Major Storage Bug After iOS 26 Update — Losing Dozens of GB for No Reason

To resolve this issue, you can backup to a Mac and then erase your iphone and restore from the backup. If you don’t have access to a computer (it can be done on windows too), backup your iphone to iCloud, erase your device and then restore from your iCloud backup.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

JerBear61 wrote:

Why should we have to back up and erase all contents and data. Why can't Apple just resolve this issue in one of their updates, perhaps maybe iOS 26.2? This is "System Data" bloating our devices after all. I don't see why we need lose our data off devices we use everyday. This is on Apple to fix

There's no way to resolve an issue like corrupt data in System Data via a software update, which is most often the cause of bloated System Data. Apple has no access to the data on your phone. Further, the data on your phone is fully encrypted. This is also not a system wide issue, meaning the vast majority of users don't have any corrupt data in System Data. But for someone who does, a backup/restore will fix it. So that's why you have to do this. Or live with the issue, which doesn't seem like a very optimal solution.

A final note: If system data is causing issues because it has grown too much, then the user doesn't own a phone which meets their storage needs. Once purchased, iPhone Storage is fixed and can never be increased. People often don't pay enough attention to how much storage they will need, not just when they get a new phone, but what their storage needs may be over the long haul. Here, on this forum we recommend buying a phone with the most storage someone can afford.

JerBear61 wrote:

Yeah I had to eventually erase all data but I still don’t understand why that’s necessary. Why can’t they just fix whatever cache bug is causing their OS to bloat devices?

If System Data becomes bloated, it's always because you have some corrupt data. Data, which is on your phone only. Most people don't get any corrupt data. But if you do, the ONLY want to remove it is to restore your phone and that isn't something Apple has any ability to control for you.

I e read- not verified that if you do the update via ov using iTunes it can actually reduce cache, possibly from prev updates ( we’ll never know).

others have said they did the iTunes connection and that reduced there storage used by updates significantly as well.

This is absolutely, unequivocally a bug. There are many reports of this issue after the iOS 26.1 update, including this detailed one here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256205943

I am experiencing the exact same behavior described in that post. No matter how much storage I clear, “System Data” very rapidly (within a matter of minutes to hours) consumes even more space until there is none left. I have experienced this consistently post-26.1, no matter how many times I restore.

Screenshots are included below. I’m also going to be submitting a sysdiagnose to Apple in a Feedback report, so that hopefully they can provide more info.

Yeah I had to eventually erase all data but I still don’t understand why that’s necessary. Why can’t they just fix whatever cache bug is causing their OS to bloat devices?

Pay a couple of bucks a month, (or half a cup of Starbucks) then turn on iCloud Photos with optimised storage, that way you get more space.

You really need to find out which app is doing this, maybe sysdiagnose will help tell you which.

In the same situation

Hopefully, we can have a solution can’t back up because there is no storage yet there is storage

Please, Apple resolve this!!!

My partner’s in graduate school and is not able to get to her papers after spending two grand on a Mac

We need this resolved now, so hopefully some technician from apple can give us a solution or an update

I am having a similar issue. I have never had iCloud enabled for photos, I have deleted every deletable app on the phone. Thousands of pictures are missing from Photos, and no indexing works all albums have ceased to exist including Apple created photo albums not just my own

Wasp14 wrote:

My biggest issue with this argument is that this is a cache bug so that won’t really help. It needs to be fixed so that this doesn’t happen in the first place. For example I’m aware for my 64GB iPad Air to leave a good chunk of space free and this bug ate it all up. Apple develops iOS knowing those products are out there, so either drop them or optimize the software better.

A cache bug would affect everyone, if it really was a bug. But it doesn't affect the vast majority of users. In all these years, I've never had System Data go out of line, requiring a backup/restore. Apple can't control what data people look at or download on individual phones. Your argument just doesn't hold water. Sorry.

I have this problem too try to get more storage but no I don’t know why it keeps happening on Amazon Music! Hope it’s get solved and fix! Soon!

Did it work?

And if you have neither??? Phase out 64gb or put a warning saying 64 gb won’t last a 3year contract. Really done us 64gb users totally lost trust in Apple