How to Manage Storage on Smartphone: 12 Ways
Can’t download new apps to your phone because there isn’t enough storage space? Lack of storage prevented you from updating the OS? If you answer yes to any or both of these questions, you need to manage data on your phone – immediately.
New users might not know how to manage storage on smartphones. The ways to free up storage space on various operating systems are the same; the steps to implement each method differ, though. This article brings together the possible ways to manage storage on phones.
Check Available Space
Regardless of the phone you use, iPhone or Android, the first step is to check how much storage is available on the physical drive. This will help you conclude how much data and space you need to free up to make more space for other apps.
Delete Heavy Apps
Most of the time, there are too many apps installed on the phones, and most of them are redundant. Identify bulky applications that are consuming too much storage and uninstall to remove apps from iPhone.
Uninstall Unnecessary Apps
Your phone accommodates a lot of apps, some of which are useful while others are consuming space doing nothing. Uninstalling unnecessary apps that you no longer need will allow you to make space on the internal storage media on the phone.
Clear Cache Files
Most phone operating systems use stored or cached data to give you a better user experience. Cache files save you time and mobile data, but they keep building up and consuming your phone’s storage. Clear cache files regularly to free up space.
Delete Your Downloads
Everything you download on your phone, including photos, documents, videos, and other items, goes inside the Downloads folder. Not all the items you download are useful, and some of them turn obsolete after some time, so delete all the unnecessary files to make space.
Keep Photos in Google Photos
Every single photo you capture on your Android phone backs up to Google Photos. On iPhone, you can back up your photos to iCloud. After the photos are backed up, delete them from your phone storage media to make extra space for other data items.
Archive Necessary Documents
Archiving documents on external media helps you store inactive files off-site. These inactive files store data that you don’t usually require but need to keep safe for legal or compliance reasons. So, archive files that you may require at some point in the future.
Erase Duplicate Files
If you pay attention, you will find a lot of duplicate files stored on your phone. Most of the duplicate files include images, as people usually capture multiple copies of the same image. Identify all the duplicate files and delete them from the phone.
Move iPhone Data to iCloud
As mentioned above, the iPhone gives you access to iCloud Drive where you can back up your important files. So move data to iCloud to free up space on your iPhone’s internal storage. Before you move data to iCloud, make sure to delete files no longer needed.
Save Data to SSD
If you are running low on storage, it’s a good idea to move data to an external storage media such as an SSD. This way, you can free up space on your phone and prevent unauthorized access to photos, documents, and other data stored on the phone.
Optimize Your Photos
Photos consume more of the storage space on your phone than any other data items. Image optimizations allow you to store full-resolution photos in the Cloud while saving smaller versions on your phone. This saves you a lot of space on the local drive.
Delete Large Files
If you go to Google Files app, you will see different tags such as Photos, Videos, Audio, Documents, APKs, and Archives. Open each tag to check for large files. If the file is no longer needed, delete it and remove it from the trash for permanent cleanup.
Tips to Prevent Storage from Soaring Up
The above-mentioned tips help you to free up storage on your smartphone, but a little care and consideration can prevent storage issues from occurring. Here we mention the tips that you can keep in mind when using a phone.
- Keep the best shot of photos on your phone and delete all other shots right away
- Backup your files on Cloud media and delete local copies from the device
- Archive documents that you don’t require in the near future but need to keep it
- Save files as PDFs, as they are compressed files that eat up low storage
- Delete any older versions of apps installed on your phone
- Update apps when a new version is available and remove any app residue
- Update your phone regularly to eliminate the possibility of errors due to insufficient storage
So, these are some of the ways you can prevent your phone’s storage from getting full. If it does, identify data that makes no sense and delete all unnecessary files from the phone.
