How do you get rid of System Data on iPhone??

Langdon

Hey guys,
So my question is what is "System Data" in iPhone Storage?
I mean, Applications, Photos, yeah that makes sense.
Anyone know how to clear iPhone System Data?
It’s taking as much space as iOS itself.
Was wondering if there’s any tricks that might help.

HopeInSleep

System Data is basically Apple’s junk drawer.
Caches, logs, random files.
And no, they don’t make it easy to delete system data on iPhone unless you’re ready to wipe the whole thing. 🤷‍♂️
If you’re hoping to reduce System Data on iPhone without a full reset... prepare to be disappointed, OP.

crimsonKing

If you’re just trying to squeeze out some space, I had good luck with an app called Clever Cleaner.

It’s free and I cleaned out like 3 gigs of junk (mostly duplicate pics and some old vids).
It’ll free up some room so you can chill a bit longer without having to do anything crazy.

SocialImpactCoder

Did you even google it first, OP? Loads of answers out there.

The gist is this:
You can’t really get rid of system data on iPhone without doing a full backup and reset.

Best quick fix you can try right now is just restart your phone (vol up > vol down > hold power). Simple as that.
Might clear a little cached junk, but it’s not like you can shrink it down to 0.

There’ll always be some System Data, and the fact that it takes up as much space on your phone as iOS is totally normal. On my iPhone 15 (iOS 18.4.1), it’s almost equal.

Edit: Just to clarify what @crimsonKing said.
Cleaner apps can’t touch System Data itself because of iOS sandboxing.
Apps aren’t allowed to mess with anything outside their own space.
No cleaner can remove system data from an iPhone no matter what you might read.
It’s not Android Apple guards this stuff very tightly.

crimsonKing

SocialImpactCoder Yeah fair enough
Didnt mean to say they zap System Data 😅
Just saying if youre low on space, cleaning out junk can still buy you some room.
On my phone System Data is bigger than iOS but I don’t sweat it.
Just use iPhone cleaner from time to time and I’m all good.

0neWire

Hey OP,
System Data is a catch-all category.
It includes things like temporary cache files, logs/crash reports, downloaded software updates that haven’t yet been installed, and other temporary things.
These files are usually deleted automatically when the system needs more space to save new content.

Unless your iPhone is showing error messages, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Trying to clear iPhone system data manually could actually make your device work harder
(and perform slower while all those caches rebuild). So think twice if it’s worth the effort.

That said, if you really want to reduce system data on iPhone, the surefire way is:

Make a full encrypted backup
Erase all content and settings
Restore from the backup

It's a bit of a process, but it’s the only reliable way to shrink System Data meaningfully.

crimsonKing

Just wanted to add a few things you could try:

You can clear your Safari history and website data (Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data).
You can also enable “Offload Unused Apps” under Settings > App Store, which helps if you have apps you don’t use often,
In Messages, under iPhone Storage, there’s an option to “Review Large Attachments”. Sometimes deleting big videos and photos from conversations can help too,

I’m pretty sure clearing Safari cache should reduce system data on iPhone, at least it did for me (trimmed aroud 500mb on my 15 Pro 128 GB).
Hope this helps.

SocialImpactCoder

Yeah @HopeInSleep is right
You want real results you gotta go nuclear
Full encrypted backup erase all content restore from backup
That’s the only way to actually clear system data on iPhone properly
Takes time but it works
Anything else is just nibbling around the edges

DanyOrtega89

I came across a post on Reddit a while back where people suggested manually changing the iPhone’s date forward. Supposedly, it would trigger the system maintenance routines earlier.
The general process is:

Set your iMessage history to "Forever" to avoid losing older messages. (Settings > Messages > Keep Messages > Forever.)
Enable Airplane Mode and turn off both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Manually set the date to one year ahead of the current date.
Keep your phone awake and wait for about 60 seconds.
Recheck System Data usage.
Then adjust the date again, this time, move it to three months ahead of today’s real date.
Wait another 60 seconds, keep the device awake. Check System Data once more.
Finally, set the date back to automatic and turn off Airplane Mode.

