Best Ways to Free Up Space on Your iPhone
2026 · 9 Free Fixes + 8 Storage Picks from ₹902

The cheapest way to add hundreds of gigabytes to a USB-C iPhone, if you already own microSD or SD cards from an old phone, camera or dashcam. Each card shows up as a folder in the Files app. You give up one-piece convenience: there is a reader and a card to carry.

• Reads both cards at once, handy for copying between them
• Imports camera photos straight into the Photos app
• No Lightning plug, so iPhone 14 and older need the adapter

Turns any pen drive or card reader you already own into iPhone storage, which makes it the cheapest fix for an iPhone 14 or older. Photos import through the Photos app and files copy through Files. You give up speed: offloading a big video library takes a coffee break, not a minute.

• Accessories must draw under 500 mA; hard drives will not run
• Two-way file copies need iOS 13 or later
• Plug in a charger if iOS says the accessory needs too much power

The pen drive most iPhone 15, 16 and 17 owners should buy. It plugs into the phone, then into any laptop, so photos move off the phone and onto a computer without a cloud subscription. You give up nothing important at this price, though the base iPhones cannot reach its rated speed.

• Base iPhones run USB 2, so expect about 40 MB/s
• Swivel cover protects the USB-C plug in a pocket
• Format it exFAT to swap files between iPhone, Windows and Mac

Twice the room of our top pick, for a phone that shoots a lot of 4K video. On an iPhone Pro it moves files far faster than any Lightning drive. You give up the USB-A plug, so older laptops need an adapter, and you pay more for each gigabyte.

• Full speed needs an iPhone Pro and a USB 3 cable
• Also sold in 512 GB and 1 TB versions
• Ignore the Lightroom trial if you edit in the Photos app

The best one-piece drive for an iPhone 14 or older. SanDisk's iXpand Drive app can back up the camera roll whenever you plug it in, after which you clear those photos from the phone. You give up speed and value: Lightning is slow, and the price is steep for the capacity.

• USB-A end plugs into any PC to copy backups off
• The app also plays MKV and AVI videos Photos refuses
• Will not fit an iPhone 15 or later; buy USB-C instead

For a household with both Lightning and USB-C iPhones, this one drive serves every phone, so everyone's photos land in one place. It also suits anyone moving from an iPhone 14 to a newer model soon. You give up value: it costs four times our top pick for the same capacity.

• SanDisk's backup app needs you to register first
• Both ends also fit iPads and Macs with either port
• Modest speed suits photos better than long 4K videos

The cheapest way to keep a full terabyte of iPhone photos and videos at home, off the phone and off a subscription. It works with a USB-C iPhone and with your laptop, so you can keep a second copy. You give up pocketability: it is a desk drive, not one to clip on.

• Ships with a USB-C to USB-A cable; buy a C-to-C cable
• Costs about as much as 21 months of iCloud+ 2 TB
• Base iPhones copy at USB 2 speed, so run big jobs overnight

Built for iPhone Pro owners who shoot video. It snaps onto the back with MagSafe, and the camera records straight to it, so a long shoot never touches the phone's own storage. You give up value on base iPhones, whose USB 2 port wastes most of its speed.

• A short, flat USB-C cable comes in the box
• No Lightning version, so the iPhone 14 Pro cannot use it
• SanDisk's app pops up every time you connect it