Why does my iPhone storage increase when deleting files?

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Why does my iPhone storage increase when deleting files?

I had to update the software in my phone so it was asking me to clear up 18GB storage and i headed over to the storage section and started offloading apps. Doing so, I came down to 111GB and then started clearing stuff from my whatsapp hoping that it would come even further down. I literally deleted so many heavy files from whatsapp but instead my iphone storage went up to 116… how is that even possible. How can storage increase when I am deleting stuff from my phone. and now how am i supposed to clear up additional 6GB to update

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iPhone 15, iOS 18

Posted on May 14, 2025 1:05 PM

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Answer 1

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May 14, 2025 1:14 PM in response to ananya_05

WhatsApp is an absolute storage hog. Even Meta admits that the storage they note in the app does not match the actual storage needed for their data. In fact their Support Article for backing up, even says you need up to 2.05 times the amount of storage noted in WhatsApp due to this inconsistency. For that particular app, I would recommend backing up your chats to iCloud if you want those saved and delete the app from your phone. Offloading won't help, as all your data remains and after you update, you can redownload the app and restore your WhatsApp backup.

If you have a computer, you also have the option of performing the update from the computer where you do not need to have the storage space on the device to download the update.

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Answer 2

May 14, 2025 2:53 PM in response to ananya_05

When you delete files on an iOS device they are marked as “deleted”, but not removed immediately. The space is recovered by a background iOS process that runs at times it won’t interfere with other apps, and preferably when the device is plugged in.

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Why does my iPhone storage increase when deleting files?

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