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How to free up storage space on an Android phone

When an Android phone runs out of space, apps stop updating and the camera refuses to take photos. Android has a built-in clean-up tool that finds the usual culprits for you: cached junk, oversized videos, duplicate downloads and apps you haven't opened in months. This guide follows that tool on a Pixel or other phone with Google's Files app. Samsung phones use their own version, covered under Variations.

What you'll need: An Android phone with the Files app from Google (it comes pre-installed on Pixels and most non-Samsung phones). If your phone has an SD card, the steps below only affect the phone's own storage.

See what's using the space

Open Settings and tap Storage. The page shows how much of the phone is full, with a breakdown by type: Apps, Images, Videos, Audio, Documents & other, System and Trash.

The System entry is Android itself and can't be reduced. Everything else on the list is fair game.

Open the clean-up tool

Tap Free up space. This opens the Files app on its Clean tab, which lists a series of cards, each one a different kind of thing you could delete, with the amount of space it would recover.

Clear junk files

Start with the Junk files card and tap Clean. This removes temporary files and app caches, which the apps rebuild as they need them. Nothing you created is touched, so there is no selection screen for this one. Confirm when asked.

Review large files

Find the Delete large files card and tap Select files. The list is sorted biggest first and is usually dominated by videos. Tick the ones you no longer want, then tap the delete button at the bottom. The app tells you how many files are going to the Trash.

A video you want to keep but don't need on the phone can be backed up to Google Photos first, then deleted here. Check it has finished uploading before you do.

Remove duplicates

On the Delete duplicate files card, tap Select files. Each group shows the identical copies side by side with one already marked as the original. Tick the spares and tap the delete button. The original stays where it is.

Uninstall apps you don't use

The Delete unused apps card lists apps you haven't opened for a while, with the date you last used each one and how much space it takes. Tap Select apps, tick the ones you can live without and tap Uninstall. Anything from Google Play can be reinstalled later from the Play Store, and most apps keep your account data on their own servers.

Work through any other cards

Depending on what's on the phone, the Clean tab may also offer old screenshots, downloaded files, memes and images received through messaging apps, and photos already backed up to Google Photos. Each card works the same way: Select files, tick what to remove, delete.

Only remove backed-up photos if Google Photos backup is on and has finished. Open Google Photos, tap your profile picture and check it says backup is complete. Deleting a photo from the phone that was never backed up loses it.

Empty the Trash

Files you deleted in steps 4 to 7 sit in the Trash for 30 days before they go for good, so the space isn't back yet. In the Files app, open the menu (the three lines at the top left) and tap Trash. Tap Select all, then Delete, and confirm.

You can also reach the same Trash from Settings → Storage → Trash.

Check the result

Go back to Settings → Storage. The used figure should have dropped by roughly the total the cards promised. If the phone was warning you about low storage, the warning clears on its own once enough space is free.

Variations

On a Samsung Galaxy phone

Samsung doesn't use Google's Files app. Open Settings, tap Battery and device care (called Device care on older phones), then Storage. Below the breakdown you'll find sections for Recycle bin, Unused apps, Large files and Duplicate files. Open each one, tick what to remove and tap Delete or Uninstall. Samsung's Gallery and My Files apps each keep their own recycle bin for 30 days, which is why Recycle bin is worth emptying first: it's often the single biggest win.

Let the phone tidy up on its own

In the Files app, open the menu (three lines at the top left), tap Settings and switch on Smart Storage. Once it's on, the phone deletes photos and videos that have been on the device for 60 days and are already backed up to Google Photos, whenever space runs low. The copies in Google Photos stay put.

Clear one app's cache without uninstalling it

Browsers and social media apps hoard cached data. Open Settings → Apps → See all apps, tap the app, then Storage & cache and Clear cache. Leave Clear storage alone: that wipes the app's data and signs you out.

Troubleshooting

I deleted a lot but the storage figure barely moved

Almost always the Trash. Deleted files stay there for 30 days and still count against your storage until you empty it, as in step 8. On a Samsung, check the recycle bin inside Gallery and My Files too.

There's no Free up space button on the Storage page

Some manufacturers remove it. Open the Files app directly instead and tap Clean at the bottom of the screen to reach the same cards. If the app isn't on the phone, install Files by Google from the Play Store. On a Samsung, use the route under Variations.

Messaging apps are taking most of the space

WhatsApp, Telegram and similar apps save every photo and video you receive. The Clean tab catches some of this, but the apps' own tools go further: in WhatsApp, open Settings → Storage and data → Manage storage to see and delete the largest items and the files forwarded many times.

I deleted something I needed

If it was within the last 30 days and you haven't emptied the Trash, open it in the Files app, tap the file and choose Restore. Photos deleted through Google Photos can be restored from its own Bin in the same way. Once a Trash or Bin has been emptied, the file is gone.

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