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I have a blue IPhone 5c with 8gb. My phone keeps telling me my storage is full but when I check in settings, I'm only using 5. Even iCloud shows that I have 2.6 remaining before I'd fill up my 5gb of iCloud space. Help appreciated!!!

I Have a blue iPhone 5c that's supposed to have 8gb of storage. My phone keeps telling me it's full and I'm out of storage but when I check in settings, it shows I've only used 5gb. Even iCloud shows that I have 2.6gb of available space. Help appreciated!!!User uploaded file

iPhone 5c, iOS 9.2.1

Posted on Feb 19, 2016 12:15 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Feb 20, 2016 8:56 AM

Hi Rosendale,


Welcome to the Apple Support Communites! I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues with your iPhone, and apologize for any confusion in this regard. Based on your description and the included images, this may in fact be the correct reporting of your available storage space. The actual formatted storage space on an 8GB iPhone will be slightly under 8 gigabytes, and some portion of that will be taken up by the iOS 9 operating system, as noted here:


Understanding storage capacity in iPad, iPhone, iPod

When you view the storage capacity of your iPod, iPhone, iPad, or other electronic devices within its operating system, the capacity is reported using the the binary system (base 2) of measurement. In binary, 1 GB is calculated as 1,073,741,824 bytes.

For example: The way decimal and binary numeral systems measure a GB is what causes a 32 GB storage device to appear as approximately 28 GB when detailed by its operating system, even though the storage device still has 32 billion bytes (not 28 billion bytes), as reported.

You can see this difference if you look at how your computer summarizes the capacity of your iPod, iPad, or iPhone’s storage when the device is connected to your computer. You will also see this difference in the About menu on your iPod, iPad, or iPhone. The important point to understand is that the available storage capacity is the same no matter which system (decimal or binary) is used. Nothing is missing.

The storage media in your Apple product, like all storage devices, uses some of its capacity for formatting, so actual capacity available for applications and files will be less. In addition, other factors, such as pre-installed systems or other software and media, will also use part of the available storage capacity.


How OS X and iOS report storage capacity - Apple Support


Also, the iCloud storage is separate from the storage on the iPhone, and is reported slightly differently (the phone storage is reported as the amount used and the amount still available, while the iCloud storage is reported as the total amount of storage your iCloud account is currently configured with, and how much of that total is still available):


iCloud storage upgrades and downgrades - Apple Support


If you have questions or would like to confirm the iPhone storage currently being displayed, you may want to try checking your storage via iTunes, as outlined in this article:


Check your storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support


Regards

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Feb 20, 2016 8:56 AM in response to Rosendale

Hi Rosendale,


Welcome to the Apple Support Communites! I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues with your iPhone, and apologize for any confusion in this regard. Based on your description and the included images, this may in fact be the correct reporting of your available storage space. The actual formatted storage space on an 8GB iPhone will be slightly under 8 gigabytes, and some portion of that will be taken up by the iOS 9 operating system, as noted here:


Understanding storage capacity in iPad, iPhone, iPod

When you view the storage capacity of your iPod, iPhone, iPad, or other electronic devices within its operating system, the capacity is reported using the the binary system (base 2) of measurement. In binary, 1 GB is calculated as 1,073,741,824 bytes.

For example: The way decimal and binary numeral systems measure a GB is what causes a 32 GB storage device to appear as approximately 28 GB when detailed by its operating system, even though the storage device still has 32 billion bytes (not 28 billion bytes), as reported.

You can see this difference if you look at how your computer summarizes the capacity of your iPod, iPad, or iPhone’s storage when the device is connected to your computer. You will also see this difference in the About menu on your iPod, iPad, or iPhone. The important point to understand is that the available storage capacity is the same no matter which system (decimal or binary) is used. Nothing is missing.

The storage media in your Apple product, like all storage devices, uses some of its capacity for formatting, so actual capacity available for applications and files will be less. In addition, other factors, such as pre-installed systems or other software and media, will also use part of the available storage capacity.


How OS X and iOS report storage capacity - Apple Support


Also, the iCloud storage is separate from the storage on the iPhone, and is reported slightly differently (the phone storage is reported as the amount used and the amount still available, while the iCloud storage is reported as the total amount of storage your iCloud account is currently configured with, and how much of that total is still available):


iCloud storage upgrades and downgrades - Apple Support


If you have questions or would like to confirm the iPhone storage currently being displayed, you may want to try checking your storage via iTunes, as outlined in this article:


Check your storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support


Regards

I have a blue IPhone 5c with 8gb. My phone keeps telling me my storage is full but when I check in settings, I'm only using 5. Even iCloud shows that I have 2.6 remaining before I'd fill up my 5gb of iCloud space. Help appreciated!!!

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