It’s no secret that an iPhone is basically a mom’s go-to tool. You use it to stay in touch with your kids, snap tons of photos and videos, and search for anything you need, all in one handy device. But to keep it running smoothly, you’ll need to regularly manage and clear iPhone storage. So, how do you handle that when your phone is loaded with important files, especially countless photos of your kids? Do you want to delete some, or are those the only files you want to keep? In this article, we’ll walk you through all the best methods to handle your storage and cover both scenarios.

How to Reduce the Number of Photos on Your iPhone

Very often, photos and videos end up being the biggest storage hogs on the device, and Reddit discussions back that up. That’s why it makes sense to start your iPhone storage management by clearing out the Photos app first. There are several ways to do this.

1. Remove Photos Directly from the Photos App

When it comes to deleting photos, the first thing that probably comes to mind is just removing them through the Photos app. But if you’re sentimental and have tons of kid photos, it might be hard to decide which ones you can part with. Still, since this is the most basic method, we had to include it.

  1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
  2. Scroll through your albums to find the photos you want to delete.
  3. Tap Select (top-right), then pick the individual photos or swipe to select multiple.
  4. Hit the trash icon at the bottom-right corner to delete them.
  5. Confirm your action if prompted to confirm that these photos are removed.

After completing these steps, the deleted photos move to the “Recently Deleted” album. It is advisable to clear this album manually to immediately free up space. In the Photos app, scroll down to find the ‘Recently Deleted’ album > Tap ‘Select’ at the top of the screen > press the three-dot icon at the bottom, then choose ‘Delete All’ to permanently remove these photos from your iPhone.

2. Automate Photo Deletion with iPhone Cleaning Apps

Instead of deleting photos manually, there’s a better solution – use an iPhone cleaner app to automate the process. This saves you from having to sort through every photo and decide what to keep or delete. To show you how this can help, let’s look at the Clever Cleaner: AI CleanUp App, specifically its “Similars” feature.

This free app identifies duplicates and near-duplicates (like those multiple angles of your child), groups them, and then picks the best shot in each group, marking the rest for easy deletion. That means you can quickly clean up your photo gallery without losing anything important.

  1. Find and download the Clever Cleaner app from the App Store on your iPhone.
  2. Tap the Clever Cleaner icon on your home screen and allow it to access your photos. The app will then initiate a scan of your iPhone, which typically takes a few minutes.
  3. Once the scan is complete, the app will show the groups of similar photos. For an immediate cleanup, select ‘Smart Cleanup,’ which removes duplicates and similar images in one action.
  4. For more control, tap on any group of images. Check the boxes next to the photos you intend to delete, and then select ‘Move to Trash.’
  1. The selected photos will be transferred to the app’s trash. Review this section to confirm no important photo was deleted by mistake. Confirm the deletion by moving the ‘Slide to Delete’ slider, which removes the photos from your Photos app.
  2. After that, all selected photos will be moved to the Recently Deleted album since iOS doesn’t allow skipping this step. Head to the album to permanently delete them.

We’ve only described one app feature so far, but if you look at the bottom panel, you’ll notice a few more. Each feature’s name clearly describes what it does:

  • Screenshots – mirrors the Screenshots album from your Photos app and lets you delete all screenshots with one tap.
  • Lives – converts Live Photos into regular still images, removing motion and sound.
  • Heavies – identifies the largest files in your gallery (primarily videos) and lets you review and delete them.

For the best results, we recommend using all these features one by one to free up as much storage as possible on your iPhone.

How to Manage Storage on iPhone Without Deleting Photos

If the earlier methods don’t work for you, or you simply don’t want to delete any photos because they’re too important, there are still ways to manage your iPhone’s storage. We’ll cover the easiest and fastest methods here. If you have extra time and aren’t too busy with your kids, check out the full guide on how to free up storage on an iPhone, which covers even more techniques.

1. Enable Optimize iPhone Storage Option to Manage Space

The easiest way to free up space on your phone without deleting anything, even photos, is to turn on the “Optimize iPhone Storage” setting. This keeps the full-quality versions of your photos in iCloud and leaves smaller, lower-quality copies on your phone.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap your Apple ID at the top of the menu, then select iCloud.
  3. Choose ‘Photos’ from the list of options to manage your photo storage specifically.
  4. Toggle the switch next to ‘Sync this iPhone’ to the on position. Then, select ‘Optimize iPhone Storage’ to activate the feature.

You’ll need enough iCloud storage for this feature to work, and Apple gives you only 5GB for free. If you have thousands of photos of your kids, that space will likely run out fast. You may need to upgrade your iCloud plan to guarantee enough storage.

2.  Remove Apps You No Longer Use

Aside from photos, applications also take up a large part of your iPhone’s storage. If you prefer not to delete kid photos or other valuable images, remove applications that you no longer use. These might include habit trackers, calorie counters, games, or other entertainment apps. Ideally, you should keep only the necessary applications.

  1. First, you need to open storage settings on your iPhone. To do this, go to the Settings app on your iPhone > tap General > then iPhone Storage.
  2. A list of your applications appears, sorted by how much space each one occupies.
  3. Tap on the Last Used Date option to sort the applications. This will sort your apps so that your most used ones are at the top and your least used ones are at the bottom.
  4. Scroll down at the bottom of the list to find the apps that you haven’t used recently.
  5. Tap the app you want to delete, and then choose Delete App.
  6. Confirm your decision by tapping Delete App again.
  7. Repeat this process with any other applications you no longer need.

3. Check Other Locations and Remove Clutter from Your iPhone

If you’ve gone through the previous methods and still need more storage, chances are there are other files on your iPhone that you can delete. Where these files are stored depends on how you use your device. Since covering every possible scenario would be impractical, here are a few common places worth checking:

  • If you often download parenting guides or video tutorials from third-party sources, open the Files app and delete any items you no longer need.
  • If you frequently use the Notes app to plan your day or jot down important points, clear out older notes that are no longer relevant.
  • Consider cleaning up your Messages app by deleting old conversations.
  • If you save content for offline use, like podcasts, videos, songs, or books, remember to delete them after you’re done. Check the downloads section in each app you use so they don’t pile up.

Conclusion

Now you know how to manage iPhone storage, and it’s actually pretty simple. We’ve tried to offer methods for every mom, whether you can bring yourself to delete some photos of your kids or prefer to keep them all.

Just keep in mind that the process will take a bit of time because you have to manage each type of file separately. Unfortunately, there’s no single magic button to remove everything unnecessary (though that would be nice, right?). We hope these tips help, and good luck clearing out your iPhone!