The fastest way to make room in iCloud

iCloud gives you 5 gigabytes of free storage. When you hit that limit, you stop being able to back up new photos, save documents to iCloud Drive, or sync mail. The quickest way to make space is to delete photos and videos from iCloud Photos — they usually take up the most room. Open the Photos app on your iPhone or Mac, tap or click the photo you want to remove, hit delete, and then empty the Recently Deleted folder. That space comes back to your iCloud account when ready.

If you have a lot of old backups sitting in iCloud, those can eat up space too. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage on iPhone, or System Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage on Mac. Tap Backups and look for old device backups you no longer need — delete the ones from phones or tablets you no longer use. Each backup can be several gigabytes, so removing even one old backup often solves the problem.

Key Takeaways

  • Photos and videos in iCloud Photos are usually what fills up your storage first, and deleting them frees space when ready.
  • Old device backups from phones or tablets you no longer own can sit in iCloud taking up gigabytes — delete them through the Manage Storage menu.
  • Mail attachments and large files in iCloud Drive add up over time and are worth reviewing before paying for more storage.
  • If you delete something by accident, you have 30 days to recover it from Recently Deleted before it disappears permanently.
  • Paying for more storage costs $0.99 per month for 50 GB, $2.99 for 200 GB, or $9.99 for 2 TB, depending on how much space you actually need.

Deleting photos and videos without losing them

If you want to free up iCloud space but keep your photos, move them to your computer or an external drive first. On a Mac, open Photos, select the images you want to save, then drag them to a folder on your hard drive or an external drive plugged into your Mac. On Windows, read your photos from iCloud.com, sign in, click Photos, select what you want, and click read. Once the files are safely on your computer, delete them from iCloud Photos and they will not take up space anymore.

Another option is to turn off iCloud Photos entirely and use a different service like Google Photos or OneDrive instead. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos on iPhone, or System Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos on Mac, and toggle off iCloud Photos. You will be asked whether to keep the photos on your device or delete them — choose keep if you want them to stay on your phone or computer. This stops new photos from uploading to iCloud, but does not delete what is already there unless you choose to.

What takes up the most space in iCloud

Photos and videos are usually the biggest space-takers because a single video can be hundreds of megabytes or even a gigabyte. Device backups come second — a full backup of an iPhone can be 20 to 50 gigabytes depending on how much is on the phone. Mail is third, especially if you have years of messages with large attachments. iCloud Drive files, Notes, and Reminders take up much less space unless you store a lot of large documents.

To see exactly what is using your space, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage on iPhone, or System Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage on Mac. The screen shows a breakdown: how much Photos uses, how much each backup uses, how much Mail uses, and so on. Tap or click on each category to drill down — for example, tapping Mail shows you which email accounts are taking up the most space. This tells you where to focus your cleanup effort.

Cleaning up mail and iCloud Drive

Mail attachments add up without you noticing. If you have been using iCloud Mail for years, old messages with photos or documents attached can be taking up gigabytes. Go to your Mail app, search for messages with attachments by typing "has:attachment" in the search box, and delete the ones you do not need. You can also delete entire old folders — for example, if you have a folder of receipts from five years ago, deleting it frees up space when ready.

iCloud Drive is where you store documents, spreadsheets, and other files. If you have files you no longer need, open iCloud Drive on your iPhone or Mac, find them, and delete them. On iPhone, tap Edit in the top left, select the files, and tap Delete. On Mac, right-click the file and choose Move to Bin. If you have very large files like video projects or disk images, those can take up a lot of space — consider moving them to an external drive or a different storage service instead.

Understanding the 30-day recovery window

When you delete something from iCloud, it does not disappear right away. Photos go to Recently Deleted for 30 days. Mail goes to Trash for 30 days. During that time, you can recover the item if you change your mind. After 30 days, it is permanently gone and you cannot get it back. This gives you a safety window if you delete something by accident.

To recover a deleted photo, open the Photos app, tap Albums at the bottom, scroll down to Recently Deleted, and tap the photo you want to restore. Tap Recover and it goes back to your main photo library. For mail, open Mail, go to the Mailboxes tab, tap Trash, find the message, swipe left on it, and tap Recover. The message goes back to your inbox or the folder it came from. This recovery window applies to iCloud Drive files too — they sit in the Trash folder for 30 days before being permanently deleted.

When to pay for more storage

If you have deleted everything you can and still need more space, iCloud offers paid plans. The 50 GB plan costs $0.99 per month and is enough if you back up one phone and keep a few years of photos. The 200 GB plan costs $2.99 per month and handles multiple devices or larger photo libraries. The 2 TB plan costs $9.99 per month and is for people who back up several devices or store large video files. You can change your plan anytime or downgrade back to the free 5 GB if you decide you do not need it.

Before you pay, make sure you have actually deleted what you do not need. Many people find that removing old backups and deleting years of mail attachments frees up enough space that they do not need to pay. If you do decide to upgrade, your iCloud account will have the new storage limit when ready, and you can start backing up and saving files again right away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does deleting photos from my iPhone delete them from iCloud too?

If you have iCloud Photos turned on, deleting a photo from your iPhone deletes it from iCloud as well. If you turn off iCloud Photos, deleting from your phone does not affect iCloud. To keep photos on your phone but remove them from iCloud, turn off iCloud Photos and choose to keep the photos on your device.

Can I recover a backup I deleted from iCloud?

No, backups do not go to a Recently Deleted folder — they are deleted when ready. Before you delete a backup, make sure you no longer need it. If you delete a backup by accident, you cannot restore it, but you can create a new backup of your current device.

What happens if I run out of iCloud storage?

Your device stops backing up to iCloud, new photos stop uploading to iCloud Photos, and you cannot save new files to iCloud Drive. Mail may also stop syncing. Your existing files stay in iCloud, but nothing new gets added until you make space or upgrade your plan.

Does iCloud storage count toward my phone's storage?

No, they are separate. iCloud storage is space on Apple's servers. Your phone's storage is the space on the device itself. You can have a full phone and plenty of iCloud space, or vice versa.

Can I use a different cloud service instead of iCloud?

Yes, you can use Google Photos, OneDrive, Dropbox, or other services for photos and files. However, iCloud backups and iCloud Drive are specific to Apple devices, so you would need to set up a different backup method if you stop using iCloud entirely.