How to clean your Android phone of unnecessary files. How to Free up Samsung Galaxy S4 Internal Memory to Get More Space

No matter how much memory there is in your mobile device, sooner or later it will run out and you will have to get rid of old, unnecessary and simply junk files. Today we will tell you how to clean up junk from your Android phone and free up as much memory as possible.

Types of memory on Android devices

Modern smartphones and tablets have several types of memory, each of which performs its own functions:

1. RAM memory or random access memory. RAM is a type of memory that ensures the operation of running or already running processes. This is a buffer memory that is used by any applications, both installed and system ones. Data is quickly written and deleted. RAM memory is active when constantly connected to a power source. System information about RAM is available in the Task Managers manager - here you can see the amount of allocated and free memory.
2. ROM or ROM memory- a type of memory that performs its functions constantly. ROM does not assume the presence of a constant source of energy - the memory is not erased even if the source is turned off. ROM is mostly required to store the Android operating platform. The data stored in this memory is difficult to change in any way; under normal conditions, it is read-only.
3. Internal memory - Internal phone storage. This type of memory is provided to the owner of the smartphone so that he can store his data. This list includes files, programs, applications, media content, text information and more. Information about the status, amount of used and free memory is available in the settings menu in the corresponding section.
4. External Micro SD memory. You can write any information to flash memory, edit or delete individual files. A memory card makes it possible to transfer some applications from internal storage to it, freeing up space for system files. Manufacturers offer large amounts of external memory, up to 128 gigabytes.

The easiest and fastest way to clear your phone memory

• First easy way— Go to Gallery -> Albums -> Videos or Photos from the camera (if possible, sort the files by size/weight), and then delete the “heaviest” files.
• Second easy way— Go to Settings -> Storage -> Cleanup and delete all junk files that were found on your phone using this function.

As we already found out at the beginning of the article, the memory in a phone can be different (internal permanent, operational and external-connected).

Devices with the Android operating system almost constantly use RAM and internal memory. You can quickly and easily clean it using standard means or use third-party software. The device will work much faster if it has enough RAM and as much of it as possible. If the internal memory is practically full, then the smartphone will often begin to generate system errors, randomly reboot, freeze and show low performance.

Users who do not yet know how to clean their phone should use the following tools:

1. Own functionality of the device;
2. Third-party software designed for a mobile device;
3. Personal computer;
4. Online services - cloud storage.

Any of the proposed methods can be considered quite fast, simple and effective in order to clear the memory of an Android phone.

How to clear internal memory on Android

To improve the performance of the device, you need to clear not only the internal memory, but also the RAM.

To check the status and clear the RAM, you must:

1. Activate the system key located on the left or right.
2. View a list of open applications in the window that opens.
3. View the amount of filled RAM.
4. Click on the cross on the display and clear the RAM occupied by applications.

The system memory used by the operating system cannot be cleared in this way.

If you don’t have the desire or ability to understand the intricacies of third-party programs, you can carry out the procedure manually, after which the device will work much faster. Manual cleaning methods include:

1. clearing application and browser caches;
2. deleting messages;
3. deleting applications that have not been used for a long time;
4. Cleaning your phone from files stored on it.

Manually clearing Android phone memory takes longer than automatic cleaning, but gives comparable results.

Deleting messages is important if the device has been used for several years, and the amount of text content amounts to thousands of files. Clearing your phone of messages is done like this:

1. Go to the “message” application from the desktop.
2. Press one of the messages with your finger.
3. In the menu that opens, activate the “select all” item.
4. Activate the “delete” action.

Uninstalling applications in android

Unnecessary applications that take up space can be deleted through the operating system menu or on the desktop if the device has proprietary firmware. To do this, the application icon is pinched and removed from the desktop.

Advice: If the Android shell has a full-fledged menu, deleting an icon from the desktop will not lead to the elimination of the application. To remove a program, you need to go to the menu and then press the icon and put it in the trash.

Deleting files in android

The internal storage can also be cleaned using the built-in file manager - a standard program that is found on any Android device. The removal algorithm may differ on devices from different manufacturers, but in general the steps must be performed the same.

On most devices, the algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Open your phone's desktop and see application icons.
2. Find the “files” application and go into it.
3. The file categories and information about the amount of used memory will appear in the window that opens.
4. Select a category.
5. In the list of files that opens, select those that need to be deleted or activate the “select all” command.
6. Delete files.

