How to wipe your Android phone or tablet properly By Simon Hill and Kevin Parrish March 26, 2021 Smartphones have become our lives stuffed into a pocket-sized gadget. Delete Temporary Files. Just as your computer stores temporary internet files, your smartphone.
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.
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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. Indium electrons. 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.
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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
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.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.
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.
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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How to Clean up and Release Android Memory
In the previous passage, we have talked about how to change the default install path of Android and move apps to SD card to save storage space. Though Android 2.2 has the function of Apps2SD, supporting apps to be installed and moved to SD card, still some apps cannot. Some system files and privacy are remained in internal memory card. The phone has limited storage capacity configuration. Some other programs like Widgets, dynamic wallpaper, and some system programs still can’t work if installed on SD card. Memory problem is the common issue facing many users.
However, Android operating system memory can be cleaned up and the storage space can be released. Here we summarize the following points help users to clean up and release Android memory. Follow us and get more information below:
Clean up large apps cache data
By cleaning up apps cache files, the memory space can be largely released.
1. Go to “Settings” > “Applications” > “Manage applications”
2. Press “Menu” button and choose “sort by size” (if Android 2.2, select “Downloaded” options first.) then all apps will be arranged according to the size.
3. Select one app in the list and click “Clear Cache” if there is.
The number of cache files in some apps may be up to MB, such as Google Maps, Market, browser and album program. Considerable space can be released when you clean up those cache data.
Many Android producers has installed UI program in the mobile phones, such as HTC Sense, MOTOBLUR, etc. If you use Launcher Pro or ADW instead of HTC Sense, you can even delete the data files of HTC Sense, which will release dozens MB for your memory storage space.
Android Market also provides some apps that will automatically clear up cache data but not for free, such as Quick App Clean Cache. For users getting the Root privileges can download Cache Cleaner, Cache Mate and Move Cache from the Android Market, which can help you to clear the cache files quickly and easily.
Delete the ones you never use or rarely used applications
Many users are reluctant to delete those apps never used or rarely used. However, you will find it nothing if you really delete them. Make this and you can save much more storage space for you Android.
Move all the app data which can be moved to SD card
Android 2.2 supports installing apps to SD card. Check you have moved all apps supported to SD card to save storage space, especially some large app such as some large Game programs. But pay attention to Widgets program, procedures bundled with Widgets, dynamic wallpaper and procedures required working in the background, as well as some apps interacting with the system. Don’t move them to SD card, or they won’t work normally.
This is how to clean up and release Android memory. Try it yourself, and you can save a lot storage space for your device. Also, form a habit of cleaning up and releasing Android memory, it will help keep your device healthy and speedup your device.
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