Delete Documents And Data On iPhone Or iPad To Clear Used Space
Are you running out of space & want to clear Documents and Data on iPhone and iPad?
Well, if you are reading this right now then you surely want to learn how to free up space on iPhone or iPad. Ya! Sometimes I do mind reading too.
iPhone “documents and data” is the most used storage block of your iPhone or iPad after “Other On iPhone“.
It is very important that you know What does Documents and Data consist of before taking any action to free up iPhone storage space. We will also learn how to delete documents and data on iPhone without deleting any app.
I suggest you bookmark this page for fure refference.
Let’s get to the point…
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Delete “Documents And Data” On iPhone Or iPad
It is really important for you to understand what actually we are going to delete from documents and data on iPhone to free up the used space.
Why does that matter?
Because i do not want you to accidentally wipe out data that you do not want to. So here it is..
What is Documents And Data on iPhone?
What Does Documents & Data Consist Of? The documents and data come from a mixture of sources including stock apps, third-party apps, and even iCloud documents. It’s the cache files stored by individual apps.
The more iPhone apps you install the more cached data will take up your iPhone storage space. Cached data meaning the data that is stored by individual apps on your phone.
But why apps need to cache the data? Why is cached data important?
The answer is simple…
Apps cache data so that when you use the same app again it loads faster and work smoothly. This is important for user experience and individual apps stability.
Let me take an example to explain this better.
You know when you visit any website it takes little longer to load. Correct? But you will eventually notice that the same website loads much faster compared to the first time you visited the website.
So now you know why is documents and data so big in size on your device.
Let’s understand how you can locate and remove cache, cookie and other unwanted data stored by apps and restore space on your iPhone!
Also Read:Why Buying Apple iPhone Is The Ultimate Life Experience?
How to check available storage on your iPhone or iPad?
We will start by identifying the apps that are using plenty of space on your iPhone. The apps that consume a lot of space on your iPhone is our first target. Let’s hunt down those apps and clear space on iPhone without deleting any app.
- Open Settings app on your iOS device → Tap on General.
- Now, give a tap on iPhone/iPad Storage.
- After performing Step #2 you will see the list of apps. Note the total storage consumed on your iPhone/iPad and how much is available.
- In the list of all apps identify the apps that are using a hell lot of space. To have better detail, tap on any app. Yup, that’s my WhatsApp App data usage. And that’s too much iPhone documents and data size consumption by WhatsApp.
- Now, you will see the details about app space consumption and how much storage its documents and data has consumed. In this case its 10.32 GB
Tip: Lots of installed iOS apps may also result in battery draining. So better install only those iOS apps that you really want to use.
Clear “Documents And Data”
Ok, So by now you have identified the apps that are consuming high storage space. I know you also identified the apps that you do not use anymore and thinking to offload them? Again…My mind reading…
What to do next?
Well, You have 2 choices. Lets understand both of them.
Option #1 Offload Untapped Apps Without Deleting their Documents and Data
We all have those apps that we do not use on regular basis. We install them and use them for a couple of days and then totally abandon them.
You can uninstall untapped apps without deleting their documents and data in iOS 11. And when you reinstall them, their data gets automatically restored.
Hence, you can use this cool feature to free up a lot of storage space on your iDevice not having to clean up the data.
Let’s learn how to Offload unused apps without deleting their Documents and Data:
- Tap Settings app on your iOS device → Tap on General.
- Next, you need to tap on iPhone Storage.
- Tap on the app that you want to offload from your iPhone.
- Finally, tap on Offload App button and confirm.
If you want to offload untapped apps Automatically in iOS 11 on iPhone and iPad then follow these steps. This is helpful because iOS will identify the apps for you that are not used much and will do the work for you.
This is a good way to automatically delete documents and data on iPhone to free up precious space.
- Open Settings app on your iOS device → General.
- Tap on iPhone Storage.
- Next, you need to tap on Enable next to Offload Unused Apps.
I personally find the Automatic Offload Apps feature very unique and useful.
It saves you lot of space by offloading unused apps even if you don’t know which apps you are not using.
Its like automation and we all welcome automation in today’s technology. Aren’t We?
Option #2 Manually unload and Reinstall App(s) to Quickly Clean Up Their Associated Data
There are times when you want to reset the app’s associated data but want to have the app back again. In that case just Delete the app and reinstall it back again.
- Tap on the Settings → General.
- Tap on Storage & iCloud Usage.
- Now Tap Manage Storage under the Storage section.
