You are shown a warning that the memory of your smartphone is full, which is why you can no longer download any apps or files on its memory. Well, in this case the solution is simple: you have to free up some space to continue using those features of the mobile that require the use of the internal memory of the device. The problem is that you don’t know how to do it, even though you are aware of apps used for this purpose, especially because you are afraid of misusing them and deleting data that is important to you.
Considering the situation you are in, I can understand your concerns, but I want to cheer you up: today I am here to help you find a solution to your question. In the guide you are about to read, in fact, I will show you how to clean your phone from unnecessary files so as to free up useful space to store your data. I will show you how to perform this operation both through the predefined tools of smartphones with Android operating system and iPhones, and through the use of third-party apps.
Are you curious and want to know more? If your answer is yes, you don’t have to waste any more time: what you have to do is sit comfortably, take your smartphone and give me a few minutes of your free time, so that you can carefully read the tips I have prepared for you. Are you ready? Very good. All I have to do is wish you good reading and good luck for your smartphone “cleaning” work!
Index
- How to clean your phone from junk files: Android
- Integrated cleaning tools
- SD Maid
- Google files
- Google Photos
- How to clean your cell phone from unnecessary files: iPhone
- Empty the cache
- Delete unnecessary files on WhatsApp
- Identify trashed and duplicate photos
- Optimize space with iCloud
How to clean your phone from junk files: Android
On Android smartphones , to delete the useless files generated by the apps, you can proceed through the operating system settings: this operation, however, is a bit cumbersome, because it consists in accessing the tab of each individual app to clean it.
If you still want to proceed, open the operating system Settings , by tapping on the gear symbol located on the Home screen or in the drawer, tap on the items Apps and notifications> App information and, to get an idea of the most cumbersome applications in terms of space, press the button (⋮) located at the top right and then on the item Sort by size , so as to arrange the applications in descending order of space.
Now, tap on the name of the app for which to delete the cache, then on the item Storage space and cache and, subsequently, on the Empty cache button , to remove the temporary files generated by the selected app. By proceeding in the same way with all the apps installed, you can remove the unnecessary files generated by them.
Please note that, depending on the version of Android you are using, the path to follow may be slightly different: for example, if you use a Xiaomi device with MIUI ROM, you must go to the Settings> App> App Management menu , while on Samsung you have to open the Settings> Applications sections .
Alternatively, you can use applications that help you do this in a faster way. In addition to this, I will also recommend applications to remove duplicate files, such as documents, photos and videos present on the smartphone memory.
Integrated cleaning tools
Many Android devices integrate applications, loaded directly from their respective manufacturers, capable of quickly eliminating numerous categories of useless files: temporary app elements, browser caches, duplicate files, and so on. Unfortunately, however, such apps may not always be present “as standard”.
For example, Xiaomi branded devices with MIUI operating system have an application, called Cleaner , which allows you to clean the memory in a couple of taps: to access it, call up the application drawer , tap on the Security icon (the shield on a green background) and press the Cleaner button , located in the panel that appears later.
Now, wait a moment, for the application to examine the device’s memory in search of unnecessary files, and a scan is completed, affix the check mark next to the categories of items to erase: cache files , obsolete files , APK packages , files residuals or files in the app memory . If you deem it appropriate, you can see the details for each of the categories by tapping the down arrow next to their names.
Once you have made your selection, tap the Clean button [XX MB / GB] and wait for the deletion of the files, which is irreversible, to be completed. At the end of this operation, you can proceed with the deep cleaning of the memory, thus going to intervene on large files, duplicates and other elements not included in the previous analysis.
To do this, tap the Clean Now button located in the Deep Clean pane and wait for the second memory analysis; when you have finished, identify the category of elements to be affected (eg. Photos , to delete duplicates) and press the Free button [XX MB / GB] , to go to the detailed analysis of the selected elements.
At this point, you just have to examine the results proposed within the various categories, deselect those you want to keep (if necessary) and press the button to delete the files, in order to delete the selected ones. However, I invite you to pay maximum attention at this stage, as the cancellation is final and cannot be canceled in any way .
SD Maid
If there is no “standard” application on your device dedicated to removing unnecessary files and you are thinking of going to the Play Store (or any other alternative market) integrated on your device to get some, pay close attention: although there are many available solutions, there are few that actually perform their task correctly and cleanly.
Many cleaning apps (or at least advertised as such) available for Android, in fact, represent real traps , designed to infect the operating system with various types of cyber threats or in turn carry other harmful and heavy apps. Therefore, before downloading a cleaning app, carefully check its rating and read without hesitation the reviews left by users.
