Available storage is different in phone settings and iTunes?

Question

Level 2

345 points

Available storage is different in phone settings and iTunes?

This is what I see in Settings:

This is what I see in iTunes:

I'm pretty sure the available space should be the same. I believe it's always been. Now I've noticed this and I don't know why. Already synced and backed up and restarted the phone, and shut down and restarted iTunes. Nothing... At this point which one is the real one? Why are they different and how to solve it? Obv. talking about phone storage, not iCloud storage or anything else. I have a 16GB phone so I must be careful, what I see in iTunes is just fine, what I see in settings would bring me to delete some stuff to free up space. Don't know what to do...

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8.3, 16GB

Posted on May 14, 2015 8:56 AM

Reply

Answer 1

applewarm Author

Level 2

345 points

May 20, 2015 8:48 AM in response to applewarm

Anyone?!

Reply

Answer 2

MrT13

Level 1

5 points

Jun 4, 2015 11:19 AM in response to applewarm

Any luck on your issue?

I'm having the same issue. The difference between iTunes and my iPhone for me is much higher though. I have tried all the solutions you have also tried.

- iPhone 6 , iOS 8.3, 16GB

- iTunes 12.1.2.27

Reply

Answer 3

Jun 4, 2015 11:29 AM in response to applewarm

Try a soft reset on the phone - holding the sleep/wake button and the home button at the same time till the phone powers off then the Apple logo appears. Also try resetting all settings, this won't delete any data - Settings - General - Reset - Reset All Settings (first option). If that doesn't fix it then lastly try doing a back up and then restoring the phone from the backup.

Reply

Answer 4

MrT13

Level 1

5 points

Jun 4, 2015 1:00 PM in response to peterfromlewisville

Thank you for the input! Unfortunately I had already tried those solutions and none of them resolved the issue.

The issue is definitely on the iPhone side, I don't have anywhere close 11.6 GB used.

Reply

Answer 5

modular747

Level 6

19,674 points

Jun 4, 2015 1:30 PM in response to applewarm

There is data or metadata corruption, which also causes excessive "other" data readout in iTunes along with error in calculating used space. There's no way to determine which value is correct (probably neither).

The only way to get rid of it is to restore to factory setting, without restoring a backup (the backup will contain the corrupted data). A phone reset or settings reset as described above won't help.

Use iTunes to restore your iOS device to factory settings

Reply

Answer 6

modular747

Level 6

19,674 points

Jun 4, 2015 1:33 PM in response to peterfromlewisville

peterfromlewisville wrote:

Try a soft reset on the phone

There is no such thing as a "soft" or "hard" reset in iPhone terminology. What you described is simply a phone (device) reset. Ask 10 people what they call that procedure and you'll get at least 6 different answers, more calling it "hard."

Reply

Answer 7

applewarm Author

Level 2

345 points

Jun 4, 2015 1:38 PM in response to modular747

Meh I can't reset to factory and then NOT restore to my backup. Guess I'll keep it this way... Thanks for the help!

Reply

Answer 8

applewarm Author

Level 2

345 points

Jun 4, 2015 1:41 PM in response to MrT13

No, no luck with those quick solutions. I guess we either keep it this way or reset to factory without restoring from the backup afterwards, which I can't do because I want/need my stuff obviously.

Reply

Answer 9

modular747

Level 6

19,674 points

Jun 4, 2015 1:47 PM in response to applewarm

You can try restoring the backup after the factory settings restore - there's a possibility it will help and you've got nothing to lose by trying.

Note that apps, iTunes music/media are not part of the backup and can be synced or re-downloaded without restoring the backup. Also contacts can be synced from iCloud or other cloud services as well as from a computer contacts app (sync via iTunes - also doesn't require restoring a backup.

Reply

Answer 10

applewarm Author

Level 2

345 points

Jun 4, 2015 2:04 PM in response to modular747

Oh I didn't think that factory and then backup would work, since the corruption is most likely inside the backup. I will def. try then! Yes I have everything that's possible already synced through iCloud and have iTunes Match also active, so the backup is basically just apps and documents and data/other. I'll try and see if it can work. Thank you!

Reply

Answer 11

applewarm Author

Level 2

345 points

Jun 5, 2015 5:06 PM in response to modular747

Ok so, after trying (again, just to make sure once and for all) a soft/hard reset and a settings reset with no luck (just like the first time), I reset to factory settings completely, then restored from my backup. It worked! So I suppose the corruption was not (or not solely maybe) in my backup? Now actually the available space is more than ever before, 3.5GB in both iTunes and phone settings. Tried shutting down both iTunes and phone and everything and syncing various times, and now it does stay the same in both places. Looks like it's fixed, and I gained space, and there's also less Other. Also another thing I couldn't figure out before, Touch ID had 4 prints but mostly only 1 would work. Now I had to do them again obviously, I only did 2 but they both always work, never happened before. So yeah, thumbs up for your advice really! 🙂

Reply