It is time to Free up iCloud Storage Space, in case you are seeing ‘Not Enough iCloud Storage’ pop-ups on your iPhone and your iPhone is not backing up to iCloud.
Free Up iCloud Storage Space
Apple provides iPhone users with 5 GB Free space on iCloud, which allows them to get started with automated iCloud backups, iCloud Photos, Photo Stream and Shared Albums.
However, the free iCloud storage quota can get quickly filled up with Backup Files, Photos and App related data.
When this happens, your iPhone won’t be able to backup its data to iCloud and you will begin to see ‘Not Enough iCloud Storage’ pop-up on your device.
To fix this problem, you can either buy more iCloud Storage or follow the steps as provided below to Free Up iCloud Storage Space.
1. Delete iCloud Backups
If you have switched to a New iPhone, you can Free Up iCloud Storage Space by deleting the backup of your old iPhone.
1. Open Settings and tap on your Apple ID.
2. Go to iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
3. On the next screen, tap on the Backup of your old iPhone.
4. On the next screen, scroll down and tap on Delete Backup option.
5. On the Confirmation pop-up, tap on Turn off & Delete to confirm.
This will remove the Backup of your old iPhone from iCloud and also prevent Turn OFF iCloud Backups for that device.
2. Delete Unwanted App Data
You can expect to Free Up some iCloud Storage Space by removing Data stored by unwanted Apps in your iCloud Account.
1. Open Settings > tap on your Apple ID.
2. Go to iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups > and tap on your iPhone located under ‘Backups’ section.
3. On the next screen, disable the Apps that you do not want backing up data to iCloud by moving the toggle next to the Apps to OFF position.
4. On the Confirmation pop-up, tap on Turn Off & Delete.
This will delete all the App Data stored by the App on iCloud Stored and also prevent the App from storing data on iCloud.
3. Turn OFF iCloud Photos
The iCloud Photos feature on iPhone automatically uploads all the Photos on your device to iCloud.
While this ensures that a copy of all your Photos are saved to iCloud, keeping iCloud Photos turned ON will quickly lead to ‘Not Enough iCloud Storage’ pop-up on your device.
Hence, you can follow the steps below to prevent iPhone from uploading Photos to your iCloud Account.
1. Open Settings > tap on your Apple ID.
2. From next screen, go to iCloud > Photos > disable iCloud Photos by moving the toggle to OFF position.
3. On the conformation pop-up, tap on Remove from iPhone.
As mentioned above, these steps will only prevent your device from uploading New Photos to iCloud. It does not Delete Photos that have been already uploaded to iCloud.
4. Delete iCloud Photos
If you are still suffering from lack of iCloud Storage, you can download All Photos from iCloud to Mac or Windows computer and delete All Photos from your iCloud Account.
1. Visit icloud.com on your computer and login to your iCloud Account.
2. Once you are in iCloud, click on the Photos tab.
3. In Photos App, click on the Photos tab to switch to Photos View.
4. Next, press Command + A keys to select All Photos and click on the Download icon to start downloading All Photos from iCloud to your Mac.
Note: If you are on Windows PC, press CTRL + A to select All Photos and click on the Download Icon to download Photos to your Windows PC.
5. After Photos are downloaded, click on the Trash Can icon to Delete the selected iCloud Photos.
The deleted Photos will still be available in your iCloud Account for a period of 30 days, after which they will be automatically deleted.
If you want to immediately Free Up iCloud Storage, you will have to remove Deleted Photos from Recently Deleted Folder.
6. Click on Recently Deleted tab in the Left pane. In the right-pane, click on Delete All option to permanently Delete All Photos from your iCloud Account.
5. Get More iCloud Storage
In case you want to avoid the hassle of freeing up iCloud Storage space from time to time, you can buy more storage space for iCloud Backups by following the steps below.
1. Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Manage Storage
2. On the Manage storage screen, tap on Change Storage Plan.
4. On the next screen, select the Storage Plan that you want to go for and tap on Buy.
As you can see, iCloud Storage is not that expensive and it helps you protect your iPhone’s data and Photos from getting lost, in case something goes wrong with your iPhone.
