How To Free Up Space On Android Device

It is no secret that the storage of both android phones and tablets can easily be affected and filled up just by downloading apps, media files such as music and movies, and cache data for offline usage. In addition to that, numerous lower-end devices may come with only a few gigabytes (GBs) of storage which entirely does not help.

How To Free Up Storage On Android
How To Free Up Space
How To Free Up Space On Samsung Android Phone
How To Free Up Space On Android Devices
How Do I Free Up Space On Android

Here are, the steps to follow to free up space on Andriod using the pre-install feature. Go to the Settings on your android phone or tablet. Tap on the Storage option from all available menu options. Now, Go to the Clear or FreeUp Space option. A Simple Method for All Android Users. As you can see, clearing cached data on your Android device comes with plenty of advantages. It frees up storage space on your phone, albeit in small amounts, and can also help fix a malfunctioning third-party app at times.

Most of the time will be spent on micromanaging your phone’s internal storage; especially if your device does not have a big internal storage to begin with anyway.

Open up the Settings app and tap on “Storage and memory.” Here you’ll find a button labeled “Free Up Space.” 2. Tap this button and your device will scour its innards for files and apps it can delete.
When you have backed up your photos, delete them from your Android device to free up space. Turn Google Photos’ Back up & Sync feature on to benefit from this free cloud storage space. Open the Google Photos App, navigate to Settings Back up & sync to turn it on. You can choose to back up your photos at a higher resolution, of up to 16.

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If you find yourself regularly freeing up space on your android phones or tablets, you may want to get a phone or tablet with more storage next time.

Accessing the Storage Pane

Latest versions of android contain a Storage Pane that will show you exactly the things taking up space in your device. These are the things that you can decide to delete and to dismember to free up space on your Android device.

To view this, you will have to open Settings on your phone and click on Storage. From here, you will be able to see how much of your device’s space or storage has been taken up by apps and their data, by pictures and videos, audio files, downloads, cached data, and miscellaneous other files.

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However, this may vary according to which version of Android you are using. If you’re using a different and a slightly older version of Android, then the steps might be different.

In Android 8.0 Oreo, Google applied an approach essentially different from other preceding versions of android by breaking down the Storage Menu into a more granular list.

Oreo took a different approach by filing groups and files together by category whereas the list was assorted together by apps and then varying types of files in Nougat and lower.

To put things into perspective, when you open the “Photos and Videos” option, it will not only show you the pictures and videos in your storage but as well as any associated apps such as photo or video editors.

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How can you free up space on Andriod Oreo and other versions?

Some apps may not fall into the predefined categories which is why the category “Other apps” exists to deal with the overflow for everything else. A “Files” option also exists to categorize any file that does not belong to any other group/category.

Despite all this, there is an easy way to free up space on android Oreo without having to deal with all this cluttered mess by clicking onto the “Free Up Space” button at the top.

Read: How to Fix Insufficient Storage Available in Android

Infrequently used apps

This will show you a list of Downloads on your device as well as any photos and videos that have already been backed up (this is a simple check option, not a full list), and any “Infrequently used apps” if applicable.

Choose what you want to delete and just like that, free space on android is now available. No need to pay and to spend anything — it’s free and it’s not difficult to do.

But such as the case that this does not deliver enough free space on android then you may have to manually free up space on your android device.

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Observe different apps and how much data they’re storing—for instance, apps like Google Play Music (or various music streaming apps) can store quite a bit of data as they stream. Free that out so you can enjoy yourself an availability of space.

Free up space on Android Nougat

Meanwhile in Android 7.0 Nougat and below, just tap an option to see exactly what is taking up your space and delete it.

For instance, you could click on Apps to see the list of which among them using up the most space in your storage and remove them.

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How To Free Up Storage On Android

Click on Downloads to view your downloads list from which you may delete files and tap cached data to clear data of all installed apps. Use the other options to see which files are taking up space and delete the ones you no longer want.

Keep in mind that the app itself, its data, and its cache all add up to the total space taken up by the app. For example, if you use Spotify and you have cached a lot of music offline, it is possible Spotify may be using over 1 GB of space.

You could delete Spotify’s cache to forcibly remove this all, or launch the Spotify app and tell it to cache less data for offline listening. Any app that caches data for offline use will function like this.

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You can see how much space an app is using for those data files and remove the cached data for an individual app by tapping it in the Apps list through which you could view by tapping Apps on the storage pane or by tapping Apps on the main Settings screen.

