How to Delete Large Attachments on iPhone

Need a way to delete large attachments on your iPhone? Maybe they’re taking up too much storage, or you’ve noticed your iPhone slowing down from all the files piling up in Messages, Mail, and other apps. If so, you’re in the right place. We’ll show you step by step how to find and remove them quickly and painlessly so your iPhone runs smoothly again. Let’s get started.

How to Find Large Attachments on iPhone

By dealing with large attachments on your iPhone, you can free up significant amounts of storage and improve performance. While iOS occasionally prompts users with notifications to review large attachments, these alerts are not always consistent. For this reason, you need to know how to locate them manually. Allow us to show you where you can find those storage-eating attachments.

1. Tap ‘Settings‘ on your iPhone.
2. Go to ‘General‘ and then ‘iPhone Storage‘.
3. Scroll to find ‘Messages‘ and tap on it.
4. You will see attachments sorted by categories here.

Find Large Attachments in Messages App

1. Open the Messages app and choose a conversation.
2. Tap on the contact’s name or ‘info‘ icon at the top.
3. Scroll to view ‘Photos‘, ‘Links‘, and ‘Attachments‘.
4. Here, you can review and manage large files.

Now that you’ve located the large attachments on your iPhone, we’ll provide you with various methods to remove them. Whether you need to delete specific attachments or clear them all at once, the next sections will guide you through how to delete large attachments on your iPhone, helping your device remain efficient and clutter-free.

How to Delete Large Attachments on iPhone

Ok, now let’s look at our methods. We have 3 step-by-step solutions that cover the Messages app, the Mail app, and a more general approach for other apps that might store large attachments. Since Messages is the most used app for sending and receiving files, let’s start there.

Method 1: Remove Large Attachments From the Messages App

The Messages app must be the first place you think to look, as it’s often a primary source of storage issues on your iPhone. It’s not only text messages, it’s also photos, videos, GIFs, and stickers—all of which can quickly take up significant space. These large attachments can slow down your messaging experience and use up valuable storage. We’ll show you how to pinpoint and delete these files from the Messages app:

1. Open Messages and select a conversation.
2. Tap the contact’s name or the ‘info‘ icon at the top.
3. Scroll to the ‘Photos‘ section.
4. Press on ‘Select‘ in the upper right corner.
5. Select the attachments to delete and tap the trash icon.

If you prefer a more direct route to manage large attachments, the iPhone Settings offers a streamlined approach. This method allows you to clear out attachments directly from where they are categorized in your Messages app, making it easy to target and remove specific types of files. This way you can delete all large attachments on iPhone at once, and here’s how to do it:

1. Start by opening your ‘Settings‘ app.
2. Tap on ‘General‘ to look into more specific device settings.
3. Scroll to and select ‘iPhone Storage‘ to see how your storage is being used.
4. In the list of apps, tap on ‘Messages‘. You’ll be presented with a detailed breakdown of the attachments stored within Messages, organized into five categories: ‘Conversations‘, ‘Photos‘, ‘Videos‘, ‘GIFs & Stickers‘, and ‘Other‘.
5. Tap on any of these categories. You will see a list of attachments. Select the ones you want to remove.
6. After selecting, tap the trash icon to remove these files. Confirm the deletion to free up space.

Method 2: Delete Attachments From Mail App

In general, photos and videos from Mail attachments are stored in the cache, unless they were manually added to the Photos app or Files app. Cached files can be automatically cleared by the system, but this doesn’t always happen right away.

Roughly speaking, this method will delete files from the app’s cache and is especially useful if you recently viewed attachments in Mail, as they may still be taking up space in the cache even after closing the email. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Mail app on your iPhone.
2. Locate the email containing the large attachment.
3. To free up space, delete the entire email. (Note: The Mail app doesn’t allow for individual attachment deletion without removing the entire email.)
4. Confirm the deletion to remove the email and its attachment.

Method 3: Remove Large Attachments From Other Messengers

Messenger apps like Telegram, Signal, and others often store large files and media. This part outlines a general method to manage these attachments. While each app may have its unique interface, the basic principles of identifying and deleting large files remain similar, helping you to delete large attachments with ease. Simply follow these recommendations:

1. Open the messenger app and go to its ‘Settings‘ or ‘Storage Management‘ section.
2. Look for options like ‘Data Usage‘, ‘Storage Usage‘, or ‘Manage Storage‘.
3. Review the list of conversations or media files, often sorted by size.
4. Select the files or messages you want to delete.
5. Confirm the deletion to remove these attachments from your device.

Alternative Way to Remove Saved Attachments and Other Unnecessary Files

Very often, the largest attachments on an iPhone are video files, especially if you’ve saved them from Messages to your storage or gallery. A few minutes of 4K video can take up gigabytes of space, and these files pile up fast. Of course, you can manually scroll through your library, find the biggest files you no longer need, and remove them—but there are two problems. First, the Photos app doesn’t let you sort files by size, so finding the largest ones is no easy task. Second, why do it by hand when there’s an app that can do it for you?

