Short answer: in LINE, tap the Home tab, then the Settings gear, then Chats › Delete data. Next to Cache, tap Clear: this frees space and keeps your chat history. Then delete the chat photos, videos, voice messages and files you don't need, or tap Delete data by chat to start with the biggest chats. Back up and save what you want to keep first, because LINE's free backup saves only text and deleted data can't be restored.
Steps
- Open Settings › General › iPhone Storage › LINE. App Size is the app itself; Documents & Data is your chats, their media and LINE's cache.
- In LINE, back up your chats: Home tab › Settings (gear) › Chat history backup (under Backup and transfer) › Back up now.
- Save photos you want to keep: in a chat, tap the menu icon › Photos & videos › Select, choose items and save them to your iPhone or an album.
- Go to Home › Settings › Chats › Delete data. Next to Cache, tap Clear.
- On the same screen, tap Delete next to each type of chat media you don't need. Leave Delete all data alone unless you want all of it gone.
- To clean one chat at a time, tap Delete data by chat. Chats are listed by how much data they use, biggest first.
- Stop new clutter: Home › Settings › Photos & videos, then turn off auto-download for photos and auto-play for videos and GIFs.
- Check iPhone Storage again after a few minutes; the numbers update slowly.
Why LINE takes up so much storage
LINE keeps the photos, videos, voice messages and files from your chats on the iPhone, plus a cache it uses to load things faster. Busy group chats grow fastest. All of it counts as LINE's Documents & Data, not App Size, so offloading the app hardly helps.
| Place | Counts against | How to clean it |
|---|---|---|
| Cache | iPhone storage (LINE's Documents & Data) | Delete data, then Clear next to Cache |
| Chat photos, videos, voice messages, files | iPhone storage (LINE's Documents & Data) | Delete data, or Delete data by chat |
| Photos you saved from LINE | iPhone storage (Photos), and iCloud if iCloud Photos is on | Delete them in Photos |
| Chat history backup | iCloud storage (iCloud Drive), not the iPhone | Nothing to do; it's text only |
What clearing cache and deleting data remove
- Clearing the cache removes data LINE stores temporarily and keeps your chat history. Old photos and videos may not open afterwards.
- Deleting a type of media on the Delete data screen removes it from every chat on the iPhone. Your text messages stay.
- Deleting data in one chat (the chat's menu icon › Settings › Delete data) lets you pick a period from the All periods menu first.
- Delete all chat data and messages, in a chat's Delete data screen, removes that whole conversation, text included.
LINE's help says: "Once data is deleted, it cannot be restored." Its servers keep chat photos and videos only temporarily, for a period LINE doesn't disclose, so treat every deletion as permanent.
Back up your chats first
On iPhone, LINE's free Standard Backup saves your chat history to iCloud Drive, but only text messages. Photos, videos, files and voice messages aren't included, so save the ones you care about first. Premium Backup (LYP Premium in Japan, LINE Premium in Taiwan and Thailand) also saves media.
- Make sure iCloud Drive is on in Settings › [your name] › iCloud and that iCloud has free space.
- Tap Back up now, or Back up how often for automatic backups.
- Automatic backups run only when the iPhone is locked, charging, on Wi-Fi, and Background App Refresh is on for LINE.
- You restore only while signing in to LINE on a new or reinstalled iPhone, by tapping Restore chat history, not later from LINE's Settings.
Album, Notes and Keep Memo
Photos in a chat's Album are kept by LINE with your account: albums and Notes move to a new phone without any backup. LINE recommends albums for chat photos you want to keep, "where they can be saved for any length of time". Adding videos to albums needs LYP Premium or LINE Premium.
Keep Memo is different. It's a private chat only you can see, and LINE says its files "are only saved on our servers for a certain amount of time", after which you can't view or download them. Don't use it as an archive. The older Keep service ended on August 28, 2024.
Offload or delete the LINE app?
Offload App (Settings › General › iPhone Storage › LINE › Offload App, then Reinstall App) removes the app and keeps your chats. LINE suggests it as a fix when the app misbehaves, but it frees only the App Size.
Delete App removes LINE's chats from the iPhone. Chats that aren't backed up are gone, and from Standard Backup only the text comes back. Back up before you delete and reinstall.
Why no cleaner app can clear LINE's data
iOS keeps every app's files in its own sandbox. No App Store app can read or delete LINE's cache or chat media, whatever it promises; only LINE's Delete data screen can (do iPhone cleaner apps work?). The same is true for WhatsApp and Messages.
Doing it with Spaceclear
Photos and videos you save from LINE go into the Photos app as separate copies. Clearing LINE's data doesn't remove them, and saving the same photo from three group chats leaves three copies.
That is where Spaceclear helps: it scans your Photos library for exact duplicates, similar shots (keeping the best), screenshots (chat screenshots included) and big videos, and deletes nothing until you confirm. It can't open LINE's own storage. For the full picture, see how to free up iPhone storage and Documents and Data.
FAQ
How do I clear LINE storage without losing chats?
Back up, save important photos, then use Home › Settings › Chats › Delete data to clear the Cache and delete media you don't need. Text messages stay. Avoid Delete all chat data and messages in any chat you want to keep.
Does clearing LINE cache delete messages?
No. LINE says deleting cached data "will not delete other data, such as your chat history." Older photos and videos may not open afterwards if LINE's servers no longer have them, so save any you need first.
Why is LINE still taking up space after deleting data?
iPhone Storage can take a few minutes to update, so check again later or restart the iPhone. Photos you saved from LINE count under Photos, not LINE. If one chat is still huge, Delete data by chat shows it at the top.
Does LINE's chat backup use iPhone storage?
No. On iPhone, the backup is saved to iCloud Drive and counts against your iCloud storage. It contains text messages only.
Can I get deleted LINE photos back?
LINE says deleted data can't be restored. Copies you saved to the Photos app or to a LINE album are separate and stay. If you deleted a saved copy in Photos, look in Recently Deleted, where it stays for 30 days.
Updated 2026-11-14