{"id":48688,"date":"2023-09-12T18:29:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T18:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/?p=48688"},"modified":"2026-09-01T12:26:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:26:56","slug":"how-to-get-more-storage-on-iphone-with-free-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/get-more-storage-on-iphone.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Get More Storage on iPhone (Beyond iCloud)"},"content":{"rendered":"

“iPhone Storage Full.” These three words can instantly ruin your day, especially when they appear when you need to save new data the most and you don\u2019t know how to get more storage on your iPhone for free. Unfortunately, many users keep encountering this exact warning message on a regular basis despite repeated attempts to do something about it:<\/p>\r\n

“I have an iPhone 12 with 64 GB storage. I am basically at capacity now and my memory is full. I have deleted as many photos and apps as I can,” complained one person on Reddit<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

While Apple offers solutions like paid iCloud storage or buying a model with more space, you don’t always need to spend money to solve your storage problems. In this article, I describe multiple methods, such as clearing hidden caches and managing your photos more efficiently, to help you get more storage on iPhone without paying.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Can You Get More Storage on iPhone Without Buying It?<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Unlike many Android smartphones and other devices like digital cameras or portable gaming consoles, you cannot expand the storage space on your iPhone using a memory card.<\/p>\r\n

The good news is that the absence of a memory card slot doesn’t make it impossible to increase the amount of data that can be stored on your iPhone – you just need to think outside the box.<\/p>\r\n

The most straightforward solution is cloud storage<\/b>. With it, you can store your photos, videos, documents, and other files on remote servers instead of your device, accessing them whenever you need via the internet. This approach effectively gives you extra storage space while keeping your iPhone’s internal storage free for apps and system files.<\/p>\r\n

Apple’s iCloud<\/a> offers the most seamless integration with your iPhone, as it’s built directly into iOS. While the free 5 GB tier fills up quickly for most users, the paid plans are reasonably priced. For those who need more free storage or have specific requirements, third-party options<\/a> like Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox can be excellent alternatives.<\/p>\r\n

If you prefer a solution that doesn’t rely on internet connectivity, then you can also use an external storage device<\/a>. Modern iPhones with Lightning ports can connect to MFi-certified flash drives, while newer models with USB-C ports support standard USB drives directly. External storage options are perfect for offloading photos, videos, and documents you don’t access frequently but want to keep. Of course, this solution is free only if you already have an iPhone-compatible external storage device.<\/p>\r\n

Another good option on how to get more iPhone storage space is to delete unnecessary files that are taking up valuable space. This approach is completely free and often surprisingly effective. Most users are shocked to discover just how much space they can reclaim by removing caches<\/a>, unnecessary media files<\/a>, infrequently used apps<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\r\n

💬 To address insufficient storage space in a timely manner, keeping an eye on your iPhone’s storage space usage is key. Head to Settings<\/b>, select General<\/b>, and tap iPhone Storage<\/b>. You can then see a color-coded view of what takes up the storage space on your device.<\/div>\r\n

\"iPhone<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>How to Increase Storage on iPhone for Free<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Very few things are free nowadays. But when it comes to getting extra storage on your iPhone by making more of what you already have available for use, there are things you can do that don’t cost anything except a little of your time.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Method 1:<\/span> Clear Your Browser’s Cache<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\r\n

A great place to start when you need to get more storage space on iPhone is to clear your Safari browser cache. The cache holds onto items like images, fonts, and style sheets from sites you visit. As you can imagine, these items build up over time and take up space.<\/p>\r\n

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  1. To clear your Safari cache, open the Settings<\/b> app, navigate to the Apps<\/b> section, and select Safari<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Choose Clear History and Website Data<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Select All history<\/b> as the Clear timeframe<\/b> and confirm by tapping Clear History and Data<\/b>.\"Clear<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    You’ll then see that the Clear History and Website Data<\/b> option is grayed out. It’ll remain this way until you begin browsing in Safari again.<\/p>\r\n

    💡 Pro Tip<\/b>: When you clear your browser cache, you’ll be logged out of most websites. To avoid the hassle of remembering and re-entering all your passwords, you can use Apple’s Keychain feature<\/a>, which securely stores your passwords and can automatically fill them in for you.<\/div>\r\n

    👨‍💻 My personal experience:<\/b> I use my Safari web browser all the time and was able to free up around 700 MB of storage after clearing my history and website data. I did notice that many websites took significantly longer to load for the first time after the clean-up, and a good chunk (around 200 MB) of the freed-up storage space was gone again after just an hour of browsing. Still, it’s useful to be aware of this solution because you might find yourself in a situation where a few hundred extra free MB is all you need to install an app or take a few pictures.<\/p>\r\n

