How To Clean Android Phone Internal Memory: 17 Ways

The efficiency of Android as an operating system has increased recently. Google has put a lot of effort into improving its file management system, and apps are now much cleaner.

Your Android device’s ad-serving engine has also been speedier and more effective. However, doing so has reduced storage capacity, made OS files bigger, made programs heavier, and made games more resource-intensive.

Given all this, it should be a surprise that your Android smartphone may fill up rapidly despite having a high storage space.

At the same time, you can easily see which images, videos, files, documents, programs, and games are using up storage space; the system could classify some things as “Other.”

The system categorizes any unknown storage files as “Other” in the standard memory analyzer on your Android smartphone. You have come to the correct spot if you have been searching for a solution to this issue.

After you unbox a phone, it may take a few months (or even weeks) before it starts acting strangely. Your Android phone does require frequent cleaning, probably sooner than you anticipated.

Mobile applications get slower when you use them more frequently, storage space starts to get fuller, and background operations make it difficult to move between them.

Even though older Android phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S6, are often more constrained than more recent versions, this aging process ultimately occurs with newer ones, frequently when you’re in a time of need.

This article will teach you how to clean Android phone internal memory, what features to disable, what settings to adjust, and how to speed up mobile apps.

What’s in the ‘Other’ category in your device storage usage list?

Here is what uses space in your device’s “Other” storage.

Private App Data

Private app data is the main cause of your storage space increasing under the “Other” category. Additional downloaded files, unsuccessful OTA updates, cloud sync files, and more might be included here.

Most current programs and games have lower installation sizes yet require large Wi-Fi downloads to function fully. Additionally, depending on your preferences, some apps will sync to the cloud and continuously download and upload data.

Additionally, streaming services frequently experience technical difficulties and fail to remove cache data, which might fill up the storage on your Android smartphone.

Failed Backups

You have the option to backup your mobile data to Google Drive’s cloud storage. There are other services as well that provide appealing cost alternatives while enabling you to achieve the same.

There are several benefits to keeping your smartphone synced to the cloud. You will have a backup of all your data even if you lose it, and you can access your files on the move despite running out of space on your device’s local storage.

In addition, cloud services provide benefits like file hosting, free storage space, password vaults, and backups of game data. But these systems frequently have glitches owing to frequent upgrades and new features.

Even while most of these problems are immediately resolved, there may be locally unsuccessful backups on your device that the backup provider may not be aware of. Additionally, duplicate files using additional space on your device may be visible under the ‘Other’ category.

Failed OTA Updates

In their lifespan, new devices are often eligible for a few significant OS updates and routine security updates.

Most of these updates have been sent over the air (OTA) over the last decade, making it simpler for consumers to upgrade their devices without needing a computer.

On the other hand, the disadvantage of OTA updates is that they might quickly fail on a sluggish network or a network that resets often. In addition to being practically difficult if traveling for a long time, higher internet latency might cause OTA updates to fail.

These incomplete downloads and temporary installation files can appear in your device’s “Other” storage and necessitate manual cleanup.

Hidden Cache & Temporary Data

Your games, applications, and browsers connect to the internet often and download large amounts of text, photos, and video.

These may include user files, advertisements, content, and much more. To keep your local storage organized, these files are often set up to be deleted upon leaving.

However, there are times when these files are left over; this is prevalent with mobile browsers. Your browser’s local storage may wind up using a sizable amount of space on your device if you don’t erase your webpage data.

When you use the standard settings app for Android to inspect your filesystem, all of these temporary files and cache files will appear as ‘Other.’

How to clean Android Phone internal memory?

Clearing the internal storage on your smartphone may be done in several ways. Here, we’ll go through the five simplest and most popular methods for freeing up internal memory on Android devices. Each approach will be covered in more detail in its section.

1. Use a MicroSD card
2. Use USB OTG
3. Stream music, movies, and other content
4. Delete old files
5. Delete old messages
6. Check settings in apps like Facebook
7. Limit the size of photos and videos
8. Back up your data in the cloud
9. Use a storage manager or cleaner
10. Clean your devices’ with Files by Google
11. Perform a factory reset
12. Clear the app caches for individual apps
13. RemoveAndroid apps you no longer need
14. Sort and clear your Downloads folder
15. Check Android/OBB & Android/data directories
16. Go back to stock ROM if you are using a Custom ROM
17. Delete unused downloaded data such as podcasts and videos

Now let us go through each solution by one:

Solution 1: Use a MicroSD card

Many smartphone makers have abandoned the MicroSD card slot, but if you’re fortunate enough to have one, it’s unquestionably the simplest way to expand the capacity of your handset.

