iPhone storage full? What to delete first

Start with what costs nothing: empty Recently Deleted, because deleted photos keep taking space for 30 days. Then go for the biggest items in your photo library, usually a few long videos, followed by duplicates, old screenshots and large message attachments. Offloading apps you do not use comes last, because it frees space without touching your data.

Where is the space actually going?

Open Settings › General › iPhone Storage. After a moment of calculating, the bar at the top splits the used space into categories, and the list below sorts apps by size. On most phones, Photos is near the top. Below the bar, iOS may also show recommendations such as reviewing large attachments in Messages.

1. Empty Recently Deleted

Everything you delete from Photos first moves to Recently Deleted and still takes space there. Emptying it is the fastest win if you have been cleaning already. See how to empty Recently Deleted.

2. Find the videos you never watch

Videos are uneven: a few minutes of 4K can take gigabytes. In Photos, open Collections › Media Types › Videos (on iOS 18, scroll down below the library to find Media Types). Photos cannot sort by file size, so look for long recordings and delete the ones you no longer need.

3. Merge duplicate photos

Open Collections › Utilities › Duplicates, tap Merge on a set, then confirm with Merge [number] Items. This handles exact copies. Bursts and near-identical retakes need a closer look; see how to delete duplicate photos.

4. Delete old screenshots

Collections › Media Types › Screenshots, then Select and pick the ones you no longer need. Boarding passes, maps and receipts from last year are safe to let go.

5. Clear large message attachments

In iPhone Storage, tap Messages and Review Large Attachments. To stop them from piling up again, set Keep Messages to 1 Year in the Messages settings (on iOS 18 and later, under Settings › Apps › Messages).

6. Offload apps you do not use

In iPhone Storage, tap an app and choose Offload App. The app is removed, but its documents and data stay, and it comes back as it was when you reinstall it.

What does DustFox do differently?

DustFox turns the list above into a plan. Tell it how much space you need, for example 5 GB, and it builds the path with the least regret: byte-identical copies and burst extras first, then old screenshots, lossless conversions last. Every step is listed with its size and can be switched off, and iOS asks once to confirm all deletions.

It also frees space without deleting. Shrink Videos re-encodes videos with HEVC at the same resolution and frame rate, Compressible Photos converts JPEGs to HEIC, and Live Photos drops the motion you never play. And it lists only shots whose original is on the device, because deleting a photo that lives only in iCloud frees no device space.