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What is "other" GB when backing up iPhone 5? It is taking a ton of memory space. I'd like to know what it is to delete and free up space.

What is yellow "other" GB data when syncing an iPhone 5? It is taking up a ton of memory space and I'd like to know how to manage it. I only have a few apps. and a limited amount of music and zero pictures. No books or movies. So how does one get into that and discover what it is and how to get rid of it?

iPhone 5, iOS 8.4

Posted on Jul 1, 2015 8:38 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jul 1, 2015 11:36 PM

iTunes has 8 standard data categories listed in the Data Bar of iTunes. They are called Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Books, Photos, and Info. Basically, anything stored on your iDevice that cannot fit into one of those 8 categories is categorized as "Other." This includes:

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


There are two main ways to remove this data from your iOS device.

The best method is to wipe your device. Back up up your iPhone on iTunes first, then go to Settings > General > Reset and choose Erase All Content. Then connect your iOS device to iTunes and restore from backup. These steps erase all the cookies, temporary files and so on.


If you don’t want to wipe your phone, but still need to regain some of your storage space, you can

Delete & reinstall Apps with bloated local data (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flipboard);

Open Settings, then go to “Safari” and tap on “Clear Cookies, Data, History”


Hope this is helpful.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jul 1, 2015 11:36 PM in response to kimmi-j

iTunes has 8 standard data categories listed in the Data Bar of iTunes. They are called Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Books, Photos, and Info. Basically, anything stored on your iDevice that cannot fit into one of those 8 categories is categorized as "Other." This includes:

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


There are two main ways to remove this data from your iOS device.

The best method is to wipe your device. Back up up your iPhone on iTunes first, then go to Settings > General > Reset and choose Erase All Content. Then connect your iOS device to iTunes and restore from backup. These steps erase all the cookies, temporary files and so on.


If you don’t want to wipe your phone, but still need to regain some of your storage space, you can

Delete & reinstall Apps with bloated local data (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flipboard);

Open Settings, then go to “Safari” and tap on “Clear Cookies, Data, History”


Hope this is helpful.

What is "other" GB when backing up iPhone 5? It is taking a ton of memory space. I'd like to know what it is to delete and free up space.

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