Files Go

Another way to free up space on android is by the use of Files Go that can be installed for free from Play Store. As you may have known, all these free applications in Play Store might be lurking around your storage.

In terms of freeing up space, you can choose to delete it so that you utilize the space more effectively and efficiently.

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Through this, you can see any unused apps (if you have any), low res files, duplicate files, temporary files, downloads, and even those files that are utilizing a large portion of your device’s storage. Among the different ways, it is easy to use and allows you to quickly detect the apps and files that are just wasting storage space.

Clicking on any of the category cards given will let you view contents of said category which will grant you the access to choose what you want to delete. Even the Temporary Files option lets you see which apps are holding on to data, allowing you to clear them out individually.

Additionally, the “Files” button below will let you view your internal storage in a more categorized option that is identical to Nougat or the previous versions of android. This is a great option for people who prefer the old Storage layout.

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Each option will show you a more granular breakdown of its contents. For instance, the Images option will show you everything from that folder, including Screenshots, Downloads, and the like. You can also choose to sort the results by name, date, and size.

Using SD Cards

The usage of SD card can also help you free up space on android devices. However, it is becoming more uncommon in present phones to have a microSD card slot. But if your phone does have one, you may want to take advantage of that by using it.

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The additional storage will be able to hold more music, videos, pictures, and other media files–and, in some cases, and even apps as some apps allow you to transfer their cache locations to the SD card as well.

Moving apps to the SD card depends on which android version you are using. Users running on android Marshmallow and above can do this by simply formatting the SD card as internal storage to free up space on android. The SD card will then be recognized as local storage on that device. The system itself will decide which apps make the most sense to transfer to the SD card.

Transferring to SD card in Android Marshmallow

If you are using a pre-Marshmallow version of Android, you can transfer apps through the use of Android’s built-in features, or move any app by rooting your phone and partitioning your SD card.

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Lastly, photos may use a large portion of your internal storage as well. To prevent this, you can store your media on an app that automatically uploads your photos on an online account like Google Photos, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Flickr, or something else.

Google Photos is automatically installed into the “Photos” app on your Android device and delivers unlimited storage of photos. This way you will not only lose track of your photos but also be able to free up space on android devices.

You may also do this with technique with other files like uploading a large music collection to a service like Google Play Music and stream it back to your device over an Internet connection.

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These techniques may only free up some space on your android device. The next time around, it would be best to choose a phone with the most internal storage space according to your liking.

What do you think about these tips on how you can free up space on Android? This will be relevant especially now that there are a lot of problems happening.

Have you deleted apps only to find that your Android phone's memory is still full? Does it lack a micro SD card expansion slot? Maybe it's chock full of photos and videos that you just don't want to delete.

These problems are common on all smartphones. But unlike iPhones and iPads, Android devices make it easy to free up space through tools built into the OS, as well as Google's free cloud services. This guide will explain all the ways you can de-clutter your Android phone or tablet and maximize your available storage.

NOTE: The following advice assumes you're using Android 4.4 KitKat or higher. Even in that case, there may be some inconsistencies with phones using heavily manufacturer-customized operating systems, like the Samsung Galaxy S6.

Check Your Usage

First and foremost, you'll want to check out your current storage situation to see what's using the most space. Simply go into Android's Settings menu and tap Storage. That will bring up a screen that breaks your local storage down into six categories: Apps, Pictures and Videos, Audio, Downloads, Cached Data, and Misc.

Inside the Storage menu, you can click on each category to go to the appropriate app for managing that particular type of data. Check out the following sections for tips on how to tackle the worst offenders.

Pictures and Video

If you're like most people, your smartphone is your go-to camera. That means there's a good chance pictures and video are some of the biggest storage hogs on your device. But don't worry: You don't have to permanently erase those memories in order to free up space.

Google Photos

You can view photos stored locally on your device by tapping on 'Device folders' in the Google Photos app's menu.
Once you have selected the photos you want to delete from your local storage, tap on the three dots to reveal the 'Delete device copy' button.
Tapping the 'Delete device copy' button will remove the photos from your device. Just make sure they were backed up before you do so.

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You can view photos stored locally on your device by tapping on 'Device folders' in the Google Photos app's menu.
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Once you have selected the photos you want to delete from your local storage, tap on the three dots to reveal the 'Delete device copy' button.
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Tapping the 'Delete device copy' button will remove the photos from your device. Just make sure they were backed up before you do so.

