If your iCloud storage is full, there’s an easy way to clear space on your iPhone before resorting to paying for more storage. CNET’s Bridget Carey’s quick tips target the largest videos and photos first.
1:21 How to get big video files off of your iPhone and iCloud
2:31 Move videos and photos from your iPhone to a portable hard drive
3:26 Clear duplicate photos and screenshots
3:52 Free up iCloud space: how to clear out old screenshots
4:16
4:38 Delete photos and videos from your iCloud forever
5:06 iOS 27 Siri app
5:44 Image Playground
6:19 Apple One family sharing
Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:
#apple #storagesolutions
@lehsu
July 3, 2026 at 10:52 am
I hope with the new Siri, we can just have a conversation with it to help us get more storage.
@fadh1
July 3, 2026 at 11:05 am
16 gigs for screenshots is just not human.
@JustinSulak
July 3, 2026 at 1:24 pm
Oops. 190gb for me 😅
@mudaninarib1057
July 3, 2026 at 11:20 am
Screenshots 🤣
No Mindhub🤔
@Smashed_Po_tay_toes
July 3, 2026 at 11:35 am
I’ll choose FOSS over SAAS solutions every time.
@Alex-uy8zx
July 3, 2026 at 11:45 am
Awesome suggestions! Thank you!
@mp3talon
July 3, 2026 at 11:52 am
Still just about managing with 5gb. But… sometimes iCloud reports I have gone above 5gb when I haven’t so I have to turn off iCloud backup and then back on again to fix that.
@mastercookie2002
July 3, 2026 at 12:00 pm
I literally had that message from Apple yesterday! Great timing about this subject!
@positivanollan
July 3, 2026 at 12:15 pm
I have never paid for iCloud storage. I have Dropbox on both my iPhone and my Mac, so every photo and video I take is synced automatically to my Mac, complete with the names changed to date and time, so I know exactly when I took it. Every day, I clear the Dropbox folder on my Mac and drag the files I want to keep to a local folder that isn’t synced with Dropbox, so I never reach the limit for free Dropbox. Then I can keep or delete the files on my iPhone as I please.
@Vernonchan
July 3, 2026 at 12:18 pm
My 2TB iCloud storage is full. 🙁
@allenakser9
July 3, 2026 at 12:45 pm
I recently decided to un-iCloud. Had over a thousand videos, over 17k photos, 4k+ screenshots 😱 and here I thought I was good at only saving my favorites 😂 still going through photos though. Moved all my files to a hardrive and soon will downgrade my iCloud plan. Something I should’ve done years ago. My greatest tip for anyone is: every time you take photos or videos, go through them right away and delete the ones you don’t want. Digital hygiene is a must-do.
@ninjanerdstudent6937
July 3, 2026 at 1:32 pm
She has 2 TB of garbage saved in iCloud. I barely have 200 MB saved in one of my iClouds. I will never get to the 5 GB of iCloud on any one device. Our house has a lot of devices, but we get 5 GB of iCloud per device. We are currently rocking 65 GB of iCloud for free.
@ninjanerdstudent6937
July 3, 2026 at 1:34 pm
4:30 – “Later” means “Never.
@D.u.d.e.r
July 3, 2026 at 1:36 pm
Guide for complete noobs😁
@ninjanerdstudent6937
July 3, 2026 at 1:37 pm
It is not a problem because CNET pays Bridget enough to buy more iCloud.
@mtjoleolkaelle
July 3, 2026 at 1:42 pm
Can you make a video about backing up my iPad or iPhone on a SSD drive? Thanks
@austin.england
July 3, 2026 at 2:09 pm
We need a way to auto delete or bulk delete imessage attachments without having to select every single file to delete or without deleting the messages themselves.
@Dubov1933
July 3, 2026 at 3:13 pm
This felt like watching a video made by a boomer telling other stupid boomers how to manage basic photos and videos…
@richardbrown3069
July 3, 2026 at 3:23 pm
To everyone deciding to store their files, pictures, videos, etc on DVD, NAS, hard drive, thumb drive, etc. please remember that if that media is damaged, stolen, burns up in a fire or is ruined in a flood, you’ve just lost all of that data. Most people don’t backup in such a manner that they have a second backup in some separate location in the event the primary backup is lost. Additionally, make sure the backed up data is encrypted to prevent the bad guys from seeing it if your backup media falls into the wrong hands.
@AlexanderEmilcar
July 3, 2026 at 3:47 pm
Bridget has an iPhone 17 Pro Max!🤯
@LostAndFoundDecade
July 3, 2026 at 5:32 pm
This definitely takes more than 15 minutes 😅
My biggest issue is when I offload photos to my PC they are all out of order.
@CooperKoepp
July 3, 2026 at 5:34 pm
I have 574 GB in messages in the cloud
4.7 TB in iCloud Photos
283 GB in iCloud Drive
8.6 GB in Voice Memo
3.4 GB in Notes
And just so you know the information in this video is incorrect. From iPhone storage with Messages, what you delete there does not delete it from the cloud. That’s only what stored on the device. If you want to delete that video from the cloud you have to delete it from within the Messages app.
@andevrezme3059
July 3, 2026 at 6:37 pm
What pisses me off is you go from 200gb for $5 a month to 2tb for $15. How about offering 1tb for $10.
@6919wally
July 3, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Wow 40 buck a month that’s expensive
@ms-モギー
July 3, 2026 at 8:43 pm
grate
@akosiErenYeager
July 3, 2026 at 9:07 pm
@CNET Easy skip Apple iCloud Storage Haha better free unlimited cloud storage telegram 2gb per files Haha.