For less than $30, you may get an additional 128GB if you can utilize a MicroSD card. However, picking a reliable MicroSD card with a good read and write speeds is crucial. Avoid the temptation to choose a card based simply on pricing, and be sure to choose a Class 10, UHS (1, or 3) card.

The Android gadget uses a lot of storage for photos and movies. You may resolve the issue of Android storage space running out in addition to moving them to a PC by storing your photos or movies on an SD card.

You should first migrate any images and movies currently on the phone’s internal storage to an SD card. After that, set the SD card as the default storage location for photos and videos.

Go to Settings > Camera Settings to accomplish this. If the default storage path is Device, choose Storage location to change it to an SD card or memory card.

Solution 2: Use USB OTG

If your device doesn’t have a MicroSD card slot, you might still be able to increase your storage space by using a USB flash drive or an external hard drive. Check if your device is compatible with USB On The Go (OTG), then pick up a USB OTG cable.

You may now use it to store your backup data by plugging in a USB drive, a MicroSD card with an adapter, or an external hard drive. Even from the gadgets above, you can play video files.

Solution 3: Stream music, movies, and other content

Avoid downloading music, TV series, or movies on your Android phone or tablet if you don’t want to run out of storage space. Choose streaming services like Netflix and Spotify instead. Remember to monitor your data if you stream video without a Wi-Fi connection.

Solution 4: Delete old files

Remove any outdated papers, films, or other things from your Android smartphone that you don’t need anymore. To accomplish this, navigate Settings > Storage and browse the available options. Take into account removing items like Other, Miscellaneous, and Files. 

You may scroll down to locate the Explore option at the bottom, tap on an entry, and then hit Explore when it appears. Old files you no longer require are frequently found in folders like Download. To select and remove a file or folder, touch and hold it.

If you have a Google Pixel phone, navigating to Settings > Storage > Manage Storage will direct you to Files by Google, where you may choose to delete duplicates, temporary files, downloaded files, and outdated screenshots to clear up space.

On the main screen of a recent Samsung Galaxy, select the Samsung folder, followed by My Files > Internal Storage. You may do this to remove files based on category (e.g. documents, copies).

Do not forget to search within certain apps as well. For instance, if you use a document scanner or a photo editing tool, you can find duplicate or older files that you’ve probably forgotten about.

Solution 5: Delete old messages

Additionally, go through your messages and eliminate anything unnecessary, particularly if it involves an attachment. You may often choose to have outdated messages deleted automatically on most devices.

For instance, launch the Messages app on a Samsung smartphone, tap More > Settings > More Settings, and then make sure Delprogramsssages is toggled on.

Solution 6: Check settings in apps like Facebook

Your programs frequently download things automatically and may consume more storage than you’d want.

Even if you clear up as we recommend in our other guidelines, apps like Facebook, for example, will instantly begin filling up your storage. However, you may mitigate the problem by adjusting the appropriate settings.

To access settings in the Facebook app for Android, press the three lines in the top right and then scroll down to Settings & Privacy. Tap it, then go to Settings > Media and Contacts.

You may disable autoplay (which automatically plays movies), disable audio, opt out of uploading photographs and videos in HD, and so on.

Solution 7: Limit the size of photos and videos

Your Android phone probably has a lot of photos and videos that are using up storage space.

Even though cameras vary from device to device, you should constantly review your default settings and consider the available space. Your images will take up more space the higher the resolution. 

Framerate should also be taken into account for videos. Use space-consuming modes like HDR and 4K sparingly or rapidly unload the video files if you do.

Open your camera app and look for the settings menu; a gear symbol typically represents it to evaluate these options.

Solution 8: Back up your data in the cloud

You may backup your images, videos, and other huge items to the cloud, including HD movies and videos. You can upload everything, including large game files, to the cloud.

Once the backup is finished, you can remove those data from your device later. This will allow for significant storage space savings. If you have access to an internet connection, you can also access your cloud account from anywhere.

Data backup is easy since it only requires a few clicks to complete. Your files in Google Drive and your pictures in Google Photos can be backed up.

You are only able to backup a certain number of images and movies. Users of Google Drive get access to a total of 15GB of storage. This area is accessible through Google Drive, Google Photos, and Gmail.

