• Android devices allow you to organize your data so that you can make the most of the storage capacity you have. If you're running out of space, the first thing to do is review the used and available storage space then delete unused or unneeded data. Open Settings on your device. Scroll down and select Storage.
• How To Clean Out Your Phone To Free Up Storage Space. Clearing it can free up resources on your phone. On an Android phone, you can clear the cache on individual apps from the Settings menu.

To download more apps and media, or to help your phone run better, you can clear space on your phone. Storage is where you keep data, like music and photos. Memory is where you run programs, like apps and the Android system. Now, folks over at XDA Developers have managed to make the feature work on a leaked Android 12 build they Here's how Android 12 will hibernate unused apps to clear up storage space - Flipboard.

Imagine not being able to download a new song shared by your friend or an email attachment. Why? You get a notification saying that the Internal storage space is running out. Woah!!!

That’s not the end of the story. If you try to close the notification by swiping on it, it won’t go away. Faced a situation like this? You are not alone. Android devices with internal storage of 16GB or less than that usually face this problem. So what do you do?

Well, the easiest solution is to hide the notification but that’s not a proper solution. You have to get to the root of the problem. And the problem basically is that your device is running out of internal space, which is evident from the notification. All Android devices require at least 500MB-1GB free internal space to function properly.

So to fix it, you need to free up some internal storage. Once you do that, the notification will vanish automatically. Here are some of the ways to do it.

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Clear Device Cache

Step 1: Open device Settings on your phone and navigate to Storage.

Step 2: Under Storage, look for Cached data. Tap on it. You will get a confirmation pop up. Tap on Ok.

Note: Clearing cache will only delete temporary files on your device. It will not remove any data.

From Android 8.0 Oreo onwards, Google removed the option to clear device cache. However, you can still do it. All you need to do is clear the cache individually for every app. Painful but the only safe option for now.

To do so, under Settings, go to Apps and notifications. Then tap on each app and hit Storage. Under Storage, tap on Clear Cache. You can follow our guide to clear cache in Android 8.0 Oreo phones.

Disable Bloatware

Most smartphones other than those running stock Android come preinstalled with many additional apps which are commonly called bloatware. For instance, I recently purchased a device from Amazon. Guess what? The device has an Amazon app preinstalled on it.

Apps like these occupy storage space. Even though we cannot uninstall them, we can always disable them. Here’s how.

Step 1: Go to device Settings and tap on Apps and notifications > App Manager > Installed Apps.

Step 2: Tap on the app name that you want to disable. On the next screen, you will get the option to disable it. Tap on it.

Sometimes, you will find the Uninstall updates button instead of Disable. So first uninstall the updates and then disable the app.

Delete Unwanted Data

If you use WhatsApp a lot, I’m pretty sure your phone must have collected a massive dump of videos, photos, and other files. Maybe you forgot to disable auto-download option for the WhatsApp groups. Similarly, your device will have unused data from other apps too. So, it's better to delete such files regularly.

To do that, you will need a File Explorer app. Once you have it, launch the app and navigate to the folder that has the maximum amount of data. Usually, you will find it in the subfolders like Media, Audio, Video, etc.

Pro Tip: Check the Downloads folder too. You will find a heap of unused files there.

Use an App to Find Biggest Folders

While it’s easy to identify WhatsApp and media apps for taking up space, but difficult to figure out which other apps or folders also hog a lot of space.

To find such folders, you need to download an app that shows your storage usage. One such cool app is DiskUsage, which takes just 180KB. The app shows folders that occupy maximum space. Once you know the biggest folders, you can easily delete data from them to reclaim the internal storage.

Download DiskUsage

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Clear Up Storage Space

Switch to Lite Version of Apps

If you have a device with 16GB of internal storage or less than that, you should try switching to Lite or Go versions of the apps. Most of the popular apps now have the lite versions which occupy very less space.

You can try Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite, Maps Go, etc. Just search for the name of an app followed by either Lite or Go in the Google Play Store. Of course, these apps will have some features stripped off.

Disable Notification

If you are fine with your device having low space and don’t want to remove anything except the notification itself, you can do that too by hiding the notification.

To disable the notification, long press (hold) on it. Then tap on App Info. On the next screen, you will get the option Show notifications. Uncheck it.

Get rid of the junk!

These were some of the best ways to manage the internal storage and get rid of the storage space running out error. Do let us know if you were able to fix the problem.

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

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Have you been receiving the “Phone storage is full” notification on your iOS or Android phone? You can easily free up space with a little spring cleaning on your smartphone. Here’s a breakdown of what you can safely delete to give yourself some more space.

How to free up space on your phone

We use our phones for everything these days, from our music player and camera to ordering groceries. So it’s easy to find yourself with a lot of unused apps and cached data taking up space on your phone that you could really use to take more pics of your beloved pet. Every day, Asurion Experts help our 300 million customers (and counting!) to get the most out of the tech devices they love and rely on, including how to free up space on their smartphones. We’ll walk you through what you can do to get more device storage, from how to clear cache on your phone to how to back up your data to the cloud.

How to check your phone storage

The first thing you’ll want to do is check to see which apps on your smartphone are the biggest users of space and delete the ones you can live without. On your phone’s usage screens, you will see your available storage, along with a list of your apps ranked from top to bottom based on how much space they’re occupying. With a little luck, you’ll find an app that’s taking up a lot of space that you never use, so you’ll have no problems saying goodbye to it.

On Android

Android has built-in tools to check your storage.

1. In Settings, select Device Care (may also be Battery and device care).
2. Then, click on Storage.
3. From there, you can see what’s taking up space on your phone.

On iPhone

iPhone also has a built-in system check.