There are plenty of apps on the App Store that can automate the process. One app we recently tested for our best cleaning apps for iPhone rating is Clever Cleaner: iPhone Storage Cleaner. It showed solid performance despite being 100% free. If your goal is to clean up space with just a couple of taps for free, it’s hard to beat. Here’s how you can find and clear out large videos with Clever Cleaner in seconds:

1. Download Clever Cleaner.
2. Open the app and grant permission to access your Photos library.
3. At the bottom, you’ll see four tabs. You need Heavies.
4. This section automatically sorts all your videos from largest to smallest, so the biggest space hogs appear at the top. Each video displays its file size right at the bottom of the thumbnail.
5. Tap on any video to open the selection screen.
6. Swipe to preview and mark the videos you want to delete. The app will display the total size of the selected files under the delete button, so you know exactly how much space you’re freeing up. If you want to remove all videos at once, just tap Select All in the top right corner.
7. Once you’ve made your decision, tap Move to Trash.
8. Now, tap the Empty Trash button and confirm deletion.
9. The app will congratulate you on freeing up space and remind you to visit the Recently Deleted album in Photos to remove these files from your iPhone for good, so your storage is actually reclaimed.

Heavies is just one of 4 cleaning features in Clever Cleaner. The other tools might be useful to you too. Here’s what they can do:

• Similars – Detects duplicate and similar photos, including Live Photos, burst shots, and edited versions that Apple’s built-in Duplicates album might miss (it only detects exact duplicates and won’t show photos that look nearly identical to your eyes but have slight differences). You can manually decide what to keep or let Smart Cleanup handle it all in one tap. At the end, just Slide to Delete, and what would have taken hours to do manually gets done in seconds.
• Screenshots – Finds old/unnecessary screenshots, which tend to build up over time. It shows exactly how much space they use in both MB and the percentage of total storage. You can delete everything with one tap or review them individually.
• Lives – Clever Cleaner can compress Live Photos by converting them into still images. The app shows exactly how much space you’ll recover before you confirm. It removes the short video clip you see when you swipe through your gallery. Since it keeps the original still image, your library will look the same, but you’ll save a ton of space without those hidden video files. Just remember to empty the Recently Deleted folder afterward to free up the space for good.

Clever Cleaner is a solid choice, but it’s not the only option, here are a few other apps we tested. Unlike Clever Cleaner, they aren’t completely free, but they still have useful features that might be worth it:

• Boost Cleaner – Clean Up Smart is designed to efficiently scan your iPhone for duplicate and unnecessary images. With its advanced sorting features, you can organize your photo albums by date and location, making it easier to find and delete unwanted images. This app also includes contact management features and quick storage boosting tools. It’s a versatile solution for those looking to streamline their iPhone’s photo library and overall storage.
• Cleaner – Free Up Storage is an extensive iPhone tool for managing your device’s storage. It excels in identifying similar photos, merging duplicate contacts, and locating large video files for deletion. The app’s user-friendly interface facilitates fast and efficient cleanup, helping you maintain an organized and efficient iPhone library. Whether you’re dealing with redundant photos or oversized videos, Cleaner for iPhone provides a reliable solution.
• Clean Up Storage – Cleaner Kit is an all-encompassing app. It includes features for saving battery life and protecting your privacy. The app’s smart cleaning function simplifies the cleanup process, allowing you to manage your device’s storage with just a few taps. If you’re looking for a complete tool that covers various aspects of iPhone maintenance, Clean Up Storage – Cleaner Kit is a strong contender.
• Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner focuses on simplifying the process of cleaning your iPhone’s internal storage. This App Store app efficiently detects and helps you remove duplicate images and sorts videos by size for easier management. It also includes unique features such as charging animations and a secret photo vault, adding extra functionality to its primary cleaning capabilities. Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner is ideal for those who need a straightforward and effective tool to manage their iPhone’s storage.

How to Automatically Delete Message Attachments on iPhone

To avoid the need to deal with message attachments manually in future, set messages to auto-delete following these steps:

1. Go to ‘Settings‘ and select ‘Messages‘.
2. In ‘Message History‘, tap ‘Keep Messages‘.
3. Choose ‘30 Days‘ or ‘1 Year‘ to auto-delete older messages and attachments.

Final Tips

In conclusion, if you came across this guide because your iPhone ran out of storage, remember that large attachments is just one way to free up space. There are plenty of other storage-saving tricks worth looking into.

For example, junk mail can quietly pile up, eating away at your storage. If you haven’t cleared it in a while, check out our guide on how to delete junk mail on iPhone.

Another common issue is the “Applications” section in iPhone Storage, which sometimes shows a confusing mix of app data and cached files. We break down exactly what’s in there and what you can safely remove in our Applications on iPhone Storage guide. And if you’re dealing with the infamous “Other” storage category on your iPhone, which tends to fill up fast, our clear Other storage on iPhone guide has all the answers.

Be sure to check those out—your iPhone will thank you!