Introduced by Apple in iOS 11, the “Offload Unused Apps” feature on iPhone can be used to automatically remove unused Apps from your iPhone, without losing any Documents & Data associated with the App.
While you can clear up storage space on iPhone by deleting unused apps, the advantage of offloading apps is that it keeps the App related data on your device, which allows you to re-download the apps and pick them up, right from where you had left them.
Depending on your choice, you can either setup your device to automatically Offload Unused apps or manually offload unused Apps on your iPhone.
Offload Unused Apps on iPhone
When the option to Offload Unused Apps is enabled on iPhone, it will automatically remove Unused Apps only when your device is lacking in storage space.
You can find below the steps to free up the storage space on iPhone by offloading Unused Apps, both manually and automatically.
1. Automatically Offload Unused Apps on iPhone
You can follow the steps below to setup your iPhone to automatically Offload unused Apps.
1. Open Settings > scroll down and tap on App Store.
2. On the next screen, scroll down and Enable Offload Unused Apps option.
This will automatically remove all the Unused Apps from your device, whenever your iPhone is lacking in storage space.
The Offloaded Apps will still be visible on the Home Screen of your iPhone with a Cloud Icon next to the Apps.
At any time, you can re-download the Apps by tapping on the cloud icon and start using them.
2. Manually Offload Unused Apps on iPhone
At any time, you can manually Offload Unused Apps on iPhone by following the steps below.
1. Go to Settings > General > tap on iPhone Storage.
2. On iPhone Storage screen, you will be able to see the amount of storage space occupied by various apps on your device and also see the dates on which you had last used these Apps.
After reviewing the Apps, select the App that you want to offload from your device.
3. On the next screen, tap on the Offload App option.
4. On the confirmation pop-up, tap on Offload App to confirm.
5. Repeat the above steps for other Apps that you want to Offload on iPhone
As mentioned above, offloading an App on iPhone will free up the amount of storage space occupied by the App itself (indicated as App Size).
All the App related data will still remain on your device for possible reuse, in case you decide to re-download the App on your device.