TheShugster

Q: Where has all my storage space gone?

Using iPhone 6 Plus, 16GB, running iOS 8.0.2.

 

I have 34 photos, no videos, and no music stored on my iPhone. When I look under 'Usage', it says I have used 11.2 GB, and have only 596 MB remaining. When I go to 'Manage Storage', the total space used by all the apps listed is less than 2 GB - where is the other (approx) 7 GB of storage?!

iPad 2, iOS 4.3.2

Posted on Oct 4, 2014 4:57 AM

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Q: Where has all my storage space gone?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by WiseJD,Helpful

    WiseJD WiseJD Oct 4, 2014 5:12 AM in response to TheShugster
    Level 4 (1,666 points)
    Oct 4, 2014 5:12 AM in response to TheShugster

    You should have 13 GB available after the iOS and the Apple Apps ...The rest is yours to fill.  If you connect to iTunes you will see a graphical representation of how your iPhone's storage is currently consumed.  Also you could Reset the phone and check the available space again. Hold Sleep / Wake button down and the Home key at the same time until the Apple logo appears, then release the buttons and wait until the Reset brings you back to the lock-screen.

     

    "Other" can include...

     

    1. Browser cache
    2. Mail cache
    3. Mail messages
    4. Mail attachments
    5. Safari's Reading List
    6. iTunes Backups
    7. Crud resulting from jailbreaking your iDevice
    8. Game data
    9. Saved data files
    10. Call history
    11. Notes
    12. Media
    13. Voice memos
  • by TheShugster,

    TheShugster TheShugster Oct 4, 2014 5:36 AM in response to WiseJD
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 4, 2014 5:36 AM in response to WiseJD

    I've never actually hooked up an iPhone to iTunes since iOS 5, but I did hard reset the phone, and then clear my internet cache - this gave me back about 150MB.

     

    My mail accounts are currently using 309 MB (as I just app switched to confirm that figure, I suddenly have 1.4 GB available).

    I have no games on my phone.

    I have deleted all but a few small notes.

    There are no voice memos on my phone.

    All Apps on my phone - and their usage - are listed under 'Manage Storage', and all totalled do not exceed 2 GB.

    I don't understand what you mean by iTunes Backups? I back up wirelessly.

     

    Thanks for the tips though - somehow I appear to have gained about 1GB, but that still leaves about 6 GB out there...

  • by Ralph Landry1,

    Ralph Landry1 Oct 4, 2014 5:41 AM in response to TheShugster
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Oct 4, 2014 5:41 AM in response to TheShugster

    For additional information on how iOS reports storage, see the knowledge base article:Understanding iOS device capacity

  • by TheShugster,

    TheShugster TheShugster Oct 4, 2014 5:49 AM in response to Ralph Landry1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 4, 2014 5:49 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

    Thank you, but I was aware of that, and it still doesn't explain the missing 6GB when I look through the listed apps.

  • by Ralph Landry1,

    Ralph Landry1 Oct 4, 2014 6:00 AM in response to TheShugster
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Oct 4, 2014 6:00 AM in response to TheShugster

    Things like photos will not add up because Photos carries the images themselves, but also makes thumbnails to display (not counted) and indexing (not counted).  You can pile up a very large storage for photos that doesn't seem right because of all the stuff not counted in the photos themselves.  Similar for music if you have albums and artwork, things that don't get counted but lumped into 'other' storage.  And books and their cover artwork, etc.

  • by TheShugster,

    TheShugster TheShugster Oct 4, 2014 6:12 AM in response to Ralph Landry1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 4, 2014 6:12 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

    I'm currently storing only 34 photos. Music doesn't even appear on my manage storage list, because I have none on my phone.

  • by Jamie2980,

    Jamie2980 Jamie2980 May 18, 2016 7:54 AM in response to TheShugster
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPhone
    May 18, 2016 7:54 AM in response to TheShugster

    I have the same problem, and it doesn't even equal 16 gigs with the usage and available either, where is it at?

  • by javaliga,

    javaliga javaliga May 18, 2016 8:05 AM in response to Jamie2980
    Level 4 (3,594 points)
    iCloud
    May 18, 2016 8:05 AM in response to Jamie2980
  • by BBoiss,

    BBoiss BBoiss May 18, 2016 8:20 AM in response to TheShugster
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    May 18, 2016 8:20 AM in response to TheShugster

    You probably also have iOS 9 sitting in wait to be installed onto your phone. That will be a couple gigs on its own. Apps carry what is called "documents & data" as well. So Facebook, as an example is 116MB large, but as of this moment it is charging my phone with 480MB of documents & data as well.

     

    Messages generally take up a fair amount of space for most people as well, although I am sure this was already mentioned. All of those shared photos and videos back in forth in those old conversation threads tend to add up.