How to buy more storage on iPhone – 2023 updated guide

Your iPhone after a period of use is almost out of space. Now you are required to delete information, photos, etc. Don’t let this bother you cause Wapolabs will give you a complete guide on how to buy more storage on iPhone – a 2023 updated guide.  

How to buy more storage on iPhone?

iPhone models often have storage options from 64 – 512 GB or even up to 1TB like the iPhone 14 Promax. Since the iPhone does not have a microSD card slot for extra memory, this capacity size is fixed. You can only change phones if you want to use more space. 

How to buy more storage on iPhone? Apple has developed an alternative feature that allows you to store more files on your iPhone. You can buy more iCloud storage to save more information, photos, and videos according to the following instructions.

How to buy more storage on iPhone?    
How to buy more storage on iPhone?

How to buy more storage on iPhone for free?

How to buy more storage on iPhone for free is the question that a lot of people been asking but sadly, the answer is no, you cannot buy more storage on iPhone for free.

But there are many ways to save space on your iPhone. You dom’t need to erase apps, photographs, or switch between devices often when utilizing USB OTG to expand iPhone capacity. iCloud feature, which comes standard on Apple products, still allows you to store thousands of photographs and movies.

Related article: How to Combine Videos on iPhone?[2 Comprehensive Guidelines]

Besides assisting customers with storage, iCloud also offers synchronizing all images across all devices. There is a rental price associated with using iCloud storage. But you may still sync your photographs using the 5GB of free space offered when you register your Apple ID though. 

Why I need iCloud storage?

You don’t have to buy more storage when your iPhone runs out of space. However, expanding the capacity will make it more convenient for you in your work and daily activities instead of having to frequently delete or filter your data. The following sources are the ones that take up the most space that you need to manage for your iPhone to work properly.

iCloud storage is a good option
iCloud storage is a good option

iCloud backup data

Storage is used for iCloud backup data, including all the iPad, iPhone, and iPod backups you’ve made without using iTunes. This helps your iPhone work properly, and you do not lose all your information. 

iCloud drive

In 2022, iCloud Drive and Apple’s iCloud Documents and Data service were integrated. You can store all your documents, notes, and other kinds of data in third-party apps. It is featured on all Macs and iOS devices. 

iCloud photos and videos library

iCloud storage can be used to archive your photo and video library. You can save your memories in iCloud, where they are safe and permanent, rather than deleting them to free up space on your iPhone. 

iCloud mail

This is storage for all the emails and files attachments you have received through your iCloud account or when you synced your iCloud account. You can save your time when downloading and loading documents. 

How to buy more iCloud storage on iPhone? 

How to buy more storage on iPhone iCloud? Apart from the free 5 GB that it has already offered you, follow these steps: 

  1. Go to Settings app from Home Screen > Tap your iCloud account right under Settings (Your name at the top of the screen).
  2. Select iCloud > Go to Manage Storage or iCloud Storage in some iOS versions or other Apple devices. Wait for a few second to load. 
  3. If you’ve never change a iCloud storage plan before, choose Buy More Storage. If you used to upgrade your iCloud storage plan once but you need to change to another package, choose Change Storage Plan.

Select the quantity of storage upgrade options that you need. You should keep in mind that you can upgrade or downgrade at any moment, but you risk losing part of your data if you do so.

Buy more iCloud storage on iPhone
Buy more iCloud storage on iPhone

How much does it cost to buy more storage on an iPhone?

So how to buy more storage on iPhone? There are several packages of iCloud storage. You can choose whatever suits your budget and needs. You can also share the storage plan with other people in your family by adding them to your family iCloud group. 

  • Go back to your ID Apple screen > Choose Sharing in Family
  • Tap the Avatar icon on the right top of your screen and follow the steps. You can add up to 5 people in your family. 

How much does it cost to buy more storage on an iPhone? These are the prices of iCloud Storage Plans available in 2022: 

PackagePrice
5 GBFree
50 GB$0.99 / month
200 GB$2.99 / month
1 TB$9.99 / month

How can I get more storage on my iPhone without deleting photos or buying more iCloud?

While purchasing storage plans will give your phone more storage, it’s not required. You can choose from some other short-term solutions if you don’t feel like it’s time to buy storage.        

