How is it possible that iTunes says I have 5GB free space but phone says way lower??

[RickMC]

I'm having a hard time figuring out why my phone gives me such a low amount of free space, when iTunes is telling me I have almost 5 times the free space shown on my phone! In Usage in Settings, when I add up all that's being used in the list of apps and music and stuff, it doesn't come close to what my phone says is being used. Phone only says I have 700 MB of free space, yet I just plugged it into iTunes and its telling my there is 5 GB of free space. So why is there such a large difference between the two?

 

[c55]

Mine does that sometimes. I don't know if iTunes correctly shows app cache or if it's just a bug. Did you try restarting your phone and checking back? And did you OTA update your phone? you may want to backup and restore your phone, that helps getting any extra stuff you don't need off your phone.

 

[JackieInCo]

Mine is the same, always. I have no clue on which one to believe.

Also shows a difference in songs synced.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Cache for the operating system takes up quite some space.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

There may be a (big) difference between the music, apps, etc. that are currently on the iPhone and the items you've chosen to sync in iTunes. The bar at the bottom of the window in iTunes shows what will be on the iPhone after you sync.

That bar graph in iTunes gives you a good idea of where the issues may lie. For example, if you have lots of apps but the app section of the graph is small or non-existent, chances are you have a lot of apps marked "install."

 

[bhayes444]

I'm having a hard time figuring out why my phone gives me such a low amount of free space, when iTunes is telling me I have almost 5 times the free space shown on my phone! In Usage in Settings, when I add up all that's being used in the list of apps and music and stuff, it doesn't come close to what my phone says is being used. Phone only says I have 700 MB of free space, yet I just plugged it into iTunes and its telling my there is 5 GB of free space. So why is there such a large difference between the two?

I believe that is a bug, as that happened to me on my iPad mini 2nd gen after I stalling 8.3. I don't know if it's iOS or iTunes, but what I do know is that it's an annoyance