Hence, at some point, when you notice your iPhone is full of files, you’ll need to clear some of them to create space. Every iPhone, thankfully, has a number of folders where irrelevant files produced by apps on your phone are kept. These folders that store the used data by iPhone apps which become rather worthless after being used, are known as system files, and they can sometimes get rather big. This is where clearing the System files or Other storage on iPhone comes in. Clearing the System files may not completely fix your storage problem, but it will still give you enough room to work with before moving the movie or file to another storage location or deleting it. Also, the System files don’t contain apps, movies, images, or messages, so you don’t have to worry about losing important data. In this article, we’ll cover every detail about how to clear System data or Other storage on iPhone to release more memory space for you.
What is System Data on iPhone?
What is System Data on iPhone?
On your iPhone or iPad, the System Data category stores your caches, settings, saved messages, voice memos, and other data that does not fit into any other category. Due to the fact these files are too small to be organized into distinct folders, iPhone or iPad group them all in the System Data or other folder. Although these files usually do not take up a lot of space, they have the potential to become quite big after some time has passed. Moreso, the stuff you stream on the internet makes a substantial fraction of these files. When you stream music, movies, or videos, the system is adding all of those individual media files to the amount of data or other storage space that it is already using. Also, when you stream, your iPhone saves caches, particularly of the songs and videos we play the most frequently, to ensure that playback is as smooth as possible. The cached content includes not only data from browsers but also data from other applications such as Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and so on. Therefore, the longer you’ve had your iPhone, the greater the likelihood you’ve accumulated a sizable amount of what’s known as System Data. In earlier versions of the iOS, Apple referred to this as Other storage but has been renamed System data, and users can get a clear idea of what is in the folder now. However, there is no precise method to identify and delete the contents of the folder because the category contains a large number of files that are grouped.
How to View System Data on iPhone
How to View System Data on iPhone
Here is the step-by-step guide on how to view System Data on iPhone:
Clear System Data on iPhone
Clear System Data on iPhone
1. Clear Your Safari Cache
Clearing your Safari Cache is a very straightforward way to clear System data on iPhone. Safari caches are one of the biggest causes of System Data storage growing out of hand if you are someone that browse a lot with the app. Safari saves browsing history and website data to help you load websites quickly. However, Safari’s caches are not a necessity, and if they are filling up your iPhone storage, you may have to clear them to make space for more important items. To clear your Safari cache:
2. Remove Some Unnecessary Apps
You can free up some storage space for System Data by clearing the cache for the applications that you rarely use. When you look at the amount of space an application takes up in your storage, you’ll notice that the size of the application itself is as much as its data. Uninstalling and reinstalling the app could help to clear the System Data storage on your iPhone. To remove an app:
To Offload Automatically
To Offload Manually:
3. Limit Your Use Of Streaming Services If You Can
This step looks odd but is both a preventive and corrective measure. Streaming a lot of music and video could be another reason the storage space on your iPhone’s System Data runs out of control. Now to make this clear, this is different from downloading anything. It would fall under the heading of “Media” if it was obtained from the iTunes store, the TV app, or the Music app when downloaded. Caches, however, are considered to fall under System Data. Caches are used by streams to ensure that playback is continuous. Hence, you can see the different effects of streaming and download. Therefore, while you are attempting to clear up some storage space on your iPhone, you can try to regulate the amount of streaming content that you take and balance it up with digital downloads.
4. Delete Any Old Data From iMessage and Mail
This step is for you if you tend to send and receive a lot of texts. You might want to modify the Messages settings so that it saves fewer of your older messages. You can change the default setting for Messages to keep messages for 1 Year or even 30 Days to reduce the amount of data that the Messages app caches. The default setting for Messages is to keep messages forever, which means over-accumulating messages. To delete old data from messages:
5. Make Sure You Have the Most Recent Software Update
You’ll need to skip this one if you’re trying to free up space on your hard disk so you can download the most recent version of your program. However, you can try this approach if you are clearing out your storage area to make room for other stuff, but you still have enough space to install the most recent software update. A sizable amount of the System Data storage is freed up when you apply the most current software update. To upgrade to the most recent software update:
6. Delete All Content on Your iPhone through Reset.
The only other option if none of the aforementioned options are working, or even if one or more of them did work, but the impact was insufficient, is to delete the majority of the data on your phone. Backing up data on your iPhone or iPad is necessary before you proceed with this approach, though you run the danger of losing everything on your smartphone if you don’t back up your data. Here’s how to go about it:
Why is system storage so high on my iPhone?
The primary cause of a sizable chunk of your iPhone’s storage space is the use of caches. Large amounts of images, audio, and video are cached by social media sites and streaming services, resulting in faster display times and no playback buffering under most circumstances. Although it enhances your iPhone experience, it also has the drawback of taking up space.
Is it possible to completely clear out system data?
The amount of system data will be decreased once you’ve reset and restored your iPhone using one of the methods above. As they are required for the iPhone to work, there will definitely still be an amount of the present. Also, you won’t be able to clean off stored data unless you reset your iPhone entirely.
Final Words
Final Words
System data can be cleared using a variety of methods, and which method you choose will mainly depend on you. Although clearing your phone completely and making a backup of your data could be the most “effective” course of action, choosing to take other measures will ensure that it is your last resort. Recommended Reads:
How to Quickly Copy and Delete Screenshots on iPhone in iOS 16How to Fix Wi-Fi Greyed Out on iPhoneHow to Clear App Cache on iPhone Without Deleting the App
