Manage your iCloud storage

Need more iCloud storage? You can easily manage your storage to make space or upgrade to iCloud+.

When you set up iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of storage for free. You can use that space for your iCloud backups, to keep your photos and videos stored in iCloud Photos, to keep your documents up to date in iCloud Drive and more. You can always check how much iCloud storage you're using in Settings on your device or on iCloud.com. If you're running low, you can manage your storage to make more space or upgrade to iCloud+ at any time.

Find out how to upgrade to iCloud+

Not sure about the difference between the storage capacity that comes with your device and iCloud storage? Find out more about device storage and iCloud storage.

Make more space available in iCloud

If you run out of iCloud storage, your device won’t be backed up to iCloud, new photos and videos won’t be uploaded to iCloud Photos, and iCloud Drive and other iCloud apps won’t stay up to date across your devices. And you won’t be able to send or receive emails with your iCloud email address.

You can free up storage in iCloud by deleting content that you’re not using. But before you delete anything, you may want to archive or make copies of the information that you store in iCloud.

To remove content you’re not using, select a category below and follow the steps:

• Check Recommended for You

• Reduce the size of your iCloud Backup

• Delete photos in iCloud Photos

• Delete folders or files in iCloud Drive

• Delete texts and attachments in Messages

• Delete messages and manage Mail

• Delete voice memos

• Delete FaceTime data from iCloud

Check Recommended for You

If you’re getting low on storage on your iPhone or iPad with iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 or later, go to Recommended for You in iCloud settings. From here, you can delete certain things that you may not need anymore, like photos, large files or old backups.

1. Open the Settings app, tap your name, then tap iCloud.

2. Tap Recommended for You, then tap one of the options and follow the onscreen instructions to free up storage.

   

If you don’t see what you’re looking for under Recommended For You, you can still manually delete certain content from iCloud.

Reduce the size of your iCloud Backup

When you back up your iPhone or iPad to iCloud, the most important information on your device is backed up automatically. Many apps automatically back up to iCloud after you've installed them. You can decrease the size of your iCloud Backup and free up space in iCloud when you stop backing up apps that you don’t use or delete old iCloud backups.

Learn more about what iCloud backs up

Choose which apps to back up on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro

1. Open the Settings app, tap your name, then tap iCloud.

2. Tap Storage or tap Manage Account Storage, then tap Backups.

3. Tap the name of the device that you're using.

4. Turn off any apps that you don't want to back up.

5. Tap Turn Off to confirm.

When you confirm that you want to Turn Off, it turns off iCloud Backup for that app and removes all of its information from iCloud.

Delete backups and turn off iCloud Backup for your device

You can delete old iCloud backups for the device you're currently using or older devices you may not use any more. iCloud backups are available for 180 days after you've disabled or stopped using iCloud Backup. Backups that are currently being used to restore a device can't be deleted.

iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro

1. Open the Settings app, tap your name, then tap iCloud.

2. Tap Storage or tap Manage Account Storage, then tap Backups.

3. Tap the name of the device with the backup you’d like to delete.

4. Tap Turn Off and Delete from iCloud. Tap Turn Off and Delete to confirm.

When you delete a backup, it also turns off iCloud Backup for your iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro. You can turn iCloud Backup back on in iCloud settings on your device.

Mac

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.

2. Click your name, then click iCloud.

3. Click Manage, then select Backups.

4. Select one of the device backups, then click the remove button — to delete. If you want to turn off Backup and remove all backups for that device from iCloud, choose Delete when you're asked to confirm.

When you delete a backup, it will also turn off iCloud Backup for your device. You can turn iCloud Backup back on in iCloud settings on your device.

Windows PC

1. Open iCloud for Windows.

2. Click Storage.

3. Select Backup from the items listed.

4. Select one of the device backups, then click Delete. If you want to turn off Backup and remove all backups for that device from iCloud, choose Delete when you're asked to confirm.

When you delete a backup, it will also turn off iCloud Backup for your device. You can turn iCloud Backup back on in iCloud settings on your device.

