It’s a very common issue to have a large chunk of space taken up by the “Other” category in an iOS device. This can become very annoying especially when you run out of space and can’t sync your new album. The “Other” category is mostly just caches, corrupt backup data, failed downloads, and system data from the native iOS devices apps.
There are a few different ways to fix the “Other” category from taking up so much space. Restoring your device will fix the issue however there are other options that may work and are easier and faster. I’ll go through them from quickest and easiest to the more drastic but effective.
Delete browser cache
Browser Cache
If you’ve had your device for a long time and have never emptied the browser cache then there is a good chance that this will delete a large portion of the “Other” space. You can delete this cache by going to Settings -> Safari and tapping the “Clear History” and “Clear Cookies and Data” button. This may also result in a speed boost on your device if you have never deleted your browser cache before.
Delete Mail account and re-add
Delete Mail Cache
Deleting your Mail cache will delete the cache of all the media and documents viewed and downloaded in the Mail app. If you go back into Mail after emptying its cache you’ll have to re-download the media or document to view it again. All your mail is stored online so deleting your mail account won’t permanently delete everything, it’s all still there, you just need to re-add your account after removing it.
To delete your mail account, go to Setting -> Mail, Contact, Calendars -> Tap on the Mail account you want to delete -> Scroll to the bottom and click the “Delete Account” button. To add your account back, go to Setting -> Mail, Contact, Calendars -> tap “Add Account…”.
Delete Text Messages
Delete Media Texts
You know where all of those pictures and videos you send / receive through text messages and iMessages are stored? It’s all stored in the “Other” category. The Messages app on your iOS device stores all of the text messages including any media files that were sent or received, dating back to the first text.
You can either delete the media one by one, or by deleting a whole conversation at once. Not everyone may want to delete the media in the messages, for those people, you should first copy the pictures / videos to your camera roll, then delete them. Plug your iOS device into iTunes after you’re done and you should see some of the “Other” storage space emptied out.
Use PhoneClean
Clear Junk from iPhone
Another tool that I recently found out about is PhoneClean. It makes removing the “Other” storage, clearing out the temporary and junk files as well as the caches, offline files, cookies, scripts and sync-failed media files really easy IF you buy it.
It automates the process, is really simple to use and can clean out a lot of storage with just a few clicks. You can download PhoneClean, scan your iOS device for free, however in order to remove the “Other” data you need to purchase it.
To use it all you have to do is download and it install it, plug in your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and click the “Start Scan” button. PhoneClean will get to work on searching your device. This can take a little while so just let it do its thing. After it’s done, it will show how much space can be saved.
Next, just click the “Clean Up” button and PhoneClean will get to work on removing all that “Other” junk if you first purchase it. PhoneClean used to have a free version that could be used clear out “Other” storage, however it’s been updated to require to be purchased before it will clear anything out.
*Thank you to the commenters who took the time to give me a heads up on PhoneClean now requiring to be purchased before it can be used. Appreciate it :)
Empty out the Reading List
The Reading list in Safari is used to save website pages to the Safari cache. Since it actually saves the page to the device, every site page added takes up space because it stores it in the “Other” category. If you go to your device summary page in iTunes on your computer and view the “Other” section while removing sites from the Reading list, you can actually see the space slowly being emptied.
To remove items from the Reading List, open Safari on your iOS device -> tap the bookmarks button -> and then tap the Reading List button.
Delete iTunes Backups
Delete Backup
If you take this route, it may help to delete the browser cache as well as the Mail account as instructed above.
To delete your iTunes backups, open iTunes, click iTunes in the Menu bar -> Preferences -> Devices tab -> then delete all the backups. Restart your device, close iTunes and then re-open iTunes.
After deleting all the backups, make a new backup in iTunes and check to see if the other space has reduced.
Backup to iCloud instead of iTunes
Switching to backing up in iCloud instead of iTunes may also work if the “Other” data is corrupt iTunes backup data. To backup in iCloud instead of iTunes, open iTunes, go to your devices summary page and select “iCloud” under Backups.