Of course, you'll still need to delete the copies in your local storage. Luckily, that's something Google Photos makes dead simple. Here's how:

Tap the Menu button (in the upper left corner of the screen) and select Device folders.
On next screen, select everything you want to delete.
Tap on the three-dot symbol in the upper right corner to access the Delete device copy button.

The procedure is similar for other media, like movies and books. You can easily delete local copies while still making them available for streaming. Google Play Books and Movies both have Manage downloads pages in their settings menu, where you can delete local copies. If you prefer the Amazon Kindle app, you can do the same there.

Music and Audio

If you're really into music, you're probably using either Spotify or Google Play Music. Both of these services prioritize streaming, but also allow you to download local copies for offline listening. That's a great feature to have, but you can easily forget what you've downloaded and fill up your storage with music you haven't spun in months.

Luckily, it's easy to delete these downloaded copies. Like Play Books and Play Movies, Google Play Music also has a Manage downloads screen in its settings. For its part, Spotify simply has a Make available offline toggle. If you don't want to keep the music around anymore, just flick it to the off position on a case-by-case basis.

For other audio files on your device (like ringtones and voice recordings), tapping on the Audio category under Storage in Settings app will bring up a simple file manager, allowing you to easily get rid of any files you no longer need.

How To Free Up Space

Google Play Music

If you scroll down in the Google Play Music app's settings, you will find the 'Manage downloads' button.
On the 'Manage downloads' screen, tapping on the orange checkmark circle next to a song will bring up a prompt to delete the downloaded copy.
On the 'Manage downloads' screen, tapping on the orange checkmark circle next to a song will bring up a prompt to delete the downloaded copy.

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If you scroll down in the Google Play Music app's settings, you will find the 'Manage downloads' button.
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On the 'Manage downloads' screen, tapping on the orange checkmark circle next to a song will bring up a prompt to delete the downloaded copy.
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On the 'Manage downloads' screen, tapping on the orange checkmark circle next to a song will bring up a prompt to delete the downloaded copy.

How To Free Up Space On Samsung Android Phone

Apps, Cached Data, and Downloads

Before we go into dealing with apps themselves, we recommend you first see how much room you can make by deleting your cached data and downloads. This is the crud that builds up in your phone's memory during day-to-day use, and cleaning it out once in a while is simply a good policy.

If you tap on Cached data in the Storage settings menu, a prompt will appear asking you if you'd like to delete cached data for all apps on your Android device. If you've never done this before, it could end up freeing up a substantial amount of space. (On one well-used phone we managed to clear 2.78 GB.) The Downloads category works much like the Audio category described above, with a file manager where you can manually select what to dispose of.

Android Settings App

Tapping on 'Cached data' in the Storage menu will bring up this prompt to delete all cached data on your device.
If you tap on Apps in the Storage menu, you will be taken to this list of installed apps.
Tapping on an app will bring you to this screen, allowing you clear the app's cache and data, or uninstall it.

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Tapping on 'Cached data' in the Storage menu will bring up this prompt to delete all cached data on your device.
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If you tap on Apps in the Storage menu, you will be taken to this list of installed apps.
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Tapping on an app will bring you to this screen, allowing you clear the app's cache and data, or uninstall it.

Finally, there are the apps themselves. If you've moved all your media to the cloud, cleared your caches, and deleted extraneous downloads, but still need more space, it's time to start purging apps. Tapping on Apps in the Storage menu will bring up a list of all the apps on your device, sorted by how much storage space they use.

How To Free Up Space On Android Devices

From there, you can tap on individual apps to do a few different things. First, you can (and should) Clear Cache, assuming you didn't already clear cached data for all apps. Then, if necessary, Clear Data. Keep in mind that this will get rid of login info, stored preferences, and other assets—in essence, it's like returning an app to its newly downloaded state. And if you want to get rid of the app entirely, you can simply tap Uninstall and follow the prompts.

Using these tips, you should be able to dramatically increase the amount of free space on your Android phone or tablet. But if you're in the market for a new phone, there are things you can do to avoid having to employ any of these methods.

If you're not comfortable surrendering your data to cloud services, we recommend that you look into getting an Android device with expandable storage. Google's focus on the cloud means fewer Android phones come with MicroSD card slots, but those that do can typically accept cards as large as 128 GB, giving you plenty of room to play with. It's an added expense, to be sure, but you'll be grateful for the room when you really have to get that shot.

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