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homam92
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

iCloud Photos Optimize iPhone Storage not freeing up space

My iPhone is running very low on storage, so I purchased 2 TB of iCloud storage couple months ago. I want my photos and videos to be stored in iCloud while the full-resolution originals are removed from my iPhone to free up local storage.


I have enabled Optimize iPhone Storage, but my iPhone is still almost completely full and it doesn't seem like the photos are being optimized or removed from the device.


I understand that Optimize iPhone Storage should automatically replace full-resolution photos with smaller versions on the iPhone when storage space is needed. However, this doesn't seem to be happening even though my iPhone is low on storage.


Is there a way to manually trigger this optimization, or is there something I need to change to make my iPhone free up storage?

Posted on Sep 23, 2026 12:34 AM

2 replies

Ingo2711
User level: Level 10 (93,009 points)

Sep 23, 2026 2:18 AM in response to homam92

Depending on the size of your Photos library this may take a while. To speed this up a bit, connect your iPhone to the charger and your fast Wi-Fi network and let it sit there over night, for example.

As far as I remember, using the phone during this process will slow it down.

Manage your photo and video storage - Apple Support

Richard.Taylor
User level: Level 7 (25,466 points)

Sep 23, 2026 8:36 AM in response to homam92

Your situation, "My iPhone is running very low on storage" could be a real problem. Many operations use the iPhone's empty storage space to move files around. If you run out of storage, then those operations may not be able to be completed and, ironically, that can mean that even deleting or Optimizing doesn't work. If you have less than 10% available, then things can get lost forever. This is also true if your iCloud storage space gets low.


So you may need to free up space on your phone so that Optimizing can work. This may give you some ideas:

Manage storage on iPhone - Apple Support


Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256363277