How to free up iCloud storage without paying for iCloud+

To free up iCloud storage without paying, work through everything that shares your 5 GB: delete backups of old devices and trim what current backups include, merge duplicates in Photos with the built-in Duplicates album, remove the similar shots, bursts, screenshots and long videos you do not need, then clear large files from iCloud Drive and big attachments from Messages and Mail. Check the storage breakdown before and after, because it tells you where the space really went. For many accounts this is enough to get back a gigabyte or more and put off a paid plan, though a large, growing photo library will eventually outgrow 5 GB.

How iCloud storage actually works

The 5 GB that comes free with an Apple Account is one pool. Device backups, iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, Messages in iCloud, iCloud Mail and a few smaller apps all draw from it. A full account is full regardless of which of them filled it, so the first job is finding out which one did.

On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud. On a Mac, open System Settings, click your name, then iCloud, then Manage. The bar at the top is split by service, and the list below it is sorted by size.

A few things that help to know:

• When iCloud Photos is turned on, your photos are not included in device backups. They are stored once, in iCloud Photos. When it is off, the photo library is part of each backup instead.
• Apple says items in Recently Deleted do not count toward your iCloud storage.
• In an iCloud Shared Library, everything in the shared library counts toward the storage of the person who created it, not the people who contribute.

Backups

Backups are often the largest single item, and clearing them does not touch a single photo.

1. In the storage list, open Backups.
2. Delete the backup of any device you no longer use: a sold phone, an old iPad, a work phone you handed back.
3. For devices you still use, open the backup and turn off apps that do not need backing up. Games and streaming apps whose content can simply be downloaded again are the usual candidates.

Apple keeps the last backup of a device for 180 days after you turn off iCloud Backup for it, so an old phone's backup can linger long after the phone has gone.

Photos

Photos is the slice that keeps growing, and the one where most of the waste is.

Duplicates

Open Photos on an iPhone, iPad (iOS 16 or later) or Mac (macOS Ventura or later) and look for Duplicates under Utilities. It lists exact copies and near-identical versions, such as the same photo at two sizes, and lets you merge each set. Merging keeps one best-quality version and moves the rest to Recently Deleted. This is free and quick, and it is the obvious first pass. More in how to delete duplicate photos in iCloud Photos.

Similar shots and bursts

The Duplicates album does not deal with photos that are similar rather than the same: five shots of the same group, or a twenty-frame burst. Each is a full-size photo in your library. For bursts, open Bursts under Media Types, open a burst, tap Select, mark the frames you like, tap Done and choose Keep Only Favourites.

Similar shots outside bursts take longer, because you have to compare and choose. On a computer, Doppelgone can do the grouping: it is a Chrome extension that works with icloud.com on a Mac or PC, groups exact duplicates, similar shots and bursts, suggests the best shot in each set, and moves only the photos you approve to Recently Deleted, with an Undo. Photos are analysed on your own computer and never uploaded to Doppelgone. The free plan covers 200 photos per browser. See find similar and burst photos in iCloud Photos.

Screenshots

Open Screenshots under Media Types. Years of boarding passes, map directions and chat snippets add up. Keep the few that matter and delete the rest.

Large videos

Video is the heaviest thing in most libraries. Open Videos under Media Types and look for long clips: screen recordings, whole concerts, the same event filmed twice. Download anything you want to keep to a computer or external drive first, then delete it from iCloud Photos.

Move older years off iCloud

If you have a computer with space, or an external drive, you can download older photos and videos at full quality and keep them there instead. On icloud.com, select the photos and use the download button; on a Mac, use File, then Export, then Export Unmodified Original. Check the copies open properly, keep a second copy somewhere, and only then delete them from iCloud Photos. This is real work, but for a library that has outgrown 5 GB it is the main alternative to paying.

iCloud Drive

Open the Files app on iPhone (Browse, then iCloud Drive) or Finder on a Mac. On the Mac you can sort by size. Look for:

• old installers and disk images
• exported videos and zip files
• duplicate downloads of the same document
• desktop and Documents folders synced by a Mac you no longer use

Deleted Drive files go to a Recently Deleted folder in iCloud Drive for 30 days, which Apple says does not count toward your storage.

Messages and Mail

If Messages in iCloud is on, every photo and video sent in a chat is stored too.

• On iPhone, go to Settings, General, iPhone Storage, Messages. Review Large Attachments and the photo and video lists, and delete what you do not need.
• In Settings, Messages, you can set Keep Messages to one year so old conversations are removed automatically.
• In iCloud Mail, search for messages with large attachments and delete the ones you no longer need, then empty the Trash in Mail.

Do this at the end: give it time

After a clean-up, the storage figure can take a while to update. Check the breakdown again later rather than straight away. If photos dropped but the total did not move much, look again at Backups and iCloud Drive.

Leave Recently Deleted in Photos alone for a week or two. According to Apple it is not counting toward your storage anyway, and it is your chance to change your mind.

When paying makes sense

At the time of writing, iCloud+ comes in 50 GB, 200 GB, 2 TB, 6 TB and 12 TB plans, with prices that vary by country, and it can be shared with family members through Family Sharing. Paying is sensible if you want years of photos and video kept in full quality in one place, and you have already cleared the obvious waste. It is poor value if most of your space is old backups and duplicates, because you end up paying to store clutter.

If you also use Google Photos, the Google side of the same question is in how to free up Google storage without paying.

Frequently asked questions

What uses the most iCloud storage?

For most people it is iCloud Photos, followed by device backups. Check Settings, your name, iCloud for your own breakdown; an old device backup can be a surprisingly large share.

Does deleting old iPhone backups delete my photos?

No, not if iCloud Photos is turned on. In that case your photos are stored in iCloud Photos, not in the backup. If iCloud Photos is off, your photo library is inside the backup, so save the photos elsewhere before deleting the backup of a device you still need them from.

Can I free up iCloud storage by deleting photos on my iPhone?

Yes, with iCloud Photos turned on, because deleting on the iPhone deletes from iCloud and all your devices. Apple says items in Recently Deleted do not count toward iCloud storage. Do it carefully, though: if you are over your limit, Apple says deletions on a device skip Recently Deleted. Free a little space in other ways first.

Does "Optimise iPhone Storage" save iCloud space?

No. It keeps smaller versions of photos on the phone and the originals in iCloud. It saves space on the device, not in iCloud.

What to do next

Open the iCloud storage breakdown, delete backups of devices you no longer use, and merge what the Duplicates album finds. If similar shots and bursts are what is left, a desktop tool such as Doppelgone can group them for review; Pro is a one-time payment if the free 200 photos are not enough. If you are already over the limit, iCloud storage full covers what to do first.