Many people are familiar with the problem of running out of free memory on their smartphones. After all, these devices store a ton of data. Photos and videos, apps, instant messages, music and podcast downloads, and even the operating systems themselves all require significant amounts of storage. This storage can fill up faster than you think. While you can buy devices with several gigabytes of storage at launch, it usually costs significantly more. For example, the current iPhone 17 was released in the fall of 2025 in two memory variants. The 256GB version cost €950, while the 512GB version cost €1,200.
There are other ways to free up storage space besides spending extra money. For example, the aforementioned iPhone offers several options in its settings to optimize storage, freeing up more space without having to delete countless old photos. While Apple also offers iCloud storage options ranging from 50GB to 12TB for a monthly fee ranging from €0.99 to €59.99, this may not be necessary if you optimize your iPhone settings .
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Optimize iPhone storage using settings
This allows you to, among other things, halve the size of photos and videos , which take up a lot of space on multiple devices. iPhone users get 5GB of free iCloud storage. This setting ensures that original, large files are stored in iCloud, while smaller copies remain on your device. To do this, go to Settings, go to the " Photos " tab, and enable " Optimize iPhone Storage ."
Another option is to declutter your apps and remove those you use less often. In Settings, under the " General " tab, you'll find " iPhone Storage ." There, installed apps are listed by storage space. Tapping an app will give you the option to " Delete App ." This will keep your data and free up space until you need it again.
iPhone offers many different ways to free up disk space.
What's more, you can also save disk space in the Music & Podcasts section. To do this, filter your settings for " Music " using the search box at the very bottom. In the resulting view, under " Downloads, " you'll find the "Optimize Storage" option. You can also enable automatic downloads; songs you want to save to your device for offline listening will need to be downloaded manually. The same applies to podcasts. By searching for this term in your settings, you can enable or disable the " Download from Backup " option, which automatically deletes downloaded files from your device.
Additionally, you can delete duplicate photos with a single tap. To do this, open the Photos app , select " Collection" at the bottom, and then go to the " Other " section. There, at the top of the list, you'll find " Duplicates " with a similar number of photos. Merging photos here will allow you to keep the better, higher-resolution version while simultaneously deleting the duplicate.