- Next Tap on the individual app which data you want to delete.
- Tap on Delete App and confirm.
- Reinstall the same.
Suggested: How To Clear Cache On Mac?
Delete Documents and Data of Specific Apps from iCloud on iPhone or iPad
You may be seeing iCloud storage full notification on our iPhone. Documents and data of specific apps that may not important to you have cluttered your precious iCloud space.
Why not get some extra storage space by removing saved data of specific apps from iCloud? Ya why not! Lets do it…
- Launch Settings app on your iOS device.
- Now Tap profile picture. (If your iDevice is on the previous iOS 10.2version or earlier, tap on iCloud.)
- Next Tap on iCloud option.
- Now on Manage Storage.
- Then Tap on the app which data you want to remove.
- Just Tap on Delete Documents & Data.
- Finally, Tap on Delete to confirm.
That’s how to clear cache on iPhone of individual apps from all of your iDevices synced with the same iCloud devices.
Pro Tip: If you want to manage your iCloud storage in a more efficient way than only allow fewer apps to store documents and data in iCloud. If you get proactive while installing apps and allowing permissions than it can save you lot of headache.
How To Delete Photos On Your iPhone or iPad To Clear Up Space
See, many of us capture hundreds of selfies every month, shoutout to all the ladies;).
For one good selfie or a picture, we snap more than once. But there’s a catch.. We forget to delete those pictures that we do not want to keep. By wiping out all those photos you can save a lot of storage.
Just go to your media right now and start wiping out all the images or videos that you think are not worthy of preserving. Don’t worry you can always recover photos from the Recently Deleted album before you permanently delete them.
Or…
What you can do is, just make a backup of your media on another device such as on your MAC or Windows PC or any other storage device and delete every media from your iPhone.
Sort out your media in your free time and then again upload it to your iCloud/iPhone, this is how i do it. Trust me you will be amazed to see the results.
Here is a short and informative video from Apple Support.
How To Clear Voicemail On iPhone or iPad
We all have Voicemails on our phone that consumes a lot of space. Try to delete all voicemail that is not important to you. Those unwanted Voicemails like service pitches or someone trying to sell you something etc. are of no use and should be deleted.
I recommend you to filter all such Voicemails and delete them every week. This will save you a lot of storage space as Voicemails are stored in Documents and Data on iPhone.
To do the Voicemail Cleanup just follow this path:
Phone app → Voicemail → select the Voicemail → Now, you need to tap on it or swipe right to left → tap on Delete button.
In case you want to delete multiple Voicemails at once.
Open Phone app → Voicemails → tap on Edit → select the voicemails → tap on Delete.
Clear Browsing History And Website Data On Safari
As we discussed earlier whenever we visit a Website it cache and other website data get stored on our device. So its advisable to clear browsing history and website data of Safari browser very often to save some iPhone storage space.
Permit Selected Apps To Store Their Data On iCloud
You must use iCloud to store data that is important. By saying that you must allow only selected apps to store data on iCloud. Important data like Photos, Mails, Contacts, Notes etc.
- Open Settings app.
- Tap on your Profile.
- Tap on iCloud.
- Now turn off the switch next to the app to Grey for data you no longer require to save on iCloud.
Clear Safari History & Cache On iPhone Or iPad
It’s recommended to clean out Safari browser history and website data such as Cache, Temporary Files etc from time to time to make sure the Safari web browser continues to run smoothly and doesn’t gather too much of cached data.
Delete eMails From iPhone or iPad Which Are Too Old
If you are using the pre-installed stock eMail app on your iPhone then you should know that all the eMails and their attachments get stored on your phone for easy access even when you are offline.
As the time passes these old eMails and attachments occupy much of your iPhone storage space.
To clear all eMail data and cache just follow this simple step:
- Open Settings app → Tap on Accounts & Passwords.
- Tap on Email account.
- Tap on Delete account and confirm.
Now, re-add the account by tapping on Add New. That’s it.
Also Read: How To Use iMessage On PC?
Over To You…
I have mentioned almost every possible way to delete garbage documents and data on your iPhone or iPad. The most space that you can get is from deleting your photos as already discussed.
Always be cautious about what you are deleting from your device. When deleting anything in bulk be sure if you want to do it.
So whats your preferred way to clear up space on your iPhone? or is there something that I forgot to mention in this article? Do let me know in comments and I will add it to this comprehensive guide on How to delete documents and data on iPhone or iPad.
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