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iPhone & iPad: How to free up space with iCloud Photos optimized storage

Are you running out of storage space on your iPhone or iPad? One way to easily free up room is by utilizing iCloud Photos and the optimize storage feature. Follow along to see if this is a good fit for you.

Photos and videos are usually one of top usage categories for many iPhone and iPad users. To see where you stand, head to Settings → General → iPhone Storage. If Photos is high up on the list, turning on optimized storage for iCloud Photos can help out.

Keep in mind that depending on the size of you Photos Library you may need to pay for iCloud Storage if you aren’t already. The benefit is that while you can’t expand the internal storage of your iPhone or iPad, it’s cheap and easy to off-load some of the storage to iCloud.

While external iPhone/iPad storage options like SanDisk’s iXpand have come down in price, they aren’t ideal for content you’d like to keep handy on a day-to-day basis.

iPhone & iPad: How to free up space with iCloud Photos optimized storage

  1. Open Settings
  2. Swipe down and tap Photos
  3. If you are using iCloud Photos, tap Optimize iPhone Storage
  4. If you aren’t using iCloud Photos yet, turn that on first, then choose Optimize iPhone Storage

iCloud Photos optimized storage works to save space by keeping the full-resolution photos and videos on iCloud and keeping smaller, more efficient sized versions on your device for easy viewing.

You can change back to keeping original, full-resolution photos and videos on your iOS device at any time. If you haven’t turned on iCloud Photos or would like more details on how it all works, check out our tutorial here.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:


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