If you really need to use an app of this type, I suggest you fall back on SD Maid , an application available both on the Play Store and on the alternative markets dedicated to devices not equipped with Google services. At the time of writing this guide, SD Maid is an absolutely safe app, capable of doing some cleaning and optimization on the operating system.
The free version of SD Maid can only be used to scan the memory for useless files, but not to delete them; to overcome this limitation, you need to purchase the Pro version of the app, which costs € 3.69 .
To download it, use the search function of the reference store of your device and, once you have identified the correct box, tap on it and press the Install and Open buttons , in order to install SD Maid and, in below, start it. Once this is done, tap the Scan button located on the home screen of the app, press the Next button and provide the necessary permissions for the app to work, responding affirmatively to the various warnings that appear.
When the analysis is complete, click on the Run button located at the bottom, to perform a first cleaning on the residual files of the apps, the system and the database ; if you have not yet purchased the Pro version of the application, press the In-app purchase button (to proceed via in-app purchase) or Unlock App , to get the activator from the Play Store .
As needed, you can scan the memory for duplicate items or particularly large files : you can find these options by pressing the ☰ button, located in the upper left corner of the main SD Maid screen.
Google files
Another excellent application that you can use to analyze the memory status and get rid of unnecessary files is Google Files , present “standard” on many Android devices but also available on the Play Store , free of charge. In detail, it allows you to find and delete duplicate files, screenshots, downloaded files, previously backed up content and large files, all within a couple of taps.
To clean your phone from unnecessary files with Files, start the latter app, touch the Delete resident tab at the bottom left and locate the Junk files box , located on the screen that appears later; Now, press the Delete button twice in a row, in order to immediately delete the app’s temporary files.
Following this operation, you will be offered a screen containing other types of potentially unwelcome files (duplicates, memes, blurry photos, screenshots and so on): therefore, examine the various categories and, to choose and delete the files belonging to each of them , tap the Select file button located at the bottom of the respective boxes.
After deletion, the files will be moved to the app’s recycle bin , where they will remain for the next 30 days, after which they will be deleted. To carry out this last operation immediately, touch the ☰ button at the top left, choose the Trash item from the panel that appears, put the check mark next to the All items option and touch the Delete button twice consecutively, in in order to permanently delete them.
Google Photos
If you manage your photo gallery through the Google Photos app and you have chosen to activate the automatic backup feature of the same, you will be happy to know that the “Big G” image management app allows you to delete all images already backed up from the device memory, leaving those not yet loaded intact.
Like? I’ll explain it to you right away. First, start Google Photos, tap on your avatar located at the top left and then on the item Free up space ; now, to delete the files already stored in the cloud from the memory, tap the Free [XX GB / MB] button located at the bottom and then the Allow button , in order to authorize the application to delete the files from the memory. More info here .
How to clean your cell phone from unnecessary files: iPhone
If you have an iPhone , you can use some features of the iOS operating system to remove unnecessary files stored in the device’s memory, or use the applications used to manage the photo gallery to locate and delete trashed, duplicated or – simply – useless multimedia files. Find everything explained below.
Empty the cache
iOS, the operating system of the iPhone, is equipped with excellent functions for managing the device’s storage space and erasing temporary files and other unnecessary items at regular intervals.
However, if you’re interested in getting even more noticeable results, you might want to try manually clearing the app cache . In this regard, you will be pleased to know that some applications – but not many – allow you to automatically empty your cache during startup: to check this possibility, open the iOS Settings by tapping on the gear symbol located on the Home screen or in the drawer of the device, press on the name of the application of your interest and, if the Clean at startup option is present , move the corresponding lever from OFF to ON .
In addition, to save even more space, you could opt for deleting the cache of the Safari browser or any other navigation app on the device: let me explain how to proceed.
- Safari: open the Settings menu > Safari> Advanced> iOS website data , press on the item Remove all website data located at the bottom and proceed by tapping on the word Remove now .
- Google Chrome: open the browser, tap the (…) button located at the bottom right and, using the subsequent panels, reach the Settings> Privacy> Clear browsing data sections . So put the check mark only next to the item Cached images and files and tap the Clear browsing data button , twice in a row.
- Mozilla Firefox: tap the ☰ button located at the bottom right, reach the Settings> Data management sections and move only the lever corresponding to the Cache item to ON , leaving all the others disabled. Finally, proceed by pressing the Delete personal data and OK buttons .
- Microsoft Edge: tap the (…) button at the bottom, tap the Settings symbol attached to the next menu and go to the Privacy and security menu > Clear browsing data . Finally, put the check mark next to the Cache item , leaving all other options unchecked and press the Clear browsing data and OK buttons .
I point out that through the menus I showed you a little while ago you can also delete the history and many other browsing data of the browser; however, if you have activated data synchronization via the cloud , you will delete the information not only from the “iPhone by”, but also from the other devices associated with the same account.