Transfer applications to a memory card, PC or cloud

• To transfer files to the card, you need to use the File Explorer application. We simply launch the application, find files in the phone’s memory, mark them and indicate their future location.
• To transfer files to your PC, simply connect your phone via a USB cable to your computer and copy files as if from a flash drive.
• To transfer files to the cloud, install the Google Drive application, enter your Google account information (log in), then click on the “Upload” button and select the files that you want to upload to the cloud. Once the data has been uploaded to the cloud, you can delete it from your mobile phone.

We clear memory automatically using Android and third-party applications. Removing cache and garbage in the browser.

The cache in a mobile device is an intermediate buffer containing information that the user can access in the near future. The cache saves computational time, provides faster access, and improves performance. But, if the file cache accumulates, it begins to slow down the system, taking up a lot of memory space.

You can clear the cache in the following way:

1. Open the device settings menu.
2. Find the "all applications" section.
3. Open application manager.
4. Open each program in the list one by one and activate the “clear cache” button.

Cleaning your phone of debris accumulated in the browser is done in the following way:

1. Go to the browser.
2. Open the menu located on the side.
3. Activate the “clear history” command.
4. Set the necessary settings: what to delete and for what period of time.
5. Activate the “delete data” command.

External memory also needs to be cleaned periodically. Cleaning can be soft (manual selective deletion of files) or radical (full formatting (deleting all files) from the memory card). Let's look at each method in more detail.

Manually deleting files

The most effective method of manual cleaning is to remove the heaviest files, usually video, audio files or high-resolution photographs. To delete them, you need to go to the gallery and sort all the files by size, and then delete the heaviest ones.

Tip: If you can’t sort files by size in your mobile device’s gallery, use a file manager. For example Total Commander.

Formatting the external memory of the device

Files from an external drive can be deleted by performing a full format.

The formatting process consists of the following steps:

1. Go to Android settings.
2. Search and go to the “Memory” section.
3. Selecting the “Disconnect SD card” command.
4. Exit settings.
5. Go to settings again.
6. Find and activate the “Clean memory card” command.

We download applications and files directly to the memory card from the Internet

You can learn how to download applications directly to a memory card as follows:

1. Go to “settings”.
2. Open the memory section.
3. Find a subsection with approximate names: “Main memory” or “Default memory”.
4. Check the “Memory card” option.

If all steps are completed correctly, all applications will be downloaded to the memory card automatically.

Countless annoying advertising banners, slow operation of the device - all these are signs of the presence of virus programs on the device. Viruses must be removed immediately, since malware, in addition to minor ones, causes serious problems - they steal personal information and read user correspondence. To prevent this from happening, you need to install an antivirus program on your smartphone. Any of the well-known antiviruses presented on the Play Market will do.

All you need to do is:

1. Install any antivirus you like from the Play Market.
2. Launch the application.
3. Run a system check.
4. Wait for the system scan.
5. Delete malicious files if they were found by the antivirus program.

You can also remove viruses from your smartphone manually. Users usually resort to this method when antivirus scanning does not produce the desired results.

To be sure to get rid of viruses, you need to do the following:

1. Go to the settings section.
2. Find the "Application Manager" tab.
3. Open the list of applications.
4. Remove applications that were installed shortly before problems with the device began.
5. Go to the application menu and activate the “delete” command.

How to completely wipe an Android phone without the ability to restore personal files

The easiest way to completely clear memory without the ability to restore files is to reset to factory settings. The internal memory will be cleared 100 percent, and the user will receive a clean Android.
To reset to factory settings you need:

• Go to the “settings” section on your smartphone.
• Open the “recovery and reset” section.
• Activate the “restore factory settings” command.

Applications to clear phone memory

From the numerous list of applications for cleaning RAM and ROM, users speak well of:

1. . The application removes unnecessary files from memory, garbage remaining from programs, and scans the device for malicious files. The program also helps speed up the phone by optimizing already running processes. Some applications are optimized to cool down an overheating processor.
2. Mobile Boost. This application is a godsend for owners of smartphones that have been working for quite a long time, since it supports the old version of the operating system. To start the cleaning process, you only need to turn on the application and activate the “Clear” button.
3. SD Maid. When launched, the program will immediately prompt you to scan, after which it will issue a full report on the state of the memory separately for each section. The user can clear everything completely or do selective deletion by sections. The program also has a built-in file manager.

In order not to get confused in the device interface, it is recommended to clear the device memory with simple and understandable software, for example the ES mobile file manager.
The operating algorithm is as follows:

1. Go to Play Market.
2. Find the application in the search bar.
3. Download and install ES Explorer on your smartphone.
4. Launch Explorer. The program will analyze the amount of free space and provide a list of files that can be deleted.
5. Go to the side menu of the program.
6. Go to the “local storage” section.
7. Activate the “device” key.
8. Open a window with folders located in the built-in storage. You can check the contents of each folder and delete unnecessary files.

