# iCloud storage full? How to free up space

**Short answer:** open **Settings › [your name] › iCloud** to see what uses your storage. For most people it's **Photos**, then **Backups** and **Messages**. With iCloud Photos on, every duplicate, lookalike and big video you delete on your iPhone is deleted from iCloud too, which is often enough to stay on your current plan.

## Steps
1. Open **Settings › [your name] › iCloud** and check the bar: Photos, Backups, Messages, iCloud Drive.
2. **Photos:** delete duplicates, similar shots, screenshots and the biggest videos. Deletions sync to iCloud. [Spaceclear's iCloud Space](/) lists your biggest items first and marks the ones that are only in iCloud.
3. Empty **Photos › Recently Deleted**: iCloud keeps deleted photos for 30 days too.
4. **Backups:** in **Manage Account Storage › Backups**, delete backups of devices you no longer use, and turn off backup for big apps that sync elsewhere.
5. **Messages:** delete large attachments (Settings › General › iPhone Storage › Messages).
6. **iCloud Drive:** sort by size in the Files app and remove what you don't need.

## FAQ
### Does deleting photos from my iPhone free iCloud storage?
Yes, when iCloud Photos is on (Settings › Photos › iCloud Photos). The photo is removed from all your devices and iCloud after it leaves Recently Deleted.

### Will "Optimize iPhone Storage" free iCloud space?
No. It keeps smaller versions on the iPhone and the originals in iCloud: it frees iPhone space, not iCloud space.

### Can Spaceclear see my iCloud?
Spaceclear only sees your Photos library through Apple's Photos framework, on your iPhone. It tells you which items are only in iCloud, and what you delete is deleted everywhere by Photos. Nothing is uploaded to Spaceclear; there is no Spaceclear server.