With so many great uses for the iPad, it can be easy to feel the constraint of limited storage space, especially for those with the 16 GB model. But many of us use up more space than we actually need, keeping apps long after they've begun collecting digital dust and using our iPad to store all of our music as if it were a big iPod. Here are a few tips that will help keep your iPad lean and ready for more:

Delete Apps You No Longer Use

One of the best features of the App Store is the lifetime membership you gain anytime you purchase an app. Whether your a downloading it to the same device or installing it on a brand new device, you will always have the option to download any previously-purchased apps so long as you are using the same Apple ID. This means you can buy one app and download it to multiple devices (including the iPhone and iPod Touch for apps that support those devices), but more importantly, you can feel free to delete any apps knowing you can download them again.

If you are running low on space, a simple purge of apps that you no longer use can go a long way toward freeing up enough storage.   Want to find out which apps are taking up the most space?  You can see which apps are the biggest storage hogs by checking your iPad usage under the general settings in the Settings app.  Find out how to check your usage. 

How to delete apps on your iPad

Turn Off the Automatic Photo Stream

Believe it or not, your storage problems may not be an app issue, they may be a photo issue.  My Photo Stream can be a very handy feature, but it can also take up a lot of space.  My Photo Stream uploads a  copy of every recent photo you take on your iPad or iPhone to iCloud and then downloads them to each device.  If you have the automatic photo stream turned on, all photos you take with your iPad are duplicated, and all photos you take on your iPhone are sent to your iPad.   

A good way to get the benefits of Photo Stream without taking up as much space is to turn Photo Stream on and My Photo Stream off.  This allows you to use custom photo streams, which lets you pick which photos to share rather than sharing every single photo.

Turn Off Automatic Downloads

One interesting feature of iOS is the ability to automatically download new apps, music and books purchased on the same iTunes account.  This means your iPad can download the app just bought on your iPhone automatically.  At times, this is a handy feature, especially if you are the only one using your iTunes account.  But if you aren't the only one in your family using an iPad or iPhone, and everyone is hooked into the same account, this 'feature' can turn ugly.  More importantly, it can waste precious storage space.  So it is best to hit the iPad settings and turn off automatic downloads, which is located in the App Store and iTunes settings.  Get detailed instructions on turning of automatic downloads.

Install Dropbox for Photos and Documents

One great way to have access to your photos without having them take up space on your iPad is to keep them on the cloud. Dropbox offers up to 2 GB of free storage, and not only does it make a great way to gain access to photos and other documents, it's also a great way to transfer files from your iPad to your PC. How to setup Dropbox on the iPad

Enable Home Sharing for Music and Movies

If all you want to do is stream music and movies, there's really no need to use up precious storage space on your iPad or go with an expensive solution like an external hard drive. Home Sharing will allow you to share music and movies from your iTunes library to your iPad, which essentially turns your PC into external storage for your iPad. The only prerequisite is that you must have your PC turned on with iTunes running and you must stream over Wi-Fi.

And because we mostly use our iPads at home, this makes home sharing a great way to save a ton of space on the iPad. Your entire movie and music collection can be at your fingertips without taking up space on the iPad, and if you do want to watch a movie while on vacation or listen to some music while on the go, you can load a subset of your collection on your iPad. How to Set Up Home Sharing on the iPad

Buy a Compatible External Hard Drive

Another great way to access your music, movies and photo collection without taking up storage space on your iPad is to buy an external hard drive.  The key here is to buy an external drive that either has Wi-Fi or supports being connected to your router. This allows you to gain access to your media and your documents via Wi-Fi.  But before you buy an external drive, you will want to make sure it is compatible with the iPad.  Not all external hard drives have an iPad app that will give you access to it.   Check out the Best External Drives for the iPad.

 

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