How to Get More Storage on iPhone Without Paying Running low on iPhone storage? Need more space for new photos or a few new apps? There are plenty of paid solutions to fix this, but the good news is that there are just as many absolutely free ones.

You don’t need to spend money on iCloud upgrades or a new device to free up space. We’ll show you several ways to get more storage on your iPhone without paying a dime. We’ve tested these methods ourselves, and they work like a charm.

Is It Possible to Get More Storage on an iPhone That Is Not iCloud?

Yes, but you’ll need some workarounds. Unlike Android, iPhones don’t support SD cards for extra storage, and Apple doesn’t let you upgrade internal storage – at least not without voiding your warranty. Some tech-savvy users have figured out how to swap out storage chips (as discussed here on Quora), but for most people, that’s not a realistic option.

However, you don’t need iCloud or expensive storage upgrades to get more free space on your iPhone. While iCloud is an easy way to get extra storage, the free tier only gives you 5GB, which is too little for most users. But it’s not the only solution – there are plenty of free methods to get more free storage directly on your iPhone without relying on the cloud.

How to Get More Storage on iPhone for Free

More storage on your iPhone without paying isn’t just possible – it’s surprisingly easy if you know where to look. Some of the methods here can reclaim a few hundred megabytes, while others can recover gigabytes of space in just a few taps. Below, we’ll list the best free ways to clear space on your iPhone, ordered by how easy they are to do and how much free storage you might get.

1. Use Cleaning Apps

We’ll start with probably the easiest and definitely the quickest way to get more storage on your iPhone – cleaning apps. That’s their whole purpose: they automate everything, scan your device for junk files and unnecessary data, and help you delete them in a few taps.

Now, while most iPhone cleaners aren’t truly free (many offer only limited functionality in their free versions), some apps are 100% free with no paywalls. One of the best free options is Clever Cleaner, which does a fantastic job of identifying duplicate or similar photos, large files, and other unnecessary clutter.

Here’s how you can tidy up your storage with Clever Cleaner:

1. Download the free Clever Cleaner app from the App Store.
2. Grant the necessary access to your photo library when prompted.
3. Now you have four tools to help you free up space: Similars (finds photos that look alike or are exact duplicates, Screenshots (detects and removes old screenshots you probably don’t need), Lives (can convert Live Photos into regular photos to free storage, if you only need the still shot), Heavies (sorts videos starting with the largest, so you can delete the ones that take up the most space).
4. Start with the Similars tab. Just tap the Smart Cleanup button. Once the scan is complete, review the detected similars and tap Restore if you want to keep any of them (you’ll see exactly how much space each file takes up).
5. Then use Slide to Delete to send unwanted photos straight to the Trash.

Check each tool one by one. At the top, you’ll see a summary of the identified clutter, showing the number of files, how much storage they’re wasting (in MB/GB), and the percentage of space they take up. In most cases, these four tools together – Similars, Screenshots, Lives, and Heavies – should free up several gigabytes of storage, if not more.

Just don’t forget that all deleted files go to the Recently Deleted folder first (for 30 days). If you need free space immediately, open the Photos app, navigate to Recently Deleted, and permanently delete everything from there.

By the way, Free Clever Cleaner for iPhone promises to stay free for all current users, so it might be worth keeping on your phone. It frees up way more space than it occupies (less than 200MB), so it won’t be a burden on your storage. Plus, it’s handy to have for future cleanups – just run a quick scan whenever your storage starts filling up again.

Video Tutorial

2. Clear App and Browser Caches 

The next best place to look for more storage is app cached data. While apps themselves usually take up only a couple hundred megabytes, their temporary data can pile up to gigabytes over time. The good news? This data is safe to delete. It won’t remove your personal files or app settings – just temporary junk that apps automatically rebuild when needed.

If you use Safari often, its cache can balloon in size, storing website data, images, and cookies. Clearing it frees up storage instantly, and in some cases, it can recover over 1GB.

How to clear Safari cache:

1. Open Settings and scroll down to Safari.
2. Tap Clear History and Website Data.
3. Confirm by tapping Clear History and Data again.

​Many other popular apps like Chrome, Snapchat, and Telegram have their own methods for clearing the cache, accessible through their in-app settings rather than the iPhone’s main settings. For detailed instructions, check the official guides or support pages of the apps you use most frequently. Clearing these can free up a lot of space on your device.​

3. Delete or Offload Unused Apps

You probably know how to delete an app – it’s one of the easiest ways to free up storage quickly. But just in case, let’s refresh:

1. Long-press the app icon on your home screen.
2. Tap Remove App, then Delete App.
3. Confirm with Delete again.
   

That’s it – app gone, storage freed. But what if you’re not sure whether you’ll need an app later? Instead of deleting it, you can offload it. It will remove the app but keep your personal data and settings, so if you reinstall it later, it’ll be like you never deleted it.

How to offload unused apps:

1. Open Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
2. Scroll through the list to find large apps you don’t use often.
3. Tap on an app and choose Offload App.

There’s also a way to offload apps automatically, but many people advise against it. As one user pointed out in this Reddit discussion, automatic offloading can lead to losing access to apps you actually want to keep.

4. Clean Out Downloads 

If you’ve ever downloaded a file, a PDF, or an image from Safari or another app and never thought about it again, it’s probably still sitting on your iPhone, taking up space. The same goes for large message attachments – photos, videos, and documents sent via iMessage or other messaging apps can pile up over time, eating away at your storage. Cleaning them out can easily free up gigabytes.

iOS doesn’t automatically clear out downloads, so everything you’ve ever saved stays there until you remove it manually. Here’s how to find and delete old downloads:

1. Open the Files app.
2. Tap Browse at the bottom and go to On My iPhone, then Downloads.
3. Review the files – if you don’t need something, swipe left and tap Delete.
4. To delete multiple files at once, tap the three dots in the top right. 
5. Tap Select and mark the files you want to delete.
6. Tap the trash icon.
   

Just a heads-up, you won’t see more free space right away until you also clear them from the Recently Deleted folder in the Files app. 

5. Delete Large Attachments in Messages

iMessage and other messaging apps store every photo, video, and file sent to you – even if you don’t need them anymore. Clearing out large attachments is one of the easiest ways to free up space without losing conversations.

How to find and delete large message attachments:

1. Open the Messages app.
2. Tap on the specific chat.
3. Tap on the contact’s icon at the top of the screen.
4. Beside Photos, tap See All to view all shared media.
5. Tap Select in the top-right corner.
6. Choose the photos and/or videos you want to delete, then tap Delete.

To handle large media files that come frequently, enable the option for automatic deletion of older ones. Access Settings, find Messages, then choose Keep Messages. Adjust the duration from Forever to either 30 Days or 1 Year. This will clear out message attachments automatically. 

Also, if message attachments start eating up too much storage, your iPhone might flag them for cleanup in Settings > General > iPhone Storage. This makes it easy to delete large attachments quickly since they’re already sorted by size. Just keep in mind that this only appears if your iPhone sees a lot of storage that can be freed up. If you don’t see it, attachments probably aren’t the issue.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, when it comes to how to get more storage on an iPhone without paying, there are plenty of free options – and it doesn’t have to be difficult. You can try one or all of these methods, depending on how much storage you need.

And remember, we put the most effective solutions at the top, so if you want the fastest results, start with cleaning apps and cache before moving on to more manual file management. With just a few quick steps, you can get more storage on your iPhone – and you won’t have to pay for iCloud or any other pricey solutions.