iPad Pro What is “Other” and why is it taking so much space?

[pilotkid]

Hello everyone. I just purchased an iPad Pro 11” and transferred everything during the initial set up from my iPad Pro 10.5. I’ve noticed that when I check my iPad storage it has a pretty significant portion used as “other”...what is that and is there a way to delete it, or clean some of it out? It’s worth mentioning that my iCloud store is showing a pretty good amount of space taken up as “other” as well.

Thanks in advanced for your help!

 

[MisterSavage]

I think iMessage is one possible culprit. On my iPad I have it set to never delete attachments and messages and it takes up a good deal of space.

 

[pilotkid]

I think iMessage is one possible culprit. On my iPad I have it set to never delete attachments and messages and it takes up a good deal of space.

Wouldn’t anything iMessage related show up green in that bar? Or are attachments from iMessage different? If they are different I bet you are right, I know I send and receive a lot of pictures/memes/gifs through iMessage.

 

[MisterSavage]

Wouldn’t anything iMessage related show up green in that bar? Or are attachments from iMessage different? If they are different I bet you are right, I know I send and receive a lot of pictures/memes/gifs through iMessage.

Whoops, you are correct. I was thinking from earlier versions of iOS I think didn't have that message category.

 

[millydog]

I think that it’s the content that has been downloaded (or side loaded) into apps. That’s what makes sense to me when I look at my own device and storage. I have a significant “other” section and I think mine corresponds to app content such as my podcasts in iCatcher and video in Infuse.

 

[pilotkid]

I think that it’s the content that has been downloaded (or side loaded) into apps. That’s what makes sense to me when I look at my own device and storage. I have a significant “other” section and I think mine corresponds to app content such as my podcasts in iCatcher and video in Infuse.

That could be. However I don’t have this on my iPhone XS Max...hmmm? Is there some type of app I can download and run to see if I can clean some of it out?

 

[A.R.E.A.M.]

I have 100 apps on the iPad. I don’t have any videos or songs stored locally on it. I have a big “other section” also.

Just posting for reference. This is the LTE 12.9 1tb model.

 

[Donka]

How long have you had the iPad? It may still be indexing the files so will not be able to determine what everything is yet.

 

[muzzy996]

The categorization of storage usage is unreliable IMO so instead I utilize the list of apps and their storage use that is displayed below the categories.

It would be nice if there was a color coded dot next to the storage use value for each app so that we could see how the app’s usage is being accounted for in the summary bar...

 

[pilotkid]

How long have you had the iPad? It may still be indexing the files so will not be able to determine what everything is yet.

I have only had my iPad Pro 11 inch for three or four days. However, I did have a 10.5inch iPad Pro before this one and during set up of the 11 inch I copied over everything from the 10.5...I did not do a “set-up as new”.

 

[Grither88]

I have 100gb in comics loaded into comic zeal. Comic zeal does not show up at all in ipad storage within settings. but I am showing about 100gb in 'other'. I think some apps are not configured to show up properly in 'ipad storage'