How to Delete Offline Downloads on iPhone

You downloaded a season for a flight, a playlist for the gym, or a few long videos, and then forgot them. Later, Settings → General → iPhone Storage shows Netflix, Spotify, or YouTube with a large Documents & Data number. Photos looks fine. The bar that will not move belongs to the streaming app.

Those files are not in the camera roll, and they are not the grey System Data bar. They sit in the app’s sandbox. Optimize iPhone Storage and Google Photos Free up space only change Photos, so neither one deletes a download. The same pile shows up on a parent’s phone after a trip, and on an old iPhone a child is using after someone saved a season and left it.

Each app hides the delete control in a different menu. The steps below follow Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube’s iPhone help pages as of 2026. Labels move between versions. If a name differs, look for Downloads, App Settings, Remove all downloads, or Background & downloads. For how App Size and Documents & Data work on any app, see how to clear Documents & Data on iPhone.

The same pattern on every app

1. Open Settings → General → iPhone Storage and tap the app. If Documents & Data is the large number, the downloads are the problem, not the App Store download.
2. Delete the offline copies inside that app. Removing a title from a list (My List, a playlist, Watch later) does not delete the file.
3. Turn off the switch that downloads the next thing without asking, or the space comes back.
4. Open iPhone Storage again. The number can lag for a minute. Leave the screen and return if it looks stale.

Deleting the app removes the sandbox, including every offline file. Your account comes back when you sign in. The downloads do not, and saving them again is subject to that service’s limits. Use delete-the-app only when you are done with the offline copies.

Netflix

A season you saved for a flight can still be on the phone weeks later, and some of it may be episodes you never picked. Smart Downloads keeps fetching the next one. Removing a title from My List does not delete the download.

Three things put files on the phone, and only the first is you:

• Titles you downloaded — movies and episodes, at the quality set in App Settings.
• Download Next Episode — when you finish a downloaded episode, Netflix deletes it and downloads the next one on Wi-Fi. A series never stops taking space.
• Downloads for You — Netflix picks titles and downloads them on Wi-Fi, up to a storage amount you set. That amount is per profile, so several profiles can hold several allotments. It is not offered on ad-supported plans.

Netflix also caps downloads. Ad-free plans allow up to 100 active downloads per device. Ad-supported plans allow 15 downloads per device per calendar month. Downloads expire after a period of time (Netflix does not publish one fixed number), and some titles can only be downloaded a set number of times per year. An expired entry is still yours to delete. Netflix’s own fix for an expired download is to delete it and download it again.

Remove one Netflix title or episode

1. Open Downloads (the Downloads icon at the top, or My Netflix → Downloads, depending on version).
2. For a series, tap the show first to see its episodes.
3. Tap the download status icon next to the movie or episode.
4. Tap Delete Download.

The title stays on My List and in Continue Watching. You can download it again later unless it has left Netflix or hit its yearly download limit.

Delete every Netflix download

1. Tap My Netflix in the lower right.
2. Tap your profile name at the top.
3. Tap App Settings.
4. Under Downloads, tap Delete All Downloads, then Delete.

Then check Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Netflix. A different button does a different job: My Netflix → profile name → Account → Mobile download devices → Remove device wipes downloads on another phone so it stops counting toward your plan’s device limit. It does not free space on the phone in your hand.

Settings that decide how big Netflix gets

All of these are in My Netflix → profile name → App Settings:

• Smart Downloads — two switches. Turn off Download Next Episode if you want downloads to stay put after you watch them. Turn off Downloads for You, or shrink the storage it may use for this profile.
• Download Video Quality (Video Quality on some versions) — Standard uses the least storage. High or Higher plays up to 1080p and takes more space. It applies to new downloads.
• Wi-Fi Only — keeps downloads off cellular. It does not limit storage. Netflix will not let you change it while downloads are still pending.

On a shared phone, check each profile. Downloads for You storage is set per profile.

Spotify

Playlists for a flight and a podcast backlog for the gym land in two separate piles: your downloads and a cache of recently played audio. They have separate buttons. Clearing one leaves the other. Both live under Settings and privacy → Data-saving and offline. Spotify has renamed this screen over the years. If a label differs, look for Storage, Remove all downloads, and Clear cache.

