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Release the inner. How to free up internal memory on Android in different ways

One of the weaknesses of the Android OS is considered system memory, especially if specifications devices exclude the possibility of adding it. The situation is further complicated by the fact that over time, all kinds of installation modules and files accumulate, which significantly affects the speed of the gadget. Therefore, many users are beginning to wonder - how to free up system memory on Android?

There are several effective ways, which will be discussed in this guide.

Modern phones (tablets) have system (built-in) memory and additional memory cards. And, if (if there is nothing valuable on it), then with system memory everything is a little more complicated.

Cleaning through the built-in explorer

Memory full? You can use a special conductor that is in the device itself (the name may vary in different devices):

Open the utility, select the category that needs cleaning. It can be applications or documents, archives or images, videos or music. At the top, find the image of a pencil (edit) and click on it:

In the window that opens, the contents of the folder of the selected category will appear, mark unnecessary files. Delete them by clicking on the trash can icon:

Cleaning with Clean Master

The next way is to use the Clean Master utility, which is considered one of the most popular, significantly speeding up work. mobile devices. Applications running on the device not only “eat up” the memory, but also the battery charge. The new task killer implemented in the program will be able to terminate unwanted applications, which will free up a significant amount of memory and increase the speed of the device. You won't need "superuser" permissions, but if you have them, the task killer will function better.

The algorithm of work is quite simple:

Run Clean Master - a window opens with two circles, where the larger one characterizes the system memory, and the smaller one characterizes the RAM:

Select "Memory" (maybe "Device" or something else) - the scanning process starts. As a result of the check, it becomes clear what exactly will help free up memory.

A table opens where you need to select those files that can be deleted or compressed, confirm their deletion by clicking on "Save":

The cleaning process may take some time, after which the message "Free space" will pop up.

Cleanup with Task Manager

You can clear memory using the built-in task manager:

Go to the "Settings" menu.
Select the Applications submenu.
Clear memory by selecting a utility (one or more applications) and clicking "Delete".

Move apps to SD card

There are situations when the memory has disappeared somewhere, although the user has not had time to install anything yet. This can be explained:

the presence of viruses - you will have to run an extraordinary (thorough) scan by one of the many antiviruses;
updating previously installed programs that take up more and more free space.

If the problem with viruses disappears, then you need to configure the storage (memory on Android). Simply put, any application can be transferred to a memory card. Most importantly, follow these steps:

Enter the "Settings" menu.
Click on the program (icon) to be moved.
Transfer it to a memory card by selecting the appropriate button.

Unfortunately, this method is only suitable for those programs that are not system.

Saving data on external media

Among the installed applications, there are likely to be those that store data received from the network in the device. The simplest example is readers and online players. To prevent overflow of the internal memory of the phone (tablet), it is necessary to configure them in such a way that all data is written to an external card.

Use of cloud services

A modern user does not need to store information on Android that may never be useful. You need to keep in mind only what is important in currently. All other data can be safely uploaded to cloud storage where they will bid their time.

As can be seen from our material, even not the most advanced user will be able to optimize his "Andryukha". Well, for clarity of the procedure - video

V modern smartphones the average amount of permanent memory (ROM) is about 16 GB, but there are models with only 8 GB or 256 GB. But regardless of the device you use, you notice that over time, the memory starts to run out, as it fills up with all sorts of garbage. Is it possible to clean it up?

Initially, out of the indicated 16 GB of ROM, you will have only 11-13 GB free, since the operating system itself occupies some space, plus, specialized applications from the manufacturer can go to it. Some of the latter can be removed without causing much harm to the phone.

