Do not start deleting random photos one by one. Your iPhone already tells you where the space went.
Apple’s current guidance starts in Settings → General → iPhone Storage, where iOS shows recommendations and a size-sorted list of apps. That screen should decide the cleanup order.
Find the real storage problem
Open iPhone Storage
Look at the category bar and the largest apps.
Read Apple’s suggestions
iOS may recommend offloading unused apps or reviewing content.
Tap the biggest offenders
An app can be small while its documents and data are huge.
Fix the largest category first
If videos use 70 GB, deleting ten tiny apps is theater.
Photos and video are often the largest win
Apple’s 2026 storage guidance recommends iCloud Photos with Optimize iPhone Storage for users who want their full-resolution library in iCloud while keeping smaller local versions as needed. It also points to duplicate merging and review of large or unnecessary items.
Offload before you delete when the data matters
Removes the app binary
Documents and data stay on the phone so the app can be restored later.
Removes app and related data
Use this when you genuinely no longer need the app or its local content.
Check offline media
Streaming apps, podcasts, maps and video downloads can quietly grow.
Review local Files storage
A file can exist on-device even if you also use cloud services.
Clean the categories that grow quietly
Review large message attachments
Years of videos and photos sent through Messages can add up.
Delete completed downloads
Offline films, podcasts and music are useful only while you still need them offline.
Merge duplicate photos and videos
Apple documents duplicate merging as one way to free device space.
Restart the decision process at the top
Return to iPhone Storage and see what category is now largest.
Storage cleanup is a ranking problem
Start with the biggest category, use Apple’s built-in recommendations and distinguish offloading from deleting.
Fifteen focused minutes can recover more space than an hour of randomly hunting screenshots.