Delete photos in iCloud Photos

iCloud Photos uses your iCloud storage to keep all of your photos and videos up to date across your devices. You can make more space in iCloud when you delete photos and videos that you no longer need from the Photos app on any of your devices.

Before you delete anything, make sure that you back up the photos and videos that you still want. When you use iCloud Photos and delete a photo or video on one device, it’s also deleted on all other devices where you’re signed in with the same Apple Account.

Follow the steps below to delete photos and videos from your iCloud Photos. If you don’t use iCloud Photos, you can delete photos from your Photos Library instead.

iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro

1. Open the Photos app.

2. Tap All or All Photos.

3. Tap Select, then choose the photos or videos that you want to delete.

4. Tap the Delete button and then tap Delete Photo or Delete Video.

If you don't use iCloud Photos

If you don’t use iCloud Photos, your Photos Library is part of your iCloud Backup. To check how much storage it's using in iCloud Backup: 

1. Open the Settings app, tap your name, then tap iCloud.

2. Tap Storage or tap Manage Account Storage, then tap Backups.

3. Tap the name of the device you’re using then look at Photo Library.

To reduce the size of your Photos backup, save your photos and videos to your computer, then manually back up your device. If you want to keep your photos and videos on your device, you can turn off Photos in Backup or upgrade to iCloud+ for more storage. If there are any photos that you don't want to keep, you can delete them:

1. Open the Photos app.

2. Select the item that you want to delete.

3. Tap the Delete button and then tap Delete Photo.

Mac

1. Open the Photos app.

2. Select the photos and videos that you want to delete.

3. Press the delete key on your keyboard, then click Delete to confirm.

iCloud.com

1. From your iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro or computer, sign in to iCloud.com.

2. Select the Photos app.

3. Select the photos or videos that you want to delete.

   • To select multiple photos or videos, tap Select on iOS, iPadOS or visionOS, or press and hold Command on a Mac or Control on a PC while you select the items.

   • To select all, press and hold Command-A on macOS or Control-A on Windows, or tap Select All on iOS, iPadOS or visionOS.

4. Tap or click the Delete button, then tap or click Delete.

Delete folders or files in iCloud Drive

You can manage and delete folders or files you store in iCloud Drive from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, Mac or PC. If you’re a participant in someone else’s shared folder, it won’t count towards your iCloud storage.

iPhone

1. Go to the Files app and tap Browse.

2. Under Locations, tap iCloud Drive.

3. To delete a folder(s), tap the More button , then tap Select and choose the folder(s) that you want to delete. Tap the Delete button. To delete a file, such as one inside a folder, tap the folder to open it. Tap the the More button , then tap Select and choose the file(s) that you want to delete.

4. Then tap Delete to remove the file(s) or folder(s) from iCloud Drive on all of your devices.

You will find your deleted folders and files in Recently Deleted for 30 days.

iPad or Apple Vision Pro

1. Go to the Files app and open the sidebar.

2. Under Locations, tap iCloud Drive.

3. To delete a folder, tap Select, then choose the folder that you want to remove. Tap Delete. To delete a file, such as one inside a folder, tap the folder to open it. The tap Select and choose the file(s) that you want to delete.

4. Tap Delete to remove the file(s) or folder(s) from iCloud Drive on all of your devices.

You will find your deleted folders and files in Recently Deleted for 30 days.

Mac

1. Open the Finder and go to the iCloud Drive folder.

2. Drag an item to the Bin, or move it to a different folder on your Mac. If you move it to the Bin, you can find it in Recently Deleted for 30 days.

Windows PC

On a PC with iCloud for Windows, you can manage your iCloud Drive files using Windows Explorer. You can pin a file or folder to Windows Explorer, or use these steps to add an iCloud Drive folder to Windows Explorer and delete it from iCloud Drive:

1. Download and install iCloud for Windows.

2. Sign in with your Apple Account.

3. Turn on iCloud Drive.

4. Go to the iCloud Drive folder.

5. Select the folders or files that you want to delete.

6. Click Delete. You can find it in Recently Deleted for 30 days.

iCloud.com

1. Sign in to iCloud.com, then select the iCloud Drive app.

2. Select the files that you want to delete, then tap or click the the More button, then tap or click Delete Selected. It will be available in Recently Deleted for 30 days.

