“Documents and Data” is a slightly baffling part of your iPhone storage that turns out to be a bother when you run out of space. Before going for the fix, first let’s find the root cause.
To put it straight, it’s browser history, cookies, logs, caches of photos and videos, database files and more piled up by your apps. And if you don’t eradicate them regularly, they can become problematic for your device. Besides, the total file size of Documents & Data can even supersede the actual size of the associated app!
Why do apps need to store cache? They store cache to enhance your user experience. As for instance, when you search anything in Safari, the web browser keeps a record of it to allow you to access it instantly next time. Likewise, YouTube keeps a record of your watch history to recommend the type of videos that you like watching. Enough talk; let’s embark on mission eradication!
How to Delete Documents and Data on iPhone or iPad
iOS lets you check out how much storage each app’s data has consumed on your device. Once you have given a quick look at the space hijacked by apps, you have multiple options to get rid of their associated data.
You can offload unused apps without having to delete their data. And when you reinstall them, their data is automatically restored. Hence, you can use this handy feature to free up plenty of space on your device without having to clean up the important data. What if you wish to go for complete cleanup? In this case, you can delete the app along with its entire documents and data.
Step #1. Open Settings app on your iOS device → Tap on General.
Step #2. Tap on iPhone/iPad Storage → Now, tap on the app in question.
Step #3. Next, you have two options: Offload App and Delete App.
If you wish to delete the app but want to keep its data, choose Offload option. As mentioned above, you will be able to reinstate the associated file when reinstalling the app.
But if you decide to clear out the entire data, hit the Delete button and confirm.
Clear Documents and Data of Specific Apps from iCloud on iPhone and iPad
How about removing saved data from specific apps from iCloud? You can prevent your precious iCloud storage from being cluttered for space by getting rid of redundant files. Keep in mind; it will wipe out all the data from the cloud and connected devices. And, it can’t be undone.
Step #1. Open Settings app → Tap on your profile.
Step #2. Tap on iCloud → Now, tap on Manage Storage.
Step #3. Next, tap on the app which data you want to remove from the cloud and then hit Delete Data → Tap on Delete to confirm.
That’s how you can eradicate cache of individual apps from all of your devices synced with the same iCloud account.
Tip: Allow only selected apps to store their data in iCloud. It will help you manage your storage in a better way.
Clear Out Music, Movies & TV Shows, Thumbnail Cache
All your iTunes purchases (made on the iPhone/iPad or synced from the computer) are part of the media. It’s usually categorized under the Audio/Video part of your storage, but some of it goes to “Documents and Data.” This could include thumbnail cache or related files.
One of the best things you can do to clear cache is to remove all music from your iPhone and then re-sync it through the computer. This way, you will be clearing out all cache on the iPhone, and because these aren’t created during a re-sync, you get some free space.
Mail: clearing out old email and attachments
If you use the stock Mail app, there’s a lot of caches that builds around this. All the synced email that you access through the app is stored on your iPhone for quick access. And over time, there’s data pile-up. Add to this all the attachments that you open on the iPhone.
One simple way of clearing out all mail cache and data is:
Step #1. Open Settings app → Tap on Accounts & Passwords.
Step #2. Tap on Email account.
Step #3. Tap on Delete account and confirm.
Now, re-add the account by tapping on Add New.
Clean Up Safari History and Website Data
It’s better to clear out Safari history and website data from time to time to ensure the web browser continues to run smoothly and doesn’t pile up too much cache. Head over to this complete guide to clean up Safari.
Clean Up Photos
There may be a number of unnecessary photos in your Camera Roll. Getting rid of them can help you reclaim some valuable space.
Step #1. Open Photos app → tap on Select at the top right corner.
Step #2. Select the photos you want to remove and tap on the Trash icon in the bottom-right corner. Tap on Delete to confirm.
So, that was about shooting out the unnecessary images, what about clearing out the redundant messages? Keep reading…
Don’t Let Messages App Eat Into Tons of Storage
If you use iMessage a lot, chances are the app may have consumed plenty of storage. You would be glad to know that iOS makes it incredibly simple to view how much storage photos, videos, GIFs have captured respectively. Therefore, you can choose to keep and delete data based on your need.
To do so,
Step #1. Open Settings app → Tap on General.
Step #2. Tap on iPhone/iPad Storage → Tap on Messages.
Step #3. Under Documents & Data, head to respective section and then tap on Edit.
Step #4. Tap on Radio Button → Tap on Trash Icon to delete things you don’t want to keep anymore.
Voicemail: Delete all voicemail
It turns out that all of your Voicemail contributes to the “Documents and Data” part of the Phone app. Hence make sure to delete unwanted voicemails regularly to ensure they don’t clutter your device for space.
Phone app → Voicemail → select the voicemail → Now, you need to tap on it or swipe right to left across it to reveal Delete button → tap on Delete button.
To delete multiple voicemails, open Phone app → Voicemails → tap on Edit → select the voicemails → tap on Delete.
Clean Up Apps from Time to Time
One of the easiest ways to prevent your iPhone from running out of space is to clear out the cache and other redundant data of apps on a consistent basis. Most apps like Safari, Dropbox, WhatsApp, and Twitter let you easily eliminate such data. Hence, stopping them from eating into plenty of storage won’t be a big ask.
- How to clear cache in Dropbox on iPhone
- How to delete individual media files from individual WhatsApp chat history on iPhone
- How to clear cache in Twitter
- How to clear Safari history and website data
What if you don’t want to remove data manually?
Deleting cache files manually can be tedious and time-consuming, especially when you have to deal with a number of apps. In such case, it’s better to take the help of iPhone cleaning apps. We have rounded up the top apps that can let you eliminate the unwanted data with ease. Thus, picking out an able contender won’t be difficult for you!
Wrapping up:
So, that’s how you can prevent your iOS device from falling prey to junk files. Have any question? Toss it up in the comments below.
You might want to refer these posts as well:
- Best File Manager Apps for iPhone and iPad
- How to Improve iOS 13 Battery Life
- Best Battery Saver Apps for iPhone and iPad
- Best Cellular Data Tracker Apps for iPhone
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