Insufficient Storage Android Fix Solution 1: Clear App Cache to Free up Space on Android. In general, the lack of working space is probably the main cause of having insufficient storage available for Android users. Usually, any Android app uses three sets of storage for the app itself, the app's data files and the app's cache.

• While managing your Android device storage, chances are that you can end up deleting something unintentionally. In this case, you can take the assistance of the Recoverit Data Recovery tool. A highly advanced tool, it can help you get back the lost, deleted, or inaccessible content from your SD card under different scenarios.
• Files Go App to Cleanup Android Storage Those who want a third party app to clean up the Android memory and clear the junk files, you can depend on Files Go App from Google. Files Go is a smart file manager designed by Google, going to deal with tons of junk files on the Android phone.

Android devices are fantastic for their ease of use and customization options, however eventually all your precious space is filled. We will look at ways to effectively free up Android phone storage. This problem is particularly acute for phones more than a year old; performance is impacted if the user does not release Android phone storage. We will look at ways to effectively free up Android phone storage.

Why Storage Disappears So Fast?

The storage is not a live creature that can run away itself, so check whether you match any of the following conditions:

Lots of pre-installed apps: some manufacturers are notorious for bloatware (e.g. Asus and Samsung), so their pre-installed apps, along with system-level Android OS, both take their toll immediately – literally right out of the box.

Install apps in built-in phone space: sometimes you didn't notice that the app installation location was set as the built-in phone space not the SD card. The limited phone space is easier to be filled with apps.

Limited storage capacity: even though you can address limited internal storage (e.g. 16GB) with external storage, the low storage warning will also appear with the microSD card if you are a heavy multimedia user.

Phone trash accumulates: temp files, duplicates files, cache, and other unnecessary files are produced all the time. This is a natural by-product of apps, system files, and the OS itself. Over time, this is cumulative and can have a major impact on phone responsiveness if you do not clean the junk regularly.

How to Check Storage Condition on Android?

Before to start a storage release, we should figure out what takes the most space on our phone for solving this problem effectively.

1. Go to your phone main menu, and find out the 'File' icon inside to tap in. Clearly you will see different options there - Category, Storage, and Cloud. Simply tap the 'Storage', your phone space using condition is clearly presented here.

Here you are allowed to view total space and available space on both phone and SD card. Also, simply tap the two locations individually, all the folders inside will show up for your checking.

2. Enter your Android 'Settings' to look for the 'Power and Storage' option. Tap to access it, the 'Storage Space' is there showing the ROM and SD card available space. Tap the button, a circle graph presents you the space that each type of data takes up, for both phone and SD card as well.

How to Free up Space on Android Phones?

There are four ways to reclaim your storage:

1. Clean out junk items regularly

Always use a good mobile management app to clean/remove your phone junk. Examples of junk includes outdated cache, installation packages (APK), uninstalled app remnants, and app cache. This is an effective way to release Android phone space.

Note: Most Android phones already feature pre-installed management app, e.g. Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, Meizu, etc. If your phone doesn't already have one, simply download one from the Play Store (for example, Tencent WeSecure)

For our example, we will use the OPPO FIND 7 built-in app.

• Launch your app of choice.

• Tap 'Scan' to commence scanning – this will search for viruses, potential dangers, and junk items using up space.

• Once scanning finishes, the app will automatically delete the junk.

• Or enter the 'File' menu to use the 'Clearup' feature to clean the useless cache.

• Tap 'End all' to wipe them out.

2. Expand external storage (if available)

Add a large capacity Micro SD card, the card storage better starts at 32GB.

3. Files transfer

If you don't want spend money on a SD card, you can do like these to release plenty of space:

• Transfer large files like videos, images, and music to your computer.

• Alternatively, upload the big files to the cloud like Google Photos, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Flickr, etc. You can download the apps to backup your files and delete the copies on your phone or just upload on the website.

4. Uninstall rarely used apps

Fast uninstall:

How To Clear System Storage On Android

• Long press the app icon until a small 'x' appears near the icon.

• Tap the 'x' to commence uninstalling.

• Tap 'Delete' to confirm app deletion.

On some Android phones, long press the app icon and drag it to the trashcan at the screen top instead.

Direct uninstall:

• Enter the phone 'Settings'.

• Enter 'Application management'.

• Choose 'Installed' category.

• Select the apps you rarely use and tap 'Uninstall'.

• Tap 'Uninstall' to confirm the selection.

Note: Following app deletion, use the phone management app to clean any residual files from the uninstallation process to free more space.

5. App transfer

Transfer pre-installed to the external SD card. (Only available to Android devices with external storage)

• Enter the phone 'Settings'.

• Enter 'Application management'.

• Choose the 'Installed' or 'All' category including the pre-installed apps.

• Select all the apps individually and tap 'Move to user space' to transfer to the SD card.

Head for mac. • Use the phone management app to clean the trash.

If your Android device is more than 3 years old, we would strongly suggest changing to a more up-to-date device with more advanced features and storage. You've though about it as well? Then both OnePlus 3T and UMI Super are pretty good choices that not only sport large storage but also fast process speed - 6GB RAM+128GB storage and 4GB+32GB (256GB expansion). Therefore, you won't be bothered by the storage limitation again. Want more affordable premium Android phone choices? You can have a look here on Gearbest.

Before I forget, there is currently a top phone brand sale at that with up to 68% off for a limited time only. Have a look before it's too late! Hope this article does work for you :)

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.

Related content

• feature

  Samsung Galaxy S21 phones and Buds Pro for pre-order

• news

  LG's Rollable smartphone makes an appearance at CES 2021

Instead, you can back them up to any number of cloud photo storage services. While there are dozens to choose from, one of the best services Android users is the new Google Photos. What was once part of the Google+ social network is now an incredibly powerful, totally free standalone cloud solution for not only backing up your memories, but keeping them within easy reach.

RELATED: How to Free Up Storage on Your iPhone or iPad

Better still, thanks to Android's open and user-adjustable design, you can let Google Photos take the place of your default Gallery app, and even automatically upload your photos and videos as you take them. Viewing them at a later date is just as easy as browsing your local gallery, assuming you have a good cellular data or WiFi connection.

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.

• Slide 1 of 3

  You can view photos stored locally on your device by tapping on 'Device folders' in the Google Photos app's menu.

• Slide 1 of 3

  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.

• Slide 1 of 3

  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:

1. Tap the Menu button (in the upper left corner of the screen) and select Device folders.
2. On next screen, select everything you want to delete.
3. 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.

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.

• Slide 1 of 3

  If you scroll down in the Google Play Music app's settings, you will find the 'Manage downloads' button.

• Slide 1 of 3

  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.

• Slide 1 of 3

  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.

Apps, Cached Data, and Downloads

How To Clean Up Internal Storage On Android

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

How To Clean Up System Storage On Android Phones

• 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.

• Slide 1 of 3

  Tapping on 'Cached data' in the Storage menu will bring up this prompt to delete all cached data on your device.

• Slide 1 of 3

  If you tap on Apps in the Storage menu, you will be taken to this list of installed apps.

• Slide 1 of 3

  Tapping on an app will bring you to this screen, allowing you clear the app's cache and data, or uninstall it.

Computer System Storage

How To Clean Up System Storage On Android Samsung

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.

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.

How To Clean Up System Storage On Android Galaxy

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.

Clean Up Android

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.

Related Video