4 Ways to Free Up Phone Memory
1. Delete Stuff
Gotta get the super obvious one out of the way. If you find that you’re running low on internal storage space, then the most logical thing to do is look and see what is taking up all of your space. Here are some ideas:
Unused Apps – Go into your app manager and get rid of some of those apps you downloaded to test out, and uninstall any games you don’t play on a regular basis. You can always re-download them later if you realize you actually do use it.
Videos – Videos take up an insane amount of space, so if you’ve been saving them, STOP! Go through and delete any videos that you really don’t need.
Photos – If you’re like me, I accumulate photos of weird things more as reminders than anything else. Go through and delete photos that you don’t need. Save the best photo, and delete any duplicates.
Other Stuff – Voice recordings, notes… do a purge of all that extra stuff you don’t ever look at anymore!
2. Alternative Storage
The next most obvious thing is to look into alternative storage options, which means investing in an SD card to save photos and files, or perhaps uploading things to cloud storage. If you have a good data plan, streaming videos and music files instead of saving them on your device can really free up a lot of space but you’ll probably burn through your data faster that way.
3. Clear Temp Files
Ok, so you’ve done the first two but it wasn’t enough? Another way you can free up a little bit of space is to go through and delete the temporary files stored on your phone. Much like a computer, clearing the temp files can free up a little extra space. There are two places you can do this safely:
App Temp Files – Android users can clear the temp files, or cache, for individual apps to free up additional space. This is done by clicking on the app in your app manager screen and scrolling down to “clear cache.” Note that this is different from clearing data (which is on the same screen) and will only remove temp files. Clearing data will clear more space but will revert the app to its factory/original setting. This will delete any settings and information you have stored in that app, so be wary!
iPhone users cannot clear temp files this way, as all apps should automatically clear if you exit them properly.
Browser History – When was the last time you cleared the history/cache in your mobile web browser? If you’re using an Android, launch whatever browser you use and look through the Settings to find the cache. On Google Chrome, this is located under “Privacy” inside the Chrome app. For iPhones, clearing the cache will be done through your Settings menu.
4. Clear Bloatware
Unless you’ve rooted your Android, you will not be able to delete all that pre-installed bloatware. However, you can do the next best thing which is to reset all of the bloatware you don’t use so it’s as small as can be, and then deactivate it. The app will still be on your device, but it will take up the minimum amount of space and will not bother you for updates.
What other suggestions do you have for freeing up storage space? Share them with us in the comments!]]>