Pretty clever, but just for disclosure OP, I haven’t tried it myself so youre free to test it if you want.

0neWire

DanyOrtega89 That date-change trick is a bit outdated.
From what I’ve seen, people reported it stopped working properly after iOS 17.7.
Apple tightened up how System Data maintenance works behind the scenes.
I don’t think there’s any harm in trying it, but it probably won’t do anything.

Langdon

DanyOrtega89 thanks for the tip man 🙏
I actually tried it just now
didnt notice anything at all tho 😅

don’t really wanna go and erase everything if I don’t have to
honestly i wouldn’t even bother with all this my iphone 13 still works great
just 64gb feels kinda tiny now
not ready to drop money on a new one yet so trying to make it work for a bit longer

KindnessCatalyst

I actually did the full backup + erase + restore thing a while ago
did lose a few app logins and had to re-sign into stuff 😅
still 100% worth it imo if you really wanna clear system data on iPhone
Just make sure you have all your important passwords saved first!!

0neWire

Langdon If you don't want to do a full wipe, I would definitely suggest focusing on clearing app caches instead.
@crimsonKing already mentioned Safari (Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data).
But for most other apps, it's not that straightforward.
In iPhone Storage (Settings > General > iPhone Storage), you can check which apps are taking up the most space under "Documents & Data."
A lot of that space is cached files (things like video previews, temporary files, and saved app data).
If you notice an app with a massive Documents & Data footprint, the quickest fix is to delete the app entirely and reinstall it from the App Store.
When you do that, iOS wipes all associated cache files but lets you start fresh with just the app’s basic install size.
You’ll usually need to log back in, and in some cases, settings or saved data might be lost, so just something to be aware of.

Edit:
Forgot to mention, some apps like TikTok and Snapchat actually let you clear cache manually inside their settings.
It’s usually under something like "Data", "Storage", or "App Settings".
So, sometimes you can clear a lot of space without full reinstall.
Just FYI.

DanyOrtega89

Just to add
I deleted a ton of iMessage videos and chopped about 2GB off System Data.
You just need to tap on the contact’s name at the top of the chat, and you’ll see all the photos and videos shared in that conversation.
You can delete them right there.

If you had saved something from Messages into Photos, it doesn’t remove it from the Messages attachments, so it still occupies System Data.

Maybe give that a try.

HopeInSleep

DanyOrtega89 Dany, I don’t think that will help with System Data.
There’s a separate "Messages" category in iPhone Storage that tracks attachments like photos & videos.

DanyOrtega89

HopeInSleep Ah, got it.
Looks like I misread the Storage breakdown.

Langdon

Thanks everyone 🙏
didn’t bother with backup/restore.
heres what I ended up doing:

-cleared Safari cache
-cleared TikTok cache
-reinstalled Instagram and YouTube
-tried Clever Cleaner like @crimsonKing suggested
cleaned up a ton of similar photos and nuked all my screenshots
(all together around 7 gigs)
rebooted the phone after just in case

now iphone storage shows 40gb used out of 64gb
before it was 59 out of 64
basically had almost 20gb of junk 😅
System Data barely budged but i’m good now!!
thanks again everyone

roman-demian

Glad to hear you got it sorted.
Big thanks to everyone who shared tips, troubleshooting steps, and personal experiences.
Before locking, just a quick note for anyone else reading later:

System Data includes caches, logs, and temporary files that iOS manages automatically. It can also grow due to background services like iCloud syncing (CloudKit), Spotlight indexing, large Mail attachments, and app-specific caches.
If your iPhone feels sluggish or System Data keeps growing unusually fast, it’s a good idea to check beyond just Safari or Messages. Look at Mail storage buildup, app caches (like TikTok, Instagram, Slack), and other large background files.
And if regular clearing doesn’t make a difference, a full encrypted backup, erase, and restore is still the most reliable method to fully reset hidden system caches and reduce System Data.

If anyone runs into new issues with storage, backup/restore, or System Data growing after an update, feel free to start a new thread.
Locking this one now to keep things tidy. 👍