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iPhone Storage Full But Nothing to Delete? Here's the Real Fix

Why your storage is full even after deleting everything—and the hidden culprits nobody talks about

February 5, 2025
7 min read
Vishal V Shekkar
iPhone storage troubleshooting storage full hidden storage tips

"I deleted everything and I'm STILL out of storage!"

I've heard this complaint hundreds of times since building Bonsai. Users delete apps, remove photos, clear caches—and somehow their iPhone is still gasping for space.

If this is you, you're not crazy. There are hidden storage hogs that don't show up obviously, and Apple doesn't make them easy to find.

Let me show you where your storage is actually going.

First: Understand the Storage Lie

Go to Settings → General → iPhone Storage and look at the breakdown.

See that bar at the top? It's probably showing categories like Apps, Photos, Messages, etc. But there are two problems:

  1. The numbers don't always add up — Sometimes the categories total less than your used storage
  2. Some storage is invisible — System processes use space that doesn't appear in any category

If you add up all your visible storage and it's less than what your phone says is "used," you've got invisible storage bloat.

The 7 Hidden Storage Killers

1. "Recently Deleted" Still Counts (3-15GB)

This catches everyone. When you delete photos and videos, they go to "Recently Deleted" for 30 days. They still take up space during this time.

The fix:

  1. Photos → Albums → Recently Deleted
  2. Select → Delete All
  3. Confirm permanent deletion

Pro tip: Do this EVERY time you do a storage cleanup. It's free space waiting to be claimed.

2. iOS Software Update Files (2-8GB)

If you've been ignoring iOS update prompts, the update file might be downloaded and sitting on your device, taking up gigabytes.

The fix:

  1. Settings → General → iPhone Storage
  2. Look for "iOS [version number]" in the app list
  3. Tap it and delete

Your phone will re-download when you're ready to update.

3. Offline Content You Forgot About (5-20GB)

Streaming apps pre-download content for offline viewing. Problem is, you download shows, watch them, and forget to delete.

Check these apps:

Netflix:

  • Open Netflix → Downloads → Edit → Delete All

Spotify:

  • Settings → Storage → Delete Cache
  • Also check: Your Library → Downloaded (remove old playlists)

Apple Music:

  • Settings → Music → Downloaded Music → Edit → Remove

YouTube Premium:

  • Library → Downloads → Remove All

Podcasts:

  • Library → Downloaded → Edit → Remove old episodes

Amazon Prime Video:

  • Downloads → Edit → Delete

I once found 12GB of Netflix shows I'd downloaded for a flight six months earlier.

4. Message Attachments (5-30GB)

This is the silent killer. Every photo, video, GIF, and file sent through Messages is stored on your device. Group chats are especially bad.

The fix:

  1. Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Messages
  2. Tap "Review Large Attachments"
  3. Delete videos and images you don't need

Alternative:

  1. Settings → Messages → Keep Messages
  2. Change from "Forever" to "1 Year" or "30 Days"
  3. Your phone will automatically delete old messages

Warning: This deletes old message history, so only do it if you're okay losing old conversations.

5. "System Data" or "Other" (8-50GB)

This is the mysterious gray bar in your storage breakdown. Apple is frustratingly vague about what's in here.

What it actually contains:

  • iOS system caches
  • Siri voices and data
  • Fonts
  • Logs and diagnostic data
  • Streaming caches (even after you close apps)
  • Corrupted data that didn't clean up properly
  • Keychain data
  • Software update leftovers

Fixes (in order of effort):

Easy: Clear Safari

  • Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data

Medium: Offload and reinstall bloated apps

  • Settings → General → iPhone Storage
  • Find apps with large "Documents & Data" that seems excessive
  • Tap → Offload App → Reinstall from App Store

Hard: Sign out and into iCloud

  • Settings → [Your Name] → Sign Out
  • Wait 5 minutes
  • Sign back in
  • This clears some iCloud caches

Nuclear: Backup and restore

  1. Backup to iCloud or computer
  2. Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content
  3. Restore from backup

The nuclear option typically recovers 5-20GB of "Other" storage, but it takes a few hours.

6. App Caches That Don't Show Up (2-10GB)

Some apps cache data that doesn't appear in the app's storage count.

