Guides

iCloud Storage Full? What to Delete Before You Pay for More

Updated October 31, 2026 · Written for iOS 26

Every Apple Account comes with 5 GB of free iCloud storage, and most people fill it within months. Before you upgrade, it's worth a few minutes to see what's actually in there.

See what's using iCloud

Open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud. The bar at the top shows how your storage is split. Tap Manage Account Storage (or Manage Storage) to see each item by size.

On most accounts, the big three are:

• Photos, if iCloud Photos is on
• Backups of your iPhone, iPad, and sometimes old devices you no longer have
• Messages, if Messages in iCloud is on

1. Delete old device backups

In Manage Account Storage, tap Backups. If you see a phone you sold or replaced years ago, tap it and choose Delete Backup. That's often several gigabytes back with no downside.

For your current iPhone, tap its backup to see which apps are included. You can turn off backup for apps that store their data elsewhere anyway, such as streaming or messaging apps that have their own backup.

2. Clean up Photos

If iCloud Photos is on, your iCloud and your iPhone hold the same library. Deleting a photo on the phone deletes it from iCloud too.

That makes cleaning up the phone the same as cleaning up iCloud:

• Long videos you don't need are the fastest win. See How to Make Videos Smaller on iPhone.
• Near-identical shots of the same moment add up quickly. See How to Find and Delete Similar Photos.
• Then empty Recently Deleted, or the space won't come back for 30 days.

3. Trim Messages

Big attachments in Messages count against iCloud when Messages in iCloud is on. On the iPhone, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages and use Review Large Attachments.

4. Look at iCloud Drive

Open the Files app, tap Browse, then iCloud Drive. Sort by size from the view options. Old downloads, screen recordings and exported videos often end up here.

When upgrading makes sense

If your photo library is large and you want everything kept at full quality, paying is reasonable. In the US, iCloud+ starts at $0.99 a month for 50 GB, and 200 GB is $2.99 a month. Prices vary by country.

What isn't reasonable is paying a cleaner app $8 a week to do any of the above. Everything on this page can be done in Settings and the Photos app.