Over time, using a smartphone, memory quickly begins to “melt”. Here are the main sources that absorb it:

Applications downloaded by you. After purchasing and turning on the smartphone, you will probably download several applications from the Play Market or third-party sources. However, many applications do not take up as much space as it might seem at first glance;
Photos, videos and audio recordings taken or uploaded. The percentage of fullness of the permanent memory of the device depends in this case on how much you download / produce media content using your smartphone;
Application data. Apps themselves may be small, but over time, they accumulate various data (most of them are important for work), increasing their share in the device's memory. For example, you downloaded a browser that initially weighed 1 MB, and two months later it began to weigh under 20 MB;
Various system junk. It accumulates in approximately the same way as in Windows. The more you use the OS, the more junk and broken files begin to clog up the device's memory;
Residual data after downloading content from the Internet or transferring it via Bluetooth. It can be attributed to the varieties of garbage files;
Old versions of applications. When updating an application in Play market android creates backup his old version so that you can roll back.

Method 1: Transferring data to an SD card

SD cards can greatly expand the memory of your device. Now you can find copies of a small size (about like a mini-SIM), but with a capacity of 64 GB. Most often, media content and documents are stored on them. It is not recommended to transfer applications (especially system ones) to the SD card.

This method not suitable for those users whose smartphone does not support SD cards or artificial memory expansion. If you are one of them, then use this instruction to transfer data from the permanent memory of your smartphone to an SD card:

If you do not have the opportunity to use an SD card, then you can use various online cloud storages as an analogue. It is easier to work with them, and besides, they provide a certain amount of memory for free (about 10 GB on average), and you will need to pay for an SD card. However, they have a significant disadvantage - you can work with files that are saved in the "cloud" only if the device is connected to the Internet.

If you want all the photos, audio and video recordings you have taken to be saved immediately to the SD card, then you need to do the following manipulations in the device settings:

Go to "Settings".
There, select "Memory".
Find and click on "Default Memory". From the list that appears, select the SD card inserted in the this moment into the device.

Method 2: Disabling automatic updates of the Play Market

Most applications downloaded on Android can be updated in background from WiFi networks. Not only can newer versions weigh more than older versions, but older versions are also saved on the device in case of failures. If you turn off automatic app updates through the Play Market, you will be able to update only those apps that you consider necessary.

You can disable automatic updates in the Play Market by following these instructions:

However, some applications from the Play Market can bypass this block if the update is very significant (according to the developers). To completely disable any updates, you will have to go into the settings of the OS itself. The instruction looks like this:

You don't have to trust third party apps that promise to disable all updates on Android, because in best case they will simply perform the configuration described above, and at worst they can harm your device.

Thanks to the shutdown automatic updates you can not only save memory on the device, but also Internet traffic.

Method 3: Cleaning up system junk

Since Android produces various system garbage, which over time clutters up memory very much, it needs to be cleaned regularly. Fortunately, there are special applications for this, and also some smartphone manufacturers make operating system a special add-on that allows you to delete junk files directly from the system.

Consider initially how to clean up the system if your manufacturer has already made the necessary add-on to the system (relevant for Xiaomi devices). Instruction:

If you do not have a specialized add-on for cleaning your smartphone from various debris, then you can download the cleaner application from the Play Market as an analogue. The instruction will be considered with an example mobile version CCleaner:

Unfortunately, not all Android junk cleaner apps are highly effective, as most of them only pretend to delete something.

Method 4: Factory Reset

It is used extremely rarely and only in emergency situations, as it entails the complete removal of all user data on the device (only standard applications). If you still decide on a similar method, then it is recommended to transfer all the necessary data to another device or to the "cloud".

Freeing up some space on your phone's built-in memory isn't that hard. As a last resort, you can use either SD cards or cloud services.

The problem with memory overflow, which can be found out by the message issued by the Android operating system "Memory is full", is quite common. Moreover, there are no universal solutions for it, but there are many tips. In this material, we will try to systematize all or at least most of the available information on this issue.

Types of memory in Android devices

RAM, Random Access Memory or RAM - random access memory or random access memory. Software(including operating system and installed applications) writes to given memory the data they need in the course of their work and can quickly read them. RAM requires constant power - when you turn off or reboot the device, it is completely cleared. The more random access memory, the more various processes and services can be started at the same time. The “Phone memory is full” error can occur if the entire amount of RAM is completely exhausted, and there is not enough free space for the application to be launched.

