Between photos, music, and apps, it’s all too easy to fill up every bit of memory on your iPhone or iPad. Running out of space can slow down the apps you currently have, prevent you from getting new ones and lead to more glitchy lock ups on your device. That means big trouble for your home inspection business, particularly if you rely on several different apps for your home inspection, invoicing, and voice recording needs. Here’s how to free up some extra storage space without forking over serious dough for an upgrade.

Triage the Trouble

The first step to freeing up space is understanding where you’re spending your memory. Tap “Settings,” then “General,” then “Usage” to read up on which programs are taking up the biggest chunks of your memory. Videos and photos tend to consume the largest amount of space, but if you have several games or home inspection-related business apps, that can sap your memory too. If you’re the kind of person who, like us, regularly tries out new apps, chances are that there are at least a few on your phone that you aren’t using. Once you’re in the Usage section, you can decide if you’d like to eliminate a few apps, delete some videos that are hogging your space, or purchase more storage. Remember, you can also back things up in your cloud storage and delete them from your phone.

Export, Export, Export

Cloud space can also fill up fast, but thankfully it’s not the only place where you can store material. Box offers up to 10 GB of online storage space for absolutely nothing and up to 100GBs for $10 per month. You can also save storage by switching to streaming services. Instead of loading your phone or iPad up with music, streaming services like Rdio and Spotify allow you to stream almost any song you want for a small monthly fee. Pandora offers a free version of streaming music, but you’ll have to weather a few ads or pony up a few bucks per month for a premium subscription.

Cache In

Cleaning out your phone’s cache probably won’t free up a ton of space, but it can make your device run faster and smoother. A cache is where your phone stores temporary files. Any browser you use, whether it be Safari or Chrome, has a cache that needs a bit of clearing every now and then. To empty your cache, make sure that the browser you use most often is closed. (To do that, double click on your home button and scroll through the apps you have open until your browser comes up. If it does, swipe your finger upwards to remove it). Once your browser is fully closed, tap “Settings” and scroll down to the name of the browser, then tap “Clear Cookies and Data.” Word of warning, clearing your cookies will free up a bit of space, but it will also delete any login information you have saved. While you’re in settings, you can also free up a bit more space by clearing your browser’s history. The “Clear History” button is located just above cookies and data. This video can walk you through how to clear your cache and delete cookies on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch: