommendations to optimize storage
In the Storage section of Settings, iOS might offer recommendations for optimizing your device's storage. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.
Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.
How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
iOS monitors the storage on your device by analyzing how much space each app uses. You can also check the storage on your device in Settings or in iTunes.
How iOS optimizes storage
If your device is low on storage, iOS automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.
To make more storage available, iOS can remove some of your items, like streamed music and videos, files in iCloud Drive, and parts of apps that aren't needed. It also removes temporary files and clears the cache on your device. iOS only removes items that can be downloaded again or that aren't needed anymore.
If your device is almost full and iOS can't free up space on your device, you might get a Storage Almost Full alert. If you see this alert, you should check the storage recommendations or you need to offload some less-used content like videos and apps.
Content categories
iOS divides the used content in these categories:
iOS only displays the top categories. If a category doesn't take much space, it might be counted as "Other." Storage space taken by "System" is a combination of space taken by iOS and its supporting files. The amount of space required by "System" varies from device to device depending on the device type, model, country, carrier, Siri voices, and more.
Use recommendations to optimize storage
In the Storage section of Settings, iOS might offer recommendations for optimizing your device's storage. Tap Show All to see all the recommendations for your device.
Read the description of each recommendation, then tap Enable to turn it on or tap the recommendation to review the contents you can delete.
See if any of the following articles can help:
Storage almost full message.
