I'm trying to delete some files from my iPhone's **Files** app, and I am getting a pop-up message: **"Filename" couldn't be moved to ".Trash" because there isn't enough space.** The volume "User" is out of space. OK 📱🤦 = The first thing I try when running out of space is *try to free up space in files.app* I presume this can't be done by first moving files to .Trash and that a **Delete Immediately** option is needed. I'd like an automation Workflow that will delete files immediately. **Note:** This is not an emergency. I will eventually be able to solve this by moving photos onto my Mac, but while I'm not near my computer or don't have time for that, a quick-and-easy fix would be nice to have. And there are some media files on my iPhone that also exist elsewhere, so I am fine with deleting this redundant data. I am not asking about what to do about an iPhone that is inoperable or won't boot. There is already [a Q&A for that](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/465593/) . I am specifically asking if there is a way to remove data from Files that doesn't require a lot of memory overhead. My phone is still working and can restart. **What are my options?**

I'm using the Files app on iPhone to browse code files I store on iCloud Drive. But when I try to open files with unknown extensions (e.g. .qml, .xyz, .abc,...), I can't view their text content. Is there a way to preview or open any file as plain text on iOS, regardless of extension ?

When moving or copying files in the iOS Files app, if a file with the same name already exists in the target directory, 2, 3, etc. is appended to the filename, and both files are saved. I always end up with lots of duplicates as a result and have to then manually sift through them. How can I make it skip the file in these scenarios or at least give an option to do so, as, e.g., File Explorer on Windows does.

I am using a youtube downloader site within Safari on iOS (18.2.1) to download youtube videos for offline consumption. Those videos are then showing up in the Files app, in the "Downloads" "on my iPhone". So far, I never had any issue. But this morning something went wrong. Instead of downloading two different clips, I ended up with one clip showing up twice (as videoplayback, and "videoplayback 2"). Watched clip 2, swiped left, selected to delete, clip gets deleted, fine. Then I clicked the other clip ... it starts to play, "Oh, same clip, whatever". I swipe and click to delete, but when I do that, I get the below message, which translates to: The file doesn't exist. The file videoplayback could not be deleted, because it doesn't exist So, "Files" still shows that file (with 11.5 MB), but when I click on it to play, nothing happens. I already restarted the iPhone, but the not-existing file is still there, and refuses to be removed. How can I get rid of it?

When I run the Files program on iOS 15.2 and choose "List view", it lists files with each file name having a small icon to the left of it and with the date and file size shown below it. There are also horizontal lines separating each file's entry from the next file's. This allows 11 files to be shown at a time on the screen of my iPhone XR without scrolling being necessary. If no icons were shown, and the dates and file sizes were shown either on the same line as the file names or not at all, then the number of files that could be listed without scrolling being necessary would be much larger, perhaps as great as 20. Can this be done?

I've encountered at least two frustrating issues upon trying to connect to a new SMB server with the iOS files.app (main menu (...) -> connect to server). This question was originally written against iOS 15.3 but similar issues were also experienced with older iOS versions. The q/a have been updated with now current iOS 18.2. ### Issue 1: "The operation couldn't be completed: Operation not supported" This happens with a server configured to restrict itself to SMB3 and above (SMB3, after all, has "only" been around since 2012 ). Server logs report smth along the lines of:

smbd_smb2_request_error_ex: idx[1]  status[NT_STATUS_NOT_SUPPORTED] || at ../../source3/smbd/smb2_negprot.c

### Issue 2: "The file couldn’t be saved because a file with the same name already exists" I've hit this issue a number of times, typically when migrating from an old SMB server to a new one. The same issue was raised on Apple's forums with a fair number of "me too's" but no workable solution has been provided... ### Issue 3: The entire share appears read-only This is a new issue that started with iOS 18: it's become impossible to write anything from the iOS device onto the server due to the share appearing "read-only". Question: are there any workarounds/fixes to these files.app "quirks"?

I am trying to remove some files out of the 'recents' view of the files iOS app without actually deleting the file. My 'recents' list is currently too long, for this view to be of any help for me at this point. Ideally, I can curate individual items that aren't relevant and keep the rest of the list, but if needed - can I just purge all recents and start cleanly?