Related article: Message blocking is active – 10 methods to fix (iPhone & Android) 

Delete space consuming app

A simple way to free up iPhone space is to delete apps that are not in use or take up unnecessary storage space. These programs frequently take up storage space as well as cause the iPhone’s battery to run low faster than usual.

 To check which app is consuming a lot of your storage, you can follow these steps: 

  1. Go to Settings on your iPhone > Scroll down to General.
  2. Choose iPhone Storage > You can see the amount of storage that each app consumes and the last time you used that app too. 
  3. Select the unused apps, go back to Home Screen. 
  4. Press and hold the app and tap “” icon or choose Delete this app > Delete.

    Delete space consuming app
    Delete space consuming app

Delete messages

Keeping too many old messages on your iPhone takes up a large amount of free space. If you don’t have time to delete them manually, you can set up automatic deletion of old messages after a certain time. Go to Settings -> select Messages -> Save messages and choose 30 days/ 1 year.

Besides, you can delete the unnecessary file attachments of messages or email as follows: 

  1. Mail: First, you can filter your emails to choose the ones contained attachments. Here’s how to do it: 
  • Go to Mail -> Tap filter icon in the bottom-left corner.
  • Choose Filtered by.
  • Toggle on Only Mail with Attachments -> Choose Done.
  • Choose Edit -> Select the emails you want to delete.
  • Select Archive or Delete.
  1. Messages: 

Fortunately, it’s a little simpler to delete your attachments in Messages. Here’s how to find and delete attachments from messages:

  • Go to Settings from the Home Screen.  Scroll down to General > iPhone Storage > Messages.
  • Select a specific category.
  • Choose Edit -> Pick the attachments you want to delete.
  • Tap the trash can icon in the top right of your screen. 

Delete app data & cache

Before using this methods, you can check which app is consuming your storage the most. Actually, iPhone can still erase data on apps. Applications after a long period of operation will generate a lot of temporary files, taking up a large part of space on iPhone.

  1. To clear the app cache, the available space on iPhone must be less than 2MB. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
  2. Select the application you want to manage, click Uninstall application. You will be surprised because the application will not be deleted but the available space will increase.

    Delete app data & cache
    Delete app data & cache

Use Apple recommendations

To optimize storage capacity on your iPhone, you can check some recommendations from Apple. When you’re running low on storage, the recommendations notification will pop up. You can see them in Settings > General > iPhone Storage. Then, tap Show All or More to see the full version.

Related article: Apple watch not charging – 7 easiest ways to fix

These are some common suggestions from Apple: 

  • iCloud Photo Library:  iCloud Photo Library keeps your photos and videos in its storage. This is a great option for the ones who want to sync their data in all iDevices. Some of your old photos or videos can be archived in cloud storage for more space in your iPhone while you still can get access to your data quickly later.
  • Auto Delete Old Messages:  Auto Delete option is useful for reducing the amount of storage that Messages consume. But iPhone users sometimes don’t want to erase old conversation with their beloved ones or business information exchange. So, you can try to delete unnecessary messages first. 
  • Offload Unused Apps: When you start to run out of storage, Apple offers to automatically remove infrequently used apps. Offloading keeps your data , but deletes the program itself. You can get access to them again by redownloading. To activate Offload Unused Apps, go to Settings > App Store. To prevent apps from downloading automatically when added to other devices, make sure Automatic app downloads is deselected here as well.

Move photos to external drive 

Moving photos to an external drive saves you from having to buy more storage on your iPhone. Therefore, choosing another cloud to backup images and data is quite reasonable. iPhone users can refer to Google Drive, Flickr, etc. 

Besides, you can also move your data to a drive in your PC to save some space. This method takes more time and operations, so storing it on an external drive is better anyway. A Google account, for example, provides you with 15 GB of free storage space for your emails, notes, documents, and other materials.

You can try Google Drive
You can try Google Drive

Bottom line

In this article “how to buy more storage on iPhone”, Wapolabs has compiled a guide on how to buy more storage. You should free up space on your iPhone before purchasing a storage plan. Choose the service package that suits your needs. If you have any questions or comments, let us know.

 

Wapolabs USA

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