How To Clean Out Internal Storage On Android

  



Summary :

Is your Android phone giving you the insufficient storage available error when you are using it? When this issue happens, do you know how to deal with it? Here, you can read this post from MiniTool to learn how to handle it effectively.

To fix this problem all you have to do is go to storage, clivk 'other'- clock 'internal storage' - then find 'Android' then go to 'data' then go to 'com.oneplus.gallery' then go into 'files' and delete the folder that says 'recycle'. If you want to avoid running out of storage space on your Android device, then don’t download music, TV shows, or movies on your Android phone or tablet. Instead, opt for streaming services such. After partitioned memory card, you are able to use its second Ext2/3/4 partition to increase the internal storage of android to store more data and apps. To be honest, this is the easiest part of this whole work, as you are going to need a few steps to get the whole stuff completed and placed on automation. #3 Clean the cache from your apps and browser. Cached files are temporary files created by all your apps. These can take up a lot of space and drain you memory, especially for apps you don’t use.

Quick Navigation :

My Phone Says Insufficient Storage But I Have Space

Now, let’s start with a real-life example as follows:

The total space of my app is 10 MB, and after installation, it will take less than 20 MB. In Galaxy Note I, while updating my app, it's saying Insufficient Storage Available, where there is 214 MB of free space in device memory (internal). It happens even trying to download a new app.stackoverflow

This is definitely an error relating to Insufficient Storage Available. What do you think about it?

As it is well known, the internal memory of an Android device is never as ample as it appears. For a device with 32GB of storage, a lot of storage is occupied by the operating system, preinstalled apps, as well as the wasted space based on how the OS formats the storage medium.

As a result, when trying to install or update an app on your Android, you could be told that there is insufficient storage available even though the app takes less space than what is actually available on your Android device. (Sometimes an alternative version of a similar error such as 'this device doesn't have enough space to download' may appear when downloading an app.)

However, there is actually enough storage space available to update or install your required app but not enough space to execute the process.

This is also the answer to the question – “why does my phone say memory full when it isn't”.

Have you encountered this issue: SD card not full but says full and nothing on it in a camera? Now try to recover data from the target SD card and fix it.

Is your Android phone also suffering from insufficient storage error? If yes, don't worry! You are not the only one and we also receive many feedbacks saying Android storage space running out but it's not. Here, we will walk you through 7 simple solutions to quick fix this issue.

Insufficient Storage Android Fix

Solution 1: Clear App Cache to Free up Space on Android

In general, the lack of working space is probably the main cause of having insufficient storage available for Android users. Usually, any Android app uses three sets of storage for the app itself, the app's data files and the app's cache.

If the cache is too large in size, it will occupy a huge part of the space although it is reported that the occupied space is the free space on Android device. In this case, emptying your app cache is a useful way to fix the Android insufficient storage error.

How to clear the app cache? Follow the steps:

  1. Open Settings firstly from the home screen and then go to the Applications or Applications manager
  2. Then you can see all the downloaded apps on your Android device are listed as well as how much storage space they are taking up.
  3. Tap Menu or More to sort these apps by size so as to check which one takes up the most storage.
  4. Tap the specific app to see the storage space occupied by the app, its data (the Storage section) and cache (Cache section).
  5. Tap Clear Cache to empty cache to free up some space.
  6. Repeat the same process for each app.
Tip: Here, you can also tap Clear Data to remove all the app files.

Additionally, you can also delete all the cache files for all your Android apps together. To do this, navigate to Settings > Storage > Device Memory. Then tap Cache data and Delete to wipe all cached data from all your apps.

After finishing the operations above, you won't complain to us 'my phone says insufficient storage but I have space'.

Solution 2: Transfer Photos/Videos from Android to Computer

Storage

If you find that your Android device is having insufficient storage available, one of the best solutions is to move some large files including photos, videos, audios, etc. to your computer so as to free up Android storage. To do this, you need a piece of third-party data transfer tool.

Luckily, this free Android data recovery software - MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android which is developed by MiniTool Team is worthy of being recommended. This free tool can be not only the Android data recovery software to recover deleted files but also the data transfer tool to save the existing files to a computer.