ROM, Read Only Memory or ROM - read-only memory. The information stored in it cannot be changed and is recorded during the manufacture of the phone, or when the operating system is reinstalled - that is, during the flashing process. ROM is often divided into several sections to perform internal functions.

Interal Storage (Interal Phone Storage) - internal storage of a smartphone (or other device). This section memory is designed to store user data, installed applications and so on. This is something like an analogue of a hard drive in a personal computer. Naturally, in the process of writing data to internal memory Android-device free space is getting smaller here. The total amount of storage and the amount of free space can be viewed in the device settings.

External Storage - or, in fact, a microSD / microSDHC memory card. This type The user can expand the memory at will, unless, of course, the device supports memory cards, and there is an appropriate slot for this. Is something like an external hard drive for personal computer. The total and occupied volumes of this type of memory, as well as free space on the card, can be checked in the settings of the Android gadget. The memory card can store multimedia data such as music, movies, pictures. Starting with Android 2.2, it became possible to transfer installed applications to a memory card, if the application itself supports it, thus saving space on internal storage. Before replacing a memory card, it is strongly recommended to first unmount it, and not just remove it from the device.

Why does memory run out

Usually, after some time of relatively “quiet” use of the device on Android, users begin a period when they want to programmatically modify this device in every possible way. The endless installation of applications, scripts, and so on begins. And sooner or later, the message “Phone memory is full” appears, especially if the model is not one of the “top-end” ones, and this very memory is not so much. It is logical to assume that the problem is in the RAM - yes, this is partly true. But it is much easier to clean it up, it can be done both through the settings and using various downloadable utilities. So, the message about the lack of memory in the device appears when the internal drive is full. Of course, you can constantly clean this very drive, delete unnecessary applications, and so on, but over time it will be seen that the notorious “Phone memory is full” will appear more and more often. What is it connected with?

operating room android system installs apps on internal memory by default;
not every application is available for transfer to a memory card;
“sewn” into your device are vital programs like Google Maps and Google Play are periodically updated, taking up additional internal memory cells;
some manufacturers throw pre-installed games and other software, which is called bloatware, into the smartphone or tablet you bought to the heap.

Free space check

Through the dispatcher

V Samsung devices press and hold the home button for about a second, then go to the memory icon.

The data here is displayed in the Busy/Total format, so you will need to remember a little arithmetic lessons.

Through settings

Everything is simpler here: Settings> Options> Memory . And you don't have to count.

How to clean - overview of options

Operational measures

For a quick, although not very long, solution to the situation, cleaning up temporary files will help. They have the .rm extension and are stored in the folder data local mp. You can delete temporary files with Root access, for example, using Root Explorer.

Also, in the above folder data you can find many files that have the .log extension and contain "error" in the name - these are error log files of various applications that take up quite a lot of space. We delete them and forget about “Phone memory is full” for a while.

Removing dex files

And now let's look at a more thorough way to clean up space on the internal drive. Each program on a smartphone or tablet, or any other Android device, when installed, creates a file with the extension .dex in the directory datadalvik-cache. But sometimes, on some system applications, these files are missing, and the following picture is visible:

Indeed, it is strange that the program takes 0 bytes. As it turns out, the reason lies in the fact that along with these files, the firmware contains files of the same name, but with the .odex extension. These files can be created, and then you don't need to leave .dex files. For example, LuckyPatcher can "dress" applications. So, first we look in the properties of the application, how much space it takes:

In this case, it's 1.68 MB, so the corresponding .dex file in datadalvik-cache takes up the same amount of space, and the created .odex file will weigh the same. We launch the mentioned LuckyPatcher, select the desired application in the list, hold down on it (not just “tap” once, but hold down), we see the context menu:

We select the first or second item, and it does not matter that the application may not need to remove the license check or remove ads at all. After that, the program will create the .odex files we need. Now you can remove the .dex files from datadalvik-cache. And now we see that the application already takes 0 bytes, but it works fine. This method is suitable for system applications.

For custom applications, things are a little different. We select the application we need and go to its folder on the memory card, look at the free memory of this application. On the this example 1.56 MB is reserved for the program folder, while the .dex file is 1.68 MB.

