Ewe Mama Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) My iPad is constantly telling me my storage is almost full and it won't let me download the PDFs files I buy for school. I figured if I increased my iCloud storage option to 50 GB, my problems would be solved, but the same issue keeps arising. Do I not understand how this whole thing works? Also, I have been using iUnarchive for my zip files. It tells me I am just about out of space. I have tried using Dropbox a bazillion times and. Cannot. Figure. It. Out. Is there an idiot's guide to Dropbox somewhere? If someone could help me figure this out, I would greatly appreciate it! Small words with step-by-step directions, if possible. :) Edited May 23, 2016 by Ewe Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 It's because you're downloading the files. If they're also stored in the cloud (or in your amazon library etc.) you can delete the older material from your device. If you ever need the material again, you'd just download it back again. Think of it as bookshelf & your desk. Right now you're keeping everything on your desk & also have copies of it on your bookshelf. You want to move stuff you're not using right now off your desk and just keep it on your bookshelf for when you need it.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 It's because you're downloading the files. If they're also stored in the cloud (or in your amazon library etc.) you can delete the older material from your device. If you ever need the material again, you'd just download it back again. Think of it as bookshelf & your desk. Right now you're keeping everything on your desk & also have copies of it on your bookshelf. You want to move stuff you're not using right now off your desk and just keep it on your bookshelf for when you need it.... OK, I grasp that analogy well, but how to I get the files I just purchased that are in PDFs and Zips downloaded and then put onto the "book shelf" on the cloud? I have been downloading and then emailing the files to myself, and then deleting the files on Adobe. There has to be an easier way! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) Sorry..double post Edited May 23, 2016 by Ewe Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 that partly depends where you're getting things from. If you've been downloading them onto a laptop or desktop computer you should keep those files. If you upload things into google docs or dropbox or icloud, then you can delete the copies you have on your computers & Ipad & just keep the copies in the cloud. When you need them again, you'd need to download them. so I think your process with the things you have on your ipad now will be to see if you have other copies of those items somewhere else (either on the harddrive of a computer or in the cloud). If you do, then just delete them off your ipad. If you don't, then upload them first to dropbox, verify they're there, and then delete them from your ipad. To upload to dropbox from your ipad, look at the instructions here. https://www.dropbox.com/en/help/84 You'll want to use the 'other files' instructions. if the content is something you have from ibooks or from amazon kindle stores, you can just go into your app & delete the content without uploading it. That content already has copies in the cloud so you don't need to save a 2nd copy in dropbox. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 You can look and see where your memory is going (well the IPad's memory!) by looking under settings > general > usage. If you have upgrades pending, for instance, that takes up memory - if you're not planning on updating the iOS, it can be deleted. You will be able to see how much memory each app is using. I've also had a couple of weird instances (on my iPhone) where things I've deleted still show up when the phone is plugged into the computer making it necessary to also delete them via iTunes on the computer (this has happened with tv programmes mostly). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 I kept having this problem with the storage full message until I googled online and found that it was all the cached Internet stuff that was using up storage. This info is not available when you look at usage, but is very common. In Settings, select your browser and then "Clear History and Website Data". You may have to sign back into some sites, like this one, but you will likely see a dramatic increase in the storage available. Before I figured this out, I was deleting apps to free up storage. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 I kept having this problem with the storage full message until I googled online and found that it was all the cached Internet stuff that was using up storage. This info is not available when you look at usage, but is very common. In Settings, select your browser and then "Clear History and Website Data". You may have to sign back into some sites, like this one, but you will likely see a dramatic increase in the storage available. Before I figured this out, I was deleting apps to free up storage. Good luck! Thanks for this. I try to do this monthly, but sometimes forget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 So after reading some reviews, I opted to download Google Drive instead. I had signed up for extra iCloud storage directly on my iPad, but it apparently wasn't being used. Do I need to keep this storage option, or can I go back to just the normal setting, rather than paying 99 cents per month for the extra 50GB? Off to try to figure out Drive now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Egads! I have wasted my entire morning trying to figure out Google Drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Is the iPad your only computer? If not, here's how I would do it... On your home computer (not ipad), I would deal with all the pdfs and things. First, I would download them to a folder, then I would upload them to google drive or iCloud or whatever could you'd like. From there, you can access them through the google drive or iCloud apps on your iPad. When you do it this way, you are only looking at the documents, but not actually downloading them to the iPad. This saves a lot of storage, but means you can only access the documents when connected to wifi. If you want to be able to access them offline, you can download them to the iPad from google drive. You must have A LOT of documents saved on your iPad! Almost all of my memory goes to movies- only 3-4 at a time- that I keep downloaded to the iPad for long train rides for the kids. If you happen to have any movies on your iPad, I would put them back in the cloud, because they take up huge amounts of space. Because you have iCloud, make sure you have the photo thing set up so that your photos and home videos are not stored locally, but instead go straight to the cloud as soon as you are connected to wifi. This can also save a lot of memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 My desktop is currently giving me fits. It is attempting to do an update, but it is stuck. I can't even get it to respond to F8 to boot it in Safe Mode. It will be going in to the computer people tomorrow. Most of my memory is for homeschooling PDFs on Adobe, GoodReader (which I absolutely loathe), and iUnarchive (which I really like). I need to shift all of the currently unused files over to the iCloud, but I can't figure out what to do. GoodReader keeps telling me to use the Connect button, but it doesn't show me what the connect button looks like and every time I tap around to try to find it, a file opens, and the margins get all funky and I can't get out of it. If someone can tell me the easiest way to connect with my iCloud and get everything transferred over, without causing me any more grey hair, I would be very grateful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 I kept having this problem with the storage full message until I googled online and found that it was all the cached Internet stuff that was using up storage. This info is not available when you look at usage, but is very common. In Settings, select your browser and then "Clear History and Website Data". You may have to sign back into some sites, like this one, but you will likely see a dramatic increase in the storage available. Before I figured this out, I was deleting apps to free up storage. Good luck! I have had the same problem with storage on my iphone. You mention 'cached'. What does 'cached' mean anyway? What exactly is getting dumped if I clear out things that are cached? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 cache is just a local temporary copy of stuff you've accessed online. It's sort of you like our browsing history but it also keep things like the layout of pages and the code associated with it so that when you access the file again it already 'knows' a bunch of info about how to lay it out etc. It's primarily used to make it faster for you. When you dump the entire cache, the next time you access something (a web page for ex) it will go and get all the details from scratch to know how to display it for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 There's a trick to getting rid of temporary files you no longer need. Go to iTunes and try to rent a long movie. (War and Peace works well.) When you try to watch/download it, it will tell you there is not enough room. If you do this a few times, the iPad will get rid of lots of unnecessary files trying to make room. As long as you don't have enough room at the end, you won't be changed for the movie. If you do get charged, I've heard its pretty good and much cheaper than other disk cleaning options. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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