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Need help with Ipad storage - desperate!

I

ipadfrusterated

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 3, 2018
4
0
United States
My autistic sons Ipad says it is out of storage. I am not a technical person, so please make instructions/advice user stupid friendly! When I go to settings and storage, it says the storage is full. It says that Safari is using 331.8 MB, Photos are using 37.1MB and that System is using 15.32GB. My I pad has a total storage of 16GB. So a total of 15.8 GB of 16GB is being used.
How do I fix this issue if the "system" is the thing that is using up all the space? He doesn't have a bunch of photos, videos, etc. He uses it to play Roblox and Minecraft pocket edition and use YouTube. That's it!
Thanks for your help! If you know anything about autistic kids (8 yrs old) you know how much they depend on their ipads to exist. Thanks again!
 
You will need to start deleting programs that is not used. Hold your finger on an app then the app will start dancing and it has an X in the upper right corner. Hit the X and that deletes the app. 16GB not a very big storage. Good luck.
 
rikmac said:
You will need to start deleting programs that is not used. Hold your finger on an app then the app will start dancing and it has an X in the upper right corner. Hit the X and that deletes the app. 16GB not a very big storage. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Surely if a program is using it, the program should be listed on the storage area?

I’d start with a restart of the iPad to see if the storage data updates to show which app is using it.
 
rikmac said:
You will need to start deleting programs that is not used. Hold your finger on an app then the app will start dancing and it has an X in the upper right corner. Hit the X and that deletes the app. 16GB not a very big storage. Good luck.
Click to expand...
He only has 2 apps on it - Roblox and Minecraft. I deleted Roblox - it now says 15.5 of the 16GB is now available. I don't think the apps are what is the issue...it is the 'system' that says it has 15.46GB used. That means the running system - as in the program that runs the Ipad?
[doublepost=1530648030][/doublepost]
KrisLord said:
Surely if a program is using it, the program should be listed on the storage area?

I’d start with a restart of the iPad to see if the storage data updates to show which app is using it.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1530648136][/doublepost]He only has 2 apps on the Ipad - Roblox and Minecraft. I deleted Roblox - it now says it is using 15.5 of the 16GB available... which tells me that either Minecraft Pocket Edition is using 15 GB 15 GB of the 16 GB available or the program the I pad runs on is using it?
 
ipadfrusterated said:
He only has 2 apps on it - Roblox and Minecraft. I deleted Roblox - it now says 15.5 of the 16GB is now available. I don't think the apps are what is the issue...it is the 'system' that says it has 15.46GB used. That means the running system - as in the program that runs the Ipad?
[doublepost=1530648030][/doublepost]
[doublepost=1530648136][/doublepost]He only has 2 apps on the Ipad - Roblox and Minecraft. I deleted Roblox - it now says it is using 15.5 of the 16GB available... which tells me that either Minecraft Pocket Edition is using 15 GB 15 GB of the 16 GB available or the program the I pad runs on is using it?
Click to expand...

System does include iOS.

Are you on iOS 11.4? An update may help if you’re not as it’ll clear all the random caches.

I checked my iPad Pro 256GB and it had 56GB of system storage in use!

I’ve gone and got a lightning cable and connected it to my Mac and the value has dropped to 8GB. Still a big number but quite a reduction.

So perhaps try connecting to your Mac or pc?
 
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KrisLord said:
System does include iOS.

Are you on iOS 11.4? An update may help if you’re not as it’ll clear all the random caches.

I checked my iPad Pro 256GB and it had 56GB of system storage in use!

I’ve gone and got a lightning cable and connected it to my Mac and the value has dropped to 8GB. Still a big number but quite a reduction.

So perhaps try connecting to your Mac or pc?
Click to expand...
I have an Ipad Air and it says it is using an iOS 11.2.6 and would like to update to 11.4 but it requires 753.8MB to update and my Ipad obviously has none. I will see if I can find a cable and hook up the PC. Thank you .
 
ipadfrusterated said:
I have an Ipad Air and it says it is using an iOS 11.2.6 and would like to update to 11.4 but it requires 753.8MB to update and my Ipad obviously has none. I will see if I can find a cable and hook up the PC. Thank you .
Click to expand...

It will likely need to get restored... I would contact Apple Support and they can walk you through it as well as potentially find other resolutions. We on the forum could probably go back and forth and provide resources. But AppleCare is probably going to be faster.

Also unless the first agent you get seems like they really know what they're doing I would get to a Senior Advisor.
 
Was this working ok before or has this been an ongoing issue. A 16GB iPad is going to be pretty tight on space no matter what you do.

If there are only the two games on it, and no data, you could to a "erase all content and settings" and set it up as new again and then re-install the 2 games.

I don't play minecraft or roblox so I'm not sure if there are local game save files that matter.
 
Try downloading Hearthstone from the App Store. It's a 3GB game. You'll get a message about not enough space but you iPad will probably start clearing temporary files and caches.

Alternately, backup and restore via iTunes.
 
Which iPad do you have? Which version of IOS?

If you have multiple good backups of all your data, and can reinstall apps from wherever you got them (The Apple Store has big problems with things purchased under multiple ID's), then a simple diagnostic would be to wipe the iPad completely. Set up as a new iPad. Check memory. Install one app. Have your sons use it and monitor storage availability. If everything OK after a few days, then install the next app, monitor storage, and so on.

Takes time, but if no other solution works then it's a last resort. But be absolutely sure that you have multiple backups. If you have any data which needs to be preserved make sure the backups are encrypted.
 
When my iPad Air 16gb had low storage, this gave back needed breathing space:
Connected to and via iTunes:
1) Backup the iPad.
2) Reset the iPad as new with latest supported IOS install.
3) Restore from backup.
 
Last edited:
Don’t delete Minecraft or you will lose the worlds that your son created and that isn’t likely to make him happy.

Firstly, I’d try going to settings, safari, clear history and web data.

If that doesn’t work, you can also do Settings, General, Reset, Reset All Settings. This may clear caches. You will need to sign into wifi and sometimes other accounts again though.

The third option is to back up the device, erase all content and settings, then restore from backup. This third option is the most likely to work, but I’ve listed it thirdly just because it’s the longer of the options to try and you might be better off trying the other options first.
 
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Sorry to talk about something kind of off-topic (correct suggestions have been given).
Seriously, Apple NEVER fixed this? I have had this problem where the system and caches start to eat up storage since iOS 4.
Why don't they include a cache purge? Tons of GB are eaten, and I cannot get them back (I don't update iOS devices, and they only way to get them back is to restore...)
 
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