Some time after the first turn on, too much information accumulates on the phone and there is simply no free space left for new files. Owners of budget Android devices especially often encounter this problem. But not everything is so simple, all phones have several types of memory, and first you need to figure out what each of them is responsible for, and only then clean the gadget of unnecessary files and irrelevant information. What ways are there to clean up or increase storage capacity?

Types of memory on Android devices

Each of the memory departments has its own tasks and characteristics, which we will now look into:

Built-in memory is the memory that is initially located on the phone or tablet and is intended for storing various files. Each device has its own hard drive, on which the operating system itself and programs necessary for normal and full functioning are recorded. After connecting the device to the Internet, or using other methods, you can start filling the internal memory with everything you need: files, programs, music, videos, etc.

A storage drive or memory card is an addition to the internal memory that is installed separately. All Android devices have a special input for an SD card, which will allow you to expand the memory by 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 or 128 GB. You can transfer personal information, media files and applications to an external drive.

If the internal and external memory becomes completely full, you will no longer be able to place anything on the device. It is also possible that the phone will begin to freeze, slow down and refuse to launch applications.

RAM (RAM) - this memory stores information about processes that are currently occurring and files copied to the clipboard. That is, if you launched a game or application, started watching videos or listening to music via the Internet, then the load will go to the RAM. In other words, this memory is designed to store cache. Everything that is in this memory is temporary files, since they will be erased after rebooting the device or when a special button is pressed.

ROM (ROM) - unlike RAM, it is a permanent memory that stores processes necessary for the full functioning of the system. That is, the ROM is responsible for the loads associated with the operating system and is not reset when the device is rebooted.

If the RAM or ROM is completely full, the phone will start to freeze, slow down and stop opening applications. Also, many devices have a function that automatically reboots and disables some applications when the RAM or ROM is heavily loaded.

How to view statistics on the memory load of a smartphone or tablet

First, let's check how much and what kind of memory we have left by following these steps:

Open your phone settings.

Open settings

Go to the "Memory" section.

Go to the “Memory” section

Here you can view detailed information about the internal and external memory. The list is divided into sections that describe how much memory there is, what it is occupied by, and how much free space is left.

Memory usage information

To find out what part of the RAM and ROM is free, hold down the “Menu” button on the phone panel.

Press the "Menu" button to view information about RAM and ROM

The window that opens shows a list of running applications, and at the bottom there is a button with the words “Available...MB from...GB”. The second digit is the sum of RAM and ROM, the first digit is how much of the total memory is available at the moment.

The button at the bottom of the screen contains information about the available and total memory of RAM and ROM

How to clear device memory

Since everyone faces this problem sooner or later, there are several cleaning methods, each of which is used for a specific memory.

Using built-in applications

First of all, let's use what the developers of your smartphone came up with to clear the internal and external memory by following these steps:

Go to your phone settings.

Go to settings

Go to the "Memory" section.

Go to the “Memory” section

Click on the "Cache" button.

Click on the “Cache” button

Confirm deletion of data.

Confirm cache deletion

Now go to the Miscellaneous section.

Go to the “Miscellaneous” section

Check the box for those applications whose files you are not afraid of losing. That is, if you delete .vkontakte, you will lose all saved music and pictures, and the same will happen with other applications whose files you delete.

We mark applications whose files you don’t mind deleting

Click on the garbage can icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

Click on the garbage can icon to delete data

Video tutorial: leave what you need, delete what you don’t need - how to properly clear memory in Android

To clear RAM and ROM, follow these steps:

Press and hold the "Menu" button on your device.

Hold down the "Menu" button to open the list of running applications

In the window that appears, click the button with the broom icon.

Click on the broom icon to close all applications at once

Open your phone settings.

Open the phone settings

Go to the "Applications" section.

Go to the “Applications” section

Go to the “Working” subsection.

Go to the “Working” section

Click on an application that you can stop without losing the functionality of your device. For example, select “Vkontakte”, “Instagram”, browser and similar applications.

Selecting applications that can be stopped

Click the Stop button.

Click the “Stop” button

Do the same for all unnecessary applications.

Go to the list of cached applications by clicking on the corresponding icon in the upper right corners of the screen.

Click on the special icon to go to the list of cached applications

Stop all unnecessary applications.

Stopping unnecessary applications

Video tutorial: clearing RAM on an Android device

Freeing up storage space manually

This method involves transferring files and programs from internal memory to external memory, since usually the phone’s built-in memory is noticeably smaller than that which can be additionally installed using an SD card. You can transfer pictures, videos, e-books and files that are not involved in maintaining the functionality of the phone to external memory. In general, transfer everything that is not related to the operating system.

