Can I Update an iPhone With Almost No Free Storage?

Yes, try updating it from your Windows laptop using Apple’s Devices app, or iTunes if the app isn’t available. Connect the iPhone with a USB cable, make a backup first, then select the device and choose the option to check for updates. A computer-based update can sometimes work when the phone itself doesn’t have enough temporary space, but you may still need to clear a little storage.

Photos and videos are usually the biggest space hogs. Copy them to your laptop or move them to iCloud or another cloud service, then delete the local copies from the phone and empty the Recently Deleted album. After the update, you can transfer anything back if needed.

You can’t expand the iPhone’s built-in storage, so the practical choices are freeing up space, using cloud storage, or connecting an external drive to move files off the phone. Make sure important data is backed up before deleting anything, and don’t assume the update will work if the phone has absolutely no free space.