The files and photographs that were backed up in this manner will continue to be safe. Additionally, it saves time because a backup is made every time an internet connection is made.

Therefore, you need not worry about your data. By storing that data on your phone, you don’t even have to slow it down.

Solution 9: Use a storage manager or cleaner

Hiring a cleaning service to handle everything for you can expedite many of the suggestions we’ve provided.

You may search in Settings > Storage and tap the Free Up Space (or Manage Storage) option at the top of your smartphone has Android 8.0 Oreo or later. 

The phone will go through all of its data and allow you to deselect the files and applications you wish to preserve.

After making your selections, you may press delete to remove anything that was still chosen. Manufacturers now frequently include storage manager apps on their smartphones.

For instance, Samsung offers a section in Settings called Device Care, and if you touch on Storage, you’ll see an option to erase extra data, such as cached and advertisement files, called “Optimise Now.”

There are various apps, such as Smart Doctor from LG, but we suggest Files, free software from Google. 

This program searches through your phone and displays every file you have, providing you with a complete picture so you can decide what to delete to save room on your device.

In-app suggestions are available, and you can choose to back up your desired cloud-based information in a safe manner.

Solution 10: Clean your devices’ with Files by Google

Another option for eliminating unnecessary or duplicate files is Files by Google, which may be opened by hitting the “clean” button in the bottom left corner of the device’s screen.

Additionally, it looks over the gadget and offers advice on making room for more storage on your Android smartphone. Its main feature is notifying the user when storage and cleaning need to be done.

To prevent your Android device from running out of storage space, it prompts you with timely pop-ups to delete unnecessary or temporary files and media. This app will be crucial to maintaining the devices’ functionality.

Using the “Browse” option, you may find crucial files and media more quickly.

Solution 11: Perform a factory reset

It might be a good idea to simply reset your gadget to its factory settings and set it up as a new device if nothing else seems to work. It could also make the phone a little bit faster. This will offer you a clean slate and clear up your storage.

Ensure that your gadget has a backup. Android can be set to automatically backup your data to Google Drive. Additionally, it makes sense to use a smart switch as a backup for Samsung devices.

• Open the “Settings” app.
• Find the “Factory reset” option using the top search bar.
• Select “Factory reset” by tapping on it.

• Depending on your phone’s UI, continue with the factory reset.
• Monitor the storage on your device and selectively restore data to it.

An alternative technique is to restart the device in recovery mode. You may turn off your phone, restart it in recovery mode, and then conduct a factory reset if you cannot start your phone or use it correctly. For instructions on this, click the link immediately below.

Solution 12: Clear the app caches for individual apps

Cleaning up your mobile apps has the most influence on Android performance. These well-known applications acquired hundreds of useless goods in just five minutes of use:

• Facebook has 561 items in 79 MB of temporary cache files.
• Instagram has 151 items in 38 MB of temporary cache files.
• Candy Crush Saga uses 40 items and 20 MB of temporary cache files.

While the programs are operating, temporary files are required. However, when the temporary files are no longer required, the apps frequently overlook cleaning them out. Consequently, the data simply eats up space.

Android applications may be individually cleaned out, and memory can be made available by:

• Open the Settings app on your Android device.
• Visit the settings for apps (or apps and notifications).

• Ensure that All applications are chosen.
• Select the app by tapping it.

• To get rid of the temporary data, choose Clear Cache and Clear Data. In this case, we only saved approximately 1 MB, but other programs may generate trash files that total dozens or even hundreds of megabytes over time.

Clear off the cache files for each program on the list.

Solution 13: Remove Android apps you no longer need

Your Android phone gets slower and more “junked up” the more apps you install on it. Even on the newest phones, you’ll discover how much fat you’ve gathered after installing and using hundreds of apps. You won’t see it with just one app.

Which Android apps use up your phone? Our app reports show the most. Therefore, look through the list of applications, decide which are no longer necessary, and delete them. This makes it simpler to discover the programs you care about, at the very least!

Here’s how to remove unnecessary apps:

• Go to the Apps section in the Settings app on your Android device.

• Look through the application list and identify those you haven’t used recently.

• To remove an app, tap on it and choose Uninstall. Activate OK to confirm. Done!

That is the practical strategy. Software that automatically detects programs you haven’t used in a long time and batch-uninstalls them can make your life easier.

Solution 14: Sort and clear your Downloads folder

You may keep many files, pictures, and documents in the Downloads folder on your Android device. They may occasionally download automatically.

