iCloud storage full? Read this before you pay for more
Short answer
Before you upgrade, open Settings › [your name] › iCloud to see what's using the space. Photos and old device backups are usually most of it, so delete backups of phones you no longer use and clear large videos, duplicates and screenshots first. The expensive step is going from 200 GB to 2 TB, which in the US takes you from $2.99 to $9.99 a month, an extra $84 a year.
What more storage costs
Every Apple Account gets 5 GB of iCloud storage for free. Above that, iCloud+ is a monthly subscription, and each plan can be shared with up to five family members. Google gives every account 15 GB for free, but it's shared with Gmail and Google Drive, so a busy inbox eats into it.
Checked on Apple's and Google's websites. Prices change, so check before you buy.
| iCloud+ plan | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 50 GB | $0.99 | $11.88 |
| 200 GB | $2.99 | $35.88 |
| 2 TB | $9.99 | $119.88 |
| 6 TB | $29.99 | $359.88 |
| 12 TB | $59.99 | $719.88 |
| Google plan | Storage | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 100 GB | $1.99 |
| Google AI Plus | 400 GB | $4.99 |
| Google AI Plus | 2 TB | $9.99 |
| Google AI Pro | 5 TB | $19.99 |
There's nothing between 200 GB and 2 TB on iCloud+. So if your library is 210 GB, the next step up is ten times the space for more than three times the price, and you'd use about a tenth of it.
Is Google Photos cheaper?
Not by much. In the US and Australia, 2 TB costs the same on both. Google changed its plans twice in 2026, so check one.google.com before you switch. Switching also doesn't shrink your library or free any space on your iPhone. You'll save more by making your library fit the plan you already pay for.
1. See what's using your iCloud
Open Settings, tap your name, then tap iCloud. The bar at the top shows how full you are. Tap Storage (Manage Account Storage on older versions of iOS) to see each app's share, biggest first. Photos and Backups are usually near the top.
2. Delete backups of old devices
A backup of a phone you sold or traded in years ago can still be sitting in iCloud, taking up space for nothing.
- Open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud.
- Tap Storage or Manage Account Storage, then Backups.
- Tap the old device's name.
- Tap Turn Off and Delete from iCloud, then Turn Off and Delete to confirm.
For the phone you use now, open its backup instead and turn off apps you don't need backed up.
3. Clean up your photo library
With iCloud Photos on, your iPhone library and your iCloud library are the same library. Delete a photo on your iPhone and it's deleted on every device, and its space comes back in iCloud. You clear it the same way you'd clear a full iPhone, biggest wins first:
- Large videos first. A few long 4K clips can outweigh thousands of photos. See how to find large videos on iPhone.
- Videos you want to keep can be compressed to 1080p instead of deleted.
- Exact copies, with the Duplicates album.
- Old screenshots and screen recordings. See how to delete screenshots in bulk.
Apple says photos in Recently Deleted don't count toward your iCloud storage, though they still use space on your iPhone for 30 days. One catch: if you're already over your iCloud limit, deleted photos skip Recently Deleted and are removed right away, with no way back. Be sure before you delete.
4. Messages, Mail and iCloud Drive
- Messages in iCloud stores every photo and video sent in your chats. In a conversation, tap the contact's name to see and delete its attachments.
- Mail: in your inbox, tap the More button, then Cleanup Recommendations.
- iCloud Drive: in the Files app, tap Browse › iCloud Drive and delete what you don't need.
5. Change how you shoot
Record at 1080p instead of 4K and keep the High Efficiency format on. Your library will grow more slowly on the phone and in iCloud. See the camera settings that save the most storage.
Already upgraded? You can step back down
Open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, and tap iCloud+ to pick a smaller plan. The change takes effect when your current billing period ends, so clear enough space before then. If you're still over the new limit, backups stop and new photos stop uploading until you make room.
When paying for more is the right call
If your library really is 500 GB of photos you love, 2 TB is good value, and you can share it with your family. What's worth avoiding is paying for the jump to 2 TB just to keep duplicates, blurry shots and old screen recordings.
Doing it with SlashPhotos
SlashPhotos scans your library on your iPhone and sorts it into large videos (over 100 MB), exact duplicates, similar shots, blurry photos, old screenshots and screen recordings, with the space each group would free. It can also shrink a video instead of deleting it: a 3-minute 4K60 clip drops from about 1.1 GB to about 200 MB. With iCloud Photos on, what you delete or shrink comes off your iCloud storage too. The scan is free and nothing is uploaded.
Questions
What happens when iCloud storage is full?
Your iPhone stops backing up to iCloud, new photos and videos stop uploading to iCloud Photos, and iCloud Drive and other iCloud apps stop staying up to date across your devices.
Does deleting photos on my iPhone free up iCloud storage?
With iCloud Photos on, yes. Deleting on one device deletes on every device signed in to the same Apple Account, and the space comes back in iCloud.
Is Google Photos cheaper than iCloud?
At 2 TB they're the same, $9.99 a month in the US. Google's free tier is bigger, 15 GB against Apple's 5 GB, but it's shared with Gmail and Google Drive.