My iPhone’s Storage is filling up without me doing anything

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Level 1

7 points

My iPhone’s Storage is filling up without me doing anything

Hi!

I have an issue with my iPhone XR storage 'System data'. No matter how much I delete, the storage always fills up. It is now 30.53 Gig. App, Photos, iOS and messages take up less than half of my 64Gig storage.

I read that the way to fix this is to reset to factoiry and then restore from a backup. I can no longer trust my backup to work because I am running OS 10.15.7 Catalina (the latest my IT department allows) and I have iOS 15.4.1. When I try to make a new backup I get a warning that I should update the MacBook's OS first for this to work. I made the backup anyway, but I am not sure I can restore the phone from this backup before I update the Macbook's OS.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to trust that the backup will work? Then I could do the factory reset trick to empty the 'System Data'.

Even better would be for the iOS to stop hogging storage at an improbable rate. I did a 'settings' reset and this did not clear any storage. Yet, my phone lost the preferences for location services access to camera etc.. for all of my apps (which is highly annoying). So, that is not what the storage hogger does. What then?

Any help welcome

Ronald

iPhone XR

Posted on Jun 9, 2022 7:39 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

mingoslkd

Community Specialist

Jun 10, 2022 12:09 PM in response to ouwerkerkr

Hi ouwerkerkr,

You're headed in the right direction to get your iPhone storage lower. Did you also check the Recently Deleted album, or folder, for the apps which have that? Photos and Notes are two which do.

The Recently Deleted album/folder keeps your deleted data for 30 days, and will still count towards the storage.

If you know for sure that you no longer want that data, as it will be permanently deleted, head over to the Photos app, and select Albums, and tap Recently Deleted in the Utilities section. After deleting the data in that album, restart your iPhone and check the storage again.

Delete photos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Since you also need to update your iPhone to iOS 15.5, you can do this wirelessly being connected to Wi-Fi.

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

To back up your iPhone, you can use iCloud instead of your work computer.

Backup methods for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

If it continues to be an issue for you, you can reach out for additional support here: Get Support

Take care.

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Answer 2

ouwerkerkr Author

Level 1

7 points

Jun 10, 2022 1:34 PM in response to mingoslkd

I know how to make space, but less than half of the 64Gig is filled with things that I want and the 'System Data' very quickly fills any space I created by deleting apps, deleting entire photo albums, deleting pics in text messages, etc.

It is a lost battle because the OS keeps filling the newly opened space as quick as I can remove items. I did delete the deleted pics permanently and very briefly I do get a few Gig, but that fills within days, even though I do not add new songs or pictures at a rate that could explain this.

I can already wirelessly connect to my MacBook, and I have a cable, but this is of no use. The older OS (Catalina) will not let me make a backup I can trust (there is always a warning that I should update the MacBook's OS. In other words: this backup will not work if you try to restore your phone). So you suggestion to upgrade the iphone's OS to 15.5 only aggravates this problem.

So, please just tell me : Can a backup made of a phone with iOS15.4.7 work even if it was made on an OS 10.15.7?

Or... tell me what is hogging the storage space. How can I find what process is doing this. Health data is pretty big, at 1.87Gig, but it does not grow fast, so that is probably not the culprit (but I would like to be able to delete it rather than songs or pics). It could be a hidden iOS process.

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Answer 3

K_Wall44

Community Specialist

Jun 10, 2022 1:47 PM in response to ouwerkerkr

Hi ouwerkerkr,

If your Mac tells you that it cannot create a new backup of your device because of the old macOS, then we'd recommend using a different backup option as listed in the article provided in the previous message.

Although we're unable to tell you what is causing the issue with the storage amount, updating the software will make sure the issue is not being caused by your older software on your iPhone.

Best regards

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My iPhone’s Storage is filling up without me doing anything

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