How To Clean Out Internal Storage On Android

Besides, it can be used in all Windows OSs including Windows 10/8/7 and supports multiple Android phones and tablets, for example, Samsung, Huawei, Sony, LG, Google, etc. Now, it's up to you to download this freeware for data transferring to fix the insufficient storage available issue.

Step 1: Open MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android Free on your computer.

Which one module you need to choose from the main interface, Recover from Phone or Recover from SD-Card? Both of them are OK. If your photos, videos or music files are saved to Android internal memory, please click the first section.

Step 2: Connect the phone having the Android storage space running out issue to the computer via a USB cable. Then, analysis operation to your Android device will be performed.

Note: Don't start any other Android phone management software when using this freeware.

Step 3: To save your photos, videos or other data to a computer successfully, you need to enable USB debugging by following the instructions based on corresponding Android version.

And then you should allow USB debugging on the computer. We suggest checking the Always allow from this computer option to avoid authorization next time.

Tip: To scan the files on your Android device, you need to root your device. This help document - How to Root Your Android Device shows you some details.

Step 4: Choose one scan method.

  • Quick Scan can be used to scan your Android device in a fast way but it only allows moving contacts, short messages and call records to a computer.
  • Deep Scan is designed to scan the entire device so that more files can be transferred but this way costs much time.
How to clear up internal memory on android

Here you should choose Deep Scan to scan and save photos, videos, and audios to your computer in case of insufficient storage available.

Step 5: Then, MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android will start scanning your device. Afterwards, you can see all the found file types are marked in blue. Just choose the file type you want to extract, check all items and click Recover.

Tip:
1. In order to move photos from Android to a computer, you can respectively hit Camera, Screenshot, App Picture or Picture file type and then perform a file migration.
2. Not only the deleted files but also the existing files can be displayed.
3. You can click the show folder button to show data according to the folder classification.

MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android Free Edition has a limitation: it only allows saving 10 files of each type each time. When phone storage is full, we suggest using its advanced edition to transfer more files.

After getting the license, click register in the scan result interface and register this freeware.

Step 6: Click Browse to specify a storage path or directly save your selected files to the default place in your computer by hitting Recover.

After finishing all the above steps, enter the Android phone and delete all the files you have saved to the computer. Then, the insufficient storage error can be solved.

If lots of pictures or videos are stored on the SD card, causing insufficient space on external storage, you can also use the Recover from SD-Card feature to save deleted and existing files to your computer.

  1. Connect the Android SD card to your computer.
  2. Select the target card to scan.
  3. Choose the pictures or videos to save them to the specified path.

Or you can connect your SD card to a computer and directly move files on the SD card to it.

Solution 3: Save Pictures & Videos to External SD Card Instead of Internal Memory

Photos and videos consume a lot of storage on the Android device. In addition to moving them to a computer, you can fix the issue of Android storage space running out by saving your pictures or videos to an SD card.

Is it possible to recover deleted Instagram photos? Now, in this post, we will tell you how to use MiniTool software as well as other two ways to do this job.

If you have already stored photos and videos on the phone's internal storage, you should firstly remove them to the SD card. After that, change the default storage for the pictures and videos to the SD card.

To do this, go to Settings > Camera Settings. Then, select Storage location to change it to SD card or Memory card if the default storage path is Device.

Solution 4: Uninstall Unwanted Apps

Sometimes the 'Android storage space running out but it's not' issue is caused by the overwhelming amount of data stored on your phone’s internal memory. If you have many apps on your Android device and use them simultaneously, cache memory on your phone can be blocked, which leads to Android insufficient storage.

In this case, you can choose to uninstall some unwanted or unused apps to free up storage space. This operation is very simple.

To uninstall an app, go to Settings in your Android phone, and enter the Apps section to get a list of all apps that have been installed on your device. Also, you can sort them by size. Then choose the app you don't need and click Uninstall to remove it.

If you have many apps need to be deleted, repeat the above steps to free up some space to fix insufficient space.

Solution 5: Move Apps from Internal Storage to SD card

Some of you may not want to uninstall any app and would rather search for insufficient storage available Android fix without root. Here, simply moving some apps from the internal storage to your SD card is a good option. This can add space to the internal memory of your phone and solve the “can’t install app insufficient storage available” problem.

