Drop Help

Keeping your recordings safe

Drop keeps the same library on every device signed in to your iCloud account. Most of the time that's what you want. It also means a few actions reach further than the device in your hand, and this page explains what each one does.

Deleting a recording

When you delete a recording, Drop deletes it from this device, from iCloud and from your other devices, including your Mac. Deleting can't be undone.

Keep a copy

If you want a take to survive a delete, export it first. On iPhone, share or export it as a file. On Mac, drag it into your DAW or a Finder window. Files in your Mac export folder belong to you, and Drop never deletes them, even when you delete the recording in Drop.

Before you delete, Drop tells you whether a recording has been exported on your Mac. That means a file was written at some point. It doesn't prove the file is still there: if you moved or deleted it since, check your export folder before you delete the recording.

What the sync status means

The bottom of the recorder shows what Drop is doing with iCloud. While it's uploading, you'll see that. Once everything has uploaded, it shows how many recordings are synced. Your Mac picks them up a little later, the next time it checks for changes.

A synced recording is in your iCloud account. Syncing keeps your devices matching, so it copies deletes as well as new takes. For a copy that stays no matter what, export it.

If the status says iCloud is full or sync is paused, your recordings stay on your iPhone and upload once the problem is fixed.

Remove from This Device

Recordings take up space on your iPhone. When you need that space back, you can remove a recording's audio from this device and keep the recording.

Swipe left on the recording, or open it and tap the More button (three dots).
Tap Remove from This Device.

Drop shows how much space it freed. The first time, it explains what's about to happen before removing anything.

What stays and what changes

The recording stays in your library with its name, folder, waveform and transcript.
Its audio stays in iCloud.
Your Mac and your other devices aren't affected.
It still counts toward your free allowance, because it's still in your library.

To listen again, tap Play. Drop downloads the audio first, so you need an internet connection. To download without playing, swipe left and tap Download.

CarPlay only lists recordings whose audio is on your iPhone. Download the ones you want before you drive.

When Drop won't remove audio

Before removing anything, Drop checks that the audio is in iCloud. You might briefly see "Checking iCloud". If Drop can't confirm it, the audio stays on your iPhone and Drop tells you why:

Waiting to finish uploading to iCloud. The recording hasn't finished uploading. Try again once you're online and it has synced.
Drop can't confirm this audio in iCloud yet. Try again later.
Stop playback to remove audio from this device. The recording is in the player. Stop it, or play something else, and try again.

Removing several at once

To act on a few recordings, tap Select, choose them, then use the More menu.
To act on a whole folder, group the list by folder and use the More menu in that folder's header. It offers Download All and Remove from This Device, with the number of recordings each one applies to.
To find the biggest files, go to Settings > Storage > Review Downloads. It lists every recording stored on this device with its size, and you can sort by Largest First.

Drop always asks before removing more than one recording.

Update messages

A recording made with a newer version of Drop may need an app update before another device can play or export it. You may see an update message, or the action may fail. How Drop works explains what to do.

Your iCloud storage

Your recordings live in your own iCloud account, so they count toward your iCloud storage. Drop uses your iCloud instead of servers of its own. In Drop, Settings > Storage shows how much audio is on this device and how many recordings are only in iCloud.

If iCloud is full, Drop keeps recording on your iPhone, but new recordings won't sync until you free up space or add more. To see what's using your iCloud storage, open the Settings app and go to [your name] > iCloud.

Extra iCloud storage comes from Apple's iCloud+ plans. You pay Apple for it, and every app that uses iCloud shares the same space: Photos, device backups, Drop and the rest. Drop has no subscription. Drop Pro is a single purchase.

Your free allowance

Without Drop Pro, you can keep up to 25 recordings at a time, whether you recorded or imported them. Deleting a recording frees a slot. Exporting one, or removing it from this device, doesn't, because the recording is still in your library.

Drop Pro removes the limit with a one-time purchase.

Last updated September 2026.