Jailbroken Device
iCleaner from Cydia
If you have a jailbroken device you can SSH into /var/mobile/Media/ApplicationArchives and delete everything there. This folder contains all the partially downloaded apps that may have been interrupted at some time in the middle of the download.
Alternatively download a free app from Cydia called “iCleaner”. It automatically scans for all unnecessary files including app crashes, temporary files, app caches, browsing history and cookies. Once it’s done scanning, simply click the “Clean” button located at the upper right of iCleaner, then go back into iTunes and check the “Other” space.
Make a backup before using iCleaner just in case!
If you haven’t Jailbroken your device or are interesting in knowing how to Jailbreak, check out my other article: Jailbreak iOS 6 on iPhone 5, iPod, iPad 4 & mini
System Restore and Restore Backup
If none of the above instructions worked for you, a System Restore will fix the issue. Make note however restoring your device will erase everything on it and will reset it to its factory default settings. If you go this route make sure you make a backup of your device first so that you can restore all your settings and media. To restore:
Restore in iTunes
- Disconnect the USB cable from your iPad, iPhone or iPod
- Launch iTunes
- Turn off your iOS device. (Press and hold the Home and Power button until it turns off)
- Press and hold the Home button while you reconnect the USB cable
- Keep holding down the home button until iTunes shows an alert saying that a device in recovery mode has been detected.
- Click the Restore button
Alternatively, plug your device into iTunes, go to the Summary page and click “Restore [your device here]”.
It can also be done without iTunes or a computer by going to Settings -> General -> “Erase All Content and Settings” on your iOS device.
System Restore without Restoring Backup
Set up as a new iPhone
If you’ve restored your device, then restored your content from the backup only to find the “Other” category still taking up the same amount of space then you may need to restore your device and NOT restore your backup.
To do this, after your device restores and it asks you for your Apple ID it will ask you if you want to “Set up as a new [your device here]”, “Restore from iCloud Backup” or “Restore from iTunes”. Select “Set up as a new [your device here]”.
This will set up your device without restoring any settings, iMessages ect. If you use icloud.com for your email address however (email@icloud.com, email@me.com, email@mac.com) then your Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Notes, Safari Bookmarks, Photo Stream, Reminders and iWork Documents will sync back up to your device once you re-add your email account in Settings -> “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” on your iOS device. This route has the highest chance of working as the “Other” category won’t be restored since it’s not being put back on the device from the backup.
iCloud
Login to icloud.com, check through your Mail and Contacts ect, to make sure it’s all synced. To keep all the photos that are in the Camera Roll you can have the latest 1000 pictures synced through Photo Stream. If Photo Stream is not enabled go to Settings -> Photos & Camera -> Turn on Photo Stream. The photos that are synced to Photo Stream can be downloaded back to the Camera Roll once you’ve restored.
Dropbox can also be used to backup your pictures if you’d prefer not to use Photo Stream. It will sync all your photos to dropbox.com where you can download them all back to your Camera Roll once your done restoring.
Here are a few more ways to get your photos off your iOS device if you like: Import photos from your iPod, iPhone and iPad
Paid Applications
The paid version of Diskaid will allow you to copy your Messages, Contacts, Call History, Notes, Media and Voice Memos off your iOS device onto your computer, however I don’t think it’s possible to copy them back onto the iOS device once you’ve restored; at least from my attempts I haven’t been able to.
icleaner did the job PERFECTLY!!!!!!! I’ve been trying to figure out this problem for a good while… went from 100mb free to 5gigs free!!!! if you read these comments THANK YOU SO MUCH
July 27, 2013 at 12:10 amHello Lina, I read every comment. Thanks for leaving a comment and letting us know that iCleaner worked for you, appreciate the feedback.
July 27, 2013 at 10:19 amWow ICLEANER is the best, 2,2 gb free more :O
Thank you very much
August 4, 2013 at 7:17 amGreat post.
