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Storing data in the cloud is a common practice to prevent device memory issues and data loss. Popular cloud services like Apple iCloud, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or Dropbox are favored by many users. Most of them offer free storage but with limited capacity. For large files of several GBs, storage space fills up quickly. To continue using them, you'll have to pay fees to expand storage limits. In this article, I'll share some tips to free up space on such cloud accounts to make room for newer items.Regarding Apple iCloud
First, let's check how much free space you have left on your iCloud using two methods:- On iPhone: Settings > Your Name > iCloud
- On Macbook: Finder > iCloud Drive
- In the iCloud Drive section of Finder on Macbook / Files app on iPhone or iPad / Web, we can manually delete files directly.
- Delete space-consuming unnecessary apps: Go to iOS Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage
- Delete unnecessary backups: Go to iOS Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups. Here we can see apps backed up in the past and their storage usage, delete them when they're no longer needed.
- Additionally, photos, videos, and messages are stored on iCloud and occupy storage space. So, delete unnecessary data or data you've already uploaded to other platforms
Regarding Google Drive
To check how much free space you have left on Google Drive, log in here. In the left menu, select Storage, where a list of files will be displayed showing their respective storage usage. Choose unnecessary files and delete them to free up storage space. Below the storage section, it displays the amount of storage you've used.
Some apps on your phone also use Google Drive for data backup. To check, on the Drive web interface, select the gear icon > Settings > Manage apps.
Google's storage includes Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. To identify which one is occupying the most data, click on this link. Additionally, you can free up storage following some suggestions in this link, which will highlight large files, emails, photos, or videos that you may not be aware of.
At Google Photos, aside from deleting unimportant photos and albums, you can also expand storage space by going to settings and switching to the “high quality” option instead of “original quality.” This setting will reduce the size of your photo files to a maximum of 16MP and videos to 1080p. These files will have unlimited storage space, but once compressed, you cannot restore their original quality.Regarding Microsoft OneDrive
hereIdentifying storage usagehereRegarding Dropbox
Identifying Largest Files on Dropbox
Pay attention to duplicate folders in your Dropbox account. If you have this app installed on multiple devices, sync errors can sometimes create duplicate folders because Dropbox doesn't know which files to remove or keep. Filtering out duplicate folders will also free up some space, increasing the available space on your drive.
