It's full because the free 5 GB has to hold your device backups, photo library, Drive files, Messages and Mail together. To find the biggest user, go into Settings, tap your name, choose iCloud and work through Recommended for You or Storage, clearing whatever you can live without.
The usual reasons your 5 GB has gone
Everything is drawing on one small allowance
You automatically get 5 GB when you set up, and Apple spells out that it's shared across backups, photos, Drive and more. There's no separate bucket for each, so one greedy service leaves less for the others. Start by seeing which is biggest.
Your device backup is carrying apps you don't need saved
Go to Settings, your name, iCloud, Storage, Backups, tap your device and turn off anything you don't want backed up. Ask yourself whether you'd miss that app's data on a replacement phone. If you would, leave it on, as turning an app off removes all of its information from iCloud.
A backup from an old device is still sitting there
A backup hangs around for 180 days once you've stopped using the feature or switched it off, so a phone you've replaced may still be taking up room. The steps below show how to remove it sooner.
Your photo library is syncing everything
Photos and videos are part of the same shared allowance. If you're thinking about stopping the sync altogether, read up on turning off iCloud Photos first, and see the warning about deleting further down this page.
What to try, in order, when the warning appears
- Open Settings, tap your name, then tap iCloud.
- Tap Recommended for You, which needs iOS 17 or later.
- Tap one of the options and follow the onscreen instructions.
- If that doesn't free enough, go to Storage, then Backups, and tap your device.
- Turn off the apps you don't want backed up.
- Under Backups, tap any device you no longer use and choose Turn Off and Delete from iCloud.
That sequence runs from least risky to most drastic. Recommendations are guided, turning off one app is limited in scope, and deleting a whole backup is the big lever, so it comes last. Stop as soon as you've got enough room, because there's no prize for removing more than you need to.
Doing the backup clear-out from a Mac
Choose Apple menu, System Settings, click your name, then iCloud. Click Manage, select Backups, pick the backup you want rid of and click the remove button.
For a wider tidy-up beyond backups, there's more on freeing up space in your account.
What a full account stops doing, and two traps when you clear it
A full account isn't just an annoying banner. Your phone loses its safety net, fresh camera shots stay put instead of reaching the cloud, and Drive and the other apps fall behind. Email at your iCloud address stops in both directions too.
Here's the first trap. With the photo sync switched on, deleting a photo or video on one device also deletes it on your others. Clearing your phone's camera roll to make room isn't a local tidy-up: those pictures go everywhere, so make sure you've got a copy of anything you want to keep before you start.
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The second concerns backups. Removing one stops backups for that device as well, so that phone is no longer being protected until you turn it on again. If you've deleted a backup on a device you still use, go back and check, because it's easy to walk away assuming you're covered.
Limits you'll run into while tidying up
- Some apps are always backed up, and there's no switch to turn them off.
- A backup that's currently being used to restore a device can't be deleted, so wait for the restore to finish.
- Recommended for You relies on iOS 17 or later, so on an older version, check Apple's help page for your route.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get 5 GB for each device?
The 5 GB arrives when you set up iCloud, and everything from backups to Drive draws on that one allowance.
Does turning off an app's backup remove the app from my phone?
Turning it off removes that app's information from iCloud. For what stays on the phone itself, check Apple's help page.
What happens to emails sent to me while my storage is full?
You can't send or receive at your iCloud address while you're out of room. For what happens to anything sent in that window, check Apple's help page.
Why does it still say full after I've deleted things?
Open Storage again to see which service is still the largest. For how quickly deleted items come off your total, check Apple's help page.
Is it safe to delete the backup of a phone I've given away?
It frees the room, and the side effect, iCloud Backup switching off for that device, won't matter on a phone you no longer use.
Will my phone start backing up again once there's room?
Check it yourself, because deleting a backup switches iCloud Backup off for that device and it'll need turning back on.