• Downloads — playlists, albums, podcast episodes, and anything else you switched Download on for. Spotify stores them encrypted inside the app, which is why only Spotify can remove them.
• Cache — parts of songs and podcasts Spotify saves so playback starts without lag. Clearing it does not remove downloads.

Spotify’s own rules: up to 10,000 tracks on each of up to 5 devices, and the phone has to go online at least once every 30 days or downloads stop being available. Premium can download albums and playlists. The free tier can only download podcasts. Spotify also recommends keeping at least 1 GB free on the phone for the app to run well. If you use Apple Music as well, the parallel steps are how to delete Apple Music downloads.

Remove one episode, playlist, or album

1. Open Your Library and tap Downloaded.
2. For a podcast episode, tap the three-dot menu next to the episode, then Remove.
3. For a playlist or album, open it, tap the green download arrow, then Remove.

Spotify’s help documents downloads per playlist, album, and episode. If a song has no remove-download option of its own, it is on the phone because its playlist or album is downloaded, including Liked Songs if you switched Download on for that list. A large Liked Songs collection can be thousands of tracks. Removing a download does not unlike the song. Remove from playlist and Unlike edit the library and are not a reliable way to delete the file.

Remove every Spotify download

1. Tap your profile picture, then Settings and privacy.
2. Tap Data-saving and offline.
3. Under Storage, tap Remove all downloads.
4. Optional, on the same screen: tap Clear next to Clear cache.

Then check Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Spotify. The cache refills as you stream, so a little of that space comes back with normal listening.

Settings that decide how big Spotify gets

• Download quality — Settings and privacy → Media quality. Higher quality uses more space. Very high (about 320 kbit/s) is over three times Normal (about 96 kbit/s), and Lossless on Premium is larger again.
• Downloads over cellular — Data-saving and offline → Downloads and streaming. Off by default, so downloads wait for Wi-Fi. It controls data use, not how much gets stored.
• Download switches on playlists — turn off lists you only needed once, and Liked Songs if you never listen offline.
• Podcasts — remove episode downloads after you listen. Apple Podcasts is a separate pile: how to delete old podcasts.

On the free tier, storage is mostly podcast episodes and cache. Remove episodes from Your Library → Downloaded, then clear the cache.

YouTube

Offline copies need YouTube Premium, and they are not in Photos. Clearing watch history or unliking a video does not delete them. YouTube does have a one-tap Delete downloads button, and it sits in Settings, not in the Downloads list. YouTube renames its tabs often (Library is now part of the You tab on current versions). If a label differs, look for Downloads and Background & downloads.

The Downloads playlist mixes two kinds of file:

• Videos you downloaded yourself — single videos and playlists, at the quality you picked.
• Smart downloads — recommended videos YouTube saves from your watch history. New ones arrive about every seven days and replace the previous batch, so this pile does not empty itself.

Downloads play offline for up to 29 days. After that the phone has to reconnect so YouTube can re-check them. In some countries the window is 48 hours. On reconnect, YouTube removes videos that are no longer available offline, and only those. The rest stay until you delete them. If Premium ends, delete the downloads yourself rather than leaving them in the list. Playback needs the same Premium account to stay signed in.

Remove one YouTube video

1. From the video: tap Downloaded below the video, then Delete.
2. From the list: You (or Library) → Downloads → the three-dot menu → Delete from downloads.

Smart downloads come off the same way. Remove from Watch later or Remove from playlist changes a list and leaves the file.

Delete every YouTube download

1. Tap your profile picture, then Settings.
2. Open Background & downloads.
3. Tap Delete downloads and confirm.

This removes manual downloads and Smart downloads together. To keep one or two videos, delete the rest one by one from the Downloads list instead. Then check Settings → General → iPhone Storage → YouTube.

Settings that decide how big YouTube gets

All three live under Settings → Background & downloads:

• Smart downloads — turn it off from the Downloads playlist (three-dot menu → Settings → Smart downloads), or cap it: Adjust Smart downloads → Custom, then set the storage you are willing to give it.
• Download quality — applies to future downloads. Higher quality uses more storage.
• Download over Wi-Fi only — on by default. It stops downloads on cellular. A Wi-Fi connection still fills the phone.