I can't connect to an SMB share using my iPhone (iOS 15.3.1); when I try to connect to the same hostname, same port, same credentials on my Mac it works fine (I copy-pasted so there's no possibility for typos). What's wrong? The server I have is a TrueNAS server (TrueNAS CORE 12.0-U8) using No-IP dynamic IP service, I tried using a different port, it didn't help. Also, the web interface of the server opens up fine, which proves 1. the dynamic IP is indeed working 2. the port 50080 is open. I appreciate all the help.

Say I have a video or even a photo stored in my iPhones's camera roll(the Photos app). 1) I save it to Files(inside a folder) 2) Connect the phone to my Mac 3) Copy the enclosing folder using the Finder>iPhone>Files tab 4) Now I have the file on my computer Now... lets do the same, but with AirDrop 1) Select the file from the Photos app 2) Airdrop to my Mac. 3) Now I have a second copy of the file on my computer On first glance they look the same: same name and the byte count is(for the most part) the exact same. But, if I compare the two files with the command 'diff' it says they are different. Using an application to compare files byte-by-byte reveals that the top part, the header, is what differs. The files will be 99% the same. Does anyone know the specifics of how Airdrop and copying to Files causes the difference? There are also cases where the files differ in byte count. I would like to find a way to identify these duplicates and delete them. Ios version: 15.5 Iphone XS max thx

When navigating to my iPhone from the MacOS Finder sidebar I only see various apps being displayed. I know I have many more files on my iPhone from files downloaded off Safari that I've placed in the "On My iPhone" storage. How can I see my ***On My iPhone/Documents*** folder from MacOS Finder?

My Documents and Desktop folders from my Mac have been backed up to iCloud. I would like to watch some videos from iCloud, via my iPhone without downloading. But when I open Files app from iPhone, it just downloads the media file to my phone. I know even though I streamed, I'll consume the same amount of data, but if I stream rather than downloading I'll save some time. So, in summary, my question is: **How to stream a video file from Documents, from iCloud to iPhone?**

I would like to copy files from my Windows PC to the root directory of the "On My iPad" section of the Files app via USB cable. I am using Windows 11 and iPadOS 15.8.2. What I mean by "root directory" is the files you get in the topmost directory when you simply select "On My iPad" in the left column of the Files app, under the "Locations" heading. I can't seem to find the place in iTunes to copy it, but I did find the place to browse files from other apps. I tried 3uTools as well, but I'm not sure where to go.

I often need to copy files, (later edit 1:) grouped as folders, between an app and OneDrive. I would wish to write the data straight to OneDrive so I can access it remotely, but that's not possible because the os doesn't allow apps to access data outside the app. Copying the files (later edit 1:) of a folder, from the app to OneDrive is an acceptable workaround for me. I have to use the os integrated Files app, as this is the only app Apple allows to access files of multiple apps, i.e. an app and OneDrive. Unfortunately, probably because Apple hates everything normal, the Files app is unable to copy and paste files by simply copying and pasting files. Instead, the Files app changes each and every file name by adding the date and time before the extension. So

.zip

becomes

2024-01-01 12_03_04.zip

after being copied to OneDrive. [Apple claims](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253955976?answerId=257426289022&sortBy=best#257426289022) that this is typical behaviour because most users expect it, as most apps change file names when copying by adding a timestamp. Yet the Files app doesn't add any timestamp when copying to iCloud. I suppose that's how Apple designed iCloud to be different, by not changing file names on copy, hence why iCloud is better. Be that as it may, I have to use OneDrive and there seems to be no hope for this to be fixed from Apple side, so the question is what are the _different_ options that can be used to simply copy a file from an ipad or an iphone to OneDrive? Later edit1: My initial question refers to "files", and @Aivar Paalberg answer offers a great workaround for an individual file. I edited my question to clarify that I'm refering to files grouped in a folder. So I am interested in copying folders, from an app, to OneDrive, with all the files in them, and not an individual file, or multiple files one by one. Later edit2: Steps to reproduce the issue: 1. In Files app, Go to

My iPad

2. Create a new folder, it will be initially named

folder

, you can leave it like that. 3. Go inside that folder to create a file. 4. One way to create a file is to long press anywhere in the empty space and select