Libraries with media content are cleaned in the same way. To go to the “libraries” subsection, you need to select it in the side menu of the program.
Often Android users cannot see files that take up space in the internal memory. In this case, you need to activate the “show hidden files” function in the program.

3 more useful articles:

Very often, the only correct solution to the issue of destroying information that is no longer needed is formatting. Format phone...

Power Clean is a popular tool for optimizing the performance of Android devices. The main characteristic feature of this cleaning wizard…

The Battery Calibration utility is designed to manage the energy consumption of a mobile device. To ensure that the charge is used correctly...

As you know, there is never too much memory, no matter how much was installed initially, the time will come when the meta will no longer be enough. Then you will have to start cleaning the device from old and unnecessary files and applications. We’ll talk about how to clear Android memory in the most effective way.

How to clear Samsung Android phone memory

One of the easiest ways to clear memory is to delete the heaviest video and photo gallery files. To do this, go to the “Gallery” application, in the sections where all photos and videos are stored, sort everything by size, and then simply delete the heaviest ones. Or we transfer them to the cloud/external drive. You can also go to the storage and the cleaning subsection in the device settings. There you can wipe all the junk files that you don’t need.

During operation, the Android system actually does not stop creating and deleting temporary system files using RAM and built-in memory. And the device works much faster if there is enough memory for this, and vice versa, a smartphone or tablet slows down greatly when there is no longer enough space, and the system begins to wait for free space for operations, and often constantly produces errors. For users who do not know how to clear Android memory, we will give several methods:

• Standard device tools;
• Third-party applications specially created for these purposes;
• Using a computer (download files to PC);
• Move all large files to cloud storage;
• The performance of the device depends not only on the free space on the drive, but also on the RAM.

Android how to clear RAM memory

To do this, you need to long press the home button to activate the window for viewing running applications, and if you don’t need them now, just click on “Close all”. This will free up the RAM from programs hanging there that were previously open. It also doesn't hurt to clear the cache of applications, especially browsers and news aggregators. Each page is extra kilobytes and megabytes of memory. And yet, for some reason people keep old correspondence and messages that they will never need again, even for nostalgic purposes. Delete all old messages mercilessly.

Applications

Delete applications that have not been used for a long time without mercy. If you have not opened an application even once in the last week, then it is obvious that it is not important. You can always install it again in a couple of minutes if you need it. And sometimes some applications take up a lot of space.

Uninstalling applications is easy: you can drag the program icon to the top of the screen, where there will be a menu from “Unload or delete” or “Information”. We send it to unload, and then follow the prompts. After deleting the application, space in the device will increase

Files

All Android devices have a file manager that shows which files and in which folders are on the system. While walking through the categories, you need to mark files that are not needed, or tap “select all” and then delete everything at once.

If you have a lot of files that you don’t want to lose, then the best option would be to put them on an external drive, for example, on a PC, laptop, or upload them to cloud storage. To dump files onto your computer, just connect to it with a USB cable, and simply use the mouse to transfer any files to the PC disk, then delete them on your smartphone. Or not copy, but immediately “move” with the removal of the sources.

Smartphone memory has run out of space - what to do? You can buy a memory card with a large capacity, but it is not a fact that it will be supported by the device. It will be much more effective to delete unnecessary files: then you won’t have to spend money, free space will appear, and even productivity will increase slightly.

Let's see how to clear memory on Android, what tools can be used for this, and what can be deleted in general.

What kind of memory is there?

When the RAM and permanent memory are completely filled, Android starts to slow down. To correct this problem, it is enough to carry out a comprehensive cleaning. But first you need to make sure that the smartphone really has problems with memory.

1. Open settings.
2. Go to the "Memory" or "Storage" section.
3. Wait for the count to complete.

As you can see, out of 16 GB of internal memory, 5.56 GB was immediately filled with system files. There is nothing I can do about it, so if I have to delete something, it will be applications, videos, images and other files: content downloaded from the Internet, shared documents, etc.

At the bottom there is a “Cache Data” item. Through it you can clear cached data of all applications. In my case, this will free up 209 MB.

Below are the memory card statistics. I don't use it, so the entire workspace is available. If you click on a card, an explorer with its contents will open. A button with three dots next to it calls up an additional menu through which the card can be removed or formatted.

Yes, the memory card must be removed before being removed from the phone, just like a flash drive from a computer. If you have previously removed the card without first ejecting it, stop doing this - it is dangerous for your files.