Open File Explorer. This is an application that contains all the folders and files located on the device.

Open Explorer

Go to internal memory.

Go to internal memory

Hold your finger on the file you want to transfer for a couple of seconds.

Select file to transfer

Click on the scissors icon to cut it.

Click on the scissors icon to cut the file

Go to the MicroSD section.

Go to the MicroSD section

Click on the paper tablet icon to insert a file.

Insert the cut file using the “Insert” button

Do the same with all files.

You can also transfer part of the application to external memory by following these steps:

Open your device settings.

Open the phone settings

Go to the "Memory" section.

Go to the “Memory” section

Check the box next to MicroSD.

Check the box next to MIcroSD

Reboot your phone. From now on, all applications not included in the list of built-in ones will be transferred to external memory. But be careful, if you remove or break the external drive, applications will no longer run.

Reboot the device

Using a computer

Don't forget that you can use your computer as an external drive. To transfer files from phone to PC, follow these steps:

Connect your phone to your computer via a USB cable.

We connect the phone and computer using a USB cable

Wait until all drivers are installed.

On your computer, open File Explorer and navigate to your phone's contents.

Let's go to the contents of the phone

Cut out and transfer all files that are not involved in maintaining the functionality of the device, that is, those that were uploaded by you personally, and not by the creators of the phone.

We expand the capabilities of the gadget using cloud technologies

In recent years, such a branch of the Internet as cloud technologies has been actively developing, allowing you to upload a file to the cloud via an Internet connection. It goes like this:

You open one of the programs designed for cloud storage. For example, the Yandex.Disk application, which can be downloaded from Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.yandex.disk&hl=ru.

Install the Yandex.Disk application

Click on the “Upload file” button and select the one you need.

Upload the necessary files to Yandex cloud servers

Done, now you can delete the file from your phone, it will remain on Yandex Disk until you download it from there or delete it. But be careful, carefully read the conditions for storing the file on cloud servers, as some companies set limits on file sizes and storage periods, after which it will be automatically deleted.

We work with third-party programs

In the Play Market you can easily find many free programs that help you clean your phone in a couple of clicks. Now we will look at the most popular and practical of them:

Clean Master will free your storage from unnecessary information

Probably one of the most famous applications, and not only in its category, as it has more than 5,000,000 installations. Clean Master offers a complete cleaning of the device from temporary files, cache, damaged and empty folders, browser history and other garbage. Its capabilities also include automatic closing of unnecessary applications and a built-in antivirus. The application has a nice and convenient interface that allows you to clean your device with just two clicks of the “Analysis” and “Clean” buttons. Installation link from Play Market -

Install the Clean Master application

System monitoring in Android Assistant

Also deservedly located in the top Play Market program (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.advancedprocessmanager&hl=ru), which has a very wide list of features:

Constant system monitoring, providing the user with information about system load, memory status, battery temperature and other useful things.

A process manager that allows you to manage running applications in a couple of touches of the screen.

Ability to view the list of applications that start automatically when the device is turned on and disable them.

The App 2 SD function will allow you to quickly move installed applications from internal to external memory.

And, most importantly, the application will allow you to clear your phone’s memory of unnecessary files with the press of one button.

Installing the Android Assistant application

Total Commander will help you structure folders and files

This application is designed to organize all the files on the device. Total Commander will allow you to pack and unpack folders with their contents in rar and zip formats. Its capabilities also include editing and transferring the contents of the phone from place to place or to another device. Installation link from Play Market -

Installing the Total Commander application

How to increase internal memory on Android

If clearing the memory did not solve your problems, then it’s time to think about upgrading your device.

First, get an SD card. At the moment, their cost depends on the amount of memory. That is, an 8 GB card will cost twice as much as a 4 GB card. Try to buy a card with more memory than you currently need, so that you can move it into a new phone in the future without having to buy a new one.

Secondly, install the FolderMount application from the Play Market (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount&hl=ru) and the 360root application, which will give your device root rights (download it can be found on the official website of the developer http://360root.ru).

Launch the 360root application and click on the button in the middle of the screen. Done, superuser rights have been obtained.

Press the button to give the phone root rights

Open the application. It is designed to increase the internal memory of the device by combining the storage areas located there with an SD card. That is, applications can be completely transferred to an external drive from the phone, accordingly freeing up the built-in memory.

Open the application

We begin to manually combine folders. More details on how to do this correctly are described in the video tutorial.

Video: combining folders

Thirdly, let’s figure out how to increase the device’s RAM. This can be done using special programs that create a swap file. For example, Ram Manager.

