If you’re asking how to clean your iPad from unnecessary files, you’re at the right place. In this piece, I’ll walk you through some of the simplest yet most effective ways to clean your iPad.
The best part? Most of these are 100% free and even the paid ones (if any) are absolute beasts at the task.
Let’s get started then?
Table of Contents
Identify the trash
Before you can answer the question of “how do I remove the photos from my iPad” you need to know what needs to be cleaned, don’t you? In fact, it’s possible that just “photos” aren’t even your problem.
The best way to identify junk is simply go to to your iPad’s storage.
You can do that by tapping on “Settings > General > iPad storage”.
It’s basically like the file manager that Android users are familiar with. All your files will be shown here. You’ll even see categories (apps/ messages /photos etc).
Another idea is to simply scroll down. You’ll see all your apps along with the amount of storage they’re eating up. Chances are, you’ll spot something you don’t use very frequently and that can be installed instantly.
It’s like peeking into your wardrobe. Once you know which files you need you can keep them and remove the rest.
Upload media to Google photos (or other cloud provider)
If you follow the above step, you’d notice most of your space is consumed by photos and videos.
The best solution to this (without actually losing your media) is to setup auto sync with Google Photos (free) or Amazon (needs Amazon Prime).
You’d need to download Google Photos from the iOS store as it’s not provided by default on Apple devices.
Once downloaded, launch the application then tap on settings > backup & sync. Turn it on.
What you just did is you uploaded everything in your gallery to Google photos.
What Google Photos does is, deletes all your photos from your gallery once they’re uploaded. This of course frees up your iPad and makes sure your photos aren’t lost either. In fact, another benefit you get is you can access your photos on any device without having to transfer them manually anymore.
Of course, you’re free to use any other cloud provider that supports auto sync and deletion of media once it’s uploaded.
I could make this sound very technical which would make me look good, or I could simplify things. Let’s stick to the latter?
So, cache data and cookies are just files that are created when you use a website/app to make your browsing easier, smoother and faster. E.g. When you load a website for the first time, your browser stores a cache of images,text and other elements. Hence, on your second visit, the website loads much faster as the images, text and other elements aren’t loaded from scratch.
It’s a great feature but over time it adds up. The issues (slower device, less space) start to outweigh the benefits.
You can solve this by simply clearing your cache and cookies. To do that, go to Settings > apps and find the exact app you wish to clear cache and cookies for. If you aren’t sure of the apps, I’d say just clear for your default browser. Yes, you can do this for any other app but you may be logged out and lose your preferences. It also helps you in managing the digital footprint.
Check (in-app) downloads
At times, you may be confused why your storage is full while you only have a few GBs worth of photos, videos and other data.
Well, remember all those Netflix and Youtube files you may have downloaded?
Well, they don’t show up as “files” when you scan your device. This is done to prevent them being copied or shared. But, they still take up space on your device.
Hence, you can free up storage by going to the “downloads” section of your streaming services (Netflix/ Youtube/ some music apps etc.)
Final words- How to Clean Your iPad from Unnecessary Files: A Tech Expert’s Personal Guide
If you follow the methods to clean your iPad listed above, you should have a shining new iPad by now.
Do note that you can also clean your iPad in a number of other ways. However, they’re either too technical or just not worth the effort. E.g. you could always factory reset your device but then you’d be erasing everything on it permanently.
I’d say sync as much data to the cloud as possible, avoid downloads, and try to clear data as soon as your work is done with said data.
Of course, the simplest (and tedious) option is to go through your entire media gallery and delete what you don’t need manually. That’s it then, I hope this answered how to clean your iPad from unnecessary files.
