Here's how you can delete old iCloud backups right from your iPhone, iPad or Mac and free up some precious cloud storage space in a snap.
iCloud is a great way to backup your photos / videos, and keeping things in sync across devices. All is good until you start to realize that you're running out of cloud storage space, and panic ultimately ensues. There are two things you can do to make sure that you don't hit your boiling point: either you invest in more storage space, or, you can delete unnecessary and unneeded iOS backups from iCloud and keep things manageable and fresh. We're going to focus on the latter, and show you how you can delete old iCloud backups from your account using your iOS device as well as your Mac.
Delete Old iCloud Backups Using iPhone, iPad
1. Unlock your iOS device and tap on Settings.
2. Now tap on iCloud.
3. Tap on 'Storage.'
4. Now you're going to tap on 'Manage Storage.' Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this may take a while to load up, but ultimately you'll get there, so be patient.
5. You'll be presented with a bunch of different backups at the top. Carefully source the backup which you do not need and want to delete. For the sake of this guide, we're going to select the iPad backup and tap on it. Your option can be different though.
6. Now tap on 'Delete Backup.' You'll be presented with a pop-up asking for confirmation, so tap on 'Turn Off & Delete.'
After a few minutes, the iCloud backup will be deleted and you'll be left with an abundance of cloud storage space.
Delete Old iCloud Backups Using Mac OS X
1. Launch 'System Preferences.' You can do it by clicking on the Apple logo in the Menu Bar, then clicking on System Preferences.
2. Now click on 'iCloud' in the list of available options.
3. At the bottom right corner there's a button labelled 'Manage,' click on it.
4. Just like on iOS, you'll be presented with a bunch of different options, with 'Backups' sitting at the top. Click on 'Backups.'
5. Click on the iOS backup you wish to delete to select it. Then click on the 'Delete' button at the bottom.
6. You'll be presented with pop-up, asking you to confirm your action. Click on 'Delete' to make the leap towards deletion.
And that's all there is to it.
if you have an iOS device with the base storage configuration, then we highly recommend that you invest in more iCloud storage to keep things ticking over. After all, you never know where those extra few megabytes of cloud storage could come in handy.
