iPhone Says Not Enough Storage But There Is? Try 9 Fixes Here

User Concern

“I have iCloud enabled to upload my photos, but it is stuck uploading, and the message 'Not enough iPhone storage' is shown. I, however, still have 2.3GB storage available on my device. What can I do to resolve this?”

Your iPhone has enough storage, but when you try to save a file, you encounter the "Not Enough Storage" message. This can be very frustrating as it prevents you from taking photos and videos or saving other types of files on your device.

The good news is that there ways easy ways to fix this issue. In today’s guide, we will explore the possible reasons behind the problem and introduce you to solutions that you can try to fix the not enough storage space issue on your iPhone. Let’s get started!

Why Does My iPhone Say I'm Out Of Storage When I'm Not?

iPhone is known for its reliability and efficiency, but why is it still giving you the wrong message? If your iPhone says there is not enough storage, but there is, it can be due to the following causes:

• One of the primary reasons for this issue is full iCloud storage. Even if your iPhone has sufficient storage, iCloud backups might be consuming the available space.
• Apps might accumulate cache files over time and take up significant space on your iPhone. These files are often unnecessary but are continuously saved, leading to the insufficient storage issues.
• System junk files, such as temporary files and logs, can also lead to the storage problem. These files can accumulate and take up a large amount of space on your iPhone.

What Is Taking Up Your iPhone Storage Space?

Here are some types of files that occupy most of your iPhone storage:

• iOS System: Often, the system software is the largest consumer of storage on your iPhone. It accumulates data over time, occupying a significant amount of your available storage space.
• Photos and Videos: Newer iPhones are renowned for capturing high-quality photos and videos, which consume a significant amount of memory and can quickly eat up your storage space.
• Movies, TVs, and Music: Do you often download and save your favorite TV shows and movies on your iPhone? These files are usually huge, especially in higher resolution, and just a few of them can consume a lot of your storage.
• Games and Apps: Games and apps can often take Gigabytes of your storage. Moreover, they often save caches and app data, which continuously increases the storage.

How to Fix Not Enough Storage But There Is on iPhone

Here are some possible solutions you can try to solve the iPhone's not enough storage issue.

Clean Up Unnecessary Files

Usually, media files like photos and videos can take up much of your iPhone storage space. If you have unnecessary photos, videos, or apps., on the device that you no longer need, you should consider deleting them.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Navigate to General and choose iPhone Storage.
3. Now click Manage Storage to identify and delete unnecessary photos, files, and app data.

Clear Cache Files in Browser

One of the hidden storage consumers in mobile devices is the browsers like Safari, Chrome, etc. These applications often store a massive amount of data consisting of browsing history, cookies, caches, and more, which can make your iPhone storage full.

Here is how to clear cache files in Safari to free up the iPhone storage:

1. Open Settings and go to Safari (if you use other browsers, go to it).
2. On the new page, click Clear History and Website Data from the bottom.

You can also get rid of this data from the browser itself.

Remove Old iPhone Backups

iCloud usually backup the files from your iPhone as soon as it links to the internet. These data can make the iCloud storage full. Here is how to delete unneeded data from your iCloud account:

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings and navigate to your name.
2. Find and open iCloud. Then, you can click Manage Storage.
3. If you find any old backups you no longer need, click Delete Backup to empty the storage.

Turn Off iCloud Photos

The iCloud Photos is a very convenient feature that enables you to view the photos in your account from any of your devices. However, there can be many duplicate files in the library, which can consume your device storage. Consider turning off the iCloud Photos by following the below steps:

1. Open the iPhone’s Settings and go to Photos.
2. Switch off the toggle for iCloud Photos.

Enable Offload Unused Apps

We often install many apps on iPhones that we use just a few times but later forget to delete them. These apps can consume a lot of space on your device. You can always manually delete them, but there is an option to automatically get rid of them, which is the "Offload Unused Apps." Here is how to do so:

1. Navigate to iPhone’s Settings > General.
2. Tap on iPhone Storage and toggle on Offload Unused Apps.

When the option is turned on, you will still see the app icon on the device, but the main app will be deleted. However, their data and files will be available on the device for your convenience.

Turn Off Keep Normal Photo

When you capture a photo on your iPhone, it keeps two versions. One is the HDR version with enhanced quality, while the other is the normal version that is unoptimized. You can turn off "Keep Normal Photo" to save some space.

1. Navigate to the Settings app and go to Camera.
2. Switch off the toggle for Keep Normal Photo.

Use  iOS System Repair Program

Sometimes, a system error or bug on your iPhone can lead to the message when the iPhone says there is not enough storage, but there is. In such a situation, an iOS system repair tool can help you to solve the issue quickly. You can consider using a tool like FoneGeek iOS System Recovery to solve this issue.

It can fix various system errors on your iPhone without jailbreaking or removing any data from the device. It also lets you update or downgrade the iOS system software if needed. Here is how to use this tool:

• Install and launch the FoneGeek iOS System Recovery on your PC and then connect your iPhone to the PC. After that, launch the software and select Standard Mode.

• Wait a while for the FoneGeek software to recognize the iPhone. After that, select a firmware version you prefer and click Download.

• Once the download is complete, press Fix Now to begin the fixing. Wait for the process to be completed. Done! The storage problem should be solved now.

Reset All Settings

Sometimes a wrong setting on your iPhone can also lead to storage issues. Since it's hard to detect the wrong settings, you can consider resetting them to factory settings. Here is how to do so:

1. Navigate to iPhone’s Settings > General.
2. Find and open Transfer or Reset iPhone.
3. Press Reset and then Reset All Settings.

Restore iPhone Through iTunes

If you still face the issue, consider restoring the iPhone through iTunes. This will remove all the data of the device, so make sure to create a backup before you proceed. Then, attach the iPhone to the PC and launch the iTunes app.

Go to Your Device > Summary under iTunes and click Restore iPhone.

Conclusion

It can be very frustrating when you can't download or save a file because the iPhone says it does not have enough storage, but there is. We hope you will be able to get rid of this issue following the fixes we have shared above. Make sure to use FoneGeek iOS System Recovery to quickly resolve the storage issue as well as any other system errors.