Google issues official warning to all Android users – five items to delete to free up space
GOOGLE has offered some useful advice for Android users who are struggling with storage issues.
The tech giant warns Androids will run better if users clear some space.
Some of the tips can also help boost battery life and speed by releasing your phone from a demand overload.
DELETE PHOTOS
Photos and videos can take up a lot of storage space on your smartphone.
Removing them permanently – either by deleting or backing them up – can clear a lot of data on your device.
If you want to keep any of your images, it is important to back up your photos on a computer, external hard drive, or other program like Google Photos.
After doing so, you can then delete the copies on your phone.
In order to remove photos and videos from your Android device, open your Google Photos app.
Then, sign into your Google Account.
Next, tap and hold on any photo or video you wish to delete.
At the top of the screen, tap the Delete button.
Items in your trash that are backed up in Google Photos will stay visible for 60 days before being permanently removed.
Items that are not backed up will only remain for 30 days.
If you accidentally removed an item you didn’t wish to delete, you can still restore the photo or video in the trash folder before it is permanently deleted.
REMOVE DOWNLOADED MEDIA
Another way to free up storage is to remove any downloaded movies, music, or other large media.
To do this, open the Google Play app on your Android device with the content you wish to get rid of, such as Play Music or Play Movies & TV.
Tap the hamburger settings menu and click manage downloads.
There you can tap any downloaded item and hit remove.
REMOVE APPS & THEIR DATA
Google suggested closing apps that don’t respond and installing content that you no longer use.
It said: “If you uninstall an app and need it later, you can download it again. You don’t have to buy the app if you paid for it.”
The tech giant also suggested clearing an app’s cache and data.
Clearing an app cache deletes temporary data and clearing data storage means you’ll permanently delete all the data you’ve stored in the app.
AUTOMATICALLY ARCHIVE APPS
Sometimes, we don’t want to completely remove apps that we don’t often use, but still need every now and then.
One way to create more storage on your device is to automatically archive these apps.
With this setting, your smartphone won’t delete the application and keep its icon on your home screen.
As long as the app is available on Google Play, you can redownload it with just a touch of a button.
Archive your apps by opening the PlayStore application.
Next, open the Settings menu and select the general option.
There you can turn automatic archiving on or off.
DELETE OTHER FILES
One of the easiest ways to free up space on your Android is to remove downloaded files on your device.
As these can be found in different areas depending on your device, be sure to check with your manufacturer’s support page to find the best instructions.
Once you locate the files, consider transferring them to a computer or external hard drive.
Then, you can formally delete the files from your smartphone, clearing up more storage.