August 8, 2013 at 4:15 pmI agree, very good post – nice layout of the options.. Restore from back-up reduced my Other category by 80%.
August 18, 2013 at 2:40 pmGlad to hear it worked for you Sig. Thanks for the feedback.
August 18, 2013 at 2:41 pmWill iCleaner only work on a “jailbroken” device?
August 19, 2013 at 4:44 amYes, your device will need to be jailbroken in order to use iCleaner. Jailbreak guide: http://appducate.com/2013/02/jailbreak-ios-6-on-iphone-5-ipod-ipad-4-mini/
August 19, 2013 at 9:54 amThanks. I went through all your suggestions (skipped iCleaner). A full restore (not from a backup) seems to have solved my problem with the excessive memory being used by “other.” Thanks for the excellent post on this topic.
August 19, 2013 at 4:26 pmTo quote the tv series “IT crowd”: Have you tried turning it off and on again?
I use my iPad to watch movies, and use manual update via iTunes to copy from my Mac to the iPad. Normally deleting videos manually, turns the memory the mp4 files occupied into “Other” in the memory bar. Rebooting the iPad fixes the problem, but I have to say, that Apple ought to fix it in iOs. It’s been a known bug for a looooong time now…
August 25, 2013 at 10:00 amThis is really weird. After trying everything in the article, I finally did a restore and set up my iPhone as a new device. There was initially no space claimed by music, pictures etc. and the “other” said 568mb. As I started loading some songs onto the phone, some apps, some pictures and some books the “other” started to increase, too, and is now nearly 2gb. It’s still sycing but it looks like I am still stuck after all with something like 2 and a half gb of “other” in the end. Everything went fine, except that the sync aborted twice. And then starded syncing again. I was told the iphone settings had been changed (though I didn’t do anything anywhere while syncing) and iTunes asked me to confirm the changes, which I did. Can that be the reason for this disproportionate growth of other? I read somewhere “other” might contain leftovers from aborted syncs. In the meantime “other” has grown to 2.44gb. I’m getting kind of despered on this. I know the article has been a while, but any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.
September 19, 2013 at 11:41 amHey there Nik, it does sound like it could be caused by the aborted/failed sync. Did you try the PhoneClean method listed above? One of its options for cleaning is clearing out any junk files that weren’t synced properly.
September 19, 2013 at 11:48 amHi Damien, thank you for your kind and fast reply. I tried another PhoneClean run (the first I did, before I restored). PhoneClean tells me after the scan, that I will be able to reclaim 6.13GB – which is actually the free space on the phone according to iTunes. After cleaning the “other” is still very big, now 3.42GB. And the free space is even less, now 5.91GB. Some additional information. iPhone 4, 16GB. What I did yesterday: Upgraded to iOs7. Didn’t like it – fat to slow (which I could have guessed or read up on if I had followed my usual “proceed with caution” routine) some things important to me work either in a different way or not at all. So I downgraded again to iOs6.1.3 following this description: http://www.imore.com/how-downgrade-ios-7-beta-back-ios-6. So the sequence of events is: Upgrading to iOs7, downgrading to iOs6.1.3 with restore from BackUp (big other), followed all of your tipps above up to the restore as new device (using the iOs6.1.3 firmware again, reinstalling apps, music and pictures manually, winding up with this big other. To find a solution to my problem might be important not only to me but to others as well, who downgraded from 7 to 6. There are a couple of things I can still try: 1) Removing step by step Music, Fotos, Apps. See if that changes anyting at all. 2. Restore again to new device, then installing manually one App after the other in order to see which one might cause the trouble. Same with pictures and music. 3. Give up on iOs6 and go with 7. See what happens then to other. This will take some time, but if I find anything worthwile, I’ll post again here. Meanwile thank’s for letting me know if you have any further ideas on this.
September 20, 2013 at 2:38 amPersonally I’d recommend your 3rd option. Updating to iOS 7, and then your option 2 (including the part about setting up as a new device). Setting up as a new device will give you the least headache when dealing with the “Other” storage.
