Cell phone memory full despite deletion: You can do that on Android

Apps, pictures, music – everything needs storage space on your smartphone. But what can you do if the memory is full at some point? We give you tips.

By Sebastian Weber

Smartphones today have several gigabytes of storage space. But files such as pictures, videos and music as well as apps are sometimes getting bigger, so that the mobile phone memory can quickly be full. However, there are simple steps for Android smartphones to free up or upgrade memory.

Expand storage with SD card

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The memory of some smartphone models can be expanded using microSD cards.

Image: © TURN ON 2017

The expansion of the memory per microSD card is a big advantage of Android smartphones – at least that applies to the majority of models. iPhone users generally do not have this option.

Before you buy an SD card, check which card fits in your phone and how much storage space it can have. 64 or 128 GB are no problem for most devices.

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Uninstall or disable unused apps

Every program you download from the Play Store requires storage space. If your cell phone memory is full, you should check which apps you have installed but no longer need or use.

To do this, call up your smartphone’s settings and look for the “Apps” or “Applications” sub-item, depending on the version of the operating system and the manufacturer of your cell phone. Android lists all installed programs there.

Now go through the list and uninstall any apps you don’t use. Some programs cannot be completely deleted – instead you have the option of deactivating them. In this case, the application remains on the mobile phone, but the storage requirement is reduced enormously.

Mobile phone memory almost full? outsource files

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Photos and videos that you have uploaded to your Google Drive via Google Photos can be deleted from your smartphone.

Image: © TURN ON 2017

Other memory guzzlers on your smartphone are pictures and videos, especially in high resolution. 4K videos in particular take up a lot of storage space. You can back up these files elsewhere and then delete them from your phone. If you have booked enough storage space on Google Drive, the backup is very easy.

You can also save the pictures and videos on your PC or laptop. To do this, you need to connect your smartphone to the computer using a USB cable. Then you can access the data on your phone, similar to a USB stick. Copy all the pictures and videos that you want to back up or that you do not absolutely need on your smartphone. Put them in a folder on the computer – then you can delete them from the phone.

Empty download folder

Another potential memory hog could be your smartphone’s Downloads folder. Check back regularly and delete any files you don’t need. Since there are some large pictures or videos hidden here that you may have completely forgotten, you can free up a lot of memory with this step.

Memory management via app

Another alternative if your mobile phone memory is almost full: you can use special apps that help you track down memory hogs.

For example, in the Google Play Store you can find the program “SD Maid“. It analyzes your cell phone’s memory and shows you where the largest files are located so that you can delete them selectively. The app also finds files that the system no longer needs – and deletes them.

summary

• Unused apps, pictures and videos can be easily deleted or backed up to free up memory.
• An SD card expands the internal storage space of most Android phones.
• Google Drive or your PC or laptop are well suited to swapping out large files and deleting them from your cell phone.
• Special apps help identify and delete memory hogs.