My iPhone was constantly out of space. I tried to delete old photos, clear messages, remove whatsapp message and even I set up to transfer photos to Google photos automatically to free up camera roll space.. Still no luck. Most of the days I got iPhone storage full warning, but nothing on phone. After some analysis I found my iPhone System was taking more space than it required. So, I had to free up iphone space by erasing all content and settings on my device and save about 3 GB. Basically I even seen some phones save more than 3GB by deleting system storage.
Step-by-step tutorial to free up iPhone space.
follow this step-by-step tutorial to delete delete system storage
My storage : 14.6 GB of 16 GB used, of which iPhone System took 8.84 GB
Before clean up : System space was 8.84 GB
After clean up : System space is 5.8 GB ; Saved 3GB
1. Calculate your System space
- Go to Settings app
- Go to General >> and tap iPhone Storage
- Your phone will calculate the space used by each app. On top section you will see the amount of space used by your device.
- Drag down to end, you will see space used by System. I saw an extremely surprising 8.84 GB System space was used by iPhone.
For example my case 14.6 GB of 16 GB used (16 GB iPhone). This case, I even automatically transferred all photos to Google Photos.
5. So, I decided to clean up the space by Erasing all content and settings.
Note: Before doing this you should take backup your iPhone ( ex: photos, contacts etc.
2. Backup iPhone content
You can use iCloud or iTunes to backup. I used iCloud to backup mine.
- Go to Settings app
- Tab your name which will take you to Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes & App Store settings area
- Tap iCloud
- Choose all the items you want to backup
For example: Photos, contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Notes, etc ( I don’t backup photos using iCloud so it is off). Make sure you your iPhone contacts are backed up too. Check all that you want to backup. - Tap >> Manage Storage >> Backups >> Device name >> and check your last backup date ( check to see that you have the recent backup)
3. Erasing all content and settings
Now time to Erasing contents and save some serious iPhone space. Warning: make sure to backup your contents before doing this
- Go to Settings app
- Go to General
- Go all the down and tap Reset
- Tap Erasing all content and settings and follow the instructions
4. Setup iPhone from iCloud
Once all the content and settings are erased. Choose the option to Restore from iCloud Backup, then sign in to iCloud and setup your phone by following on-screen instruction.
When you setup your phone using iCloud, your backed up items like contacts, reminders, photos if any will be downloaded from your iCloud account to your device.
5. Check Saved around 3GB of space
Follow the step 1, to see the amount of space freed up by erasing content and settings
- Go to Settings app >> General >> and tap iPhone Storage
- Drag down to end, you will see space used by System.
By Erasing content and settings I could able to free up 3 GB storage on my iPhone. 5.8 GB used compared to earlier 8.84 GB System space.
This method is tested and it worked for me. I could able to free up iPhone space, If you need any help regarding free up space by deleting system storage please feel free to discuss in the comment section.