Download the application from the Play Market - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartprojects.RAMOptimizationFree&hl=ru.

Install the RAM Manager Free application

We give him root rights.

Give the application root rights

Select one of the operating modes.

Select one of the modes

Ram Manager operating modes:

Balance - maximum optimization of RAM.

Balance (with more free memory) – maximum optimization of RAM for devices with up to 512 MB of memory.

Balance (with more multitasking) – maximum optimization of RAM for devices with more than 512 MB.

Hard Gaming is a mode for those who like to run serious games on their device that require a lot of resources.

Hard Multitasking - this mode will optimize the operation of the device while running several programs simultaneously.

Default (Samsung) – this mode is activated in Samsung devices by default, but now it can be used on phones from other companies.

Default (Nexus S) – mode for phones and tablets from Google.

Default settings of your phone - this function resets the RAM settings to the “default” level.

How to avoid cluttering your phone and save system resources

To avoid problems with free device memory in the future, you should follow simple rules:

Download only what you really need. Don't buy into big names and promises of programs that promise to speed up your device several times. They will only clog your memory, which will lead to sad consequences.

Make it a rule to transfer photos and videos from your phone to your computer or flash drive once every couple of weeks. This will significantly relieve memory, and it will not run out at the most inopportune moment.

Use memory cleaning programs regularly. For example, Clean Master. They will clear the cache and other garbage accumulated on your device.

Buy an SD card, which will greatly increase the amount of available memory.

The performance of the device directly depends on the free space. If the memory is clogged, then you cannot avoid freezes and reduced phone performance. Remember that any computer device requires constant care and protection from viruses. Only if you are careful and careful with your gadget will it serve you for a long time and with high quality, constantly satisfying your needs.

All modern portable digital devices running Android are linked to a personal email or profile on social networks. Therefore, if you decide to sell your beloved Android smartphone or tablet, but you don’t want personal data, photos or videos to become available to the buyer, then in such cases you need to quickly and easily clean it. This will also help if, after downloading a whole bunch of unknown applications, a virus was installed. This can be done in several ways, without resorting to using any programs:

1. Reset to factory settings
2. Perform a hard reset

1. How to reset to factory settings on android

This method is quite simple and we recommend its use. To do this, you need to enter the “settings” menu. Next, the choice depends on the android version. For Android 4.x and higher “Restore and reset”. For older Android 2.x – “Privacy”. In the available menu, select “Reset settings” with one click.

Reset example on version 5 of Android

After this, the system will notify you again that all data, as well as linked profiles, will be deleted from the phone. You need to confirm the action by clicking “Reset phone settings”. After rebooting the phone, Android will be completely cleaned. That's how simple and fast it is, unlike the next method.

2. How to reset settings on Android (hard reset)

Attention, using this method may cause the Android system to malfunction. Use only if the first one does not help.

This method of cleaning Android is really effective when, after installing the application, a message appears about paid unlocking of the device or you forgot the pattern key.

First, you need to fully charge and then turn off the phone. Next, you need to enter the “Recovery” mode. You need to press and hold a certain key combination. Each manufacturer has its own set of keys. We will present the most common options and look at the example of a Samsung Galaxy phone.

• Volume up (or down) key + power key
• Both volume keys (up + down) + power key
• Volume up (or down) key + home key + power key

You must keep them pressed until a dark screen appears with text in the upper left. This is the “Recovery” menu. You can move around it using the up and down keys, and select the power button.

We move down to the item “wipe data / factory reset” and confirm by pressing the power key. On the next screen, confirm the choice “Yes – delete all user data” in the same way. The procedure for cleaning the phone and returning to factory settings will begin. You will return to the initial menu, where you will need to select the “Reboot system” item to reboot the phone.

We hope the material on completely cleaning Android devices was useful to you. If you have questions, you can ask them in the comments.

If you are wondering how to completely wipe your Android phone, most likely you have lost your mobile device and want to delete all your personal data so that it does not go to another person. Or you are going to sell your Android smartphone, and for the same purpose you want to delete personal files from the internal memory of your phone.

In any case, cleaning your Android phone is not particularly difficult. We will tell you about several ways you can do this.

How to completely wipe an Android phone remotely

If you have lost your Android smartphone and want to clear it of your personal photos, videos, files and other data, you can use a special service from Google. To do this you need:

Keep in mind that once you click the "Delete Data" button, you will not be able to undo the process and your personal files will be permanently deleted.

How to completely wipe your Android phone through the settings menu

This method is used in cases where you have a smartphone in your hands and you can go to the settings menu. The Android operating system offers a special function to completely clean your smartphone. Now we will tell you how you can use this feature.

