iPad storage is full, but deleting stuff isn't making free space. It's still full.

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Level 1

21 points

iPad storage is full, but deleting stuff isn't making free space. It's still full.

About 4 days ago I got a message that my iPad storage was full. 254gb out of 256gb is used. So I went to manage storage and deleted a whole bunch of videos. The message didn't go away. I went into Photos, and saw those videos were still there (But not there in "manage storage," which is weird. So I deleted them in photos. The full storage notice went away for about 10 minutes, then came on again. So I deleted more recommended stuff. Still 254gb full. So I deleted more today. Still didn't budge. It seems that no matter how much I delete, it doesn't go down. Or, if it does go down, ten minutes later it's back to where it was at 254. It's frustrating. My screen flickers, everything is slow, and my background image is all black.

Separate but I'm sure it's related: What's weird is that up until about a week ago, I probably had 50gb of videos downloaded to my iPad from my dropbox account, (and my ipad still wasn't full), but now all those videos show as not downloaded, yet it is full now. I'm not sure what to do. I suspect part of my problem is there's maybe an issue with dropbox stuff saying it's not downloaded to my iPad but it is. Is there a way for me to see if that's the case?

Even with the dropbox issue, my storage should be freeing up with my deleting of stuff, but it's not. Does anyone now why? And more importantly, what I can do about it?

EDIT: I see my system data is at 121.08gb. This can't be right. The description says system data includes caches, logs and other resources. Something seems wrong with this. Half my storage can't be system data. I would think if there's this much stuff in a cache or something, it would show up under "suggestions to free up space" screen.

Thank you in advance for any help.

iPad Air

Posted on Feb 2, 2026 5:16 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

LotusPilot

Level 10

302,990 points

Feb 2, 2026 7:16 AM in response to Robb Manning

Seeing +120GB of system data is perhaps unusual. Reported system storage includes a lot of cached data and can be expected to fluctuate - 10-20GB perhaps being more typical. Your iPad should automatically and optimally manage its available system resources, using available free space to cache data and improve overall performance.

Other than deleting files and data from your iPad, the only element of system storage that you can directly influence is perhaps your browser caches - which you can manually clear if you wish to do so.

For Safari:

Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data

For other browsers, you’ll need to find the relevant section of the App settings - which may be within the App itself.

Otherwise, transient system caches can be significantly reduced by performing a forced-restart of your iPad - although caches, by their nature, will again accumulate and be automatically managed by the operating system:

Force restart iPad - Apple Support

More information about clearing system/other data is outlined here:

Clear Other storage on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Where available free-space is a problem, a workable remedy to release "lost" storage is to ensure that you have either an iCloud or iTunes backup of your iPad, completely erase the iPad, and restore your backup to the iPad.

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Erase all content and settings:

Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Erase All Content & Settings

Restore all content to iPad from a backup - Apple Support

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Answer 2

gsyrba

Level 2

410 points

Feb 2, 2026 5:36 AM in response to Robb Manning

Are the videos you delete still in iCloud? If so, they might be downloading back onto the iPad. Have you tried turning off the sync settings?

Delete your original photos and videos that you want removed from the iPad.
Go to Settings, then tap your name.
Tap iCloud. Under Saved to iCloud, tap Photos.
Deselect "Sync this [Device]" to turn off iCloud Photos.

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Answer 3

LotusPilot

Level 10

302,990 points

Feb 2, 2026 6:03 AM in response to Robb Manning

Deleting photos and videos from your Photo Library initially moves the "deleted" items to the Recently Deleted folder - where they continue to occupy local file-space on your device. Items within the Recently Deleted folder can be restored to the Photo Library, but will be permanently deleted from the device after 30 days.

To fully delete these items - and immediately release occupied file-space - you must manually delete the items from the Recently Deleted folder - this folder being accessed from the Photo App sidebar. If not visible, the sidebar is exposed using the sidebar button:

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Answer 4

LotusPilot

Level 10

302,990 points

Feb 2, 2026 8:15 AM in response to Robb Manning

Caches (and reported system data) are not included within your iCloud or iTunes backup - and therefore cannot be restored from it.

Offloading an App removes just the App, not data; data associated with the offloaded is preserved and remains within local storage on your device.

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Answer 5

Robb Manning Author

Level 1

21 points

Feb 2, 2026 6:39 AM in response to Robb Manning

As an example, yesterday it suggested I could remove 10gb if I deleted my message attachments. So I deleted all of them. It might have freed up about 1/2 a gb of storage, if that. (I rarely use my ipad for messages, so I don't really want that to sync anyway.)

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Answer 6

Robb Manning Author

Level 1

21 points

Feb 2, 2026 8:09 AM in response to LotusPilot

If I use a backup from after the problem started, will it restore all of the system caches, too?

I'm going through and trying all the other steps you recommended.

I discovered that almost all of my non-apple apps are now offloaded, despite apps still taking up the same amount of space on my drive as they did before.

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Answer 7

Robb Manning Author

Level 1

21 points

Feb 2, 2026 1:20 PM in response to LotusPilot

I thought maybe I should update my iOS to see if that would help. I did it through my Mac, since there's not enough space on my iPad to do the update via the internet. It was about a minute from being done and it froze. I left it frozen for several hours to see if it would finish, and it didn't. So I did a hard restart, and now it's just suck on the Apple logo. Now I have a whole new set of problems to fix before I get to my first problem. (Thankfully I have a backup from yesterday).

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