  1. Go to the Settings menu on your Android device.
  2. Tap on Apps.
  3. You can still arrange all apps in order by taping Sort by size. Then, choose the app and tap Move to SD card.
  4. Repeat the operation to remove the apps which are taking up much storage space.
Tip: Note that not every app can be moved to your SD card.

Solution 6: Use an Cleaning App to Free up Android Space

Sometimes some junk files occupy much Android space, causing insufficient space on the device. In this case, you can use a cleaning app for Android to clean some junk files and optimize your device.

The app can be MobileGo, CCleaner, etc. Just download one from Google Play Store to remove some cache, junk or unwanted files.

Solution 7: Factory Reset Your Device

If you have tried all the above solutions but still encounter the insufficient storage available error, you may fix the problem by factory resetting.

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap System > Reset or Backup & reset.
  3. Tap on Factory data reset and Reset phone or Reset tablet. If there is a need, input your PIN, pattern, or password.
  4. At last, tap on Erase everything.

Note that this method can wipe all data stored on your Android device. Thus, you had better back up your important data firstly. If you forget to make a backup beforehand and lost many important files after factory resetting, what should you do?

MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android can still be your good assistant. As professional Android data recovery software, it can help to effectively recover deleted files including contacts, messages, videos, photos, music files and more to your computer.

How can you recover deleted videos Android? This post will introduce you different ways to get deleted Android videos back with third-party software.

Verdict

Are you encountering the insufficient storage available issue on the Android phone or tablet when installing an app? Now, it is the time to try the above seven simple ways to fix Android storage space running out and optimize the performance.

Have some problems when using MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android to move files or recover data? Or have any suggestions to fix the insufficient storage error? Please let us know by sending an email to [email protected] or leaving your idea below.

Summary :

What should you when Android phone shows with “Insufficient Storage Available” or has limited space available? internal storage space of android? Now, there are 7 methods to help you increase internal storage space of android.

Quick Navigation :

Do you know how to increase Android internal space?

Recently, I always received a warning 'insufficient storage available' on my android phone when trying to install a new app on it. I was extremely confused because I had plenty of storage left. And I knew that android only limits the installation of new app when we have less than 15 MB of storage remaining.

In this case, what should we do? Can we fix the 'insufficient storage available' error message on android?

Now, today, we are going to show 7 ways to help you increase phone storage.

How To Clean Internal Storage On Android Tablet

Method 1. Use Memory Card to Increase Internal Storage Space of Android (Works Quickly)

Here, I think you will agree with me when I say:

'It’s REALLY hard to spare some space of our memory card for the internal memory?'

Well, it turns out, you can perfectly use memory card to increase storage space by turning to a professional partitioning tool as well as Link 2SD.

And, in today’s post, I am going to show how you can easily and effectively increase android storage space by borrowing free space from memory card.

In general, people who successfully increase android storage space via using memory card do 3 things very well.

First, they prepare some necessary tools as follows:

  • Android phone must be rooted.
  • 2 GB or above memory card with class 4 or higher. (More details information about SD Card price, you could view at Amazon.
  • Memory card reader.
  • Excellent partition software.
  • Link2SD app installed on the phone. This app allows Android phone to use a part of the memory card as internal memory, so users can move some data and apps to the memory card.

Second, they partition SD card.

Finally, they use the SD card to get more free space.

Now, you might be wondering:

1. Why need to partition SD card and how?

2. How to increase internal storage space with SD card?

Next, we’ll show you all the answers in order.

Step 1: Partition Memory Card

Look:

To use a memory card as an internal memory, you have to partition this card since the Link2SD app requires a second partition on memory card. And, it's not working 'out-of-the-box' as native app2sd, you need to root your device and create a second partition on memory card.

See! MiniTool Partition Wizard is a good choice for users to partition memory card/SD.

The steps are:

Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard on computer.

Remove memory card from phone, insert it in card reader, and connect it to computer.

Launch the partition management tool.

Right-click the memory card and select'Delete All Partitions.'

This will delete all data saved on this card, so please back up everything before doing this step. Here, you might be interested in this post Clone SD Card to PC for Transferring Data or Making a Backup.

Click memory card again and select'Create Partition' from the left action panel.

Select the partition as primary and specify its file system and size.