YouTube Music is a separate app with its own Documents & Data line. Clearing one does not touch the other.

What will not free this storage

• Removing titles from a list — My List, Unlike, Remove from playlist, and clear watch history edit an account. The file stays. Check the Downloads list afterwards.
• Waiting for expiry — Netflix expiry and YouTube’s 29-day window stop playback. They do not empty the phone. Delete the entry.
• Spotify Clear cache on its own — downloads stay. Use Remove all downloads.
• Removing a Netflix device on the account page — that clears a different device.
• Offloading the app — downloads survive it.
• Optimize iPhone Storage and Google Photos Free up space — Photos only. If either one already ran and the phone is still full, read why Optimize did not move the bar or why Free up space did not, then come back to the app row.
• Photos or Safari cleanup — worth doing when those bars are large (empty Recently Deleted, Safari and app cache). They do not shrink Netflix, Spotify, or YouTube.
• Another app’s cleaner — iOS keeps each sandbox private. Spotify’s own help tells you to turn cache-cleaning apps off when downloads go missing.

If the phone is still full once these apps are back to their app size, the next places are usually your own videos and the rest of the storage list: large videos, free up storage on iPhone, and free storage without deleting keepers. On a visit, the same check is the storage step in helping a parent with their iPhone and, a few months later, when a phone you gave a child says it is full.

Where Phone Diet: Clean Up Storage helps

Phone Diet: Clean Up Storage (App Store id 6748653777 — not Cleanup by Codeway, not CleanMyPhone by MacPaw) cannot delete Netflix, Spotify, or YouTube downloads. iOS keeps each app’s Documents & Data private, so only the button inside that app can clear them.

After those downloads are gone, the Photos library is usually the next large row: duplicates, similar shots, screenshots, and oversized videos. The scan is on-device, so photos never leave the phone, and deletions wait in a 30-day undo vault. It has no access to Netflix, YouTube, or Spotify storage. More guides at cleanupmyphone.com.

Frequently asked questions

Does deleting a Netflix download remove it from My List?

No. Delete Download removes only the offline file. My List and Continue Watching stay, and you can download the title again while it is on Netflix and under its download limit.

Why does Netflix keep downloading episodes I did not pick?

Smart Downloads. Download Next Episode replaces each watched episode with the next one, and Downloads for You adds recommended titles. Both are switches under My Netflix → profile name → App Settings → Smart Downloads.

What does “downloads on too many devices” mean?

Your plan limits how many devices can hold downloads at once. Free a slot on a device you no longer use, or from My Netflix → profile name → Account → Mobile download devices → Remove device. That does not free space on this iPhone.

Does removing a Spotify download delete the song from my library?

No. It deletes only the offline file. The playlist, album, or Liked Songs entry stays, and you can download it again later.

Does Clear cache remove my Spotify downloads?

No. Clear cache and Remove all downloads sit next to each other under Settings and privacy → Data-saving and offline → Storage. Use Remove all downloads for offline music.

Can I free space on Spotify’s free tier?

Yes. The free tier can only download podcasts. Remove episodes from Your Library → Downloaded, then use Clear cache.

Does Delete from downloads remove a YouTube video from history or Likes?

No. History, Likes, and playlists stay on your Google account. You can download the video again while you have Premium.

Do YouTube downloads delete themselves after 29 days?

No. After 29 days offline (48 hours in some regions) they stop playing until the phone reconnects. On reconnect YouTube removes only videos that are no longer available offline. Everything else stays until you delete it.

Can I keep a few YouTube downloads and clear the rest?

Yes, but not with Delete downloads, which removes everything. Use Delete from downloads on each video you want gone, and turn off Smart downloads so recommendations do not take their place.

Can Phone Diet: Clean Up Storage delete these downloads?

No. Only Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube can open their own offline files on iOS. Phone Diet: Clean Up Storage handles the Photos side of a full phone, on-device, with a 30-day undo vault. App Store: apps.apple.com/app/id6748653777. Not Cleanup by Codeway. Not CleanMyPhone by MacPaw.