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The yellow section in the iPhone storage bar represents Photos and media — your entire camera roll including photos, videos, Live Photos, bursts, and screenshots. It is usually one of the largest storage consumers. To reduce it, delete unwanted photos and videos, empty your Recently Deleted album, enable iCloud Photos with Optimize iPhone Storage, or use a photo cleaner app like Swype Photo Cleaner to quickly sort your library.
Every Color in the iPhone Storage Bar Explained
When you go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage, iOS displays a color-coded bar showing what is consuming your space. Here is what each color means:
- Gray (large section): System and System Data — iOS itself, caches, logs, and temporary files. You cannot directly delete most of this.
- Light blue: Apps — the apps themselves (not their data). Offloading unused apps reduces this.
- Yellow: Photos — all photos, videos, screenshots, and Live Photos in your library.
- Green/teal: Messages — text messages, iMessage attachments, photos and videos shared in conversations.
- Dark blue: Mail — email attachments and cached messages.
- Orange: Media — music, podcasts, and downloaded video content from streaming apps.
- Light gray (end of bar): Available free space.
How to Reduce the Yellow (Photos) Section
Photos are usually the easiest category to shrink because you likely have hundreds or thousands of photos you no longer need. Here are the most effective strategies:
1. Delete Unwanted Photos and Videos
Open the Photos app and go through your camera roll. Delete blurry shots, duplicates, old screenshots, and videos you will never watch again. Swype Photo Cleaner makes this fast — swipe left to delete, right to keep — and you can sort through hundreds of photos in minutes.
2. Empty the Recently Deleted Album
Deleted photos sit in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days before being permanently removed. Until then, they still take up storage. Go to Albums > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All to reclaim that space immediately. See our guide on clearing recently deleted photos.
3. Enable iCloud Photos with Optimize Storage
Go to Settings > Photos > iCloud Photos and enable it, then select Optimize iPhone Storage. This keeps full-resolution photos in iCloud and stores smaller thumbnails on your iPhone, potentially saving 20-60 GB depending on your library size.
4. Remove Large Videos
Videos consume far more space than photos. A single one-minute 4K video takes roughly 400 MB. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Photos > Review Personal Videos to find and delete the largest videos on your device.
How to Reduce Other Storage Categories
If other colors besides yellow are taking up significant space:
- Apps (light blue): Offload unused apps in Settings > General > iPhone Storage. Tap any app and choose Offload App.
- Messages (green): Delete old conversations with large attachments. Go to Settings > Messages and set messages to auto-delete after 1 year.
- System Data (gray): Clear Safari cache, restart your iPhone, or follow our System Data guide.
- Media (orange): Remove downloaded music, podcasts, and offline video content from streaming apps.
For a complete walkthrough, see our complete iPhone storage guide or use our storage calculator to estimate your needs.