Find Out How To Free Up Space On Android Phones In 7 Ways

You can use any of the following ways to free up space on an Android device:

• Clear app cache and data
• Uninstall apps you don’t use
• Delete unwanted files
• Use cloud storage
• Delete trash
• Use microSD card

These methods will free up storage space and improve your phone’s performance.

Do you get a notification that your phone is out of memory space whenever you try to install a new app or take a video? I used to get it frequently thanks to my Xiaomi Mi A2’s small internal storage space of 64 GB. And trust me, it was frustrating until I found ways to clear storage.

This article lists some of the methods I used. Follow the steps, and you may never face the out-of-storage space situation again.

7 Ways To Free Up Storage Space On An Android Device

There are multiple ways to free up device storage. Listed below are 7 of the easiest ways you can perform this task within a few minutes to clear your phone’s storage.

Clear App Cache & Data

All Android apps you install create junk files. According to Avast, a popular name in the antivirus field, junk files are temporary files created by all the apps to perform specific tasks on your Android phone. One type of these files is cache files.

Reviews.org defines app cache data as information stored on your phone after you use an application to reopen it faster. Applications also store additional data, such as login information, preferences, etc., to enhance your experience. For example, a gaming app will store your login information, so you don’t have to log in every time.

The app cache and data can accumulate quickly and fill up storage space in your Android. This cache is automatically deleted by your Android phone occassionally. But if you want to clear some space, you must manually clear it.

You can monitor which apps create a lot of cache data on your phone and only clean them frequently. For me, these apps are Google Chrome and Spotify. So I usually clear the cache and data of these apps regularly and clean other apps occasionally.

Use Android’s Free Up Space Tool

Almost every modern-day Android phone has an in-built free-up space tool you can access from the settings app. Tapping this option from the settings will take you to the Files by Google app. 

However, if your smartphone doesn’t have this feature, you can download the Files app from the Google Play Store. It is compatible with Android phones running on Android 5.0 or higher.

Files by Google, also known as Files, is Google’s official file manager app. The Files app lets you find and remove duplicate photos, clear temporary files, find files quickly, share them offline, and back up them to the cloud.

Once you have installed the Files app, follow the instructions below to use the “Free Up Space” tool to clear your phone’s storage.

1. Open the settings app.
2. Tap storage. This will show you how much storage space you have used and how much remains.

3. Tap on “FREE UP SPACE.”

4. This will take you to the Files app, where you can clean junk files with a single click. You will also get recommendations to delete duplicate and large files, screenshots, blurry photos, memes, etc.

This is my go-to option for adding quick storage to my phone when installing a new app. Being a photoholic, I take many photos. The Files app finds duplicate photos and recommends deleting these duplicate files.

You can refer to this guide by Google Support to see how you can view your files from the Files app. You can also watch this YouTube video by Google to see how to use the Files by Google app.

Uninstall Unused Apps

Applications consume a lot of space on your Android device. According to VisionLink, the app largely consumes storage space because of cached files. But there’s also the app’s size and other data it stores. 

Besides storage, apps may consume a lot of mobile data and battery life, impacting your phone’s performance. So if you want to free up storage space, one of the easiest ways is to uninstall Android apps.

There are two ways to uninstall apps. The first option is to tap and hold the app you want to uninstall. Holding the app will allow you to tap and uninstall or drag it to the uninstall option. This will depend on the Android device you own. In my Xiaomi Mi A2, I have to tap and hold the app and then drag it to the uninstall option.

The second way is to uninstall from settings. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Open settings
2. Tap “Apps & notifications.”

3. Click on see all apps.

4. Select the app you want to uninstall, and you will find an option to uninstall. Tap the “UNINSTALL” option.

This was very useful to my brother. My nephew installed many games on my brother’s phone, which quickly became full. He was very happy when I told my brother to uninstall some gaming apps that my nephew was no longer playing.

Delete Downloaded Media Files

The next option to free up storage space on your Android smartphone is to delete downloaded files. I download many Portable Document Format (PDF) files because I like reading about technology and other new things.

