iPad mini Help Needed: Understanding System Storage Usage on iPad Mini 2

[Heinzja]

I hope someone can help me with an issue I'm experiencing with my iPad Mini 2 (16GB). When I check the storage settings, I see the following:

Settings -> General -> iPad Storage -> Scroll Down System: 6.65GB
Please see pic below...

I’m curious about what this "System" storage is used for. It seems excessive, especially considering that the total memory is only 16GB—almost half of it is being used by the system. I've noticed that this system memory varies between 5GB and 7GB.

If this memory usage is necessary and fixed, why is it displayed at all? I would like to reclaim some of this memory if possible. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this, or at least an explanation for why this amount of storage is needed?

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[leslieg]

It's the operating system. yes, it sucks when your device is only 16gb. you can't reclaim it back.
16gb really isn't enough storage space these days to do anything. you may want to consider upgrading.

 

[rui no onna]

It’s the operating system and system cache.

Honestly, I think the only way to reduce that temporarily is to erase the iPad and setup from scratch. Unfortunately, it will go back up eventually.

Mind, I believe your iPad is stuck at iOS 12 which isn’t as bad. My M1 iPad Pro shows iPadOS 18.53GB and System Data 21.19GB for a total of ~40GB used by the operating system.

 

[chown33]

The list of things shown in the screenshot identifies a number of apps as "Never Used". I suggest looking into deleting those to regain some storage space. If they are apps in the App Store, they can be redownloaded later.

Remove or delete apps from iPad

Remove or delete apps from your iPad. If you change your mind, you can download the apps again later.

support.apple.com

 

[Heinzja]

Thank you everyone!
I feared that the system memory is something like the equivalent of the Windows swap file or similar. It’s debatable if the system memory should be shown like this since we cannot delete or manipulate this file.

I love this little iPad Mini 2 regardless of the low memory, and honestly, I can delete countless apps I do not use.
I use this Mini as “Notebook”, Address Book , Calendar, Podcast-Player, News Reader, e-Mail reader, to look up things (Dropbox, iCloud, Box, Amazon Pics, Google Pics, etc etc, nothing really serious which would required MS Office with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, outlook, lots of Adobe Apps etc. etc. to use on this Mini...
I kept them/installed them for reason of practicality when I reinstall another iPad from backup, so I have all my apps pre-installed and can afterwards delete the ones I do not use on the new device.
I got a second-hand iPad Pro and an iPad Air as well and was able to set up all iPads in a very short time without any problem with the wallpaper, lockscreen, app groups, and layout all equal, so it’s very nice and practical to use when and where I want without to configure everything again from the beginning...
Thanks again for your help...

 

[Ungibbed]

One such thing you can try is clearing out your history in Safari (or other web browsers) to chip away at how much storage is being used by the system.