Hope it works out for you.
September 21, 2013 at 11:42 amHi Damien, thank you for your fast reply. Yes, option 3 solved it.
But I did first option 1 and 2, as I had described them above in the thread. First I deinstalled one App after the other which left the “other” constantly 3.46GB. Then I checked the phone first with PhoneClean, then with iPhone Explorer, mounting the phone as disk, which did not lead to results. Nothing to see there even with “show invisible files” turned on. Next I tried to restore the phone to iOS6, but in the meantime Apple has stopped to sign iOS versions prior to 7. So I restored to 7 and as a new device. Then I installed one app after the other and music, pictures, books seperatly.
Interesting thing is: the empty phone showed “other” to be 615.3MB. Installing one thing after the other increased it to finally 800GB. The biggest single steps were when I synchronized mail accounts, changed some preferences and the installment of WheatherPro, a wheather app. Some increase was due to the import of fotos. But increasing was not a linear process. Sometimes after installing something, it went down a little bit.
As for performance now (iPhone 4, iOS7): much better than the first time I installed it – just about like iOS6, but it seems that now the battery drains faster. But this is a rather subjective judgment and is taken only from a day out yesterday when I used the phone quite a lot.
Thank you for helping out – I did get to your recommending in the end. But time was not wasted. I learned a lot in the process which will come in handy some other time.
Nik
September 23, 2013 at 3:14 amNik,
I had the EXACT same problem! iPhone 4, 8gb, cdma… I downgraded to iOS 6 after installing iOS 7 and truly disliking it. Also, iOS 7 makes my phone overheat (I even followed some steps I found on the internet to no avail). I really do not want to update to iOS 7, but that seems to be my only option. I have 3gb+ being taken up by “other.” Such a headache….sigh….
September 23, 2013 at 9:38 amAlaina,
It seems that Apple leaves us with little choice but to update to iOS7 sooner or later. Already there are new versions of apps that don’t work on iOS6 anymore. As for the design, yes it’s not what I was hoping for. But over the years I’ve gotten used to so many different designs in this whole computerworld, I think I’ll get used to this one as well. And for me there is no way going back anyway since trying to install the firmware of iOS6 is calling back to Apple over the net and then they say: no go.
Performance, overheating, batterylife: I can only recommend what Damien tells everybody here. Restore to new device.
And my own litte advice: At first just install the apps that are really necessary for you. I guess you don’t have to do it one by one as I did. Having lacked the caution at the beginning of this whole install, uninstall, install, restore thing I’m now a bit overcautios, but it also did help me to understand which of my apps add to “other”, though I can’t see why).
After now 4 days on my “restored to new device iOS7 iPhone4” I did not experience any serious drawbacks. Performence might be a tiny little bit slower, but that can easily be a subjective perception. As for batterylife I can’t say much yet. Overheating: Ever since I had an iPhone I found there are times when it really heats up and other times when it doesn’t. No matter the iOS. There must be reasons for this, but I don’t have the slightest idea what they might be.
At least I’v got rid of the “other” problem – for the time being.
One more thing. I have 16GB and I always leave some space free, usually the recommended one-fifth to one-sixth. I’ve read and heard that filling your phone up to the brim can be one of the causes for overheating and other problems. But of corse that leaves you with even less space on your 8GB even if you can get rid of a high “other”.
Good luck – Nik
September 24, 2013 at 5:30 amThank you so much! Clearing safari cookies and cache worked for me. It was so frustrating and your advice was so straightforward. Thanks again
September 21, 2013 at 11:31 amGlad it was able to help you out Helen. Thanks for the feedback.
September 21, 2013 at 11:32 am… one more thing as to iCleaner. You don’t need a jailbroken phone anymore. It’s now on the Appstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/icleaner/id599923235?mt=8
September 23, 2013 at 3:19 amI did as you suggested and deleted my not needed reading list pages. It made no difference.
September 28, 2013 at 11:21 am