There are several ways to solve this problem: either move the selected application to the system directory and carry out the manipulations described above, or forget about this venture specifically with this application and take up some other program. By the way, if you move the application to user memory, and then create .odex, you can delete .dex, and the program will work fine. But when you move it to a flash drive, the .odex file will be deleted, and the application will refuse to work. In this case, there will be only two ways out: reinstall the program again or do complete cleaning dalvik-cache. So not every application can work without .dex - the method will only work with applications that have more free memory than .dex.

hard reboot

You can solve the problem radically by using Hard reset - a hard reset of the communicator. The step is not bad, returning the device to its original, factory settings. The speed of work increases, the smartphone instantly responds to all inputs and literally starts to “fly”. But, on the other hand, such an action can cause inconvenience for the user, because this is the deletion of data, files, applications that he will be forced to install again.

Removing unnecessary applications, their updates and cache

To get rid of unused applications, go to Settings > Options > Application Manager.

Once in the "Downloaded" tab, call up the menu and sort the files by size. Next, select the applications you abandoned and click "Delete".

You can remove updates only for those applications that you installed yourself - with the built-in ones, such a trick will not work.

Select the application, click on "Uninstall updates", and after that - on "Disable".

If you have root, then you can even get rid of the system software. But be careful - one awkward movement, and the smartphone will fall into a dead sleep.

To clear the application cache, go to: Settings> Options> Memory.

Wait a few seconds until the amount of occupied space is determined, then select the "Cached data" item and tap "OK".

Using the CCleaner utility

Not to say that this method is super-efficient, given that some utilities themselves take up a lot of space, and even show ads. Therefore, if you decide to resort to it, then choose a proven CCleaner.

After the utility has done its job, you can safely delete it - until the next need.

Video: How to free up memory on Android

“Phone memory is full” is by far one of the most annoying and annoying inscriptions for Android device owners. We hope that thanks to our advice, she will not bother you for a long time.

There are two symptoms when the internal memory on the phone is sorely lacking:

Apps and Android slow down,
The phone displays a message that you need to take action and free up the occupied space.

The internal memory of the phone has a fixed amount, and it (seemingly) cannot be increased. However, in the guide we will tell you how to clear the internal memory of the phone from junk files and applications.

By increasing the free space in the Android memory, you will save time and stop noticing the brakes on your phone and tablet. The whole “cleaning” will take about 20 minutes.

Error: insufficient memory on mobile device

Usually, Android issues such a message if a process or application does not have enough free space in the internal memory of the phone.

Lack of memory can make itself felt by constant freezes. If this is imperceptible when buying a phone, then over time, after installing dozens of mobile applications and growing “garbage”, you begin to notice it.

The question involuntarily arises: do the characteristics of the phone “lie”? If not, then why does the same smartphone / tablet work stably for others?

Checking the amount of free memory on Android

When a notification about insufficient internal memory appears, the question arises: how much memory is available, how much of it is occupied?

You can check the free space through the settings mobile phone. To do this, go to Settings - Options - Memory (Settings - Device Maintenance - Storage - Storage settings - Device memory). We carefully study the data, paying attention to the following figures:

Total space - the amount of internal memory Android
System memory - the minimum amount of space reserved for system operation
Available space - how much space is left in the internal memory.

Accordingly, if the built-in memory is not enough, you need to increase the memory on the phone to the size of System memory so that the system does not give the corresponding error.

In the following chapters, I will tell you how to clean the internal memory on Android.

Clearing the phone's internal memory

You can remove excess through the built-in tools of the operating system and through third-party applications. They analyze the used space, help identify files that can be safely deleted.

Removing apps from Android system memory

Surely your phone has applications installed that hang dead weight and are not used for their intended purpose. Their size can reach hundreds of megabytes (including the cache).

You can remove useless programs through the standard Application Manager: Options - Settings - Application Manager (Settings - Apps).

In Android 8, to calculate unnecessary applications, it is convenient to use free utility Files Go . For other OS versions, it is available for download via Google Play.