Sejda pdf editor. Then select the unallocated space and click'Create' to create an Ext2/3/4 primary partition.

Now, you can preview 2 partitions (a FAT 32 as well as an Ext2 partition), and click'Apply' to perform all changes.

In fact, there is an alternate method to make a partition on memory card. However, this method requires ClockwordMod. Therefore, if you don’t have CWM installed, you using the method provided above is a great choice. This method works for both Stock ROM and Custom ROM.

Procedure:

  • Backup all files on memory card.
  • Go into the recovery mode of phone.
  • Select'Advanced,' and then choose'Partition SD Card.'
  • Choose SD-ext size (if users have a 2GB Memory Card, choose 512 MB; if users have a 4 GB Memory card, choose 1024 MB).
  • Select'0 Swap.'
  • Wait for the process to finish, and then reboot the phone.

Step 2: Increase Internal Memory by Link2SD

After partitioned memory card, you are able to use its second Ext2/3/4 partition to increase the internal storage of android to store more data and apps. To be honest, this is the easiest part of this whole work, as you are going to need a few steps to get the whole stuff completed and placed on automation.

The steps are:

Insert memory card back to the Android.

Download and install the Link2SD app. This app needs root access, so this trick would only work if you have rooted phone.

Open Link2SD. Then it will ask for.ext partition that you created earlier. Select the Ex2 or Ex3 or Ex4 (users used during partition), and then click OK.

The app will then ask to reboot device. So reboot.

After rebooting, launch the Link2SD app again. Now, click'Setting> Check the autolink' to automatically move apps upon installation.

If you already have some apps, select'Create link' (be sure to check the files: app, dalvic-cache, and library files).

Check the memory, select'Storage Info' to view the current status of the internal memory.

Now, all work has been done, and you can install as many apps as they want.

See, with the help of MiniTool Partition Wizard as well as Link2SD, we can effectively use some space of SD card to increase internal storage space of android. However, what should we do if there is no SD card? Or what should we do if we don’t want use Link 2SD? More solutions are shown below.

Method 2. Delete Unwanted Apps and Clean All the History and Cache

Sometimes, users can uninstall some apps which they have no interest in using to increase internal storage Android. If they later find they need these apps, they can just download them again.

On the other hand, even some apps users keep in their devices will take up more space than they require. To be specific, as time goes by, every app on users’ phone fills space with cached files. Now, they can clean app ache to release more free space to store more data.

Now, following the below steps to increase phone memory:

Step 1. Click 'Settings > Storage.'

Step 2. View the total storage and other useful information related to Storage such as Used space, System memory, Cached data, and Available space, etc.

Step 2: Click 'Cached data.' Then, a pop up will show up saying 'This will clear cached data for all apps.' At this time, users just tap 'OK.'

If you accidentally cleared cache on SD card storage for smartphone, you can try using the Best Free Android Data Recovery Software - MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android Free 1.0 to recover cache deleted cache files including photos and apps data.

Method 3. Use USB OTG Storage

Have you heard of USB OTG?

Technicians will know that they can plug in peripherals such as storage drives to add more space for their phone via the OTG cable.

USB On-The-Go, (USB OTG or OTG), allows USB devices such as tablets or smartphones to act as a host, allowing other USB devices, such as USB flash drives, digital cameras, mice or keyboards, to be attached to them.

See the demo of how to connect a USB storage drive to know more details about USB OTG.

Step 1. Connect a flash drive (or SD reader with card) to the full-size USB female end of the adapter.

Step 2. Connect OTG cable to phone.

Step 3. Swipe down from the top to show the notification drawer. (If your file manager automatically appears, you don't need to this.)

Step 4. Tap USB Drive.

Step 5. Now, you can copy files from the phone storage to the flash drive according to the following steps.

  • Tap Internal Storage to view the files on your phone.
  • Select the file you'd like to share.
  • Tap the three dots button.
  • Select Copy.
  • Navigate to USB drive, and then tap Done

Method 4. Turn to Cloud Storage

Cloud storage can help to fix the 'insufficient storage available' issue.

Well, it turns out more and more users like to use cloud storage to share their pictures, videos and other files to release more free space on Android.

Now, Cloud storage apps such as Dropbox and SkyDrive allow users to share files from their phone to the cloud and then access them from their computer. And, once files are shared in the cloud, you can free up space by deleting them from their phones.

