Storage

Setting up an Apple backup through iCloud is probably the simplest option you have available. Each user gets 5 GB of free iCloud storage with their Apple ID, but users can opt to upgrade their storage amounts by signing up for an affordable monthly plan. We'll show you how to use iCloud to create Mac backups.

Using Time Machine is very simple, since it's the built-in backup feature on your Mac. For this option, all you'll need is an external hard drive with enough space to store your data. We'll show you how to do it, and share Apple's recommendation for how much external storage you need to back up your Mac.

If you have an Apple device, like an iPhone or iPad, you have access to iCloud, whether you know it or not. You can back up your iPhone to iCloud and sync your data across all your devices. Knowing this, why would you need an external hard drive for your iPhone? Well, even with iCloud Backup, there are a few reasons why you might consider investing in an external hard drive. We’ll go over them in this article.

Why won't my iPhone update to iOS 14? It’s a frustrating situation with so many troubleshooting steps that it’s hard to know where to start. We’ll show you the best iPhone update troubleshooting tips (which also work on iPads) to help you resolve your iOS software update issues.

If you have subscribed to Apple One you may have questions about your existing Apple subscriptions, such as your Apple iCloud storage plans or Apple Music. Perhaps you were billed for subscriptions that were in fact covered in your Apple One subscription, or maybe you were charged for something you didn’t realize was included in your Apple One subscription. In this article we will answer some of the common Apple One subscription FAQs.

The Apple Watch has limited storage space for apps, music, or other content. While the newer Series have a capacity of 32 GB, older models can have as little as 8 GB of Apple Watch storage. If your watch is out of space, our guide helps you free up storage in just a few easy steps.

Sometimes we run out of space on our Apple devices. External storage for iPads and iPhones can be tricky to use, so we are going to walk you through using a USB (also called a flash drive or thumb drive) with both an iPhone and an iPad. This will help you easily transfer things like photos to an external storage device or external hard drive. Moving certain items to external storage will free up space for you to keep taking photos and utilizing your device to its fullest potential. Let’s look at how to use a USB drive with an iPhone or iPad.

The mysterious iPhone storage other category can be a real pain when your iPhone storage is full and you need to clear up space for an iOS update or to install a new app. We'll cover what Other Storage means and how to delete Other Storage on the iPhone or iPad to free up space. The short answer is that the Other Storage category includes all your system data as well as cached data from different apps, but clearing Other Storage isn’t straightforward. Read on to learn how to find, delete, and manage the Other Storage category so that you can do more on your iPhone.

You can add money to your Apple ID account for App Store purchases or use Apple Pay without having to use a linked card. Here's how to add funds to your Apple ID directly. If you budget your app or iTunes purchases, you can even load the balance you want to spend and make purchases accordingly.

Is your iTunes library getting a little unwieldy and taking up too much space on your hard drive? If you've been wondering how to transfer or move your iTunes library to an external hard drive, then this is the article for you. We've already covered how to know if you need an external hard drive. Read on to learn how to export your iTunes library to an external hard drive, so you always have it with you regardless of internet or iCloud connection. 

Need iPad and iPhone help? Sign up for iPhone Life Insider and Sarah will help you with all your iPhone troubleshooting and iOS-related issues. To learn more go to iPhoneLife.com/Insider. In this Hey Sarah column, one Insider wants to know how to remove everything from their old iPad so they can give it away to a friend while another wants to know if it's possible to delete photos from their iPhone without also deleting them from iCloud.

We've probably all used a flash drive, jump drive, or thumb drive (they're all the same thing) to safely store and transport our important files. Now though, in the age of iCloud, does anyone really need a USB storage device for their iPhone? Apple's cross-device storage system, iCloud, syncs all devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID; meaning that if you delete a photo on your iPhone, it's also gone from your iPad, Mac, and your iCloud account. This brings us back to the necessity of external storage for the iPhone. We can, of course, save photos and other files to another location on our devices, separate from our iCloud Libraries, but those files will still consume storage space. Now the longevity of the flash drive becomes more clear. If you're beginning to think that a flash drive for your iOS device might be a good investment, read on to learn how to use a flash drive with your phone, and about a few of the best flash drives on the market today. 

Seagate has been in the data storage business since the prehistoric PC days. But unlike the dinosaurs, the company has continued to evolve its capabilities to match the changing technology market. With mobile devices superseding the PC market, Seagate has developed a mobile-friendly product that combines its spinning disk drive storage platform with wireless connectivity. Seagate's Wireless Plus Mobile Storage ($179.99) device allows users to wirelessly connect to the portable hard drive to store over a terabyte of photos, videos, documents, and other files. The device can also connect to Macs and PCs via a wired USB 3.0 connection. The same wired connection is how the device's battery can be recharged for up to 10 hours of portable use.

I appreciate a good podcast though I have never cared for the built-in Podcast app on my iPhone. Yet it wasn’t until very recently that I decided to finally look for a solid replacement. There are various options in the App Store; you can certainly try out your fair share of podcast apps and see which you like the best. But my choice was surprisingly easy to make: iCatcher Podcast Player is a highly customizable podcast app that makes discovering new podcasts fun and listening to those you already love easy. Learn more on what it does and why we love it below.

We've gone over creating an Apple ID and changing an Apple ID, but what if you want to delete an Apple ID account? If you're wondering how to go about deleting an Apple ID, it is possible, but first you need to decide if it's really necessary. Deactivating an Apple ID means that you'll lose access to the connected iCloud Mail and Drive Storage, as well as any iMessages associated with that account. All the purchases you made with the Apple ID you're deleting, including content from iTunes, Books and the App Store, not to mention your Apple Music Library and Playlists, will also be gone. Let's go through some less extreme options for solving problems with your Apple ID, then learn how to deactivate and delete an Apple ID permanently if you conclude that's the step you need to take.

Did you know iCloud backups from previous devices could be taking up a lot of iCloud storage space? This could lead to an iCloud Storage Full message. Here’s how to delete the iCloud backups from old devices and clear iCloud storage space.

I think we can all agree that storage space is a valuable commodity on the iPhone. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to take a photo and having your iPhone tell you to create more storage space. But with iOS 11, your iPhone will give you suggestions on how to save storage and you’ll have the option to ‘offload’ apps you don’t often use but want to keep. We’ll go over what that means and how to do it. This tip will allow you to easily free up storage and get an overall picture of what is taking up your storage on your iPhone anyway. Here’s how to optimize iPhone storage and free up space with iOS 11 on iPhone.

When you delete cookies from Safari on your iPhone or iPad, you free up storage space and improve your device's performance speeds. When you clear the cache and cookies on your iPad or iPhone, you can also better protect your online privacy and potentially remove any malicious bugs your device may have picked up. We'll show you how!

Have you been wondering how to save photos from your iPhone? With a couple of quick taps, you can easily save images you’ve received from email or Messages. Saving images on your iPhone from email or Messages is roughly the same process, but with email, you can also copy and paste the image from one email into a new email. We'll cover both methods, plus some quick ways to transfer those images from your iPhone to your desktop.

Getting rid of unused and unwanted iPhone and iPad apps can feel like a chore. In this article, we'll cover how to remove unwanted apps using your iPhone's Settings menu. Most people know how to delete apps by tapping and holding an app icon until they all start wiggling (though sometimes a setting doesn't allow this until you fix the setting), but did you know there's another method to offload apps from your iPad and iPhone? This alternate app-removing option is perfect for someone who needs to delete multiple apps quickly. Let's go over the two methods for erasing apps and freeing up storage space on your iOS device.