It’s common for iPhone users to run into storage issues over time as documents, data, photos, videos, and other files accumulate. Many apps store data locally on your iPhone in a folder called Documents & Data, which can quickly eat up your available storage space.
When storage space runs low, it can cause problems like slow app performance, inability to update iOS, and inability to take more photos or video. Thankfully, there are ways to free up storage space by removing documents and data specifically for apps without having to delete the apps themselves.
Here are the key steps to delete documents and data for a specific app on your iPhone:
1. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
This screen shows you how much total storage is being used on your device and breaks it down by app.
2. Select the App You Want To Delete Data For
Scroll down and tap on the app whose documents and data you want to delete. This will show a breakdown of the storage used.
3. Tap Offload App
Near the bottom, you’ll see the Offload App option. Tapping this will delete the app while preserving its documents and data on your iPhone. Note: If you tap Delete App instead, this will remove everything including the app itself and all its data.
4. Reinstall the App from the App Store
Go to the App Store, search for the app you offloaded, and reinstall it. This will give you a fresh install without any of the previous documents and data.
Alternative: Delete App and Reinstall
An alternative approach is to fully delete the app and then reinstall. Here is how:
- Tap and hold the app icon until the icons start to shake
- Tap the X icon on the app to delete it
- Go to the App Store and reinstall the app
This achieves the same result as offloading the app, giving you a fresh install without any previous documents and data.
Conclusion
Running out of storage space on your iPhone can be very frustrating. Thankfully, you can specifically target the documents and data that apps store on your device to free up space.
The key options are to either offload apps (keeping data but deleting the app itself) or fully deleting apps and reinstalling them fresh. Both options will remove the app data while keeping the apps themselves available, solving storage issues without losing app functionality
