Why is my iphone storage full if my photos save to iCloud?

My phone is set to save photos/videos to iCloud where I have 2TB. So my understanding is that all photos and videos are saved there and not on my phone. Why does my phone storage keep filling up if that is the case?

iPhone 15 Pro Max

Posted on Feb 3, 2024 5:26 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 3, 2024 5:32 PM

I would like you to realize and know one important thing and that is that there is NOTHING that you can do to increase the physical storage capacity of your iPhone. Your iPhone's storage capacity will forever remain the same as the day you bought it. 


You have purchased ➔ iCloud Storage from Apple where you create and save your iPhone backups and synch (Not Store) your Messages, Photos, Contacts, Calendars, Notes and Reminders. Note that iCloud Storage is NOT an extension of storage capacity of your iPhone. Just wanted you to know some facts.


Having said that, you can choose to Optimize Storage on your iPhone for all the Photos. What this action will do is store your original quality photos on iCloud and a small size photo on your iPhone. This takes up less space on your iPhone while maintaining the actual size on iCloud. This will free up space on your iPhone while making good use of iCloud. If you would like to try this then open Settings ➔ Photos ➔ Optimize iPhone Storage : Ensure that this option is chosen and has a checkmark on it.


Axel F.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 3, 2024 5:32 PM in response to mynaito

I would like you to realize and know one important thing and that is that there is NOTHING that you can do to increase the physical storage capacity of your iPhone. Your iPhone's storage capacity will forever remain the same as the day you bought it. 


You have purchased ➔ iCloud Storage from Apple where you create and save your iPhone backups and synch (Not Store) your Messages, Photos, Contacts, Calendars, Notes and Reminders. Note that iCloud Storage is NOT an extension of storage capacity of your iPhone. Just wanted you to know some facts.


Having said that, you can choose to Optimize Storage on your iPhone for all the Photos. What this action will do is store your original quality photos on iCloud and a small size photo on your iPhone. This takes up less space on your iPhone while maintaining the actual size on iCloud. This will free up space on your iPhone while making good use of iCloud. If you would like to try this then open Settings ➔ Photos ➔ Optimize iPhone Storage : Ensure that this option is chosen and has a checkmark on it.


Axel F.

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Why is my iphone storage full if my photos save to iCloud?

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