Manual cleaning of Android

• Applications – open the list, sort programs by size. For applications that take up a lot of space, you can clear data and clear the cache.
• Images – select and delete unnecessary photos and pictures. Do the same with video and audio.
• The system is not available for cleaning because it only contains files that are critical for Android operation.
• Other - Click "Open" to access Android's internal storage. Here you can delete downloads, temporary application files, photos and videos, archived messages in instant messengers and other data.
• Cache data is the first thing to clear.

To delete files from the internal storage, you can also use third-party applications - for example, ES Explorer. It has a quick device wipe feature, and a link to local storage in the side menu. Once you navigate to it, you will see the same folders as when you open the “Other” section in Android settings. In addition, through ES Explorer you can empty multimedia libraries and the Android Trash.

What else can you remove from your phone without harming its performance? Bend your fingers:

• unnecessary applications;
• SMS correspondence;
• history in the browser.

After such cleaning, your phone should have several free gigabytes that can be safely occupied with new information.

RAM offload

1. Hold down the menu button on your device or press a special key that calls up the manager for switching between running applications.
2. Click on the "Close" button to close all applications.

The cleaning of RAM does not end there. The fact is that even if you remove the application from the manager, its processes can be executed and continue to load RAM. To relieve this load, go to the “Applications” section in the settings and go to the “Running” tab. Open applications that Android does not depend on (all third-party programs - Instagram, VKontakte, games), and click “Stop”.

This will mean you'll have to wait a little longer the next time you launch these programs, but they won't consume your phone's resources when you're not using them.

Cleaning with apps

It won't take you long to figure out the Clean Master interface. All actions, including clearing memory, are performed in one or two clicks. But I prefer a less versatile application: CCleaner from Piriform. I use it on my computer and phone, and have had no complaints over the last 5 years.

The CCleaner interface is even simpler. There is an “Analyze” button, after clicking on which the application will scan the memory and find unnecessary files. You can view a list of this data and mark those that should be deleted. To complete the procedure, you must grant the application special rights for deep cleaning.

In addition to Clean Master and CCleaner, there are other worthy applications for cleaning Android (judging by the reviews). But I haven’t tried them, so I won’t recommend them. CCleaner has always had enough capabilities to delete temporary files.

Using a computer

1. Connect Android to PC.
2. Select MTP mode to access files through File Explorer.
3. Open the internal drive through "Computer".
4. Delete unnecessary files as you would in any other Windows folder.

The main problem is the same as when manually clearing the file system on Android. If you delete something wrong, the phone may stop working and you will have to reflash it. Therefore, I delete only those files on my computer whose purpose I know for sure. Audio, video, photographs, documents - you can part with them without fear.

Also on the site:

Clearing memory on Android: proven and safe methods updated: March 16, 2018 by: Sergey

Freeing up memory on Android is not such a difficult task if you do it right. And this article is designed to teach you exactly that.

Before deleting something from the device, it is necessary to audit what is stored on the device and how much memory each element occupies. To do this, go to the “Settings” section, then “Device memory”. Here you can see detailed statistics on how much memory space is occupied by applications, pictures, audio, video downloads and other components.

By clicking on each element you can go to the screen for managing these elements. For example, by clicking on the “Photo” section, you will be taken to your photo gallery.

Note that if you click on "clear device cache" this will free up memory on Android, but it may slow down your apps a little as they have to retrieve that cache data again. In addition, clearing the cache may lead to the fact that in some of your applications you will have to re-enter your username and password to enter them.

It is also worth noting that if you manually moved music or video files to other directories, Android will count them in the “Advanced” column.

If you have an SD card in your smartphone or tablet, then in the same section you can also view the data located on it.

Now that we have studied what our memory is clogged with, it’s time to move on to freeing it

2. Managing your applications

Look at the application icons on the desktops of your devices and honestly answer the question of how many of them you use regularly. Surely there are some that haven’t opened for several months. It's time to delete them to free up Android memory.

If you cannot decide which of the installed applications can and should be removed, go to the settings section and select “Applications” or “Application Manager”. Select "Downloaded".

Here you can see a list of applications that you have recently downloaded, as well as how much memory space they occupy. This will help you make an informed decision about which applications can be safely removed.

Start with the apps you no longer use, look at the largest apps that take up a lot of space, and consider whether you need them. To remove an application, simply click on its name and then the “Delete” button.

