Help! 14.12 GB of Other eating my storage

[Preach829]

Wondering if someone can help me asap...I am constantly running out of space on my IPAD and now notice that over 50% of the usage is from Other...make no sense as I have taken off all Videos and only have apps left, which are appropriately taking up 10.47 GB of space. What is the OTHER? and how can I reduce or eliminate this? I've done a restore, but the same OTHER is still there. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[J. A.]

Wondering if someone can help me asap...I am constantly running out of space on my IPAD and now notice that over 50% of the usage is from Other...make no sense as I have taken off all Videos and only have apps left, which are appropriately taking up 10.47 GB of space. What is the OTHER? and how can I reduce or eliminate this? I've done a restore, but the same OTHER is still there. Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi, welcome to iPF!

Afaik it's possible to tap "Other" to see which apps are "hidden" there.

 

[Preach829]

It doesn't tell me, just the size of the total category OTHER when I scroll over it, but my guess is that it is corrupt files as I"ve had some downloading erros, then restarts...that"s when I started to see the OTHER grow.

 

[J. A.]

It doesn't tell me, just the size of the total category OTHER when I scroll over it, but my guess is that it is corrupt files as I"ve had some downloading erros, then restarts...that"s when I started to see the OTHER grow.

Files shouldn't be listed in "Others". They belong to the apps where they're stored.

If you haven't already done so, the usual fixes when something doesn't work as intended:

Restart your iPad: turn it off, wait for a few minutes and turn it on again.

Reset your device: press and hold Home and Power button at the same time until the Apple logo appears.

Force close apps:
iOS 6: double tap/four or five finger swipe upwards to reveal the multitask bar. Tap and hold an app there until they all start to wiggle, then delete them.
iOS 7: almost same procedure as before, when multitask bar is visible: tap one of the thumbnails above the app icons and drag them upwards towards the top of the screen.

 

[Preach829]

Ok, done. I've reset the device twice to be safe. Still have the "Other" showing up at 14.12 Gigs. All apps are closed now as well. nothing open. What else could the other be? Whatever it is, ist taking up a ton of space. My apps are still showing the 10.47 Gig Space, so thats ok.

 

[giradman]

It doesn't tell me, just the size of the total category OTHER when I scroll over it, but my guess is that it is corrupt files as I"ve had some downloading erros, then restarts...that"s when I started to see the OTHER grow.

Hi Preach - welcome to the forum! That 'Other' category seems to be a mystery as to its contents - attached is a 'screen capture' of my iPad (on iOS 7) attached to iTunes (my 'Other' is small and plenty of GBs left) - check this LINK which is brief but even the 'experts' seem confused - the responder suggests a restore if all else fails - BUT give Johanna's maneuvers a try - Dave

 

[Preach829]

Yep, so did a full restore and 95% of the Other (13.5 Gig) dissapeared. Had to reinstall Software, but the space is back at least. Thanks all.

 

[giradman]

Yep, so did a full restore and 95% of the Other (13.5 Gig) dissapeared. Had to reinstall Software, but the space is back at least. Thanks all.

Great Preach - ​glad that all worked out well w/ a restore - probably a 'pain' to do but sometimes a last resort - Dave

 

[willerz2]

To tack on a little, the Others category (in general) are broken down to the following major sources:

1) Cached data/images, particularly those that are sandboxed/stored outside of the directory of the app

2) Cydia tweaks and themes (applies to Jailbroken devices)

3) Non-allocated data such as data that are moved because the new index does not yet exist or for temporary storage

4) Data that are cached from iTunes into the device but are not placed in the correct directories (usually happens to Music synced during iTunes with either a faulty connection or improperly synced)

5) Contacts (if applicable)

6) Settings/Preferences

7) Messages/iMessages and their cached data (such as photos, videos, etc if applicable)

8) Pre-installed apps

9) Pre-downloaded iOS complete upgrade or delta fixes

 

[giradman]

To tack on a little, the Others category (in general) are broken down to the following major sources:

1) Cached data/images, particularly those that are sandboxed/stored outside of the directory of the app

2) Cydia tweaks and themes (applies to Jailbroken devices)

3) Non-allocated data such as data that are moved because the new index does not yet exist or for temporary storage

4) Data that are cached from iTunes into the device but are not placed in the correct directories (usually happens to Music synced during iTunes with either a faulty connection or improperly synced)

5) Contacts (if applicable)

6) Settings/Preferences

7) Messages/iMessages and their cached data (such as photos, videos, etc if applicable)

8) Pre-installed apps

9) Pre-downloaded iOS complete upgrade or delta fixes

Hi Willerz2 - thanks for the information above - just curious, do you have any references (i.e. links) to 'where' this information was obtained - I'd just like to read some more 'in depth' discussion on this list - curious - thanks. Dave

 

[zstairlessone]

This is a little late, but I have found that I can perform a manual backup, turn off the backup in settings, turn it back on then perform a backup the other goes away. It seems to be backup information hanging out until it is forced to take care of it.

I am assuming (I know, I know...) that you are talking about the bar at the bottom of iTunes when connected.