Short answer: "Documents & Data" is everything an app keeps on your iPhone besides its own program: offline downloads, chat photos and videos, caches, saved files and databases. To see it, open Settings › General › iPhone Storage and tap an app: iOS shows App Size (the app itself) and Documents & Data (what it has stored). There's no single button to clear it. Use the app's own storage or download settings, or delete and reinstall the app if its data is synced to an account. Offloading an app doesn't touch it.
Steps
- Open Settings › General › iPhone Storage and wait for the list to load. Apps are sorted by size, biggest first.
- Tap a big app. Compare App Size with Documents & Data: when Documents & Data is the larger number, clearing the app's data is what frees space.
- Open the app and look for its own storage controls: Storage, Data and Storage, Downloads or Clear cache in its settings (see the table below).
- Delete what you don't need there: watched downloads, big chat media, cached files.
- If the app has no such option and everything important is synced to your account, go back to iPhone Storage, tap the app, tap Delete App, then reinstall it from the App Store and sign in.
- Check iPhone Storage again after a few minutes. Apple notes that cached and temporary data might not count in these numbers, so small changes can lag.
How to shrink it by type of app
| Type of app | What fills it | Where to clear it |
|---|---|---|
| Messages | Photos, videos and voice notes in conversations | iPhone Storage › Messages › Review Large Attachments, and Settings › Apps › Messages › Keep Messages |
| WhatsApp and other chat apps | Media you received | WhatsApp: Settings › Storage and Data › Manage Storage; other chat apps have a similar storage screen |
| Streaming video (TV app, Netflix, YouTube) | Episodes and films saved for offline | Delete them in the app's Downloads section |
| Music | Downloaded songs | Settings › Apps › Music › Downloaded Music › Edit, or turn on Optimize Storage |
| Podcasts | Downloaded episodes | Podcasts › Library › Downloaded, tap •••, then Remove All Downloads |
| Browsers | Website data and cache | Safari: Settings › Apps › Safari › Clear History and Website Data; Chrome: Delete Browsing Data |
| Social feeds | Cached videos and images | The app's clear-cache option if it has one; otherwise reinstall |
| Maps | Offline maps | Maps, tap your picture or initials, Offline Maps |
| Files | Documents saved On My iPhone | Delete them in the Files app |
Caches come back as you use an app, so clearing them helps most when one app has ballooned. More on browsers and app caches: how to clear cache on iPhone. Chat apps in detail: clear WhatsApp storage and Messages taking up storage.
Offload or delete?
| Feature | Offload App | Delete App |
|---|---|---|
| Removes the app | Yes | Yes |
| Removes Documents & Data | No | Yes |
| Comes back with your data | Yes, tap the icon to reinstall | Only what's synced to an account or iCloud |
| Good for | Apps you'll use again whose data is small | Apps whose data is huge and disposable |
Offloading frees only the app itself, so it does almost nothing for an app whose space is mostly data. Deleting frees both, but anything stored only on the iPhone is gone. Details: offload vs delete apps.
"Documents & Data" on a Mac or PC
Connect the iPhone to a Mac and select it in the Finder, or open the Apple Devices app on a PC. The storage bar there has a Documents & Data category for the whole iPhone: Apple describes it as Safari's Offline Reading List, files stored within installed apps, and app content like contacts, calendars, messages and emails with their attachments. Hover over the bar to see its size.
What doesn't work
- Cleaner apps. iOS keeps every app's data in its own sandbox. No App Store app can read or delete another app's Documents & Data, whatever it promises.
- Restarting alone. It can release temporary files, but downloads and chat media stay until you delete them.
- Offloading a chat or streaming app. The app goes, the gigabytes of media stay.
Doing it with Spaceclear
Spaceclear can't touch other apps' data either. Where it helps is the Photos library: a separate category in iPhone Storage, and the place where chat apps save their copies of photos and videos. Spaceclear finds exact duplicates, similar shots (keeping the best), screenshots and big videos, and can compress videos, all reviewed before anything is deleted.
FAQ
Is it safe to delete Documents and Data on iPhone?
It depends on the app. Downloads and caches are safe to delete: they download again when needed. Chat media, game saves and documents stored only on the iPhone are gone for good unless the app backs them up to an account or iCloud. Check that before you delete an app.
How do I clear Documents and Data without deleting the app?
Use the app's own settings: a storage, downloads or clear-cache screen. Most chat, streaming, music and podcast apps have one. Safari's data is cleared in Settings › Apps › Safari. Apps without any option can only be cleared by deleting and reinstalling them.
Does offloading an app delete its Documents and Data?
No. Offloading removes the app but keeps its documents and data, so you pick up where you left off when you reinstall. Only Delete App removes the data too.
Why is an app's Documents and Data so big?
Usually offline downloads, received photos and videos, or a cache that has grown over months. Streaming, chat, social and podcast apps are the usual ones. The data grows with use, not with the app's version.
Updated 2026-11-14