Worst offenders:

  • Instagram — Caches every image you scroll past
  • TikTok — Caches watched videos
  • Twitter/X — Caches media from your timeline
  • Facebook — Caches... everything

The fix: For these apps, the cleanest solution is:

  1. Delete the app
  2. Reinstall from App Store
  3. Sign back in

This clears all hidden caches. Yes, it's annoying. But Instagram alone can hide 2-4GB of cache data.

7. Your Videos Are Just Too Big (20-100GB)

Here's the truth nobody wants to hear: If you have more than 30 minutes of video on your phone, that's probably your main problem.

Quick math:

  • 1 hour of 4K video ≈ 20GB
  • 2 hours of 4K video ≈ 40GB
  • 3 hours of 4K video ≈ 60GB

Most people have 1-3 hours of video without realizing it. That's 20-60GB right there.

The fix: You don't have to delete them. Compress them.

4K video compressed to 1080p saves 70-80% of space with no visible quality difference on phone screens.

This is what Bonsai does. But you can also:

  • Export to computer and compress with Handbrake
  • Use iMovie to export at lower quality
  • Upload to Google Photos (which compresses automatically, but privacy tradeoff)

The Step-by-Step "I've Tried Everything" Protocol

If you've done the obvious stuff and you're still stuck, follow this exact sequence:

Phase 1: Quick Wins (15 minutes)

  1. ✓ Empty Recently Deleted in Photos
  2. ✓ Delete iOS update file if present
  3. ✓ Clear Safari history and data
  4. ✓ Check for downloaded Netflix/Spotify content

Phase 2: Deep Clean (30 minutes)

  1. ✓ Review and delete Message attachments
  2. ✓ Clear caches in Spotify, TikTok, etc.
  3. ✓ Offload apps you haven't used in 30+ days
  4. ✓ Delete and reinstall Instagram, Facebook, TikTok

Phase 3: The Real Solution (1 hour)

  1. ✓ Compress your video library
  2. ✓ Delete compressed duplicates after confirming quality

Phase 4: Nuclear Option (2-3 hours)

  1. ✓ Full backup to computer
  2. ✓ Factory reset and restore

Most people solve their problem in Phase 1-2. Phase 3 is where the big savings come from. Phase 4 is only if nothing else works.

Why This Happens (And Why Apple Doesn't Fix It)

I'll be honest with you: Apple benefits when you run out of storage.

When you're out of space, you either:

  • Buy more iCloud storage (recurring revenue for Apple)
  • Buy a higher-storage iPhone next time (extra $100-500)

Apple has zero financial incentive to help you use less storage. That's why:

  • There's no built-in video compression tool
  • "Other" storage is unexplained and hard to clear
  • The default video recording is 4K (maximum storage usage)
  • iCloud "solutions" all lead to paid plans

I'm not saying Apple is evil. They're a business optimizing for profit. But it explains why storage management feels harder than it should be.

Prevention: Stop the Cycle

Once you've freed up space, prevent it from filling up again:

Change video recording quality:

  • Settings → Camera → Record Video
  • Change from 4K to 1080p at 30fps
  • You won't notice the difference on phone viewing

Set Messages to auto-delete:

  • Settings → Messages → Keep Messages → 1 Year

Monthly cleanup ritual:

  • First Sunday of each month: 10 minutes of storage review
  • Empty Recently Deleted
  • Clear Safari
  • Review Message attachments

Compress videos quarterly:

  • Set a calendar reminder
  • Compress everything older than 3 months
  • Keep recent videos at original quality in case you want to edit

The Real Answer

Here's what I tell everyone who says "I've deleted everything and I'm still full":

You haven't deleted the right things.

Apps are usually small. The real storage hogs are:

  1. Videos (often 40-60% of storage)
  2. Message attachments (hidden but huge)
  3. System data/caches (invisible but growing)
  4. Downloaded offline content (forgotten about)

Delete a hundred apps and you free up 5GB. Compress your videos and you free up 30GB. The math is clear.

Your iPhone isn't broken. Your storage isn't mysteriously disappearing. You just have inefficiently stored videos and hidden caches that Apple doesn't make easy to find.

Now you know where they are. Go get your storage back.

Videos are the biggest culprit for most people. Try Bonsai free (10 conversions) to compress your largest videos and see how much space you've been wasting on unnecessary 4K quality.