Phone Cleaner1. See what is filling the iPad
- Open Settings on your iPad.
- Tap General, then tap iPad Storage. The available storage is shown at the top.
- Wait for the list to load: recommendations, then your apps with the space each one uses.
- Tap an app to see more, with the choice to Offload App or Delete App.
What differs from iPhone
The screen is called iPad Storage instead of iPhone Storage. Some iPad apps are larger than their iPhone versions. And Apple lists two iPad habits that fill it: videos downloaded for offline viewing, and apps such as Pages, Numbers and Keynote that download files for offline use.
Photos is laid out differently too. On iPadOS 26 or later, Recently Deleted is under Utilities in Collections, as on iPhone. On iPadOS 18, tap Utilities in the sidebar, then Recently Deleted.
2. Clean up downloads and app files
Remove videos you downloaded for offline viewing in the TV app and other streaming apps once you have watched them. In apps that keep documents offline, open the app and remove the files you no longer need.
- Open the Files app. If you don't see the sidebar, tap the Show Sidebar button.
- Under Locations, tap On My iPad or iCloud Drive.
- Tap the More button, then tap Select.
- Select the files you no longer need, then tap Delete.
- Deleted files wait in Recently Deleted, under Locations, for 30 days.
3. Offload apps you don't use
Turn on Settings › Apps › App Store › Offload Unused Apps. When storage is low, the iPad removes unused apps and keeps their data; the icon stays on the Home Screen with a cloud symbol, and a tap reinstalls it. Deleting an app removes its data from the iPad as well.
4. Clean up photos and videos
With iCloud Photos, the library on your iPad is the same one as on your iPhone. Anything you delete on one device is deleted on the other, so one clean covers both.
Phone Cleaner runs on iPad as well as iPhone: it groups duplicate and similar photos and compresses large videos there too. Everything runs on the device.
5. Messages
If your iPad receives your messages, their attachments are stored on it too. Delete conversations and attachments you no longer need, or set Settings › Apps › Messages › Keep Messages to 1 Year or 30 Days.