The only disadvantage of using cloud storage is that you will be able to access those files only when they have an active internet connection.

In this situation, can we find a simpler and more useful way to increase android internal storage space?

Method 5. Use Terminal Emulator App

What should we do if we don't want to install Link2SD app? Can we still borrow free space from memory card to increase the internal storage space of android?

Of course, we can!

Terminal Emulator app can help us to add SD card’s free space to Android.

Requirements:

  • Memory card of class 4 or higher.
  • Terminal Emulator app installed on phone.

Now, how to increase internal storage?

Step 1.Partition memory card via using MiniTool Partition Wizard software.

Hit “Play” to learn how to partition SD card for Android:

Step 2. Download and install Terminal Emulator App on phone.

Step 3. Launch the app.

How To Clear Internal Storage On Android Tablet

Step 4. Type'su' and press enter.

Step 5.Type'a2sd xdata' and press'Enter'.

Step 6. As soon as users type this command & press'Enter', the app will ask them whether to continue with the process or not. Here, type 'y' and press'Enter'.

Step 7. Now the app asks to reboot phone. Again type'y' to restart the phone.

Thus, you have successfully increased internal storage space on Android, and you can click 'Menu>Settings>Storage' to check it.

If you want to undo the process and revert the phone back the way it was before, please type 'su > a2sd noxdata >y' commands (each type ends with pressing on 'Enter' key).

Method 6. Use INT2EXT

In fact, in addition to Link2SD and Terminal Emulator, people also can use part of space of memory card to increase internal storage space of Android by using INT2EXT. Steps are shown below:

Prepare:

  • INT2EXT4+ (for new ROMs).
  • INT2EXT+ (for older ROMs).

Procedure:

Step 1. Download the INT2EXT4+ zip file on computer to a specific folder, and remember not to extract it.

Step 2. Power off phone completely until it vibrates. Enter into CWM recovery mode. In recovery mode, you can use volume keys for navigation and power/home button for selection.

Step 3. In the Advanced Menu window, select the 'partition sdcard' option.

Step 4. Select the'ext size.' This size should be less than memory card size. And, Select 'swap size as Zero'.

Step 5. The partitioning SD card process will begin. Wait for a few minutes to complete it.

Step 6. Select '++++go back++++ then' to enter the Mounts and Storage Menu window, and select the'mount USB storage' option.

Step 7. Now connect phone to PC and copy the downloaded INT2EXT4+ zip file as it is without extracting on SD card.

How To Clear Internal Storage On Android Box

Step 8. Again go back and navigate to the Mounts and Storage Menu window, and select the'mount/system' option.

Step 9. Return back to the main menu and select the'install zip' from 'sdcard' option, then select'choose from sdcard.' This will show all the contents present on the memory card. Just navigate to the INT2EXT4+ zip file and select it to start the installation process.

Now, restart their phone by navigating to the'reboot system now' option located on the recovery mode itself, and view phone internal memory storage via clicking 'Menu>Settings>Storage.'

Method 7. Use Mounts2SD App

Android Internal Storage Cleanup

Last but not least, here, we also want to share another effective method to increase android internal storage.

Step 1.Download and install Mounts2SD app on phone.

Step 2. Launch the app and grant Superuser permissions.

Step 3. Click the'Configure Busybox.'

How To Clean Out Internal Storage On Android Galaxy

Step 4. Be patient until it completes. A green colored tick mark will confirm the completion. Then, click the'Install Script' option to get the following window.

Step 5. Click'Configure' and tick all these options: Applications, Data, Dalvik Cache, and Cache.

Step 6. Scroll further down and click the'Disable Safe-mode' option.

Step 7. Now exit the app and restart phone.

Note: If you see any kind of error or warning in their notifications due to this app, don’t panic as it is caused by swap. You just need to reboot it again, and all errors will disappear.

Conclusion

I hoped you enjoyed the above 7 ways to increase internal storage space of Android.

Clear Internal Storage On Android

Now I want to hear from you:

How To Clean Out Internal Storage On Android

Which method from this post are most excited to try?

If you have other good suggestions about how to increase Android storage space, please share it with us by leaving a quick comment.