How to delete iCloud Drive memory?

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Level 1

11 points

How to delete iCloud Drive memory?

My ipad mini using ios 12.1 is suddenly inundated with 3 GB memory by iCloud drive. How do I reduce this excessive memory usage? Please help!

iPad Mini Wi-Fi, iOS 12.1

Posted on Nov 19, 2018 5:17 AM

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Answer 1

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Nov 20, 2018 6:45 AM in response to Edmondsxy

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities Edmondsxy,

It sounds like like the amount of space being used for iCloud Drive has increased, and you would like to know how to reduce it. I have a lot of documents and data that I like to sync across all my devices for easy access, so I know how easy it is for your iCloud storage space to quickly decrease as a result. I'm happy to help you get this sorted out.

iCloud is deigned to sync your documents and data across all devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID and have iCloud Drive turned on. It sounds like you might not be completely sure what caused the sudden increase in iCloud Drive. Did you sign into iCloud on any devices recently and/or turn on iCloud Drive? If so, that might explain the increase. This could have been done on an iOS device, Mac, or Windows PC.

You can easily view what is synced to iCloud Drive in Settings on your iOS device or in the Files app, on the iCloud.com , in System Preferences on a Mac, and in iCloud for Windows on a Windows PC. If you would like to reduce the amount of space iCloud Drive is using, you can delete some of your data with these steps:

Delete files in iCloud Drive

You can manage and delete files you store in iCloud Drive from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.

With iOS 11 or later, files that you delete from iCloud Drive remain in Recently Deleted for 30 days before they're removed from your device.

iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

iOS 11 or later:

Go to the Files app and tap Browse.

Under Locations, tap iCloud Drive > Select.

Choose the files that you want to delete, then tap .

Go to Locations > Recently Deleted > Select.

Choose the files that you want to delete.

Tap Delete.

iOS 10.3 or earlier:

Go to the iCloud Drive app.

Tap Select.

Choose the files that you want to delete.

Tap Delete > Delete from iCloud Drive.

Mac

On macOS High Sierra or later, you can manage your iCloud Drive files from the iCloud Drive folder in Finder:

If you need to, turn on iCloud Drive on your Mac:

Go to Apple menu () > System Preferences and click iCloud.

Sign in with your Apple ID.

Turn on iCloud Drive. In Options, make sure that you select the apps or folders for the files you want to manage.

Open Finder and go to the iCloud Drive folder.

Drag an item to the Trash, or move it to a different folder on your Mac.

Open Trash, then right-click the files that you want to delete.

Choose Delete Immediately.

Windows

On a PC with Windows 7 or later, you can manage your iCloud Drive files using Windows Explorer. Use these steps to add an iCloud Drive folder to Windows Explorer:

Download and install iCloud for Windows.

Sign in with your Apple ID.

Turn on iCloud Drive.

Go to the iCloud Drive folder.

Select the files that you want to delete.

Click Delete.

iCloud.com

Sign in to iCloud.com.

Click the iCloud Drive app.

Select the files that you want to delete, then click .

Open the iCloud Drive folder and click Recently Deleted.

Select the files that you want to delete.

Click Delete.

Manage your iCloud storage
Keep in mind that when you delete data on one device, it's going to remove that data from all of your devices. Also, if you delete things via your iOS device, they will be put into a Recently Deleted folder in the Files app for 30 days unless you delete them from there too.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Cheers!

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Answer 2

rose_10

Community Specialist

Nov 27, 2018 2:16 PM in response to Edmondsxy

Hello again Edmondsxy,

Thanks for further clarifying what you originally were referring to regarding your storage. It is not necessarily abnormal for device storage to take up more space than what is being used in iCloud. When you say your system memory takes up 12GB, are you referring to what you see when you go to Settings > General > iPad Storage? A certain amount of space on your iPad should be taken up by System and includes the iOS itself. However, 12GB seems rather large, so we want to be clear on what you're referring to.

If you're referring to the overall amount of space shown as Used in Settings > General > iPad Storage as "system memory", 12GB does not necessarily indicate a problem even though you have very few apps. The amount of storage you see there is from what is actually being stored on your iPad and is separate from your iCloud storage. This includes things like space taken up by purchased and pre-installed apps, old conversations and attachments in the Messages app, Email messages in Mail, books, music, photos, and iCloud Drive files that are downloaded to your iPad. Additionally, the iOS itself that runs your iPad will also consume at least a few GB's of your 16GB's of space. With that being said, what is being stored in iCloud is not an identical copy of what you have on your iPad, which is why storage amounts for used storage usually don't match each other.

To see what exactly is taking up space in iCloud, you want to go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage. Since the issue here seems to be with your iPad Storage, we recommend checking out the following support article, including the links under the "Learn More" section, for help managing your iPad storage:

How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

If you ever feel the need to create more space in iCloud, follow the steps and recommendations here:
Manage your iCloud storage
Cheers!

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Answer 3

Edmondsxy Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 20, 2018 11:49 PM in response to Edmondsxy

Thks Becky_22. Sorry for not being clear. I think the memory I meant is the cache memory used by iCloud on ipad.

All my data is on iCloud and I have very few apps. Yet my system memory takes up 12 GB and iCloud Drive takes up 3 GB, leaving me very little of the 16 GB in my ipad.

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How to delete iCloud Drive memory?

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