1. Turn on your smartphone and open the main screen.
2. Go to your smartphone settings.
3. Next, go to the “Restore and Reset” section.
4. Click on the "Reset settings" option.
5. After that, click the “Reset phone settings” button.

After some time, the smartphone will be completely cleaned. Now you can safely sell your smartphone without worrying that the new owner will have access to your personal data.

We hope that our instructions on how to completely clean an Android phone helped you deal with the problem.

A paradox is often discovered in Android phones Samsung Galaxy, Duos, Lenovo, LG, Nokia Lumia, Asus and others.

Some owners cannot recover deleted photos, while others cannot delete deleted photos - an interesting situation.

Everyone wants to completely and permanently delete photos and all personal data, for example, before selling an Android smartphone.

The trick is that even if you do a hard reset of the phone, it will not be enough, since all files can be recovered. How to get rid of them forever without the possibility of recovery?

By the way, there was a way to delete photos (and not only pictures) faster and more efficiently -

Why are deleted photos recovered on Android?

There are several reasons why deleted photos are restored on an Android phone, and not everyone knows that deleting from the gallery, and even restoring the phone to factory settings, does not actually permanently delete your data.

You can very easily recover all files deleted in this way using a file recovery program.

Moreover, Android has synchronization, for example, in the Google Photos application, where everything can be restored automatically.

The same applies to the onedrive cloud, backup auto, hangouts, picasa, hotmail or autobackup, but you can still permanently delete them.

The standard way to delete photos from an Android phone

Wherever your photos are, on the memory card, in the internal memory, they are displayed in the gallery.

You can remove photos from the gallery using Android tools. To do this, open the gallery and click on the option at the top right.

Then click on the “Edit” option.

Now, as soon as you check the boxes next to the files you want to delete, the “Delete” option will immediately become active.

Click on it. A confirmation request will appear - confirm everything.

How to completely permanently delete deleted photos from an Android phone without the possibility of recovery Android

Permanently deleting files is not the best option, you are better off using special applications that do a special process of overwriting the free space and thus preventing recovery completely and forever, with the exception of synchronization.

In order to completely delete a photo, you must perform a standard deletion or restore your smartphone to factory default. This is always a good basis for deleting all personal data.

Then you can use the “iShreddera 5 Standard” app, otherwise your data can be easily recovered.

In fact, deleted photos are not deleted, but only information about them is erased, and they themselves are still in the internal memory and on the card.

IShreddera does not delete current data, but overwrites memory using special algorithms that will prevent the subsequent recovery of private information.

Using IShreddera is very easy. Just launch the application and click on the "Next" button. Then select the section and which algorithm to use.

The more repetitions, the higher the efficiency, but the longer it takes to rewrite. All available algorithms are popular and are used by government organizations and the military to get rid of data. Ideally, you should select 3x repeat and start re-recording.

There is another program called Secure Wipe that also performs similar operations on your phone.

This allows you to overwrite the free space on the memory card and internal memory of the smartphone. If you want to use emergency photo deletion, you can use both applications.

Attention! The process carried out by iShreddera and Secure Wipe can take several hours depending on how much memory you have on your phone. Therefore, it is recommended to connect it to a charger during this time.

How to delete photos from Picasa gallery on Android

An Android phone can synchronize your photos with a gallery through Picas or Google Photos. These albums can be deleted, but next time they are synchronized they will be added again.

Luckily, there is a way to completely remove Picasa or Google Photos albums from your smartphone. This requires minor changes to the synchronization settings.

To do this, go to the settings of your smartphone or tablet and select Accounts -> Google.

Select a Gmail address. If your phone has more than one Gmail account, you'll need to repeat this process for each email.

After selecting your email, you will see your account sync options. Uncheck the option to sync Picasa albums.

Go back to Settings and select Settings > Applications > Gallery or Pictures. Click delete data. This process may take some time.

After deleting photos, they can literally appear again in an hour as if nothing had happened.

This happens through synchronization with Google services or through the cloud, for example, in Microsoft phones.

To check this, simply turn off the Internet. If your data stops appearing on its own, then it’s definitely a matter of synchronization with cloud storage.

If the problem occurs on the memory card, then simply try replacing it or formatting it on your computer.

That's all. In the near future I will write how to delete a photo from a Facebook contact, in Contact, via a computer, from Instagram, on Mamba, from Viber, from WhatsApp, from ICloud, from Badu, from Avito Photo, all, in Ask, from WhatsApp, duplicates and all straightaway. Good luck.