Free Up Space on iPhone & Android: 5 Ways to Solve Storage Shortage and Back Up Your Photos
Have you ever seen "Out of storage space" or "System memory is running low" on your phone? If you take lots of photos and videos or keep installing new apps, it's easy to fill up your storage before you know it.
Running your phone with too little storage doesn't just stop you from taking new photos — apps slow to a crawl, and in the worst case your phone may crash and fail to restart (a boot loop). This guide walks through 5 concrete steps to free up storage on both iPhone and Android, plus backup strategies to keep your data safe.
Step 1: Check Exactly What's Taking Up Your Storage
Start by finding out what's eating your storage. Trying to fix the problem without knowing the cause is hit-or-miss.
- For iPhone:Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. A color-coded graph shows the breakdown by category — Photos, Apps, System, and so on — and a list ranks which apps are using the most space.
- For Android:Go to Settings > Storage (or Device Care > Storage). Storage is broken down by category: images, videos, system, apps, and more.
If any app or file type is consuming several GB or more, that's your top priority for cleanup.
Step 2: Delete Unused Apps and Clear Temporary Cache
Uninstalling apps you no longer use is the obvious first step, but even apps you use every day can quietly accumulate gigabytes of "cache" — temporary data that doesn't need to stick around.
- Clear cache in LINE and social media apps:LINE in particular can accumulate anywhere from a few GB to tens of GB of photo and video cache from your chats. You can safely remove expired cache from within the LINE app at Settings > Photos & Videos > Delete Data.
- Clear browser (Safari/Chrome) history and cache:Clearing cache can free up hundreds of MB to several GB: on Safari (iPhone) go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data; on Chrome (Android/PC) use Clear browsing data in the app settings.
- Offload unused apps (iPhone only):iPhone has an "Offload Unused Apps" feature that removes the app binary while keeping its data and settings intact, freeing up storage without losing anything important.
Step 3: Permanently Empty the Photos Trash
Simply deleting photos and videos doesn't actually free up storage right away. Most phones move deleted files to a "Trash" or "Recently Deleted" folder and keep them there for 30 days.
To reclaim that space immediately, open the Photos app and:Open the "Recently Deleted" (iPhone) or "Trash" (Android) folder and tap "Delete All"This permanently erases the files from your device and immediately frees up the space.
Step 4: Adjust Your Video Recording Settings (Prevention)
Videos take up far more space than photos. On a modern smartphone, just a few minutes of 4K/60fps footage can easily eat several GB of storage.
For everyday recordings, dropping the setting to "1080p HD / 30fps" is a sensible compromise. On iPhone, go to Settings > Camera > Record Video; on Android, look in the camera app settings. This one change can dramatically slow down how quickly your storage fills up.
Step 5: Move or Back Up Photos to Cloud Storage or a PC
If you don't want to delete anything but still need more space, the solution is to move your data somewhere external.
- Use a cloud service:Services like iCloud, Google Photos, or OneDrive can automatically back up your photos to the cloud. Once the backup is complete, you can delete the full-resolution originals from your device (or let the service replace them with smaller, optimized versions), dramatically freeing up on-device storage.
- Transfer to a PC:If you have a PC, regularly transfer your phone's data to your computer's hard drive or an external SSD via cable or Wi-Fi.
Send Photos from Your Phone to Your PC Without a Cable Using FS!QR
If you'd rather avoid cloud subscription fees and the hassle of hunting for a cable, the answer is a free, registration-free file-sharing service「FS!QR」.
Open FS!QR in your phone's browser, select the photos or videos you want to move, and upload them. A QR code and share link appear on screen — scan the QR code with your PC's camera, or open the link in a browser and enter the 6-digit password if one was set. Your files are saved to the PC. No app, no account, nothing to install. When your phone's storage hits the danger zone, you can offload everything to your PC on the spot. Make it part of your regular storage routine.