iCloud Storage is Full

How to Fix It

1. See exactly what's using iCloud.

   Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Account Storage (or Manage Storage).
   You'll get a colour-coded bar and a list — Photos, Backups, iCloud Drive, Mail, Messages, and individual apps.
   The biggest entries are where to start.

2. Delete old backups from phones you no longer use.

   In Manage Storage > Backups, you'll see a list of devices.
   The current iPhone keeps its backup; old iPads or previous iPhones often still have a backup taking many gigabytes.
   Tap a phone you no longer use and choose Delete & Turn Off Backup.
   This is often the easiest single win.

3. Clear iCloud Photos junk.

   Photos app > Albums > Recently Deleted — Select All > Delete (this empties the trash on the iPhone and in iCloud).
   Albums > Media Types > Videos — long videos eat the most; review and delete the ones you don't need.
   This frees space on iCloud Photos and the iPhone at the same time.

4. Trim what your iPhone backs up.

   Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Account Storage > Backups > [this iPhone] > Choose Data to Back Up.
   Turn off big apps that don't need to be backed up (delivery apps, fitness apps that already sync to their own cloud, anything that re-downloads its data from a service).
   This shrinks your next iCloud Backup so the existing iCloud space goes further.

5. Clear iCloud Mail attachments.

   If you use an @icloud.com email address, big attachments live in iCloud Mail and eat your quota.
   On a computer, open icloud.com > Mail, sort by size, delete old mails with large attachments, then empty the Trash and Junk folders.
   Doing this on a computer is much faster than on the phone.

6. Empty iCloud Drive — Recently Deleted.

   Files app > Browse > iCloud Drive > Recently Deleted — Select > Delete All.
   Files stay there for 30 days after you delete them, holding the space.
   While you're in Files, look at the size of your iCloud Drive folders; project archives, photo libraries, and downloaded videos can run to many gigabytes.

7. Upgrade iCloud+ or accept the limit.

   If you've cleaned out the easy wins and still need more space, Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Upgrade.
   50 GB is roughly £1 / $1 a month and fits almost any iPhone with room to spare; 200 GB is shared with family and fits everyone's photos.
   If you don't want to pay, accept the constraint: turn off iCloud Photos and instead use Google Photos or back the phone up to a computer monthly — both bypass iCloud entirely.