iCloud storage full - Can't receive messages. Should I delete backups?

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iCloud storage full - Can't receive messages. Should I delete backups?

Hello everyone!

I've run into a problem that I'm hoping someone can help me with. My iCloud storage is completely full, which has caused me to not be able to receive new messages in iMessage.

They just don't seem to be arriving. I'm running iOS 18.5 on my iPhone.

I suspect that the backups from my iOS devices are taking up the most space, but I'm not sure if I should delete them to free up space. I don't want to lose any important data.

Is this the right way to go? Or are there other, better ways to deal with full iCloud storage without deleting my backups?

Any tips and advice are really appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Should I delete the backup?

iPhone 11

Posted on Jun 18, 2025 03:04 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 18, 2025 06:41 PM in response to TechGameGuru

You may have backups of old devices that you no longer have and may no longer need the backup. For example if you bought a new iPhone and have already used the backup from the previous phone to setup the new one, you can delete the backup of the old phone.

In your screenshot above, tap on "Backups" to see what the backups are and to delete any that you no longer need.

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Answer 2

Jun 19, 2025 09:01 AM in response to TechGameGuru

With all of your 5GB used, you may have trouble doing anything at all. For $1 (I'm thinking that's 12 kr) you can go to 50 GB and have enough room to move things around. Then after you've cleaned things up, you can decide in a month to go back to the free 5GB if you wish.

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Answer 3

Jun 19, 2025 06:49 PM in response to TechGameGuru

If you only have one iPhone, there should only be one backup on iCloud when you go to Manage Storage > Backups. I wouldn't advise deleting your one and only backup on iCloud unless you first backup to a computer as suggested by muguy above.

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