Most of us seldom use the Download folder, wasting a significant amount of storage space. How many objects and terabytes of internal memory might be utterly squandered may astound you.

How to empty your Downloads folder is as follows:

• On your phone, access the Apps directory. Find the My Files or other file-explorer program from here.

• Select Downloads.
• The downloaded files, such as photographs or APK files that you no longer require, should be tapped and held.

• Use the Delete button to remove them from your phone.

Solution 15: Check Android/OBB & Android/data directories

Due to bugs in unrelated upgrades, deleted applications are frequently still present on your disk. These remaining program files are also a result of unoptimized third-party launchers for your smartphone.

You should use this procedure if the techniques above fail to clean your “other” storage. Your local storage may contain remaining app files from your removed apps, which you may need to remove manually.

• Open the File Manager of your choice.
• Go to settings and check the box next to “Show System Files & Folders.”
• Now Go to the “/Android/obb” directory in your file manager.
• Most of the files in this area of your local store will have names that begin with “com.ABC.XYZ.” XYZ is the app’s name, and ABC is the developer’s.
• Search this area for any references to previously removed programs, then remove them.
• After finishing in “/Android/obb,” go to “/Android/data.”
• To find leftover data from removed apps, follow the identical procedures as the preceding folder. After deleting any that you locate, look in your “Other” storage.

Solution 16: Go back to stock ROM if you are using a Custom ROM

There is a good likelihood that your custom ROM has malfunctioned if your smartphone is rooted and you have been using it.

A few significant custom ROMs, such as Lineage OS, Pixel OS, and others, have had issues where the file system repeatedly duplicates itself.

This might jam up your local storage memory and result in files that aren’t recognized in your memory scanner’s “Other” category.

If the solutions above do not work, it is a good idea to return to your stock’s newest ROM and wait for an update from your custom ROM’s developer.

If the developer is frequently active and receptive to issue reports, you might also post a support request on his or her Github account.

Solution 17: Delete unused downloaded data such as podcasts and videos

You most likely freed up a significant amount of space on your phone by removing app caches, pointless Android applications, and dull images. That activity allowed me to free up 2 GB of unused storage on my phone.

But more has to be done. You may significantly improve by eliminating (or at least examining) the files you downloaded on your device but never opened. Here are a few instances from my phone

• Spotify: I use Spotify Premium and frequently utilize the offline feature. However, I ended up putting 17 GB of music on my phone by downloading my “Songs” lists. By lowering the sound quality of the songs and picking only certain playlists, I could reduce the amount of space it consumed.
• Podcasts: I subscribe to roughly 15 podcasts, but even when new episodes are released, I don’t always listen to them. Consequently, hour-long podcasts take up hundreds of MB of space on my phone! As a result, I periodically review my podcast list and remove those that I won’t be listening to. Ensure the setting to remove the podcasts you’ve listened to automatically is turned on. Every podcast includes this feature.
• YouTube Premium: I signed up for YouTube Premium so I could download videos to watch later and in the background. I frequently glance at Downloads in the YouTube app’s library and remove the videos I’ve previously viewed.
• Offline Maps: When I travel, I always download large maps on my phone, but I quickly forget about them. I learned that my Google Maps app had increased to 2 GB in this way. Old maps may and should be removed.

Why does your Android phone’s internal storage fill up?

Phones are like the closet in your bedroom. Junk builds up. It takes longer to find what you need if the closet isn’t cleaned out sometimes. Additionally, you should throw away the leisure suit that has been taking up space in your closet (seriously, what were you thinking?). 

It’s occasionally preferable to delete Android applications you no longer use, similar to when you get rid of a suit that is two sizes too small (let’s face it, you’ll never fit into it again).

Temporary data and garbage files are produced when you use a mobile app or visit the web, frequently left behind on your device. Eventually, the system storage becomes full. When your cell phone is full, the accumulated garbage causes slowdowns and other annoying problems, such as app crashing.

De-cluttering and making space on your phone are, therefore, essential. We demonstrate numerous methods for clearing up your Android cellphone in this post.

Conclusion

Unwanted memories on our Android phones are similar to unfavorable recollections we have in our heads. The performance and user experience will be more effective the sooner it is eliminated. Examine the setup before purchasing to ensure that the Android phone has enough memory for your needs.

The methods outlined above can be used to clear up space on Android. You should think about purchasing an SD card if they don’t work out after some time.

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