Documents

5. Take any picture by pressing the white button on the right. Touch the

Scan

button on the bottom right. Touch the

button on the bottom right. The

Document.pdf

file is created. 6. Go one folder up and long press on

folder

and click on copy 7. From the left-hand menu in the Files app, go to OneDrive -> Files 8. Long press anywhere and click on

9. Go inside the copied

folder

and check the file inside. Expected behaviour: It is expected that the file is named

Document.pdf

Actual behaviour: The file is named

Document 2024-01-07 15_42_54.pdf

I will update the question after I test with the latest version of OneDrive as suggested by @nohillside in the comments. Later edit3: I can confirm that unfortunately the issue is still present on the current latest version of OneDrive 15.3.2. Immediately after copying, the file appears with the same name, but seconds later the file is renamed with the added timestamp. My current workaround is to zip compress the folder, copy that one to OneDrive, and then uncompress there. The zip file will get a timestamp, but at least all the file names inside are preserved. Not great, but a single rename beats multiple renames.

I’m just starting to use an iPad for work, and I often need to change file extensions. For example, I might need to rename example.txt to example.md. It seems like the way to do this should be to long-tap something in the Files app and tap “Rename”, but this doesn’t work—the rename dialogue hides the file extension. I also tried to make the Siri Shortcut below, but when I ran it on some test files, nothing happened. (It asked for the new extension but didn’t rename anything.) So: how can I change the extension of a file on an iPad? (To be clear: I do not want to “save as” like done [here](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251375632?answerId=252677416022#252677416022).) Thanks.

I'm on iOS 15 and have some files with names that start with ., how do I view them in the Files app?

On iPhone, I took a video in portrait mode and edited it (rotated it) to be in landscape mode. It played in landscape mode. I used Image Capture to copy this video to my Mac. Two files showed up in a Finder folder: IMG_5718.MOV <— but it was still portrait, on Mac IMG_5718.AAE I had deleted the video from Photos on the iPhone. Then I Air Dropped the above two files from my Mac to my iPhone, which showed up in the Downloads folder in the Files app. I selected the two files, Shared and Save Video. The video showed up in Photos app, but it was playing in portrait, not landscape mode. Why doesn't it play in the edited state, which is landscape? Did the AAE file get copied from the Files app to Photos app? If not, how do I copy it over?

How can I read the text of a PDF on my iPhone redrawn to fit narrower columns? So that the words on screen can be bigger and I won't need to scroll sideways to read a line. The best I've found so far is, if I'm lucky and the PDF is friendly, I can Select All and copy->paste from the PDF into Notes. This is not the prettiest. Is there another way to read PDFs with bigger text, without just zooming in (which necessitates sideways scrolling).

When reading PDFs in Files in iOS 17, the background color (behind/around the PDF) is light gray, at least for white-page PDFs. I mean the app's background, not the background of the pages of the PDF How can I make it dark gray or black instead?

Is there currently a simple way to just access/export all data from an iPhone app to a MacBook computer? I have been using a third part app for 5+ years in which I created a lot of data, mostly audio and video files. Unfortunately, it turns out the app doesn't have any sort of 'export' function and I can't access the data in the iOs Files app or in a simple way via my MacBook. I have not found any way to access the data from this third party app. I've tried iMazing, but it seems that the functionality of iMazing seems to have gotten very limited, correct? It seems to only allow me interact a few dedicated apps. I've gotten to a point where I don't even care right now whether I can actually extract the data in a usable format. I would be glad if I can just back up the app in some way or another, to re-install at some later point (including the data) and deal with it later. Is there any way to do any of this? It baffles me that I have so little control over the apps, or even just the data I've created on my iPhone.

If I temporarily have large downloaded files on my phone, can I accelerate iOS (16) backups by simply moving them to the trash, thereby excluding them from iTunes backup altogether? On macOS I know I can do this, but there it's usually enough that I've excluded my Downloads directory permanently. I'm not prepared to do a backup and restore just to find out, but it'd be useful if anyone already knows. There really is no reason to repeatedly backup gigabytes of stuff that can be downloaded again.