Please note that some of the applications you cannot uninstall due to the fact that they are built into Android or the software of the smartphone or tablet manufacturer. But if you select the “All” tab and click on any of such applications, you will find a “Force Stop” button there, then that application will no longer run and waste Android memory. In addition, you can remove updates for these applications, which will also relieve the device memory.

It also makes sense to transfer some applications to an SD card, however, unfortunately, not all Android devices support this function. In addition, if you format the SD card, your applications on it will become unavailable.

3. Clean up your photos

Review your photos in the gallery and make sure that there are no random or unnecessary ones. You know, photographs of the floor, ceiling and sky are of little artistic value. In addition, the necessary photos can be placed on an SD card, your computer, or, finally, on one of the cloud services, for example, Dropbox or Picasa.

4. Stream music and movies

If you have a really large music library, you don't necessarily need to store it on your device. Services like Google Play Music and Amazon Music can store a large amount of music files and stream it to you whenever you want.

Five full-length films in HD quality can take up 15 gigabytes or more of memory. A dozen 1-2 minute videos you shoot will add a couple more gigabytes to this. So it is not practical to store all this on your gadget.

If you purchased a movie using Google Play or Amazon, then they can always be found in the cloud services of these companies. Don’t forget about services where you can watch videos online, without having to download them to your tablet or smartphone.

5. Cloud services

We've already mentioned cloud services for streaming music, videos and storing photos, but we'll name a few more such services.

For example, Google Drive is an obvious choice for Android users, making collaboration very convenient.

Google Drive along with Google Play, Google Music and other Google services like Gmail and Google Docs give you 15 GB of storage space to store your data.

How to clear storage is not enough for Galaxy

Adequate available memory is essential to keep your Android device running smoothly.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images News/Getty Images

When your Galaxy Note internal memory space drops too low, an error message appears saying you don't have enough memory. Without the appropriate amount of available storage, you won't be able to perform even the most basic functions on your device—like syncing email, installing app updates, or managing your Google Calendar. However, there are a number of tricks that can help you free up space and get your Galaxy Note back to optimal performance.

Delete the application cache and move applications to the SD card

1. Tap the Menu button on the main note screen.

2. Tap Settings, select Apps, and then tap Manage Apps.

3. Click the "Menu" button, then reorganize your apps so that they are sorted by size, displaying the larger ones at the top of the list.

4. Tap the app and, if the option is available, tap Move to SD Card. Allow a few moments to move the application.

5. Tap "Clear Cache" and "Clear Data" if either or both options are available, and then allow a few moments to remove all the unnecessary remnants of the app that are still in your phone's internal memory.

6. Click the Back button to return to the list of installed applications. Repeat deleting the cache and exporting the SD card for the remaining applications, taking into account the increase in memory available at the bottom of the Applications list.

Clear text messages

1. Tap Messages on the main note screen.

2. Tap the MMS thread that contains photos or videos, and then navigate to the message that contains the items. Long press your finger on a video or photo and select "Save" to save the media file to your SD card. Repeat for additional MMS applications you want to keep.

3. Tap Back to return to the main message list. Long press on the message you no longer want to keep and press Delete.

4. Click OK to acknowledge the warning that the entire stream will be deleted, and then allow the device to erase it from memory.

5. Repeat for additional message threads.

Delete call log

1. Tap the Phone icon on the Home screen or launch the Phone app.

2. Tap Call Log, tap the Menu button, and then tap Delete All.

3. Confirm that you want to delete by tapping "OK" and then allow the device to clear the call log.

• If you're using a Galaxy Note tablet that doesn't support calling features, you don't need to delete your call history.
• A third-party app, such as 1-Click Cleaner, Clean Master, or Android Cleaner (links in resources), offers tools for caching and managing data with one click, eliminating the need to manually navigate to resource-intensive elements of your mobile device and erase the elements in one go.
• If there is no "Move to SD card" option on the app's information screen, the app is either already installed on the SD card or does not have features that allow you to move it to the SD card.
• If an unused app doesn't offer the option to move it to the SD card, consider uninstalling the app by clicking "Uninstall" at the top of the information window. If you need it in the future, the app will be available for download—you won't have to redeem it if you paid for it once—in the My Apps section of the Google Play Store.

Warning

• The information in this article applies to Samsung Galaxy Note devices running at least Android 4.1. It may vary slightly or significantly from other versions or products.

Links (5)

Resources (3)

about the author

Based in Tampa, Florida, Danielle Fernandez has written, edited, and illustrated all things technology, lifestyle, and education since 1999. Her work has appeared in the Tampa Tribune, Working Mother, and various technical publications, including the BICSI Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual. Fernandez holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of South Florida.