Delete texts and attachments in Messages

When you use Messages in iCloud, all of your text messages and the attachments you send and receive use your iCloud storage. You can make more space available when you delete texts and attachments — like photos, videos and files — that you don't need any more.

Delete a message or attachment on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro

1. In a message conversation, touch and hold the message bubble or attachment that you want to delete.

2. Tap More.

3. Tap the Delete button, then tap Delete Message.

Delete multiple attachments from a contact or conversation

1. In a message conversation, tap the contact's name at the top of the screen.

2. In the Photos section, tap See All.

3. Tap Select, and tap the images you'd like to delete.

4. Tap Delete, then tap Delete Attachment to confirm.

Delete an entire conversation

1. Swipe left over the conversation that you want to delete.

2. Tap the Delete button.

3. Tap Delete again to confirm.

Delete a message or attachment on your Mac

1. Open a message conversation.

2. Control-click the message bubble that you want to delete.

3. Choose Delete.

4. Click Delete to confirm.

Delete multiple attachments from a contact or conversation

1. Open a message conversation.

2. Click the Info button.

3. Scroll to the Photos section.

4. Click on an attachment, then hold the Command key to select multiple attachments.

5. Control-click or right-click, then choose Delete.

6. Click Delete Attachment to confirm.

Delete an entire conversation

1. Control-click a conversation.

2. Choose Delete or Delete Conversation.

3. Click Delete to confirm.

Delete messages and manage Mail

You can free up iCloud space when you delete email messages from your iCloud email account. You can also move email messages from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC, where they no longer count against your iCloud storage.

Use the steps below to delete messages from your account. Remember that messages with large attachments take up more space than simple text emails.

iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro

If your device is set up to access iCloud email, you can delete messages from any mailbox, then empty the Bin to free up space:

1. Swipe left across any message to delete it.

2. Go to your Mailboxes and choose your Bin folder.

3. To delete messages one at a time, swipe left on each message. To delete everything, tap Edit, tap Select All and then tap Delete. Tap Delete All to confirm.

Mac or Windows PC

If you use iCloud Mail with a desktop email app, such as Mail on your Mac or Microsoft Outlook on your PC, use these steps:

• Mail on your Mac: Delete the messages that you no longer want, then choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items and select your iCloud email account from the menu. Then click Erase to confirm.

• Microsoft Outlook 2010 through Outlook 2016 (Windows): Delete the messages that you no longer want. Outlook will permanently delete your messages the next time you close and restart the app.

iCloud.com

1. Sign in to iCloud.com.

2. Select Mail and choose your Bin folder.

3. To delete messages one at a time, select the message you want to delete, then select the Trash button. To delete multiple messages, select the messages you want to delete, then select Delete.

Delete voice memos

With Voice Memos in iCloud, your voice recordings are stored in iCloud. You can easily delete them if you need more space.

iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro

1. Open the Voice Memos app, then tap All Recordings.

2. Select the voice memos that you want to delete, then tap the Delete button.

3. Tap Recently Deleted, tap Edit, select the voice memo, then tap Delete.

4. Tap Delete Forever to confirm.

Mac

1. Select the voice memos you want to delete.

2. Click the Delete button.

3. Open Recently Deleted, then click Delete All or Delete.

4. Click Delete Forever to confirm.

Delete FaceTime data from iCloud

When you delete FaceTime from iCloud, it removes all of your data from the app and certain data from the Phone app, including phone voicemails and FaceTime video and audio messages. You won’t be able to recover the data after you delete FaceTime from iCloud. Depending on your software version, you can export video messages from FaceTime before you delete FaceTime from iCloud, so they save to your Photos app. Find out how to export FaceTime video messages.

iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro

1. Open the Settings app, tap your name, then tap iCloud.

2. Tap Storage or Manage Account Storage.

3. Tap FaceTime, then tap Delete Data from iCloud.

Mac

1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.

2. Click your name, then click iCloud.

3. Click Manage > FaceTime, then click Delete from iCloud.

Find out more about archiving and making copies of the information you save in iCloud