Manage icloud storage

1 View icloud usage

There is more than one way to view icloud storage use and the best is to go to Settings, tap your Apple ID at the top and then icloud. The usage bar is shown at the top.

2 Choose Photos options

Tap ‘Photos’ and there is an option not to use icloud. It is the biggest user of storage. Turn it off to save storage space. iphone photos use icloud, so check that too.

3 Apps using icloud

Go back a step and swipe up the screen to see all the apps that are using icloud. Use the switch to prevent any apps that do not need icloud storage to save some space.

4 Manage the storage

In Step 1, tap ‘Manage Storage’ to see the apps that have stored files on icloud. They are ordered by the most space used at the top. Are there any you can live without?

5 Delete app data

Files on icloud are not deleted when apps are deleted from the ipad. This means apps you no longer have, use storage. Tap any app you deleted and then delete its data.

6 Shrink backups

Back at Step 4, tap ‘Backups’ and then tap the ipad backup to see the contents. Some backed up items are optional. Storage space is saved by turning off the switches.

7 Delete old messages

Messages are backed up automatically, but use a lot of storage if there are media files attached. Go to Settings> messages> keep Messages and tap ‘1 Year’ to shrink backups.

8 Delete icloud files

Documents on icloud could be moved to your Mac’s disk or other online storage. From Step 4, tap ‘icloud Drive’ and delete everything after saving the files elsewhere.

9 Browse with Files

Deleting all files may be a step too far. Open the Files app, and browse the icloud storage to select and delete only the files you no longer need, to free up storage space.