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Level 2

185 points

What is "Other" data in iTunes for my iPhone? And why is it over a GB?

In iTunes, my iPhone reports I have 1.6GB of "Other" data. It appeared immediately after I deleted and unsubscribed from a podcast (via iTunes) which had 24 large videos, and then sync'd with my iPhone (which was running out of space).

The podcasts appeared to be removed from my iPhone, however I still had no space and I saw that now I had this 1.6GB of other stuff.

I had a look around for answers on this and the default answer given is "restore your iPhone". So I did a backup and then did a restore to that backup. I don't have an earlier backup (except one that's from last year) and I really don't want to lose my app data and settings.

The restore didn't remove the 1.6GB of data.

So the question is, am I right in assuming the 1.6GB of other data is the left over podcasts that are now corrupt somehow? Or is it something else? i.e. What constitutes "other" data?

Second, any other ideas how to get rid of that other data?

Thank

Boz

iPhone 3GS, iOS 4, Windows 7 (rocks)

Posted on Jan 19, 2011 5:26 AM

Best reply

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Posted on Jan 19, 2011 5:35 AM

Other that large is corrupt data. Normally, a restore from backup fixes things. In your case it looks like a restore as a "new" device is going to be the only way to fix this. Unfortunately, you will lose all saved data on your phone. You can try resetting your phone, but if that doesn't work, there is no other solution other than restoring.

Reset:

Press the sleep/wake button & home button at the same time, keep pressing until you see the Apple logo, then release(ignore the slide to power off). I would also suggest syncing after doing this to see if this returns your other to normal.

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44 replies

jjkboswell Author

Level 2

185 points

Mar 20, 2011 4:05 AM in response to Marcin2011

Thanks for the Parental Pin follow up. I actually tried a random combination every hour over a few weeks and finally got the code. It was a mistype of one of my less regular pins. Odd.

As for this issue, if you do have an alternative method for reducing the other, please post here.

Thanks!

Boz

jjkboswell Author

Level 2

185 points

Mar 20, 2011 4:12 AM in response to diesel vdub

diesel vdub wrote:

paatajin wrote:

2. When then I'll restore from the last saved back-up I'll get all my data and Apps settings back (as I read on iPhone support page), BUT WITHOUT Purchased apps - is this correct?

This defeats the purpose of restoring as new. When you restore from your backup you will simply re-introduce the problem you are trying to resolve.
The large amount of "Other" data is corruption in your backup, you do not want to restore from your backup.

Incorrect. As I indicated above, to reduce the 'other' space I:

* performed a complete Backup (from iOS Device context menu)
* performed a Restore (clicked Restore button on Summary tab)
* after device is reset with latest iOS software, chose latest backup

However, if you choose "Restore from backup" from the Device's context menu, you WILL introduce the corrupted 'other' from the backup, as you said.

The two restore methods are distinctly different, but Apple has completely confused the users in the process.

Boz

paatajin

Level 1

0 points

Mar 20, 2011 6:35 AM in response to jjkboswell

Thank you very much. I've done exactly as you write and managed to reduce Other down to 0.35 Gb from more than 5Gb, without any problem or any loss of ANY information, including Application data and settings.

Now I wonder - what's the reason of significant growth of "Other" and how to avoid that?

Regards.

jjkboswell Author

Level 2

185 points

Mar 20, 2011 7:14 AM in response to paatajin

paatajin wrote:
Thank you very much. I've done exactly as you write and managed to reduce Other down to 0.35 Gb from more than 5Gb, without any problem or any loss of ANY information, including Application data and settings.

Now I wonder - what's the reason of significant growth of "Other" and how to avoid that?

Regards.

🙂 I'm very pleased I've helped someone with this, as I know how incredibly frustrating it is when you ask a question on the Apple forums and you almost get scoffed at for daring to question the way of Apple.

There is a blatant Apple bug here, and a confusing double process of backup restoration that isn't consistent.

I've raised this (and numerous other bugs with Apple), but you never get a response, and so far you never get a fix. Roll on June when I can get out of my contract and have choice again!

Boz

jjkboswell Author

Level 2

185 points

Mar 20, 2011 7:16 AM in response to jjkboswell

BTW, I just did a restore this morning too, and cleared my 1.6gb other down to 0.33gb. And as I said before, other space is freed aside from the "other". I now have 4.6gb free on my iPhone, but before the restore I only had 1.5gb. I have no idea what else got freed, I assume app caches (or app sandboxes I think they're called).

Boz

ramkirhs

Level 1

0 points

Jul 25, 2011 4:18 PM in response to jjkboswell

Boz, thanks so much for posting this! I've had this issue of "other" data occupying 4.6GB of my fairly limited 16GB of iphone storage capacity for ages. It was proving quite frustrating, and I really didn't want to have to do a regular restore back to factory settings and lose 18months worth of app config settings, texts etc.

Your solution has worked very well, much appreciated.

Rob.

jjkboswell wrote:

wjosten wrote:
Other that large is corrupt data. Normally, a restore from backup fixes things.

