Learn How to Delete Items From iCloud Storage

Understanding iCloud Storage and Why You Might Need to Delete Items

Apple's iCloud service stores your photos, videos, documents, email, and other data in the cloud—meaning on Apple's servers rather than just on your device. Every iCloud user gets 5 gigabytes (GB) of free storage. For context, 5 GB can hold roughly 1,500 photos or a few months of email, depending on file sizes. Once you exceed this limit, you'll need to either pay for more storage or remove items you no longer need.

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Understanding what takes up your iCloud space is the first step toward managing it effectively. Your iCloud storage includes several categories: Photos and Videos (often the biggest consumer), Mail (especially if you keep messages with large attachments), Documents and Data (files stored in iCloud Drive and app data), and Backups (automatic copies of your device settings, app data, and messages). Each category counts toward your 5 GB limit.

Many people don't realize that when they back up their iPhone or iPad to iCloud, that backup uses significant storage. A typical device backup can consume 2-3 GB or more, which means someone relying on free storage might hit their limit with just the backup and a few hundred photos. Knowing this helps you decide what to delete first.

The practical takeaway here is simple: check which categories are consuming your storage before deleting anything. This prevents accidentally removing something important and helps you make intentional choices about what to keep.

How to Check Your iCloud Storage Usage Across All Categories

Before you start deleting, you need to see exactly what's taking up space. On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name at the top, then select "iCloud." You'll see a bar graph showing your total storage usage and how much is available. Tap "Manage Account Storage" (or "Manage Storage") to see a breakdown by category.

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This screen shows you each item or app using storage, ranked from largest to smallest. Photos and Videos typically appear first if you take many pictures. Mail comes next if you receive lots of emails with attachments. Below that you'll see individual app backups, Documents and Data entries, and other files. The numbers beside each item show exactly how much space it's consuming.

On a Mac, the process is slightly different but equally straightforward. Click the Apple menu, select "System Settings" (or "System Preferences" on older versions), click your name, then go to "iCloud." Click "Manage" next to the storage bar. A window opens showing your breakdown in a similar format to the phone version.

This information reveals patterns in your storage use. You might discover that a single app's backup is consuming 1.5 GB, or that deleted photos are sitting in your Recently Deleted folder using space you didn't know they occupied. Some people are surprised to learn that old device backups they never deleted are still counted against their limit.

The practical takeaway: spend a few minutes reviewing your storage breakdown before making any deletions. This knowledge guides your decisions and prevents the frustration of deleting the wrong items.

Deleting Photos and Videos From iCloud Photos

Photos and videos usually consume the most iCloud storage. If you've been taking pictures for years, you might have thousands of images eating away at your 5 GB limit. The good news is that deleting photos from iCloud is straightforward, and you have multiple methods depending on your device.

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On iPhone or iPad, open the Photos app and navigate to the Albums tab. Select "Recently Deleted" at the bottom—this folder holds all photos and videos you've deleted within the last 30 days. Tap "Select" in the top right corner, then tap "Select All" to choose every item in this folder. Tap "Delete" to permanently remove them from iCloud. This single action often frees up gigabytes of space because deleted photos stay in this folder for a month before disappearing entirely.

If you want to delete specific photos rather than everything in Recently Deleted, go to your photo library, tap "Select" in the top right, and tap individual photos or videos to mark them for deletion. You can also swipe left on a single photo to delete it immediately. After deleting, remember to go back to Recently Deleted and clear that folder too, since items there still count toward your storage limit until they're permanently gone.

On a Mac, open Photos, select the images you want to remove, and press Delete (or Command+Delete). The photos move to Recently Deleted. Click "Recently Deleted" in the sidebar, select all the items there, and press Delete again to permanently remove them.

A strategic approach: identify photos that are blurry, duplicates, or screenshots you no longer need. These often represent wasted space. Clearing out several months or years of these items typically frees up significant storage without removing photos you actually value.

The practical takeaway: your Recently Deleted folder is storage you can reclaim immediately. Clearing it out is often the fastest way to free up space.

Removing Old Device Backups and Managing Backup Storage

Device backups can consume enormous amounts of iCloud storage without you realizing it. If you've upgraded your iPhone several times and never deleted old backups, you might have multiple gigabytes tied up in backups of devices you no longer own. This is one of the most common storage problems people encounter.

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To view and delete old backups, go to Settings on your iPhone, tap your name, select iCloud, tap "Manage Account Storage," and look for "Backups." You'll see a list of all devices whose backups are stored in your iCloud account. Each entry shows the device name, how much space it's using, and the backup date. If you see backups from an old iPhone you traded in years ago, that's wasted space.

To delete a backup, tap on it and select "Delete Backup." Confirm your choice when prompted. The storage is freed up immediately. Be cautious though—deleting a backup means you can't restore that device from iCloud if something happens to it. Only delete backups for devices you no longer use.

You can also reduce how much space your current device's backup consumes by being selective about what gets backed up. In Settings, go to your name, then iCloud, then tap "iCloud Backup." Scroll through the list of apps and toggle off apps whose data you don't need to back up. Photos and videos shouldn't be in this list (they're handled separately by iCloud Photos), but apps like games or streaming services might not need backups. This prevents future backups from growing so large.

Some people keep old backups "just in case," but this is rarely practical. If you haven't needed a backup from a device in over a year, it's safe to delete. Modern devices back up frequently, so your current device's backup is always recent and sufficient.

The practical takeaway: deleting backups of old devices is often the quickest way to free up 1-3 GB. This single action solves storage problems for many people.

Clearing Out iCloud Mail and Email Attachments

Email consumes storage in ways many people don't expect. A single email with a large video attachment might use 50 MB. Hundreds of emails with attachments can easily consume 500 MB to 1 GB or more. Additionally, permanently deleting emails from your trash and spam folders is necessary to actually free up space—just moving them to trash doesn't remove them from your iCloud storage count.

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On iPhone or iPad, open Mail and navigate to the Mailboxes view. Tap "Edit" in the top left corner. Scroll down and tap "Trash" to open your deleted emails. Tap "Edit" again in the top right, then tap "Select All" and choose "Delete" to permanently remove all trashed emails. Do the same for the "Junk" folder. These two steps often free up several hundred megabytes immediately.

For emails still in your inbox that have large attachments, you can delete just the attachments without removing the email itself. Open the email, tap and hold the attachment, and select "Delete." The email remains in your mailbox but the file is removed, saving storage space while keeping your message history intact.

On a Mac, the process is similar. Open Mail, right-click on the Trash mailbox, and select "Erase Deleted Items." For junk mail, right-click on the Junk