1. Tap on Settings.
2. Then, choose General.
3. From there, select iPhone Storage.
4. At the top of the screen, you can check out how much storage is used on your iPhone, what content takes up the most space, and how much memory is left.

What apps should I delete to get more storage on my phone?

Consider whether the apps that you rarely use really and truly need to be on your smartphone. Ask yourself, “Does this app provide a function that I cannot get by going to the company’s website?” If it does, then by all means, let it be. If not, delete the app and bookmark the company’s website instead.

How To Clear Storage On Ipad

For Android users who wish they could remove some of the apps pre-installed by Google or their wireless carrier, you’re in luck. You may not always be able to uninstall those, but for newer Android devices, you can at least “disable” them and reclaim the storage space they’ve taken up. Simply long press the app icon in the apps menu and choose Disable from the pop-up window.

For many social apps on your iPhone, you can choose the Offload App option to help free up space. Settings > iPhone Storage > choose an app > then enable Offload App. This feature will automatically offload your unused apps when you’re low on storage, while saving your related documents and data for future access.

How to clean my files and delete unwanted documents

File manager apps can help you to easily clean up your phone and create more storage space. These apps can scan your device to remove duplicate files, clean up your contact list, and identify apps you don’t use that are hogging needed space. Here are a few worth checking out.

Best file manager apps for iPhone and Android​

Files by Google

Available for Android devices

Files by Google easily scans your device and gives recommendations for freeing up your phone’s storage space with just a few taps. The app also helps you to keep your device free of clutter, sending you prompts from time-to-time to remove junk or temporary files that impact your phone’s performance.

Smart Cleaner

Available for iOS devices

Smart Cleaner scans your iPhone storage and allows you to easily remove duplicate contacts, screenshots, and similar photos from your gallery. Its Smart Cleaning function makes the process simple, taking care of freeing up space with just a single tap of a button.

KeepClean

Available for Android devices

KeepClean is a powerful all-in-one solution for your phone storage cleanup needs, offering everything from junk file and device cache cleaning to antivirus security. It also helps keep your phone performing at its best with its built-in battery saver and quick charging functions.

Back up photos, videos, music from your smartphone to the cloud

If you’re still in need of additional storage wiggle room, check out your photo and video albums. Deleting duplicate photos will be a huge help – and you’re likely to have a lot, since it typically takes 10+ tries to get that perfect selfie. But the biggest space saver will be deleting video files. Video files tend to be huge, so the more you can get rid of, the better. Post them on social media or a cloud storage account, or save them to your home computer before deleting them from your smartphone. You should also consider enabling automatic uploading from your camera roll to Dropbox or another cloud storage solution – check out our easy guide to backing up your phone photos.

Keeping music downloaded on your device can also take up room on your device. Consider keeping only the music you really love and want to be able to listen to if there’s no WiFi or wireless service available. Otherwise, stick to music streaming apps like Pandora or Spotify, since they take up much less space than a big music library.

Best cloud storage for Android​ and iPhone

1. ​Google Photos offers 15 GB of free storage, which is more than most cloud services offer. With features like tagging for faces and places, plus it being backed by Google’s powerful search, Google Photos makes locating the particular photo or video you’re looking for simple and keeps your phone photos organized.
2. iCloud offers 2GB of free storage and allows you sync files between your iOS devices as well as your PC, but take note: there’s currently no iCloud option for your Android devices. A bonus feature is the Family Sharing option, which allows family members to share access to music and App Store purchases and a family photo album. Check out our guide on how to use iCloud.
3. Dropbox offers 2GB of free storage and is a simple solution if you’re just looking to back up files and sync them between your devices. The Dropbox app allows you to automatically back-up photos or videos as they are taken, making it even easier to keep the storage space on your phone uncluttered.

Do emails, text message and voicemails take space on mobile phones?

You’d be surprised at how much space old text messages and voicemail take up on your device. Sure, there are certain exchanges you keep for the sake of cherished memories, but the photos of your dogs in their Halloween costumes you text to your spouse a year ago probably aren’t the best use of storage space on your phone. Take a few minutes to go through these and delete where necessary.

Clear your phone cache

What is phone cache?

Phone cache is information—like files, scripts or images—that is saved on your device after visiting a website or opening an app for the first time that speeds up your experience when returning to them in the future.

How To Clear Up Storage Space On Android

If you’re like most people, you use your phone for just about everything, which means over time your phone will collect a large amount of cached data that you just don’t need and that will put a strain on your phone’s memory. Clearing out your phone’s cache occasionally will help to free up a little storage space on your device and will likely improve your device’s overall performance.

How To Clear Up Storage Space On Your Android

How to clear cache on your phone

If you have an app that’s running slowly or crashing, clearing the app’s cache can solve a lot of basic issues. Clearing app cache will erase unnecessary files, but you won’t lose any of your app’s saved passwords or data.​

How to clear cache on Android:​

1. Go to your device Settings.
2. Choose Apps.
3. Click on an often used app, like Chrome. Then, click on Storage.
4. Click on the Clear Cache icon in the bottom right corner.
5. Repeat these steps for the other apps on your device.

How To Clear Storage Space

How to clear cache on iPhone:​

Instructions to clear app cache on an iPhone varies from developer to developer. If you suspect a particular third-party app is causing performance issues, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. There, you’ll see your apps listed in order of size. You can click on an individual app to see if there are options available to clear cache data. If there is no cache clearing option available, try uninstalling and reinstalling the app.

Protect your phone now.

For more than 25 years, Asurion has helped 300 million customers protect, connect, and enjoy the tech they love most. And smartphones are no exception. Your life is on your device, make sure it’s protected. Learn more about coverage and enroll in a phone insurance plan today.

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