What should I do about my iCloud storage? I need help…

I’ve deleted 21,000 photos and videos from iCloud manually

I’ve deleted 5-10k emails

I’ve deleted 42GB of documents from my MacBook

I’ve deleted literally every single voice message I have

I’ve deleted at least 10GB of messages

I still have zero KB of storage left on iCloud. I feel so overwhelmed because my computer is basically useless. I can’t do any of my university homework because I can’t download or upload anything. I’m not spending 10 dollars a month on extra TB. If I’m doing something wrong and someone knows something, any sort of help would be appreciated.

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If your Mac storage is an issue, try using DaisyDisk to find out what’s taking up space. 5GB of iCloud storage isn’t enough for your backups and file storage. You don’t need to go up to 1TB; lower cost storage plans are available.

@Owen
I saw a 50GB storage plan but whenever I check the iCloud plans, the cheapest option is 2TB for 10 bucks a month.

Kim said:
@Owen
I saw a 50GB storage plan but whenever I check the iCloud plans, the cheapest option is 2TB for 10 bucks a month.

You might want to check your iCloud settings to see if the plan is listed. Sometimes it might not be obvious.

@Thorn
Yeah I did check and it’s still showing 2TB as the only option.

Kim said:
@Owen
I saw a 50GB storage plan but whenever I check the iCloud plans, the cheapest option is 2TB for 10 bucks a month.

Consider buying a first-generation Pixel XL if most of your storage is photos and videos.

I understand your problem but the answer might not be what you want. If you’ve deleted 42GB of documents from iCloud and have the 5GB plan, you might have downgraded at some point. You may need to delete everything, including iOS backups, to get under 5GB.

You can’t pay for less than 2TB because that might be the plan you need to cover your storage usage. I’ve seen someone else with a similar issue before. It would help to know what your iCloud storage page says about how much you are currently retaining for free.

@Blaze
Yikes. I have no idea how this could have happened. I got a new phone this summer and didn’t see that my iCloud storage was full until three days ago.

Kim said:
@Blaze
Yikes. I have no idea how this could have happened. I got a new phone this summer and didn’t see that my iCloud storage was full until three days ago.

Were you part of an Apple family plan that you got removed from? There are various ways this can happen. If you have a 5GB allowance and more than that in the cloud, you effectively have squatters’ rights on your data.

You can’t add more than your allowance, but they haven’t deleted your data that you aren’t paying for. So now, you have to either pay for the required storage or delete almost everything. Maybe check if there was a mix-up with the Apple family plan; perhaps another member stopped paying or sharing their allowance.

@Blaze
I figured it out, you were right. I downgraded because my parents took me off without telling me. Thanks for the help.

Kim said:
@Blaze
I figured it out, you were right. I downgraded because my parents took me off without telling me. Thanks for the help.

Glad to hear that. Happy to help out.

Blaze said:

Kim said:
@Blaze
I figured it out, you were right. I downgraded because my parents took me off without telling me. Thanks for the help.

Glad to hear that. Happy to help out.

You definitely did, I’m relieved I don’t have to delete anything else.

It seems to take a while for Apple to clear its cache after you delete items. So don’t expect immediate recovery of storage space.

You won’t be able to manage with just 5GB. Just upgrade or look into another cloud storage option.

Make sure to clean the ‘recently deleted’ files. Check the storage usage graph, it might show other items you have there, possibly backups of other things.

When you delete photos, you need to clear them out from the deleted section. Also, what is your Mac/iPad storage usage? You might need to enable storage optimization on your device.

Monroe said:
When you delete photos, you need to clear them out from the deleted section. Also, what is your Mac/iPad storage usage? You might need to enable storage optimization on your device.

I did clear them out.

My storage optimization is on. I have plenty of storage on my MacBook and iPhone, but the iCloud is completely full.

@Kim
Since you mentioned you can’t do any work right now, what’s your storage usage like on your MacBook?

How much storage are you paying for?