If your iPhone storage is close to full, it can make everyday things feel slow: apps take longer to open, scrolling stutters, and the keyboard lags.
Below are six practical fixes that usually make a noticeable difference, without risking your important data.
1. Confirm what’s actually taking space (and how close to the limit you are)
Start here so you don’t delete the wrong things.
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
- Wait for the bar chart to fully load (it can take a minute).
- Note two things: how much free space you have, and the biggest categories (Apps, Photos, Media, System Data).
A good rule of thumb: if you have under 2–5 GB free, iOS may struggle with updates, caching, and general responsiveness.
2. Use iOS “Recommendations” (they’re safe wins)
On the iPhone Storage screen, iOS often suggests quick ways to reclaim space.
- Turn on Offload Unused Apps (keeps your documents/data, removes the app itself).
- Review Large Attachments if it appears (common hidden storage hog).
- Check Review Downloaded Videos / Remove Downloaded Music if you use streaming apps.
These suggestions are designed to be low-risk compared with manually hunting through random folders.
3. Clear Safari clutter (website data can grow quietly)
If you browse a lot, Safari’s website data can build up and make pages feel heavier.
- Go to Settings > Safari.
- Tap Clear History and Website Data.
If you don’t want to clear history, you can do a lighter cleanup:
- Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data > Remove All Website Data.
This can also reduce weird “page reload” behavior when your phone is under memory/storage pressure.
4. Fix “Messages” storage: delete big threads and keep history reasonable
Messages (especially with lots of photos/videos/GIFs) can take many gigabytes.
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Messages.
- Review categories like Photos, Videos, and GIFs and Stickers.
- Delete the largest items you don’t need.
If you want to prevent future buildup, consider: Settings > Messages > Keep Messages and choose a shorter duration (like 1 Year), if that fits your needs.
5. Reduce photo/video footprint without deleting memories
Photos are usually the biggest category, but you can shrink their local storage safely.
- If you use iCloud Photos: Settings > Photos > enable iCloud Photos and select Optimize iPhone Storage.
- In the Photos app, check Recently Deleted and clear it after you’re sure.
Also check for duplicate videos or large screen recordings you no longer need.
6. Update iOS and restart (after freeing space)
Once you’ve reclaimed a few gigabytes, do a simple “performance reset” cycle.
- Restart your iPhone (this can clear temporary system caches and stuck processes).
- Then go to Settings > General > Software Update and install updates if available.
If you couldn’t update before due to low storage, you may find the update goes through now—and many updates include performance and storage-management improvements.
Final thoughts
When storage is nearly full, iOS has less room to “breathe,” and performance tends to degrade. Getting back to even 5–10 GB free often makes the phone feel normal again.
If you’ve freed space and it’s still slow, the next suspects are battery health, background activity, or a specific misbehaving app.