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The 10-minute phone space rescue

A step-by-step checklist to get storage back on your phone, and to see why it didn't move last time. No app needed.

You'll need: your phone, about 10 minutes, and a backup of anything you can't replace. Steps are written for iPhone (iOS 16 or newer), with a quick Android note at the end. Menu names can shift a little between versions.

Before you start: back up what matters (1 minute)

Deleting is only safe when the photos you love are saved somewhere else. If you use iCloud Photos or Google Photos, open it and check that it says your library is up to date. If you're not sure, skip the big deletions today and do steps 1 to 3 only.

Step 1: See where the space went (1 minute)

Open Settings → General → iPhone Storage. Wait a few seconds while it counts. Write down the free space shown at the top. You'll compare it at the end.

Look at the bar. Is it mostly Photos, Messages, Apps or System Data? Most people find Photos and Videos are the biggest slice, so that's where this checklist spends your time.

Step 2: Merge duplicates (2 minutes)

Open Photos → Albums, scroll to Utilities, and tap Duplicates.

Each row shows copies of the same picture. Tap Merge on a row, or Select → Merge for several at once. Your phone keeps the best-quality version and sends the extra copies to Recently Deleted.

No Duplicates album? Your phone may need an update, or it hasn't finished scanning. Plug it in and leave it locked for a while, then look again.

Step 3: Sweep out old screenshots (2 minutes)

Open Albums → Media Types → Screenshots. Tap Select and drag your finger across the old ones: the parking spot from last spring, the recipe you never made, the "proof" of a payment that went through long ago.

Scroll back to find the oldest first. Keep anything you still need, then tap the trash icon.

Step 4: Find the heavy videos (2 minutes)

Open Albums → Media Types → Videos. Each clip shows its length in the corner, and longer clips are usually the heaviest. Check the long ones first. A 10-minute clip of a kitchen counter can take up more room than a thousand photos.

Keep what's precious, delete what's not. Also check Screen Recordings in the same list; people often forget these.

Step 5: Look at the Messages pile (1 minute)

Go back to Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Messages. Tap Review Large Attachments if you see it. Old videos and photos sent in chats are often big and already saved somewhere else.

Step 6: Empty Recently Deleted (the step that makes it count) (1 minute)

This is why your storage bar probably didn't move last time. When you delete a photo on iPhone, it isn't gone. It moves to Recently Deleted and stays there for up to 30 days, still taking up space.

To really free the space:

1. Open Photos → Albums → Utilities → Recently Deleted. (You may need Face ID or your passcode.)
2. Tap Select, then Delete All.
3. Confirm. This can't be undone, so glance through first.

While you're in Utilities, take a peek at Hidden. Hidden photos still use space too.

Step 7: Check your number (1 minute)

Go back to Settings → General → iPhone Storage. The count can take a minute to catch up. If it hasn't changed, restart your phone, wait a minute, and look again.

Compare it to the number you wrote down in step 1. That difference is what you got back.

If the number still looks wrong

• iCloud Photos is on: deleting a photo here deletes it everywhere you use iCloud, and the phone only keeps full-size copies if you turned off "Optimize iPhone Storage". If you're nearly full, check Settings → Photos for that option.
• Shared albums keep copies of what you shared. Look in them if numbers still seem off.
• System Data is a big mystery bucket and changes on its own. You can't clear it by hand, and that's normal.

Android note

Open Google Photos → Library → Bin (or your gallery's trash) and empty it. Deleted items often wait there for weeks (up to 60 days for backed-up items). Then open Settings → Storage to check your free space.