How to delete unnecessary applications in Files Go:

Go to the Unused apps section,
Sort applications by modification date or size,
To uninstall, mark unnecessary programs with checkmarks and click Uninstall.

Video instruction for uninstalling applications:

Transferring files to a memory card

The internal memory of the phone, as already mentioned, has a fixed amount, so you need to constantly check whether there is enough free space for the applications and OS to work correctly.

In general, Android memory is divided into internal and external. External memory it is easy to "build up", since sd-cards are inexpensive today (for $25 you can buy a 256 GB memory card).

Actually, you can transfer files through any file manager - through a phone or PC.

Move unnecessary applications from internal to external memory card

Remove junk files with Piriform CCleaner

As an alternative to CCleaner, it's convenient to use the aforementioned Files Go app.

How to increase memory on Android manually

To manually clear the phone's memory, any file manager is suitable. We recommend ES Explorer or Total Commander.

Be careful and delete only unnecessary user files in the internal android memory that you created/copied yourself.

So, open the file manager, go to the root of the internal memory, start searching and deleting unnecessary things.

Which files it is desirable to delete (transfer to a memory card) in the first place:

Photos, videos, voice recorder recordings and other documents stored not on sd, but in internal memory;
Documents received by mail or social networks(most often they are saved in the Download folder);
E-books and other files saved third party applications to the device memory
The contents of the folders DCIM, bluetooth, sounds.

We use Storage Analyzers (for clarity)

For clarity, we recommend using the Files Go application or any other storage analyzer for Android, which will show which files take up the most disk space and where they are located in the form of a diagram. Among these applications, we note:

Transferring photos and videos to Google Photos

It is photos and videos that “eat up” the most space on the phone, due to them you can quickly free up space on the memory card or in the built-in storage. If your phone doesn't support a memory card, move the files you don't access often to the cloud. The Photos app is best suited for this, or Google Photos. It automatically uploads photos to the service, where they are available in their original quality through a browser or application.

In addition to Google Photos, you can look at alternatives such as Dropbox, Flickr or Microsoft OneDrive.

Even when the photos are only available on the server, you can easily access them if you have an internet connection. And most importantly, it is really convenient and fast way free up a couple of gigabytes of internal memory!

Clearing memory: questions and answers

1. The phone did not have enough internal memory, I sent half of the photos to the sd card, after that I open it, but they are all kind of muddy. I tried to transfer back to the internal memory of Android, but the pictures are the same. How can I return the old pictures, i.e. so that it was cleaned up as before without any distortion.

2. I did not have enough internal memory in my phone, I wanted to clear it. I transferred data (photos, music) to a memory card. Now the files are not readable, although the phone sees the map. How can I get at least a photo back?

3. Phone Samsung A5. I did not know how to increase the internal memory, I moved folders with music and files from the internal memory to the sd card using a laptop. After that, when opening the folders, they all turned out to be empty. Neither the phone nor the computer sees files and music. The internal memory of the phone did not seem to decrease after that. How to find these files?

Answer. It is likely that you did not copy the originals to the memory card, but the thumbnails. The original photos may have been left in the phone's internal memory. If this does not happen, the DiskDigger program will help you.

If there is not enough space in the device memory, you should copy the files to your computer (make a backup copy) and only then move them to the memory card. It will be useful for you to read the instructions on how to clear the internal memory on Android (see the text above).

I have sony phone Xperia, when I go to the Play Market, I want to download some program, the system writes that there is not enough memory on Android, although the flash drive is 16 GB! What to do?

Answer. Most likely, the "not enough memory" error on Android is due to the fact that there is not enough internal memory - this is where installation files are downloaded from Google Play.

Transfer the largest files from Android internal memory to your sd card.
Delete unnecessary applications through the file manager or Files Go.
Use the CCleaner utility to clean junk files in your phone's memory.

Cleaned phone memory, deleted a lot of folders. And now I can not watch the gallery through Android, writes: "Storage is not available." How can I return it back?

Answer. It is likely that during cleaning you deleted the folder with photos on the memory card (SDCARD/DCIM/CAMERA). You can recover files from there using CardRecovery or PhotoRec.

