One of the best ways to free up storage on the iPhone is staring you in the face

iphone messages storage
Messages take up over a gigabyte of storage on this iPhone. Screenshot

Your iPhone's Messages app is a hidden storage hog.

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Thankfully, video and audio messages delete themselves after a couple of minutes by default, but regular messages, pictures, and GIFs don't, and they can take a lot of space if you don't delete them.

Messages are set to never delete themselves by default, but you can set them to delete after 30 days in your iPhone's settings.

Here's how:

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First, head to your iPhone's Settings app and scroll down until you find Messages.

iphone settings messages skitched
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In the Messages menu, scroll down until you find the "Keep Messages" option. Tap it.

iphone messages 2
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It's set to keep your messages "Forever" by default. Tap "30 days" so your iPhone automatically deletes your messages every month. You'll prevent messages from taking up unnecessary space.

messages history iphone settings
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Apple iPhone
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