Photo Storage Problem

YLMike wrote:

I have an iPhone 16E with 128GB of RAM. I have a fairly large music library -- about 62GB -- that is on my phone. Accordingly, I need to keep my other storage low.

No iPhone has 128 GB of RAM. I'm guessing that you mean that you have 128 GB of storage.

When I look at General --> iPhone Storage, I see Photos using 1.13 GB and the breakout is App Size 4.8 MB and 1.12 Documents & Data

That can't be. I have two ( 2 ) photos in my library.

Any videos in your library? Also, is there anything in the Recently Deleted album? Recently Deleted items continue to take up space until they are permanently deleted.

Hi, If there are genuinely only two items in the Library, the 1.12 GB is unlikely to be the size of those two photos. “Documents & Data” for Photos also includes the local photo library database, thumbnails, indexes, edits, caches, and possibly media in “Recently Deleted” or shared areas.

First, check Recently Deleted, Hidden, Shared Albums/Shared Library, and whether iCloud Photos is enabled at this path,

iPhone > Settings > [name] > iCloud > Photos

Also confirm whether Optimize iPhone Storage or Download and Keep Originals is selected. iCloud Photos can keep local device copies even when the full resolution originals are stored in iCloud.

If all those areas are empty and the iPhone is otherwise working normally, restart it (as previously suggested), leave it on WiFi and power for a while, then recheck iPhone Storage. A 1.12 GB Photos footprint is not concerning by itself. It is usually managed data rather than a separate collection of user visible photos.

Hi, when optimization is enabled, Photos can retain smaller local copies and supporting data while full resolution originals remain in iCloud, so the on device total can vary.

You should also check the Photos app’s sync status, as a pending upload, download, or routine photo library processing can account for temporary local storage. Finally, if all of those areas appear empty, restart the iPhone, leave it connected to WiFi and power for a while, and then check iPhone Storage again. Storage reporting can lag behind deletions and library maintenance. This lag is necessary as a safeguard against losing critically important photos. 

Did you once have many more photos stored on your iPhone? Do you leave your iPhone on, connected to a charger and WiFi at night? This is considered a best practice and nearly all critical and routine maintenance and housekeeping is performed on your iPhone. This can account for multiple days delays in deleting photos, syncing, indexing etc.

YLMike wrote:

Hi --

Thanks for that other post with a similar (maybe identical?) problem. After reading through it, I didn't see anything that would lead to resolution though.

When was the last time you Force Restarted your iPhone --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

No, do not delete the Photos app at this time. Deleting the Photos app now could result in permanent loss of data (photos).

Your best bet is to contact Apple Support and they can look and see exactly what’s going on. I would do this sooner rather than later just to be sure nothing is lost permanently.

If you’re in the US, please call  1-800-MY-APPLE, or outside the US, consult the support articles below. In Canada, call 1-800-263-3394.

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

YLMike wrote:

Yes, I once had a decent number of photos on my phone. I downloaded them to my computer and deleted them from my phone to (hopefully) free up space. That hasn't worked out though.

Educated guess:

If you permanently deleted a lot of photos from your phone, recently, maybe it is taking the phone a bit of time to make the space available for reuse.

Flash memory – the stuff in SSDs, USB flash drives, and your iPhone – does not allow reusing a previously-used area of storage, unless you first format (erase) the entire enclosing flash sector. That sector may be very large - and may contain other data that you want to keep.

So there may be a "song and dance" that the phone carries out in the background, behind your back, to deal with this. If you have a lot of free storage, only delete a small amount of stuff at a time, and do deletions infrequently, the phone may succeed in "hiding" the "song and dance" from you.

But if you delete a lot of stuff at once, the phone may need to be turned on and running for a while to clean things up. Until each area is cleaned up, it is "available" for cleaning up and reuse, but not immediately available for use for things like updating iOS or storing more data.

Hi, we don’t know what data is visible and what’s possibly hidden waiting to sync or be backed up. Apple Support can see what’s going on with Photos content and iCloud backup status etc. The last thing I’d do is delete Photos app before talking to Apple Support. But that’s me. 😃

I think this post will be helpful to you: iPhone Storage Overloaded by Photo Storag… - Apple Community

Jeff Donald wrote:

No, do not delete the Photos app at this time. Deleting the Photos app now could result in permanent loss of data (photos).

Your best bet is to contact Apple Support and they can look and see exactly what’s going on. I would do this sooner rather than later just to be sure nothing is lost permanently.

If there literally are only 2 photos in the library, the OP could email copies of those photos to himself as a bit of extra insurance against them getting lost.

You're welcome. I hope it helps. I do this procedure, btw, after EVERY iOS update.