So, I discovered something new about iTunes today. The "Restore from backup" context menu option that appears when you click your iOS device in the Devices tree on the left of iTunes, is different from the "Restore" button that you get on the Summary tab for your device.

"Restore from backup" just does an restore from backup. Whereas the Restore button does a restore and then restore from backup. Make sense? Hmm.

This distinctly different functionality is not clear to the user, indeed the advice I was given above was to "Restore from backup", which in this instance is not what is needed to clear out the "Other" data.

In summary, to fix my problem I:
- performed a complete Backup (from iOS Device context menu)
- performed a Restore (clicked Restore button on Summary tab)
- after device is reset with latest iOS software, chose latest backup

My other data shrank to 0.2Gb, and as an added bonus another 1.4 GB of other space was freed up from Apps and Video, even though I can't find anything missing, so I suspect there was other non-"Other" data that was cleared out by this procedure.

Boz

coojohn

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2011 7:34 AM in response to jjkboswell

Hey Boz,

Thanks, aftre my last upgrade to iOS5 Other was 5.2GB!!!!!!!

I just followed your advice and the Other is about 0.5GB - I ca,, that success!

Thanks for the information,

coojohn

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2011 7:39 AM in response to diesel vdub

diesel vdub,

not quite true for me, I followed Boz and it worlked out fine, I have all my original data restored minus the oversized Other, in my case reduced from 5.2 GB to 0.5 GB

coojohn

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2011 7:46 AM in response to jjkboswell

Boz,

Great when a plan comes together an it works!

How did you find out what to do? Trail and error?

Cheers!

McQ14

Level 1

21 points

Oct 26, 2011 2:05 PM in response to jjkboswell

This has been a very helpful amd instructional thread. I've been looking at all the available threads on this, both "answered" and not. This one seems to contain the correct, and succinct answers.

Thanks to all who have tried to help with this, because my Other was getting out of hand! Thanks to Boz, especially, who took lots of time to mess around with his device and then post a good, simple answer.

Can't tell you how many other places on the web have really terrible solutions to this. But then again, you probably already saw them if you're in here, so you already know!

🙂

LNav

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2011 5:50 PM in response to jjkboswell

Hey folks,

I was going to follow the instructions here, but last time I ran a "restore as a new phone" (maybe back at iOS 3 and iTunes who knows what back then) I lost my Camera Roll and thus, couldn't place the contents from my computer back to the Camera Roll. So, I was hesitant. Not sure if the instructions above would lead to the same thing. But I was going to try it to get rid of the problem described here in this post.

I had about 4.1 GB of "Other" on my daughter's 16GB 3GS that showed up after the upgrade to iOS 5. Something gave me the sneaky suspicion it had to do with podcasts. (I think I must have spied something in my research about it.) I looked in iTunes and it was "Sync Podcasts" was unchecked. But here phone showed evidence of the podcasts. So, I checked the "Sync Podcasts" box and suddenly the "Other" data disappeared to zero. I unchecked it and it didn't come back; it's still at zero. So, I didn't even have to do a restore or anything like that.

My guess is that somehow the iOS upgrade got confused along the way. It must have loaded the podcasts onto her phone even though it was unchecked, and lost track that the data was there... calling it later as "Other". Who knows? 😕

Dec 4, 2011 6:38 PM in response to jjkboswell

Hello all.

As i just purchased a brand new *iphone 4 3g 8gb* it recently came with an update involving the 5.0.1 firmware.

Before this my "other" was practically 0 but since the update it has been at .28g it was up to .41g but i have already done 2 restores. The first one took about a half an hour and this final one took about 13 minutes. Im saying this because ive been on other forums lacking the information i provided.Im seeking the answer because I feel completly let down by apple and there knowledge of the problem. Ive thought about taking it in and replaced but ive decided to try and figure it out by my self. Please if anyone else has the knowledge to figure out this problem I would gladly take this and use it. I noticed that "Boz" covered something to do with it but I looked at his posts and couldnt find the original.

sreale

Level 1

0 points

Dec 6, 2011 8:49 PM in response to jjkboswell

Just tried this and reduced "other" from 1.75 GB to 0.23. Worked perfect - thanks!

Dec 21, 2011 3:30 PM in response to jjkboswell

I'll admit I'm a bit slow on this whole iTunes business. At the risk of asking a stupid question, I'll go ahead. I think I have the first two steps figured out. The third step is a bit vague to me. When you say "after device is reset", do you mean after the device has been "restored" by pushing the "restore" button on the summary pane? I'm not sure from there where you "choose latest backup"? Does iTunes prompt for this at some point in the restore process? I'd kind of like to know before I try this on my iPhone 4S.

Dec 21, 2011 3:49 PM in response to jjkboswell

I set up a phone as "new" and still have over 1GB of other.

For those worried about losing data I highly recommend phoneview by ecamm to back up your phone on your computer.

What is "Other" data in iTunes for my iPhone? And why is it over a GB?