What Is ‘Other’ on iPhone?
“Other” is how your iPhone or iPad categorizes data that’s basically used or leftover by other apps. It’s a category for cached files that aren’t currently in use. They’re not necessarily trash because they might have some important information an app may want to pull from in the future. They’re categorized as iPhone Storage Other and iPad Storage Other because they don’t currently apply to an app that’s in use.
How to Get Rid of ‘Other’ on iPhone
It’s easy to free up space on your iOS device by deleting data inside an app or deleting the app altogether. However, clearing out the Other category is a trial and error process. Here’s the best way to go about it.
What’s Taking Up All the Space on Your iPhone or iPad?
First, get an overview of what’s being stored on your device. There are multiple paths that you can choose to take to clear up storage space at this point. The easiest thing to do is to enable Offload Unused Apps, which can minimize Other without any extra fuss. You can also remove photos, videos and large message attachments in this screen in the Review Large Attachments section or the Review Downloaded Videos section. You can also view which apps take up the most space with an option to delete them individually. In the iPhone Storage or iPad Storage screen, you can see how the storage is divided among photos, apps, messages, and media. Here, you can get a clear picture of whether the Other category at the bottom of the screen is eating up a significant amount of space. This figure fluctuates depending on the system needs, and it is unlikely you can delete it entirely, but you may be able to reduce it.
How to Clear Storage Space by Offloading All Unused Apps
Offloading is a way to remove part of the data associated with an app without losing all the data that it has stored. When you offload an app, for example, the app is deleted, but all the data associated with the app and the app icon is retained. To reinstall the app later, just tap the icon and, assuming you have a data connection, the app downloads, and you can pick up where you left off. Here’s how to offload unused apps:
How to Clear Storage Space by Deleting Large Attachments
It is likely that you have some large email attachments on your iPhone or iPad that you no longer need. In the storage screen, your device has selected several for your review.
How to Clear Storage Space by Offloading Specific Apps
You can also offload apps that you think are eating your storage space. To offload specific apps: Once you’re finished offloading and/or deleting apps in iPhone or iPad Storage, you can scroll back to the top of the screen to see how your progress is going. You’ll know you’re successful in clearing up storage space when your iPhone or iPad storage distribution contains less storage space distributed to the Other category—or none, if you chose to Offload Unused Apps. You should now have more free space to use however you’d like on your iPhone or iPad. Offloading an app doesn’t delete the app’s data. It archives and compresses files categorized under iPhone Storage Other or iPad Storage Other, making it easy for you to retrieve them again as needed. Some things like history caches, bookmarks, and saved passwords may not be retained after an app is offloaded. If you’re uninterested in ever using an app again, you may as well delete the app in question.
How to Clear the Safari Cache
Another way you can open up more storage space on your iPhone or iPad is by clearingthe Website Data and Offline Reading List from Safari.
