If you own an Apple product, there is a good chance you’ve seen a notification pop up claiming your iCloud storage is full at some point. You may have simply pressed close on the notification, but they just keep coming back and now you’ve ended up here.
Figuring out the right iCloud storage plan for you may take a little time, but this article will help you to discover whether or not it’s time for your to upgrade your iCloud storage.
What Is iCloud Storage?
At one point, iPhone users were trapped by the physical storage capabilities of their phones. Whether you used an 8GB iPhone or a 256GB iPhone, eventually your storage would fill up and you would be forced to delete something or manually upload files to a computer or hard drive.
To fix this issue, Apple devices now come fully equipped with iCloud storage capabilities. iCloud works by storing the all kinds of data in an internet database rather than directly on your device.
This not only allows you to automatically back up your photos and downloads, it also allows you to access the same iCloud data across all of your Apple devices.
iCloud storage is what allows you to listen to your custom Apple Music stations across multiple devices, share photos across your Apple devices, and keep all of your critical information like passwords and contact numbers safe across multiple devices.
Apple provides users with 5GB of free iCloud storage space, which sounds like a lot, but this will fill up surprisingly quickly. It’s important to know how to check your iCloud storage to properly manage it.
How Do You Check Your iCloud Storage?
Before you figure out if you need to upgrade your iCloud storage, it’s a good idea to see how much iCloud space you still have available for use. This can easily be done by accessing the Settings app on an iPad or iPhone:
- Launch Settings.
- Go to your Apple ID profile by tapping your name.
- Tap iCloud to see your general iCloud storage availability.
- Tap Manage Storage to see a direct breakdown of storage used per app.
You can follow the same directions to view your storage on a Mac in the System Preferences.
If your iCloud storage is full, as displayed in the above photos, it may be time to consider freeing up some storage space or upgrading to a better plan. You can even hit Upgrade directly from the iCloud Storage screen to get started.
iCloud Storage Pricing Explained
iCloud pricing will differ slightly depending on the country you reside in and the plan you select. There are three different iCloud storage sizes available for purchase. You can sign up for a plan covering to get either 50GB, 200GB, or 2TB worth of iCloud storage space.
The storage is billed as a monthly subscription. Although prices are dependent upon your place of residence, the United States pricing provides insight into the costs you can expect per tier.
In USD, the 50GB plan is available for $0.99 a month, 200GB for $2.99 a month, and the massive 2TB plan is available for $9.99 a month.
You can actually get up to a maximum of 4TB of storage. We’ll tell you how to do that in a little bit.
How Do You Free Up Storage Space on iCloud?
iCloud automatically saves some of your device’s most vital application information. This is incredibly useful if you ever lose or break your device. However, it can also quickly fill up your storage capabilities.
The best way to help free up some of your iCloud storage is by cleaning up your app usage. There’s no reason to have silly games, unused apps, or useless single-purpose apps using space in your iCloud storage.
Considering iCloud is primarily used for photo storage, it’s also a fantastic idea to delete some of those old photos and useless screenshots taking up space.
We’ve got a full breakdown of how to free up storage space on iCloud. Although clearing out your iCloud storage is critical, it’s also important that you limit iCloud app access moving forward to avoid running into the same issues later.
How Do You Limit Your iCloud Storage?
Once you’ve deleted all of the useless information from your iCloud storage, you’ll want to make sure that you keep it from filling up again. By limiting app access to iCloud, you can prevent apps from using your iCloud space. This way you can keep only the most important information, like contacts and passwords, saved in iCloud.
Pro-tip: try removing Photos access to your iCloud. It only takes a few minutes a month to back up your photos manually and it can turn the free 5GB of iCloud storage from obsolete to all you need.
You can turn off any app’s access to iCloud by using the following steps:
- Launch Settings.
- Go to your Apple ID profile by tapping your name.
- Tap iCloud.
- Slide an app’s toggle into the off position. Apps in the on position have access to iCloud.
- Select Keep on My iPhone to save that data locally. Select Delete on My iPhone to delete saved information.
If you’re still struggling with managing your iCloud storage, it may be time to consider upgrading your plan.
Cheaper Cloud Storage Options
Unfortunately, there are no discount iCloud options available. You can’t go to a third-party seller and Apple doesn’t offer iCloud sales or promotions. The good news is you can still get a cheaper subscription to iCloud by bundling multiple services together with Apple One.
Apple One provides you with access to multiple Apple platforms, such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Fitness+. Depending on the plan you select, you could save a significant amount on your monthly services.
You can select a plan offering 50GB, 200GB, or 2TB of data. Depending on how much storage you need, you may want to opt for Apple One’s Family plan so that you and your entire family or friends can all share the services and split the cost.
Splitting the bill amongst family means you’re getting the iCloud storage for even cheaper! If you’re looking to upgrade your iCloud storage, we definitely suggest considering Apple One.
Even with the various payment and storage options available, you may still be hesitating about purchasing iCloud storage. Weigh your options for iPhone storage and consider these cheap alternative cloud storage options.
iCloud Rainy Day Protection
iCloud is an amazing tool that you should be taking advantage of. Whether you opt to stick with the free 5GB or you upgrade to a plan with more storage, iCloud is an incredibly useful way to protect your most valuable information from getting lost. It’s also a great way to access that data from any of your Apple products.