Why Is My iPhone Storage Full After Deleting Everything? 2023 Full Guide

Sometimes, insufficient iPhone storage can be a major stumbling block to getting a device running. When the iPhone's storage runs out, most apps and features will not work properly. And people are always clearing out their photos and videos, or unused apps, to free up their iPhone storage. In most cases, it works. But, lately, that approach has been as useless to a variety of users as their iPhone keeps saying it has insufficient storage, even after they delete all photos and videos from Recently Deleted and all third-party apps.

You might be wondering why is my iPhone storage full after deleting everything. To help you figure out this issue, this post comes up with its causes and 4 effective methods. Read the following content and find the best way to fix your iPhone.

Part 1: Why is my iPhone storage full after deleting everything?

Compared to other iPhone problems, it seems to be easier to figure out the cause of this one. If the iOS version installed on your iPhone has algorithmic error, as well as iOS software bugs, or if the iPhone system has glitches, calculation on iPhone storage may be effected. It means your iPhone is not able to accurately calculate storage for you, so you will find iPhone storage full but nothing on phone. To get rid of it, you should update the iOS version or fix system issues on your iPhone.

Part 2: How to get rid of iPhone storage full but nothing on phone?

Method 1: Restart iPhone

By restarting your iPhone, all the running apps and programs will be forced to shut down. Meanwhile, it will also give your iPhone system a refresh. This is an effective way mostly used by many folks to repair the minor system issues on their iPhone. All the specific steps to restart different iPhone models are listed here.

iPhone X and later

To shut down and restart your iPhone, you need to press and hold the Side button and Volume Up or Down for a while, and release them when you see the slider appear on the iPhone screen, then drag it to close your device.

iPhone 6, 7, 8, or the second and third generation iPhone SE

For these iPhone models, you should press and hold the Side button, and release it once the slide to power off shows up. Drag it to close your iPhone, and press the same buttons to restart iPhone.  Check if the iPhone storage full after deleting problem still remains.

iPhone SE（1st generation), 5, or earlier

For these old iPhone models, you only need to press and hold the Top button, and release it when the slider appears on your iPhone, drag it to shut down your iPhone.

Method 2: Update iOS version via iTunes

You're not allowed to update the iOS version on your iPhone when iPhone says full storage even if you delete all the files. You can connect your device to your computer and use iTunes to update your iOS version, as iTunes may be able to detect your real storage status and update the latest iOS version for your iPhone. Here are steps to update the iOS version via iTunes.

Step 1: Click on the iPhone icon on the interface once your iPhone is detected by iTunes.

Step 2: Go to Summary.

Step 3: Click Check for Update.

Method 3: Erase all content and settings on iPhone

Sometimes, you may wonder why my iPhone storage is full but I deleted everything. However, that is not the case. The root files of those photos, videos, apps may still exist on your iPhone. So, to make sure all the data is eradicated, you should erase all content and settings on your iPhone. It will erase all the files, including caches on apps and files on system running and restore your iPhone to the original status so that you can get rid of the issue.

Step 1: Go to Settings.

Step 2: Tap General, and select Transfer or Reset iPhone.

Step 3: Click Erase All Content and Settings, and enter your Apple ID and passcode, then it will start to erase all the data on your iPhone.

Method 4: Repair system glitches via TunesKit iOS System Recovery

It's not an easy task to fix those annoying system problems, as we can't fix them with a simple setup. In this case, a professional third-party repair tool is necessary when you are stuck on those tough system issues.

TunesKit iOS System Recovery is one of those reliable and effective system repair tools excelling at fixing over 150 types of iOS system issues in multiple situations, including iPhone storage full but nothing on phone, iPhone settings frozen, the Control Center failing to work, apps icon missing on home screen, etc. It supports a wide range of iOS versions and iPhone models, including the latest iOS versions and models. And both Mac and Windows users can easily repair their system with only a few easy steps via TunesKit iOS System Recovery.

Only 3 steps, you're able to successfully restore the iPhone storage feature with TunesKit iOS System Recovery.

Step 1: Connect Your Device

Before you start to click iOS System Repair on the interface, you should connect your iPhone to the PC with a USB cable. In the problem types page, click on Other Problems, and go to Start.

Step 2: Select Standard Repair

To fix the system issues without data loss, you need to select Standard Repair. If the standard mode is not working to fix the tough system issues on your iPhone, you can select Deep Repair to fix iPhone storage full but nothing on phone, but comes with data loss.

Step 3: Start to Repair

The iOS version, iPhone model, and other basic info of your device will be detected and listed, and you should check them before hitting the Download button to install the firmware package on your PC. After the verification of the firmware package installed, click the Start to Repair button, and TunesKit iOS System Recovery will begin to fix the system issues.

Part 3: FAQ about iPhone storage

Q1: What is system data on iPhone storage?

System data refers to caches, logs, and other resources used by the system, and the caches generated when each app is run also take up the system data on iPhone storage. Also, when you use the built-in functions of iPhone, some system data may be generated, such as setting alarm sounds, setting lock screen wallpaper, using Siri voice, etc.

Q2: Why is iPhone storage not loaded?

When there is too much data needed to be loaded, or your iPhone lacks storage, your iPhone storage will not be loaded as normal. In addition, issues on your iPhone system may also cause the iPhone storage feature to fail to work.

Part 4: Conclusion

This post is put forward a detailed explanation for the issue - why is my iPhone storage full after deleting everything? And 4 effective methods are put forward to show you how to fix iOS software issues and system glitches via the professional tool TunesKit iOS System Recovery. After getting rid of them, you can restore the real calculation of the iPhone storage.