Free up storage space on your smartphone
Are you tired of getting those daily notifications asking you to empty your cache? I have been there, my friend. It is really a pain when you can’t click a picture or download a nice new app. Nevertheless, don’t worry! I have been a technician for a long time now, so I know some cool tricks of the trade by experience. In this guide, I will tell you my top tips that will remove all the unwanted content and save the telephone more space.
We have set up the first part correctly and so are well on the way to the second part which deals with device speed and functionality. So, take out your phone and let us get started. At the end of this guide, you will find that you are a master of mobile storage management. Are you ready to start freeing up some of your phone’s space? Let’s go!
Understanding Your Phone’s Storage
The initial step is for you to be acquainted with your phone’s storage capacity. It is like a virtual cabinet that holds almost all the downloads (not all, maybe the ones that aren’t needed). Apps, photos, videos, and various small things are kept here. To find “Storage” you can look for settings on your phone. Or you may also see something similar to “System Categories”, “System”, “Storage”, “Memory” or “Others”.
You will see a list showing items that are taking up your phone’s storage. Different smartphones disclose this information differently. E.g., pie charts or a list of items that indicate items sized by file size. Basically, it does not matter how prettified it is, the main ideia is to find the storage spaces and get them to percentages. Usually, those are the bulky ones. Photos, videos, or applications usually can be a potential threat. Bear in mind that if you know that first, you are the one who decides where to start the cleanup.
Quick Wins: Instant Space Savers
To proceed, let’s review some easy wins. It’s like cleaning your room, quick and effective. Start with the clearing of junk files and the cache. The latter is not going to erase any important stuff but can help save up a considerable chunk of the space. Do you like to have 10 copies of the same picture on your phone from one shot only? I’m sure that you don’t actually.
You can wipe out such duplicates by using the method of highlighting and coping the selected ones to your photo album. Most file categories usually are the ones that we forget about, the download folder content. Usually, you have downloaded many files that probably are not necessary anymore. Just take a quick glance at them and get rid of them if they are not needed.
Addressing the Photo Issue
Photos are, in most cases, the biggest storage eaters. But, the good news is that you don’t have to delete the photos that are important to you. You may consider using cloud image storage. Your subscriptions to Google photos or iCloud will grant you free storage for a while. Those let you put the photos of the phone they have online and delete them from the device. However, if cloud storage is not your preference, there’s still a way to resolve the
Tackling App Overload
Apps are sometimes really space-consuming. I’m the one who can’t get rid of apps and is constantly stuffing them into my phone in big amounts. Nevertheless, we can help you with this. To begin with, locate the unused apps when you have done this, press the ones you can easily eliminate. Be stern, if you do not have to access, then the garbage has to go. Just push ‘uninstall’ after you have put your finger on the app’s icon.
Some of the above cannot be deleted, however, they can be turned off to free storage space. To get rid of the app, go to the settings option where you will find an app. Just tap on it and then on the screen, you will see the “turn off” icon.
For the apps you use often, take out their cache. This process will clear out the temporary files without touching the important data. The procedure you have to follow is this: first go the Settings option, then tap on the Apps icon, after this, choose a particular app and then click on ‘clear cache’. By making this habit you will make sure your phone is organized all the time.
Optimizing Media Files
Videos are very size-consuming examples as well. My eureka moment came when I falling into the trap of recording my entire holiday. Get rid of the old-fashioned way of storing and saving only the most popular videos. Remember to keep your files in the Cloud or find the extra expensive files and delete them.
Liking music over space? Check out! Dance to your favorite music without worrying about using more of your phone’s storage with apps like Spotify. If you choose to listen to music offline, then look for the lesser quality of the songs. Even though they will be just as good in the sound aspect, they will take up less space.
Other apps such as voice memos and podcasts also need clearance. Listen to it to it, too, and then throw away the ones that sometimes you don’t need or that are now irrelevant to you.
Leveraging Cloud Storage
All my children have taken the same to school, but Microsoft OneDrive is one thing that is stuck on me and I use everywhere. Cloud apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud are valuable resources where you can put all the files you don’t need to your physical devices. As you become more organized it gives you space in the device for some other data that you may want to access.
Most of the cloud platforms give you a basic amount of free storage. In case you have a need for more then you can always pay for it. I personally feel it’s a legitimate price to pay as I have security in mind which is priceless. Besides, it’s the greatest way to back up important information.
One of the most effective ways of using cloud storage is to set up the feature that allows for automatically syncing the photos and documents you take. After they are made, the backup system makes them as copies just as soon as you make them. You then can easily erase them from your device right away.
Advanced Techniques for Power Users
If you are technically inclined like me, you might want to try some of the more advanced ways. One of these is by downloading the file manager app. These will give you the ability to move your phone’s data around more easily. You will be able to see the hidden files and move them freely.
An add-on trick is moving them to their suitable places if your smartphone can support that kind of feature. Move excess apps to the SD card so that the things you have in the internal storage are solely for the system files and other apps that are unmovable.
Android users can get some extra unused space by erasing the system cache. You will be surprised to see how this can give you the additional room that you need most. Choose recovery mode and then find there ‘wipe cache partition’. It may sound scary, but in truth, it is safe and can be highly efficient.
Maintaining Your Storage in the Long Run
Maintaining your device’s storage switch-on is a continuous process. My practice is to do a monthly clean-up. If you forget, or want to move the date for some reason, mark your calendar for this task. As part of the clean-up, remove the files that are lingering around, clear the app cache, and copy the important data.
It would be a good thing to start using some storage apps for that time. They will not only tell you what intensity of your space consuming but also give you a breakdown of different apps and their usage. They will try to give you the heads-up on space.