How to Clear System Data on iPhone

There is no doubt that photos and applications will take up little space on your smartphone. In older versions of iOS, system data was called “Other Storage”and can be deleted if needed. This category of data cannot be deleted directly due to the fact that each user’s data is unique.

However, there are several ways to delete system data from iPhone. But not every user is familiar with this feature. That’s why we’re here. In this guide, we will help you clear system data on iPhone . So, if you want to know how to clear system data on iPhone , be sure to read this guide to the end.

Content:

1 What is other storage/system data on iPhone?
- 1.1 How to check the space occupied by other storage on iPhone
2 How to clear system data on iPhone

What is Other Storage/System Data on iPhone?

Apple specifies that “Other Storage”contains system data such as caches, log files, and other resources currently in use by the iPhone. Depending on the requirements of the system, this value fluctuates automatically. Instead of labeling this data category as “Other storage,”Apple renamed its system data starting with iOS 15.

How to Check the Space Used by Other Storage on iPhone

Depending on your iPhone usage pattern, other storage/system data takes up a lot of space. This category is more likely to take up more space if you have a lot of streaming apps installed on your device. So, if you want to know how much storage is Other storage on iPhone:

Open the Settings app and tap on General .
You can view your device’s storage details by scrolling down and tapping the “iPhone Storage”icon.
On your iPhone, you can find the amount of space used by system data in the Storage panel.
Alternatively, you can also view the space taken up by system data by scrolling down and tapping on it.

How to Clear System Data on iPhone

There are some precautions and methods you need to take to clear system data on iPhone . So, if you are not familiar with these methods, be sure to read this guide to the end:

Method 1: Clear Unwanted Voice Memos

Your iPhone’s system data will take up more space if you frequently use the Voice Memos feature. However, this is the first step to clear system data on iPhone . So, if you want to reduce the size of voice memos on your iPhone and free up space, you should delete old or unwanted voice memos. However, the following steps will help you do this:

On your device, open Voice Memo.

Click the Edit button on the top right corner to select the voice note you want to remove from the app.

Now tap the Trash/Delete icon to delete the selected item.

Method 2: Clear iMessage and set up auto-delete feature

It is also recommended to delete and clear all messages from iMessage and set its auto delete feature to clear system data on iPhone . This will reduce the amount of space taken up by the System Data category. So let’s check the steps:

On your iPhone, open the Message app.
At the top, click on the icon with three dots and select “Messages”.

Next, select any messages you don’t need or messages with large attachments and select Delete.
After that, open the Settings app and tap on the Messages app to set up the auto-delete feature.

After that, find the message history feature and click the “Save messages”button.

Now select your preferred timeframe. This will automatically delete messages from the iMessage app (choose between 30 days, one year, or forever).

Method 3: Clear Safari History

Generally, we love to use the Safari browser in our daily life to surf the web. However, there is a chance that your Safari browser may have the most Safari history. Thus, you can also clear the system data on your iPhone by deleting Safari history:

Go to Settings, find Safari and click on it to set it up.
To clear all Safari browser caches, scroll down the page and click on Clear History and Website Data.

Click the Clear history and data button to confirm your action.

Method 4: Uninstall Heavy Apps and Reinstall Them

In some cases, clearing the cache files of a third-party application does not reduce its overall space consumption. If this happens, you must manually uninstall the app and reinstall it.

On your iPhone, press and hold the icon of the third-party app you want to uninstall.
To remove an app, tap the “-“icon at the top.

Click the Uninstall App button to confirm your action.

Alternatively, you can hold the icon for 3-4 seconds and select Uninstall App.

Then reinstall the app you uninstalled.

Method 5: Update iPhone

Your iPhone can also be updated to the latest version of iOS to resolve the issue with different storage. This is because different users have reported that it helped them solve a system problem.

Method 6: Delete Junk Emails from the Mail App

Several iPhone users have reported a significant reduction in the amount of space taken up by junk mail in their Mail app. Deleting all such emails from your iPhone would be the right option to clear system data on iPhone . However, you can do it with these simple steps.

On your device, open the Mail app.

Select the Junk Email folder to see all junk emails in your Inbox.

At the top right, click the Edit button and select all the emails you want to remove from the Junk Mail category. You can also select all emails in the top left corner by clicking Select All.

Then click Delete to delete all selected emails.
Now do the same for the main mailbox using the steps above.

Method 7: Uninstall Unwanted Apps

Caches are associated with every app available on the iPhone to provide a faster and smoother user experience. These cache files are grouped and saved by iOS in the Other Storage category. Therefore, to reduce the load on your device’s storage, you should offload unused applications from your device:

Open Settings and tap on General .
Find iPhone storage and open it.
Then scroll down until you find an unused app and tap it.
If you want to download an app from your iPhone, click the” Upload Application”button .

Method 8: Reset iPhone

You should try backing up, resetting, and restoring your iPhone if you’re still unable to reduce the amount of storage/system data it consumes. Well, yes! I know this will create a chaotic situation. But this is the best way to solve the problem of the Other Storage data cluster.

From the author’s table

So, that’s all about how to clear system data on iPhone. We hope this article has helped you. But, if you want to know more details, comment below and let us know. Also, be sure to let other users know if you have any other way to clean up system storage.