    <\/span>Method 2:<\/span> Delete Your Apps Cache<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\r\n

    Similar to your web browser, apps that you install contain a cache. Some culprits are social media apps like TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram where you see many photos and videos. Clearing these caches is one of the most effective ways to increase iPhone storage capacity for free, as these apps can secretly hoard gigabytes of temporary data without you realizing it.<\/p>\r\n

    The process for clearing an app\u2019s cache depends on the app itself. Here, we\u2019ll use TikTok as an example.<\/p>\r\n

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    1. Open TikTok<\/b> and tap Profile<\/b> in the bottom-right corner.<\/li>\r\n\t
    2. Tap the Menu<\/b> icon in the top-right corner and select Settings and privacy<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t
    3. Scroll down to Cache & Cellular<\/b> and tap Free up space<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t
    4. Next to Cache, tap Clear<\/b>, then confirm by tapping Clear<\/b> again.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

      \"Clear<\/p>\r\n

      💡 Pro Tip<\/b>: For apps without a built-in cache-clearing option, you can free up significant space by uninstalling and reinstalling the apps. Head to Settings > General > iPhone Storage, spot the biggest offenders, and delete them\u2014then grab them again from the App Store. This is the best and only solution for apps with no native cache management because iOS doesn’t allow third-party cleaners to touch other cache files belonging to other apps.<\/div>\r\n

      👨‍💻 My personal experience:<\/b> While my cache cleaning effort started with the TikTok app (I was able to free up around 800 MB of storage space), it certainly didn’t end there. I methodically continued with other frequently used apps one by one. After a few cache cleanings, I struck gold. My Spotify cache was almost 10 GB large! Best of all, I noticed very little difference in streaming performance. Maybe a few songs took a little longer to start playing, but that was it. The cache was probably full of old music that I no longer listen to.<\/p>\r\n

      <\/span>Method 3:<\/span> Organize Your Photos & Videos<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\r\n

      Photos and videos are often the biggest storage consumers on your iPhone, sometimes taking up 60-70% of your device’s capacity. Let’s look at a few approaches to how you can get more storage space on iPhone by effectively managing your gallery using native features and third-party cleaning apps.<\/p>\r\n

      Merge Duplicates<\/h4>\r\n

      With iOS 16, Apple introduced the Merge Duplicates feature. This allows you to combine copies of photos or videos that are exactly or close to the same. For instance, instead of five photos of the same subject, you’ll have just one.<\/p>\r\n

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      1. Open the Photos<\/b> app and select Collections<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t
      2. Scroll down below Utilities and tap Duplicates<\/b>. You’ll see all duplicates next to each other along with their sizes and dates.<\/li>\r\n\t
      3. To merge one set of duplicates, tap Merge<\/b> on the right. \"Merge<\/li>\r\n\t
      4. For all duplicates, tap Select<\/b> on the top right, Select All<\/b> on the top left, and then Merge (X)<\/b> at the bottom.\"Merge<\/li>\r\n\t
      5. When the prompt appears, choose Merge X Copies<\/b> or Merge X Exact Copies<\/b> to confirm.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n
        💡 Pro Tip<\/b>: If you accidentally merge the wrong photo or video, there’s a safety net in place. Merged duplicates are moved to the Recently Deleted folder, and they sit there for 30 days, so you can easily recover your deleted videos<\/a> or photos.<\/div>\r\n

        Use Third-party Free Cleaner App<\/h4>\r\n

        While Apple’s duplicate-merging tool is a decent start, it’s not always enough if you’re serious about how to get more storage on your iPhone without buying it. Fortunately, there’s Clever Cleaner<\/a>, a cleaner app that you can use for free thanks to its generous daily limits.<\/p>\r\n

        \"Clever<\/p>\r\n

        Getting started with Clever Cleaner is straightforward, but the results can be impressive when it comes to freeing up iPhone storage space:<\/p>\r\n

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        1. Visit the App Store and download Clever Cleaner app<\/a>. The app can be used for free and doesn\u2019t even contain any ads.<\/li>\r\n\t
        2. Launch Clever Cleaner. You\u2019ll need to grant it permission to access your photo library. After permissions are granted, let the initial scan run its course.<\/li>\r\n\t
        3. Once the scan is complete, tap Similars<\/b> to open the feature. Tap Select All<\/b> at the top, and then tap Delete<\/b> at the bottom. The AI-powered cleaning process will intelligently identify and remove duplicate and similar photos. All removed photos will be moved to your Recently Deleted album. This gives you a 30-day safety net in case you want to recover anything.\"Delete<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

          Clever Cleaner goes well beyond the identification of exact and partial duplicates (but it does excel at it too) by providing the following storage space-maximizing features:<\/p>\r\n