Running out of storage space is a common issue for smartphone users. As we capture more photos and videos, download apps, music and other media, and accumulate data like app caches, our phone’s storage can quickly fill up. The average smartphone storage capacity exceeded 100GB in 2020, with Android phones averaging around 95GB and iPhones averaging around 140GB. Despite this, many users still find that they run out of space.
Some common causes of filling up your phone’s storage are:
- Photos and videos, especially at high resolutions
- Music, podcasts, and other media files
- App data and caches
- Downloads like documents, ebooks, and PDFs
- Messaging attachments
- Cached data from apps like social media, news, and web browsing
When your phone says there are too many files, it’s time to clear out some space. Here are some techniques to better manage your phone’s storage.
Check Storage Usage
To see how much storage space you have left on your Android phone, first open the Settings app. On Samsung phones, you can find the Settings app on your home screen, in the app drawer, or by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon (Samsung).
In Settings, tap Storage to view details about used and available storage space. Here you can see how much space is being used by apps, photos, videos, audio, and other files. Many Android phones also have a built-in File Manager app that allows you to browse files and see storage usage. The Files or My Files app on Samsung devices lets you explore folders and sort files by size to identify storage hogs.
Phones may also provide a Storage setting or menu in the File Manager app. Tapping this will show a breakdown of used and free space. Overall, the Settings and File Manager apps on Android phones provide easy ways to monitor storage space usage.
Delete Unneeded Files
One of the easiest ways to free up storage space on your Android phone is to delete files you no longer need, such as:
- Old photos and videos – Over time, your camera roll likely builds up many forgotten pictures and videos. Review your albums and delete blurry or unwanted shots. You can also offload these to cloud storage or a computer.
- Large downloaded files – Check your “Downloads” folder for any installers, PDFs, or other files you no longer require. These can often be safely deleted.
- Cached app data – Many apps store temporary data that can be cleared out. Go to Settings > Storage and tap “Cached data” to review and delete.
- Temporary files – Your device may have junk files from browsing history, temp install files, etc. Use the device’s built-in storage cleaner in Settings > Storage > Free Up Space to remove these.
Deleting old and unneeded files is an easy way to quickly free up storage space on your Android. Be sure to double check files before deletion, and back them up to the cloud or external storage if you want to keep them. For maximal space savings, thoroughly review your downloads folder, photos, app caches, and other data your device may be holding onto.
Offload Files to Cloud
One way to free up storage space on your Android phone is to offload files to the cloud. Popular cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox allow you to store files securely online rather than directly on your device. Simply install the app on your phone, create an account if you don’t already have one, and upload files you want to store in the cloud.
Cloud storage is beneficial for freeing up local storage because it removes files from your device while still allowing you to access them anytime from your phone, computer, or other devices. You can choose to store specific file types like photos, videos, and documents in the cloud. Cloud storage also provides protection against data loss if your phone is damaged or lost.
When offloading files to the cloud, focus on ones you don’t access frequently and can do without having local copies of. Good candidates are photos and videos after you’ve backed them up, infrequently used documents, and large app installers you no longer need. Just be aware of potential data limits based on the cloud storage plan you choose.
Use External Storage
One way to offload files when you have too many on your phone is to use external storage like SD cards or USB drives. Most Android phones allow you to insert an SD card to expand storage. To move files to the SD card, go to Settings > Storage and tap the SD card name. Select “Migrate data” to move photos, videos, and other files from internal storage to the SD card. This will free up space on your device’s internal storage (source).
Another option is to connect your phone to a USB drive or portable hard drive using an OTG cable or adapter. You can then move files and folders from your phone’s internal storage to the external USB drive. This also creates more available space on your device. Most files like photos, videos, music, and documents can be moved to external storage. Just remember to safely eject the SD card or USB drive before removing it from your phone (source).
Clear App Cache and Data
Apps can take up storage space with cached data and temporary files that build up over time. Clearing the cache and temporary data can free up storage on your phone. Here’s how to clear it for individual apps on Android (1, 2):
1. Go to Settings > Apps.
2. Tap on the app you want to clear data for.
3. Tap Storage & Cache.
4. Tap Clear Cache to delete the app’s temporary cache files or tap Clear Data to delete cache files plus additional app data like settings.
Some Android skins like Samsung’s OneUI have a dedicated Clear Cache button in the app info screen to make this process faster (1).
Clearing app cache can help improve performance and free up space taken up by temporary files. However, it will not delete actual app content like photos or videos stored by the app. Those need to be manually deleted.
Uninstall Unused Apps
One way to free up storage when your phone says there are too many files is to uninstall apps you no longer need or use. The average smartphone user has around 80 apps installed but only actively uses around 9 apps per day and 30 apps per month [1]. This means most people likely have many unused apps taking up space.
Go through your app list and remove any apps you haven’t opened in a long time. Check for apps you may have downloaded out of curiosity but rarely or never actually use. It’s safe to uninstall apps you don’t need as you can always reinstall them later if desired. Removing just a few large unused apps can free up a surprising amount of storage on your phone.
Uninstalling unused apps you no longer need is an easy way to clear storage space when your phone says there are too many files. Prioritize removing larger apps first for the biggest storage gains.
Compress Large Files
One effective way to free up storage space when you get the “too many files” warning is to compress large files like photos, videos, and music. There are many compression tools available to reduce the size of media files without sacrificing too much quality.
For photos, check out apps like Photo Compressor and Photo Compress. These let you compress images individually or in bulk, converting to more efficient formats like JPEG while lowering resolution if needed. The compressed photos take up much less space but still look great on phone screens.
You can also use video converter apps to compress and downsample large video files into smaller MP4s optimized for mobile. This reduces their filesize tremendously while keeping good visual quality. The same concept applies to compressing music into more efficient formats like AAC or OGG.
Overall, compression tools enable you to shrink the largest hogs of storage space – photos, videos, and audio. Once compressed, those files take up less room so you can fit more on your phone. Just be aware compressed files may lose some quality or metadata.
Upgrade Storage
If the above solutions still don’t free up enough storage space, upgrading to a new phone with higher internal storage capacity may be necessary. Most modern smartphones come with a minimum of 64GB storage, but many new models offer 128GB, 256GB or even 512GB options.
According to The average smartphone storage crossed 100GB in 2020, the average internal storage capacity for Android phones was 95.7GB in 2020, while iPhones averaged 140.9GB. With storage demands increasing for media and apps, higher capacities may be required.
Before upgrading, consider how much total storage you really need. Analyze your actual usage and determine if a 128GB phone would suffice versus a more costly 256GB model. But if you take a lot of photos/videos, play games, or download movies for offline viewing, the extra investment upfront may be worth it.
Just keep in mind that upgrading to a model with more storage will be the most expensive fix. But if you plan to keep your phone for several years, the extra space could extend its useful life before getting the dreaded “out of storage” warning again.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are several effective ways to free up storage space if you get the message that your Android phone has too many files:
- Check your storage usage in Settings to see which apps and files are taking up the most space.
- Delete cached files, unused apps, unneeded photos/videos, and other expendable items.
- Use cloud storage services to back up files and photos that don’t need to be stored locally.
- Move files to an external SD card or USB drive to reduce the phone’s internal storage load.
- Clear app cache and data for apps you want to keep but that are using a lot of space.
- Compress larger files like photos, videos and music files to save space.
- As a last resort, upgrade to a phone with more internal storage capacity.
Following these tips will quickly free up precious storage space on your Android phone.