You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

I can’t find data saved on iPhone

When I sign into email there’s a notification at the bottom that says “iCloud storage almost full”. How can I delete information IE old contacts, emails that are automatically backed up. When I sign into iCloud, there doesn’t seem to be a way to access the data. I don’t use iCloud for anything other than to sync contacts and other data.

iPhone 13 Pro Max

Posted on Aug 30, 2023 8:02 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 30, 2023 8:12 PM

TMcClain Said:

"I can’t find data saved on iPhone: When I sign into email there’s a notification at the bottom that says “iCloud storage almost full”. How can I delete information IE old contacts, emails that are automatically backed up. When I sign into iCloud, there doesn’t seem to be a way to access the data. I don’t use iCloud for anything other than to sync contacts and other data."

-------


Troubleshooting Full iCloud:

This is referring it iCloud Drive --not your Contacts. So, clear out the iCloud Drive.


One unique method...

Download All of iCloud:

One thought would be to download all of iCloud to an external drive. Once downloaded, verify your can access the data. Once verified, trash what is in iCloud. As for seeing through the download, do so in Finder on a Mac. You would download it to an external drive, and then open the drive in Finder. Search through it using the search bar on the top-right corner of the Finder window. Once downloaded, trash what is in there. Use my user tip: Getting a Quick and Direct "iCloud Drive-to-External Hard Drive" Download - User Tip

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 30, 2023 8:12 PM in response to TMcClain

TMcClain Said:

"I can’t find data saved on iPhone: When I sign into email there’s a notification at the bottom that says “iCloud storage almost full”. How can I delete information IE old contacts, emails that are automatically backed up. When I sign into iCloud, there doesn’t seem to be a way to access the data. I don’t use iCloud for anything other than to sync contacts and other data."

-------


Troubleshooting Full iCloud:

This is referring it iCloud Drive --not your Contacts. So, clear out the iCloud Drive.


One unique method...

Download All of iCloud:

One thought would be to download all of iCloud to an external drive. Once downloaded, verify your can access the data. Once verified, trash what is in iCloud. As for seeing through the download, do so in Finder on a Mac. You would download it to an external drive, and then open the drive in Finder. Search through it using the search bar on the top-right corner of the Finder window. Once downloaded, trash what is in there. Use my user tip: Getting a Quick and Direct "iCloud Drive-to-External Hard Drive" Download - User Tip

Aug 30, 2023 8:37 PM in response to TMcClain



TMcClain wrote:

When I sign into email there’s a notification at the bottom that says “iCloud storage almost full”. How can I delete information IE old contacts, emails that are automatically backed up. When I sign into iCloud, there doesn’t seem to be a way to access the data. I don’t use iCloud for anything other than to sync contacts and other data.


As a starting point, see Make more space available in iCloud here:

Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support


When on the server, emails aren’t backed up as part of an iPhone backup. Nor are Contacts. Those do count against your iCloud quota, but they don’t get double-counted in a backup. Contacts are negligible storage, unless you have lots of contacts. Big mail attachments, and long or high-resolution videos and such, can all be much larger.

Sep 7, 2023 8:04 PM in response to TheLittles

I tried what you recommended. The iCloud Drive is empty and the download icon is grayed out. I am unable to download anything. However, according to my "iCloud Storage" section, the 4.5 GB of used space is comprised of:


3.6 GB of messages

954.6 MB of iCloud Backup

23.5 MB of Documents

1.7 MB of email messages


What am I missing?


Thanks



I can’t find data saved on iPhone

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.