4

My iPhone SE3 with 64 GB running iOS 17.6.1 reports 3.1 GB available in About but iPhone Storage reports less than 45 GB used and over 19 GB available. The top apps take about 10 GB. See the images below.

Why are these reports inconsistent?

Almost 20 GB of System Data seems excessive. How can I reduce it?

I've recently deleted all videos in Photos and that temporarily recovered about 4 GB but that space is now gone again, apparently eaten by System Data, even without adding new videos or photos. iCloud Photos with Optimize is on, if that matters.

Many internet postings say that the only way to recover space is to erase and reinstall but I'd need to ensure that all WhatsApp data is kept and I can't backup WhatsApp because it says there is not enough space. What to do now?

I've rebooted and forced restart but it dit not help.

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

Improve this question
4
  • I have 21.5 GB of System Data (iOS 17.6.1), not sure whether this is excessive. iOS should manage this to make room if you run out of space.
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Aug 25 at 13:42
  • On iOS 17.4.1 I have nearly equal space evailable: about → 69.42 GB, iPhone Storage → 69.49 GB. System Data → 6.12 GB. More than 19 GB is fully mad.
    – athena
    Commented Aug 25 at 14:34
  • Within Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvments do you have anything turned on? Just bellow, within Apple Advertising is Personalised Ads turned on? One more below, within App Privacy Report do you have any thing looking huge either in number or volume?
    – athena
    Commented Aug 25 at 14:40
  • I will collect some more data and update my answer. The discrepancy you report exists on iOS and isn’t anything problematic with your phone. The way the space is counted doesn’t add up and hasn’t for some time now (probably since 8 iOS or so).
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Aug 25 at 15:17

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1
+100

I don’t know of a way to directly get a measurement of the iOS file system and APFS snapshot Tidemark storage space like disk utility allows on macOS so I can’t answer your question directly.

Your numbers are typical and don’t indicate a problem or something you’re likely to “fix” or “optimize” further. My iPhone 15 Pro reports 11.68 and 15.75 GB respectively for 17.6.1 and system.

What is known is you need the least space on the device to backup to a computer (macOS or Windows) so when all else fails on low space that’s your last resort to get a good backup. I recommend doing this now to ensure you get AhatsApp data backed up.

Next operation with the least space is an update from computer where it downloads the files needed and applies an update. You would have to wait for Apple to release and update or install a beta on this device to try that to force a cleanup and free space on this phone.

Over the air updates take a bit more space on device.

You are doing the steps recommended above and can keep doing them if you think this will self-correct. Sadly, leaving the device connected to power overnight and connected to WiFi is the best chance to be patient and let iCloud backup get your data backed up. The OS will try to consolidate space and give you back free space, but sometimes you will need to erase the device (either self initiated or from a computer) to get a clean file system and maximize your space available for what should be an operation with enough “free” space.

If you think you could free another 10 GB of application data, do that and wait. I probably would get a computer and erase things at your point. That way you’ll know if it was a temporary “tight spot” the phone landed in or you need to reduce the data you keep on that device.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .