My iPhone says iCloud storage is full, so it won't synch my photos, when storage isn't full

My iPhone says iCloud storage is full, so it won't synch my photos, when the storage isn't full. I pay monthly for 50GB storage and my phone says i have "28.3GB of 50GB used". Why won't it synch, telling me storage is full when it also tells me storage isn't full??

iPhone 11, iOS 16

Posted on Jun 13, 2023 4:54 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 15, 2023 7:31 AM

Hey there MrTing, 


The most likely cause for the behavior you're experiencing is that the photo library on your phone is larger than the amount of iCloud storage you have available. You can check Settings > General > iPhone Storage to view the size of your photos library. Should this be the case, you will need to either reduce the amount of storage currently in use in iCloud, reduce the size of your photos library, transfer photos to your computer instead of iCloud, or increase your iCloud storage plan.


Manage your photo and video storage   

Manage your iCloud storage


Have a good one!

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 15, 2023 7:31 AM in response to MrTing

Hey there MrTing, 


The most likely cause for the behavior you're experiencing is that the photo library on your phone is larger than the amount of iCloud storage you have available. You can check Settings > General > iPhone Storage to view the size of your photos library. Should this be the case, you will need to either reduce the amount of storage currently in use in iCloud, reduce the size of your photos library, transfer photos to your computer instead of iCloud, or increase your iCloud storage plan.


Manage your photo and video storage   

Manage your iCloud storage


Have a good one!

Jun 14, 2023 2:17 PM in response to MrTing

Hey there MrTing,


Thanks so much for using Apple Support Communities.


We're happy to help point you in the right direction to get this sorted out. Based on your post, it sounds like there may be some confusion between the two types of storage on your iPhone; storage on your device and storage in iCloud. Those two types of storage are easy to get mixed up so it's possible that this might be what is going on. This article here has some great information on that and we think that it will help you get to the bottom of it: What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? - Apple Support


We hope this does the trick for you!


Cheers.

Jun 14, 2023 11:16 PM in response to nathan430

Thank you, Nathan, but I’m already clear about the difference between iPhone and iCloud storage, which is why I specified ‘iCloud’ storage in my post.

My photos don’t synch to the iCloud, with a message saying I don’t have enough iCloud storage. However, the same telephone says that iCloud storage is currently only 29/50GB (by the way, iPhone storage is 98/128GB).

So, while I’m grateful for your effort to enlighten me, I’m no further forward as I still can’t save my data to the iCloud, a service I pay for. This is frustrating.

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My iPhone says iCloud storage is full, so it won't synch my photos, when storage isn't full

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