Unlike the iPhone, which has no removable cards and has all the memory built in, most Android-equipped devices allow the use of memory expansion modules. But you cannot transfer the OS to them, they are only suitable for storing user files.

Therefore, one of the weakest points of the Android OS is system memory. Over time, depending on the nature of the use of the device by the user, it is filled with various files, among which there is also garbage. And in this case, you have to clean the system.

How to free up internal memory on Android

The built-in memory stores applications, reports (logs) and the system cache. One of the options for releasing it is, but this is not always possible, part of the data must remain in the system partition, this is necessary for correct operation.

Available methods:

Move programs using standard means Android. Find desired program in the "Applications" item in the device settings and click "Move to SD card". So in a simple way you will free up the space in the internal memory of the device, which was occupied by a specific program.
Another way is to simple removal applications, you can do this through the task manager or the "Applications" menu from the previous paragraph. The exception is preinstalled programs, in standard ways which cannot be uninstalled. In this case, you will need root rights. Next, you need to go to the system / app folder and delete the names of the same apk and odex files unnecessary program , but be careful, some of them, such as Google services, affect other programs. Only experienced users are allowed to do this.
Periodically, you need to clear the cache and temporary files, it is best to do this with special applications, which will be discussed below. But you can also perform the procedure manually by selecting the "Clear data" item in the program menu. In a sense, this option is safer, but much more labor-intensive.
There is a way to clean up using file manager. It seems that everything is quite easy here - you just need to delete the files, but this is not true. If there are no root rights, then nothing important will be erased, but when granted full access(third-party managers often use it) you need to be careful. Before carrying out the procedure, it is better to create a system save and place everything on another medium.
Alternatively, you can use cloud storage files. This means that you will always have access to them using the Internet. There are many services, one of the most popular is Dropbox., which has its own mobile app. You can also save notes or documents to Evernote at no cost if your device has no data limits.

How to free up RAM on Android

This is a special section of the smartphone's memory, the amount of RAM cannot be combined with memory cards, and you cannot record a movie or a game there. It is needed to store application data. The memory is freed after the work is completed, but many programs continue to run in the background. Sometimes such a function is really necessary, but in most cases you can do without it.

The easiest way to clear RAM is to turn off programs, and not minimize them with the Home key. But, unfortunately, many developers simply do not provide such a function in their applications or it is difficult to find it. Sometimes pressing "Back" repeatedly helps, but nothing is guaranteed.
Another way is to force stop the most resource-intensive applications. The list is available in the "Applications" item, which can be found in the settings. The "Running" tab displays all programs, except for system ones, that are currently running, the amount of memory occupied by them is indicated on the right. Just check the box next to desired application and click "Stop" (button below), but in this case, unsaved information may be lost.

The most radical way to solve the problem is to reboot the device.

Using special programs

An example is . This is perhaps the most popular app system maintenance. Of course, there are other programs with similar functionality, but it should be understood that the main thing here is not to harm. In case they were removed important files, it is not always possible to restore them. The consequences of poor-quality cleaning can be disappointing, so it's best not to experiment with little-known applications if you don't have a copy of the system.

To use it, you need to give the application root rights, they give full access to file system, with the ability to change the content. The application itself will send a request or provide instructions on how to do this.

The interface is completely Russified, so even inexperienced users should not have any difficulties when using it. It is enough just to start the scan, after it is completed, you will be prompted to clear not only the cache files, but also the space in the RAM that is used by inactive applications.

Another type of analysis is also available: applications that are rarely used will be found and their uninstallation will be offered. In this case, you still should not blindly trust the program, it is better to visit the Play Market and find out what they are for, perhaps some of them will still be useful to you.

There are other functions in the application, in particular, cooling and analysis of battery usage, but they will not be discussed in detail here.

It is worth noting that the application itself runs in the background, constantly analyzing the user's activity and offering various tips. Sometimes this can have a negative effect on performance, and negate the entire cleaning effect.

Alternatively, a less resource-intensive app Cache Cleaner, but its functionality is highly specialized.