How to Fix an iPhone With Full Disk Space

By Jane Williams

Regain disk space by deleting unused media.
i Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images

Your iPhone acts as an entertainment center, music library and personal assistant all rolled into a convenient pocket-sized package. Over time the phone's internal memory can fill up, resulting in errors as you try to install new applications. Correcting this issue requires deleting unused apps, videos and photos you no longer access to free up disk space for future use.

Step 1

Reboot your iPhone. Your iPhone is simply a little computer, and rebooting can correct the various small internal errors it acquires after constant use, such as incorrect reports on available disk space. Press the Sleep/Wake button and hold it until a red slider appears. Swipe this slider with your finger to initiate complete shut down. Turn the iPhone back on by pressing the Sleep/Wake button and holding it until the the Apple logo appears.

Step 2

Check your actual space usage. Once your iPhone reboots, check the available space. Tap “Settings” and then “General.” Select “Usage” to see how much space you have left. Look down the list below this data for all installed apps and data, as well as how much space they are using; the apps are ordered from most usage to least.

Step 3

Delete unused or unwanted apps. Select the apps listed under the storage data that you no longer use. Tap on the app you'd like to remove, and tap the “Delete App” button on the following screen. Confirm this deletion and return to the list to remove all apps you no longer want to keep on your iPhone.

Step 4

Delete old videos or music from your iPhone. Tap the appropriate app icon -- Videos or Music -- and examine the list of stored items. Select a video, movie or album to delete by swiping your finger across the icon from left to right. Tap the red “Delete” button that appears. Confirm your choice if necessary and repeat this process with every piece of media you'd like to remove from your iPhone.

×