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stuey12345

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 22, 2013
51
10
I have 4.9gb of storage in "other". How can i delete this without restoring iphone???
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,615
10,922
Back to normal.
If iOS has incomplete or corrupted downloads, unknown leftover files, etc etc, those will be reported as "others".
In fact, "Others" are just "not recognizable" file in Mac OS X and iOS. Possibly those files which are not video, music, photo files, backup files and/or some not-indexed files.
Here is an example. If due to some reason, your iPhone iTunes library is broken, all music on your device will be treated as "others" and cannot be read by Music app. I have seen this many times when using one of iOS 9 beta. At that time there was a long "other" stripe in iTunes, and I couldn't remove it through iTunes.
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
Backup. Restore iPhone. Restore from backup. It will wipe out 'other' but retain everything else (do encrypted backup to save health data). But it's useless. Give it a few months and the other will grow again.
 

digitard

macrumors 6502a
Sep 15, 2004
666
51
Gilbert, AZ
Yeah, as mentioned OTHER can be just about anything.

Example: I use a Comic Reader for the one or two series that are interesting enough they make it to my devices (big book person, not so much comic... but a few have phenomenal story lines) and when you import them into the app they show up in OTHER. I can delete them from the app, or delete the app, and it'll clear up the space... but there's no indication of what they are unless you know you have been uploading files to it.
 

GaryNoine

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2015
82
37
Atlanta
There's an app, Battery Doctor. It clears out a lot of junk and worked for me on my old phone (I only had 16gb and approx. 5gb was "other"). Also deleting saved emails, notes, voice memos, etc is something else you can do if you don't want to restore from backup
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
There's an app, Battery Doctor. It clears out a lot of junk and worked for me on my old phone (I only had 16gb and approx. 5gb was "other"). Also deleting saved emails, notes, voice memos, etc is something else you can do if you don't want to restore from backup
This only clears caches, not actual junk files, like corrupt iTunes files. Only a restore can remove those files (Now that iFunbox and those apps don't work anymore).

I use battery doctor before performing backups to remove as much bloat as possible, so when restoring, caches don't transfer over, but corrupt files and other 'other' won't be removed with battery doctor.
 

metsjetsfan

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2011
1,387
238
Just goto settings and storage and if any app is significantly over its stated app size that could be whats causing it. You dont have to delete the app in all cases. Some apps you can delete the data in the app. For instance a podcast app taking up 1GB+ just go in and deletenplayed episodes
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
Just goto settings and storage and if any app is significantly over its stated app size that could be whats causing it. You dont have to delete the app in all cases. Some apps you can delete the data in the app. For instance a podcast app taking up 1GB+ just go in and deletenplayed episodes
This data doesn't usually count torwards 'other'. It counts as 'apps' or 'documents and data'.
 

metsjetsfan

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2011
1,387
238
This data doesn't usually count torwards 'other'. It counts as 'apps' or 'documents and data'.
Yes true but there are some cases where it doesnt. Of course make sure you have upgraded itunes to latest. I know most of this is the streamed videos from itunes stuck in cache from my xp
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
Yes true but there are some cases where it doesnt. Of course make sure you have upgraded itunes to latest. I know most of this is the streamed videos from itunes stuck in cache from my xp
Yeah. The streaming videos getting stuck in cache is just plain stupid. If I stop watching it, it should delete the file. I've finished a movie and still had 6GB in cache. Had to start the movie again and manually scrub to the end to get it to delete.
 

metsjetsfan

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2011
1,387
238
Yeah. The streaming videos getting stuck in cache is just plain stupid. If I stop watching it, it should delete the file. I've finished a movie and still had 6GB in cache. Had to start the movie again and manually scrub to the end to get it to delete.
Wow that works?? If so Thanks for the hack
 

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
This data doesn't usually count torwards 'other'. It counts as 'apps' or 'documents and data'.
Yes it does. Some apps are notorious. There is no 'documents and data' category in iTunes, it falls under 'Other'.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1445600909.910521.jpg
 

DJTaurus

macrumors 68000
Jan 31, 2012
1,647
1,056
Itunes -> Preferences -> Advanced -> You click once: Reset, Reset Warnings and Reset Cache -> Plug iPhone to Mac and Sync.
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
Yes it does. Some apps are notorious. There is no 'documents and data' category in iTunes, it falls under 'Other'.

View attachment 595038
I really hope you are kidding...

Documents and data has been there since iOS 1. It wasn't until iOS 8.3 that iTunes properly sorted the data from 'other' to 'documents and data' but the category has always existed.
 

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pavankotharu

macrumors newbie
May 19, 2016
1
0
Follow the below steps and it will remove the "other" storage from your iphone.


First check the space remaining in your iphone by going to Settings, General , Storage & iCloud Usage. Note down the used and the available storage.

1. Go back to Settings and click on icloud

2. UnCheck Safari. When it prompts, select the "Delete from My iphone" option.

3. UnCheck News. When it prompts, select the "Delete from My iphone" option.

4. UnCheck Calendar if necessary. When it prompts, select the "Delete from My iphone" option.



That is it. Now again goto Settings, General , Storage & iCloud Usage. Check if the available storage is restored.
 

Mlrollin91

macrumors G5
Nov 20, 2008
14,120
10,106
Follow the below steps and it will remove the "other" storage from your iphone.


First check the space remaining in your iphone by going to Settings, General , Storage & iCloud Usage. Note down the used and the available storage.

1. Go back to Settings and click on icloud

2. UnCheck Safari. When it prompts, select the "Delete from My iphone" option.

3. UnCheck News. When it prompts, select the "Delete from My iphone" option.

4. UnCheck Calendar if necessary. When it prompts, select the "Delete from My iphone" option.



That is it. Now again goto Settings, General , Storage & iCloud Usage. Check if the available storage is restored.

Yeah this is not the source of 'other'. My other is current 2.4GB. My Safari takes up 8.9MB, Calendar takes up 1.4MB and News takes up nothing because I have only opened it once. Everything mentioned above would go to 'Documents and Data' category, not other.
 
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