iCloud full? Here’s how to clear up your iCloud storage

iCloud full? 4 ways to free up your iCloud's storage

iCloud is absolutely convenient. It provides automatic, secure storage for your photos, videos, and documents. There's also the backups of your iPhone, so you can easily restore it and not lose anything. However, these can quickly become very large files: high-quality photos and videos, but also backups take up a lot of your storage space.

If you want to clear up your iCloud, you have several options. You can of course delete files manually, but you can also remove entire backups to free up space faster. Below we’ll go through the different options, including the pros and cons, so you can get started quickly and effectively.

1. Delete an iCloud backup

Let’s start with the one that probably takes up the most space: backups. These backups are copies of your iPhone. A backup includes, among other things:

• Device settings, your home screen layout, and app arrangement
• Backups of your Apple Watch
• Photos and videos
• iMessage, SMS, and MMS messages
• App data

These backups are important to have, especially if you ever need to restore your iPhone because you forgot your code . But they also take up a lot of storage space.

We definitely don’t recommend simply deleting the backup of your current iPhone. That’s the one containing all your photos and documents. However, it could be that there’s still an old backup or one of a previous iPhone, linked to the same account. If you see an old device backup, you can remove it. Here's how you can delete an iPhone backup:

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone
• Select [your name]
• Go to iCloud
• Tap Manage 'Account Storage' or 'Manage Storage', then tap 'iCloud Backup'
• Here you’ll find your iPhone backups, including any older ones
• Want to delete a backup of an old device? Select the device and tap 'Delete Backup'
• Then tap 'Turn Off and Delete'

Note: for your current iPhone you’ll see “This iPhone.” Do not delete that one!

2. Verwijder en beheer je iCloud-foto's

Door je foto's via iCloud-foto's op te slaan, kun je je foto's synchroniseren met bijvoorbeeld je iPad of je Macbook. Je hebt zo altijd je foto's en video's op to date, op welk apparaat je ook zit. Dit kost je wel ruimte. Daarom is het handig om soms eens door je foto's te gaan en het een en ander te verwijderen. Met name video's nemen veel ruimte in. Door ze te verwijderen maak jij weer ruimte vrij.

• Open de Foto-app
• Ga onderaan naar ‘Bibliotheek'.
• Tik hier op ‘Alle foto's'.
• Klik op ‘Selecteer' en kies de foto's en/of video's die je wilt verwijderen.
• Tik op ‘Verwijder' en daarna op ‘Verwijder foto' om de foto's en video's te verwijderen.
• Tik op de knop Verwijderknop Verwijder en tik vervolgens op ‘Verwijder foto'.

2. Delete and manage your iCloud Photos

When you save your photos with iCloud Photos, they sync with your iPad or MacBook too. That way your photos and videos are always up to date on any device. But this does take up storage. Every now and then, it’s useful to go through your photos and delete a few. Videos especially take up a lot of space. By deleting those, you can clear up some storage a bit faster.

• Open the Photos app
• Go to 'Library' at the bottom
• Tap 'All Photos'
• Tap 'Select' and choose the photos and/or videos you want to delete
• Tap 'Delete', and confirm to remove them

3. Delete files in iCloud Drive

Now, let’s look at deleting individual files on iCloud Drive. While iCloud mainly syncs and stores data from your iPhone, iCloud Drive is especially for file storage and syncing those files across Apple devices.

There could be different files stored in your iCloud Drive that you no longer need:

• You can access iCloud Drive by opening the Files app on your iPhone.
• Select the files you want to delete.
• After deleting, they aren’t gone right away: they’re stored for 30 more days.

If you want to clear up more of your iCloud space immediately, you can delete files permanently in 'Recently Deleted'. After that, they won’t be available on any other device linked to your iCloud.

4. Choose which apps create backups

Different apps can sync with iCloud, storing their data there. Of course, this also takes up your iCloud storage. Depending on the app, this can add up to quite a bit. Think of WhatsApp with all the files, photos, and voice messages you shared and received. Luckily, you can decide yourself which apps sync with iCloud. Here’s how:

• Go to 'Settings' on your iPhone
• Select [your name]
• Select 'iCloud'
• Under 'Apps Using iCloud', you can select which apps you want to use iCloud, or tap 'Show All'

You can allow apps to sync by switching the toggle next to the app name on or off. You can also tap the app to see how much storage it’s using.

Bonus tip: Create an extra Apple ID for extra storage space

Did the steps above not help to clear up enough space? If you don’t want to upgrade to iCloud+, you could also create a new Apple ID with a different email address. That comes with a new 5 GB of free storage. This is especially useful for files you don’t need very often, so you don’t have to switch accounts all the time. Keep in mind: you can’t transfer purchased apps or movies.

Start fresh with an iPhone with a Simyo subscription

Is your iPhone too old to create a new backup and ready to be replaced? Take out a subscription with Simyo in combination with an iPhone 16e , iPhone 15 or iPhone 14 . If you still need to clean up your iCloud before setting up your new device, you now know how to do it!

Don't need a new iPhone, but still want a Simyo subscription? You can also take out a Sim Only subscription and adjust the bundles to your needs.