store files on cloud, uninstall apps, move out large files, compress files, clear cache, use phone cleaner and many more options.   

Internal Storage Running Out

Have you ever gotten this notification, ‘’your device is running low on storage space’’, or ''Internal storage running out'' and your phone became deadlock? Your apps couldn’t open, you were forced to uninstall some apps or delete files.

You’d agree with me that that is a very bad experience which can make you restless especially if you need to do something urgently with any of the restricted apps.

Let's look at ways to avoid and/or fix this issue.

       10 Ways to Save Memory Space on your Phone.

1. Store files on Cloud

Cloud is an environment on the internet where you can store your data and files. When you move your files from your device to cloud, you free up some space. You are only able to access those files on cloud with an internet connection.

Google gives every Google account 15gb storage for free on cloud. If you want more storage space you’d have to rent it. The current rate is 100gb/₦390, 200gb/₦780 and 2TB /₦1990 all for a month.

Aside for the sake of freeing up space, it’s good to save your documents on Cloud for safety, security and retrieval purposes.

Remember 15gb is the limit, so don’t move all your files to cloud. This would lead me to the next point.

  2.    Delete Irrelevant Files

Irrelevant files here refer to files that you won’t need for any purpose in the future. Yes, there are such files in your phone. Take your time, go to your file manager, fish them out and trash them.

There are also files you are not certain if you’d need them in the future or not. Here is what to do, ask yourself if you can get them back from the internet, social media or anywhere. If yes, trash them. You can retrieve them from your sources whenever the need arises.

Before I continue, note that a file is a collection of related data and it comes in different formats like documents, images, audio, videos, apps etc

3.    Move out large Files

The more you use a device, the more the system stores data and the lesser the storage space left becomes.

This is why it’s important to move out large files from your device especially if you have used the device for a long time or intend to do so.

You can move these large files to your PC or dedicate a flash you can store these files on. Flash comes in different sizes: 2gb, 8gb, 64gb, 128gb etc. Pick the size best for you.

You can also consider getting the OTG(on-the-go) flash, this works on both PCs and Android phones, though not compatible with all mobile devices. The OTG flash is cool because you get to transfer files directly from you phone to the flash using the USB/Charging port and vice versa.

   4.    Compress Files

Recorded videos can occupy a whole lot of space unless you edit/compress them. You can compress them twice or more until you get the desired or reduced file size you want.

You can download a Video Compressor.

For other files, you could compress and save them in a zip format. Compressing your files makes it portable ie easy to transfer to other devices. It becomes portable because the file size is reduced and takes shorter time to transfer.

Whenever you are ready to use the file you can simply ‘unzip’ or ‘extract’ them.

   5.    Turn off Auto Download on Whatsapp

Do you know how much of your storage Whatsapp app is occupying? The texts, images, audios, documents and even videos, do you know the total size? It even becomes worse if you back up your chats, well, why wouldn’t you back up your chats?

The common mistake many people make is not turning off auto-download of images and videos, littering their Whatsapp folder. This problem is solved by simply turning it off; this way images or videos sent to your Whatsapp DM or group chat would not be stored in your phone unless you open them.

You can make this change in Whatsapp >> Settings >> Storage and Data >> Media Auto Download

  6.    Use Phone Cleaner

Phone Cleaner is a tool that clears junk files and cleans phone memory thereby boosting your device's speed. It also helps discover apps consuming lot of memory, files with large sizes and duplicate files. Some of them are also able to compress and unzip files.

You can download Google File Manager or the Phoenix Browser which also comes with a Phone Cleaner and other features

  7.    Use an SD card

A Secure Digital card is the tiny memory card you all know. Phone memory would barely serve, so get an SD card to augment your phone's memory.

Also ensure you use an SD card that has at least same memory capacity with your device.

Most times even when you have inserted or mounted an SD card, files still gets automatically saved to your phone memory. That is the reason a device can have an almost empty inserted SD card and still experience low storage space problems.

You can fix this by occasionally moving your files manually from the internal memory to the SD card. Or setting/permitting your downloads, or apps data to go directly to your SD card.

  8.    Uninstall Apps

If there are apps in your phone lying dormant, apps you have not used in say 90 days consider deleting them.

Mobile apps that have web apps running as efficiently as the web apps could also be deleted. (If you can run the stuffs on the website, no need of having the app on your device for storage sake.)

    9.    Clear Cache and Storage

Cache is used by your apps to store frequently or recently used instructions or data. It is okay to clear it periodically to eliminate performance issues on your device.

Clearing the cache clears temporal files only, for example login credentials, downloaded files or custom settings still remains.

In clearing storage, you'd have to be careful with this because the app goes to its default state once storage is cleared. The default state is the way the app was when it was first downloaded.

Because files are being lost, you should be selective while clearing data for your app.

Here is how to clear Cache or Storage: Storage >> Apps & Notifications >> App >> Clear Storage/ Clear Cache.

Here is a bonus.

Taking many pictures isn’t bad. Actually, the more pictures you take, the better poses or shots you get, and the more options you get to select from for social media posts.

Having many shots gets you confused on the ones to keep or delete. Most people end up keeping all.

While taking few shots makes it special and appreciated more. It goes with the ‘’less is more’’ saying.

So dear, reduce the 'similar' pictures you have in your phone. The blur, and dark ones delete them too to free up space.