But I forget to delete them after reading them, so they pile up in the downloads folder. So whenever I get a chance, I go to my phone’s file manager and delete downloaded media files. Here’s how you can do it too:

1. Open your phone’s file manager.

2. Tap the downloads folder.

3. Select files you want to delete and tap “Delete” or the bin icon.

Store Large Files On The Cloud

Storing large files on the cloud is an excellent option, especially with limited internal storage. According to IBM, cloud computing refers to on-demand access to computing resources, including data storage, servers, applications, etc.

Moving large files to the cloud means you no longer have to store them locally. This allows you to free up storage space on your mobile. Since the cloud is platform-independent, you can also use this method to increase your iPhone’s storage space. You can access cloud files from anywhere and at any time. All you need is cellular data or Wi-Fi.

Google Photos is an excellent example of cloud storage. I am very fond of taking photos and videos, so there are thousands of images on my phone. But not all of them are stored on internal storage. With only 64 GB to spare, I can’t keep those thousands of photos on my phone.

So I have two options to manage storage space. I can use photo resizer apps to reduce image size or I can move them to Google Photos. I use the second option. This way, I don’t have to reduce image quality, and I can also free up space on Android.

The Google Photos app allows you to store and back up photos and videos from your device to the cloud. Once the backup is complete, you can delete the photo from your phone. This will free space on Android phones and keep them functioning smoothly.

Besides just letting me store images, the Google Photos app also allows you to search images based on various factors, such as location, keywords, screenshots, videos, selfies, etc.

You can click here to download the Google Photos app from the Google Play Store.

Use Android Cleaner Apps

Android cleaner apps let you delete files that store junk and temporary data that is no longer useful. While these apps don’t make much difference in storage space, they can free up a little space and boost your phone’s performance.

There are many good cleaner apps available, but I like to use All-In-One-Toolbox (AIO Toolbox). Why? Because the app offers a comprehensive solution for cleaning Android devices and managing apps. According to the official website of AIO Toolbox, over 10 million people are using it to clean phones across 193 countries.

Besides cleaning junk files, AIO Toolbox also offers additional features, including the following:

• Show phone storage status
• Boost speed
• Cool CPU
• Speed up boot time
• File and app manager functionalities
• System info

AIO Toolbox can also kill background apps. All apps running in the background can consume battery life. That’s why I choose AIO Toolbox over others, as it can address all my requirements.

You can click here to download AIO Toolbox from the Google Play Store.

Use External Storage Card

Lastly, you can add extra storage to your Android phone with a microSD card. According to Business Insider, a microSD card is a flash memory card, the smallest in use today.

MicroSD cards differ from SD cards in that they are much smaller. The SD card was in use in the earlier days of mobile phones. With technical advancements, the use of microSD cards became popular.

Almost all smartphones have a microSD card slot. All you need to do is buy a microSD card of the size you want and place it in the slot. This will add more space to your Android device. But it is advised not to rely too much on this option. A report from Tech Times states that Apple and Samsung smartphones no longer need microSD.

FAQs

What Is Taking Up So Much Space On My Android Phone?

App cache and data are taking up so much space on your Android phone. But media files, app size, and other things can also occupy space. You can go to Settings > Storage to find out which app or file takes up more space on your phone.

Why Is My Android Storage Always Full?

Your Android storage is always full because of app cache data, unwanted apps, large media files, and junk files. You can delete these files to clear up space on your device.

Where Is Free Up Space On Android?

Free Up Space on Android is available at Settings > Storage > Free Up Space. This option will lead you to the Files by Google app. That’s why, even if your phone does not have this feature, you can simply download the Files app and use it to clean junk and free storage space.

Say Good Bye To “Out Of Storage Space” Notification

These are 7 ways I used to free up space on my Android phone. Hopefully, you have enjoyed this reading this article. The running out of storage space notification can be very frustrating. Having experienced it first-hand, I can relate to the problem you might be facing. But now you know how to tackle it.

You can clear app cache and data, use Android’s Free Up Space tool, uninstall unused apps, delete downloaded media files, store large files on the cloud, use Android cleaner apps, or use a microSD card to clear space on your phone.

You can also take relevant actions like deleting the app cache or media files from the downloads folder to eliminate unuseful data and media. Let me know what you think about this list in the comments. And also, share it with your friends or family if they face the “storage full” notification problem.