Delete unnecessary files on WhatsApp
You may have never thought about it before, but WhatsApp can be a real den of literally useless files, especially if you are part of particularly active groups that share dozens and dozens of photos, videos, audio and voice notes every day!
If you find yourself in this situation, you will be pleased to know that the messaging app integrates a tool that can analyze the size of each chat on the fly and delete the files within it if necessary.
Like? I’ll explain it to you right away. To begin with, open the app in question, press the Settings button located at the bottom right and go to the Space and data sections > Manage space . After a few moments, you should be shown the list of active chats on the device, sorted from the most “bulky” to the “smallest” in terms of space occupied.
Now, examine the results received, tap on the conversation you want to “lighten”, click on the word Select located at the top right and put the check mark on the thumbnails of the files to be deleted; if you prefer to delete everything in one go, press the Select All button instead . To conclude, first tap on the trash can icon that appears at the bottom and then on Delete item (s) and any copies , in order to permanently get rid of the selected files. If necessary, repeat the same operation on the remaining chats of your interest. More info here .
Identify trashed and duplicate photos
Another operation that you can perform in order to recover precious space on the iPhone is to delete the multimedia files in the Recently deleted album from the Photos app, that is that special album that temporarily houses the items deleted from the iPhone before final deletion. , for a maximum of 30 days.
To proceed, open the iOS Photos app, tap on the Albums tab, which you find in the bottom bar and presses the word Recently deleted . Then tap the Select button (top right), then the Delete all item (bottom left) and confirm the operation by pressing the Delete photos / videos / items button , located in the screen that is shown to you.
To get rid, then, of the duplicate elements residing in the roll of iOS, you can rely on a third-party app, such as Gemini Photos : basically it is a free app, but to unlock some of its main features (including the ‘elimination of duplicates) you have to subscribe to a paid plan, with prices equal to € 5.49 / month , or € 21.99 / year or € 34.99 one-off.
Alternatively, I would like to point out that the app is included in Setapp : a service from MacPaw (the same manufacturer as Gemini) which for a subscription equal to $ 12.48 / month (after 1 month of free trial) allows you to access a wide range of applications for macOS and iOS / iPadOS without purchasing individual licenses. Read more here .
If you are interested in using this application, reach the link I provided you a little while ago and tap the Get button . Now, unlock the download and installation via Face ID , Touch ID or iCloud account password and, when done, press the Open button.
After starting the app, press the Accept and I understand buttons and consent to requests for access to the iPhone features, when prompted. Subsequently, press on the Skip item and, if you wish to activate the free trial period of the app (before subscribing to the annual subscription), activate the appropriate lever and press the button to complete the purchase . You will be charged nothing until the free trial ends.
After Gemini Photos has scanned the iOS library, it will show you tabs to access the different tools available. In the Similar and Duplicate tabs , you can view all elements that are similar or perfectly identical to each other, while in the Screenshots, Notes and Blurry tabs , snapshots, notes or any blurry photos are collected, respectively. To delete the contents of these cards, just press on them and then press on the word Delete all that you find below. Otherwise, you can view every single element, so as to delete it manually.
Optimize space with iCloud
If you have not been able to obtain appreciable results by following the instructions I have given you so far, you can try to optimize the space available on your “iPhone by” with the help of iCloud , Apple’s online storage system.
In particular, the iCloud and iCloud Drive Photo services could be really useful, as they allow you to easily save photos, videos and data from compatible applications, leaving only “reduced” versions in memory (and therefore lighter in terms of space) of the same.
Note that photos, videos, and data from apps saved in this way affect your iCloud space and could quickly saturate the free 5GB Apple provides. To prevent this from happening, you may need to expand your available storage by purchasing one or more paid packages , with prices starting at € 0.99 / month for 50GB of additional space.
Having said that, let’s see how to proceed. ICloud Photos allows you to automatically upload photos and videos in the iOS roll to the cloud, in their original format, while leaving only those in reduced quality in memory. The original items are still available on iCloud.com .
To enable the iCloud Photos service and its space optimization feature, open the iOS Settings by tapping the gear symbol located on the Home screen or in the App Library, tap your name and reach the iCloud sections and Photo . Now, move the lever next to the iCloud Photos item from OFF to ON (if necessary) and tap the Optimize iPhone space item , to check it and enable the related function.
The iCloud Drive service allows you to store data from compatible applications (both Apple and third-party) directly on the Internet and download them only when needed. To enable it, go to the Settings menu > [your name]> iCloud of the iPhone and, if necessary, move the lever located next to the iCloud Drive item from OFF to ON . Finally, turn ON the switches corresponding to the apps for which you want to keep data in the cloud and not in memory.
