How to offload unused apps on iPhone and free up storage

5 min read

Short on space? Learning how to offload apps on iPhone can help free up space without deleting essential data.

This feature from Apple is perfect for those who need extra storage but don't want to lose game progress, saved documents, or login credentials.

We'll walk you through all the steps needed to reclaim precious space on your iPhone, explain how automatic offloading works, and show you other methods to free up storage without removing apps. Let's get started.

What does offloading apps on iPhone do?

Offloading apps means that your iOS removes the app itself but retains all associated documents and data. So, instead of permanently deleting an app, offloading temporarily removes it while keeping all your settings intact.

Here's what that looks like:

The app's icon remains on the Home Screen with a small cloud symbol.
When you tap the app, iOS will download it again from the Apple App Store.
Your data is restored automatically once the app is reinstalled.
Offloading saves space without permanently deleting app data.

This comes in pretty useful if you need extra storage but don't want to lose progress in games, login credentials, or important files saved within apps.

Tip: A quicker way to reclaim space on iPhone is to declutter the photo library. You can do it easily with CleanMy®Phone — it can remove duplicate photos, turn Live to still, and help you organize similar images.

How to offload apps on iPhone?

You can manually offload individual apps or enable automatic offloading for unused apps in iPhone settings. Let's take a look:

1. Manually offload apps on iPhone

Open Settings on your iPhone.
Go to General > iPhone Storage.
Scroll down and select the app you would like to offload.
Press Offload App, then press Offload App again to confirm.

The app will now be removed, but its data will be saved.

2. Automatically offload unused apps

If you prefer iOS to handle offloading, you can enable the automatic removal of unused apps.

Open up the Settings app again.
Tap Apps > App Store.
Scroll down to the bottom and toggle the Offload Unused Apps option on.

This will allow iOS to automatically offload apps you have not used in a while when storage is low. By enabling this setting, you won't have to manually check which apps are taking up space — iOS will do it for you. But if you frequently use an app and one day find it missing, you may want to keep this feature off.

How to free up space without offloading apps?

While knowing how to offload apps on iPhone is an effective way to save storage, some users may want to free up space without removing apps; the good news is, there are other ways to do this: clear Safari cache, declutter Photo library, and delete old messages and media attachments.

1. Clear Safari cache

Remember to regularly remove Safari cache; this will help to free up storage on your iPhone; here's how:

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
Find Safari on the list and tap Website Data.
Press Remove All Website Data.

Many users don't realize that their web browsing data accumulates over time, eating up storage. Clearing it periodically can help reclaim space. You can also go to Settings > Apps > Safari and tap Clear History and Website Data > Clear History.

2. Use CleanMy®Phone to declutter your storage

Another way to free up space without offloading your favorite apps is using CleanMy®Phone's Declutter module to organize and clean up your photo library. Here's what it can do:

Detects and removes duplicate photos that take up unnecessary space.
Sort out blurry images that do not need to be stored.
Manage screenshots that often pile up unnoticed.

By tidying up your photo library, CleanMy®Phone helps free up valuable storage without affecting your installed apps or their data. Here's how it works:

Install the app and press Declutter from the bottom.
Look through any of the categories, select items you no longer want, and press Remove.

Why use CleanMy®Phone:

Since its release in 2024, helped users remove 35,693,171 suplicate images (based on internal data)
3041 TB — cumulative number of saved space on users' iPhones since the release (based on internal data)
Downloaded over 7 million times

3. Delete old messages and media attachments

Messages and attachments, especially from iMessage and WhatsApp, can consume a lot of storage; here's how to manage them like a pro on your iPhone:

Go to the Settings application > General > iPhone Storage.
Scroll down to Messages and review large attachments.
Delete old messages and media files you no longer need.

If you send and receive a lot of photos and videos through messaging apps, this can quickly eat up storage. Deleting unnecessary conversations can make a big difference.

There's so much more you can do on your iPhone to save storage; for more ways to clean up your device, check out this guide on the best free iPhone cleaner apps.

Can I manage apps offloading feature?

iOS lets you control whether apps are offloaded automatically or manually. When Offload Unused Apps is enabled, iOS removes apps you haven’t used recently when storage runs low. It prioritizes larger apps and those opened less frequently, ensuring you have space when needed.

But automatic offloading isn’t ideal for everyone. If you rely on travel, banking, or work apps or don’t always have access to Wi-Fi, you may want to disable this feature and offload apps manually instead. This way, you decide which apps are removed while keeping important ones accessible.

We explained how to turn on automatic app offloading above in step 2. Once this is enabled, iOS will automatically offload apps you haven't used in a while, but all your app data will remain intact for when you reinstall them.

How to disable offload apps on iPhone?

If you do not want iOS to offload apps automatically, you can turn off this feature in App Store settings. Here's how:

Back in your Settings App > Apps > App Store. Settings.
Scroll all the way down and toggle off Offload Unused Apps.

This will prevent your iOS from automatically offloading apps, ensuring that all apps remain installed unless manually removed.

By understanding how to offload apps on iPhone, you can take full control of your device's storage while keeping important app data intact. If you choose to offload apps manually or automatically or use tools like CleanMy®Phone to optimize storage, there are plenty of ways to keep your iPhone running efficiently.