If you’re an iPhone or iPad user who frequently downloads apps and prefers to keep media stored locally on your device, you’ve probably run into storage issues at some point. To alleviate this, Apple offers a useful feature called Offload Apps. This feature allows you to remove apps from your device without deleting their associated data. Here’s a look at what app offloading does and how to use it to manage storage on your iPhone and iPad.
What is App Offloading?
Imagine you need to remove an app from your iPhone or iPad to free up storage space. However, you don’t want to lose the app’s data, as it might contain important information. In this situation, you can offload the app instead of deleting it.
Introduced with iOS 11, the Offload App feature helps you conserve local storage on your iPhone and iPad. When you offload an app, it’s removed from your device, but its data is preserved. This way, you can reinstall the app later, and all your data will be restored.
Apple provides options to offload apps manually or automatically on your iPhone and iPad.
How to automatically Offload Apps on iPhone and iPad
If you find manually managing app offloading tedious, you can configure the feature to work automatically. This eliminates the need to constantly monitor your device storage and decide which apps to remove. The feature automatically offloads apps that haven’t been used for an extended period.
Here’s how to enable automatic offloading:
Step 1: Open Settings and navigate to App Store.
Step 2: Enable the Offload Unused Apps toggle.
Alternatively, navigate to Settings → General → iPhone/iPad Storage and tap Enable next to Offload Unused Apps.
How to Manually Offload Apps on iPhone and iPad
If you have specific apps on your iPhone or iPad that you don’t use often but might need in the future, manual offloading is a great option. This is a quick way to free up space, especially when you’re running low on storage.
Here’s how to manually offload apps:
Step 1: Open Settings on your iPhone.
Step 2: Tap General, go to iPhone/iPad Storage, and select the app you want to offload.
Step 3: Tap Offload App.
Step 4: Confirm your choice by tapping Offload App again in the prompt.
How to Reinstall Offloaded Apps on iPhone and iPad
If you need an app that you’ve previously offloaded, you can easily reinstall it. There are two methods to do this:
Step 1: Tap the app icon (which will have a cloud symbol next to it) on your Home Screen to begin the download.
Or:
Step 1: Go to Settings → General → iPhone/iPad Storage.
Step 2: Select the app from the list.
Step 3: Tap Reinstall App.
Unlike deleting an app, which removes it completely along with its data, offloading preserves your data locally while freeing up space. You can remove infrequently used apps without the fear of losing your information.