Helpful tips to manage your smartphone's storage space
We live in a time where smartphones have become our go-to device for everything, whether it's for essentials, leisure, and entertainment.
Through smartphones, we can communicate, shop, do transactions, play games, stream shows, and music, and take photos and videos, among many others.
In the process, all these activities could end up clogging our smartphone's storage with apps and files taking up huge spaces over time.
This makes us delete files without much thought in a hurry to free up space, only to make room for new ones, repeating the cycle over and over again.
So unless you have the means to upgrade to a new phone o purchase external storage devices, here are some practical tips from Google to make the most of your phone's limited storage space.
Check your storage space
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It's easy to get caught with the thrill of downloading news apps to suit our needs or interests. This also applies when taking photos and videos excessively and frequently.
We forget, however, to check our phone's storage limit to give us an idea of how much our device could take in.
To find out, go to 'Settings' and select 'Storage' to see how much space you've used up so far and be more mindful with your usage.
Reaching the full capacity of your storage might compromise the performance or function of your device.
Keep only the best files and apps
Photo by: Roman Odintsov (Pexels)
After knowing how much you can store, go through your photos, videos, and apps and keep only the ones you think are important. The truth is we tend to take many photos of the same thing and end up posting or liking only a few of them.
Likewise, not all apps suit our needs that we don't get to use them regularly.
Know only the ones that are important and don't hesitate to delete the rest.
Use storage management apps
Photo by: Porapak Apichodilok (Pexels)
Some devices are designed with a built-in app called 'Files' (launched by Google) to help free up space on smartphones with limited storage.
This app was created to tell a user which files they can delete from their phones to free up storage.
Simply click the 'Clean' icon at the bottom of the screen and select which files you can delete to free up space. After the clean-up, you'll see how much space you've freed up.
Use cloud to save files
Photo by: Plann (Pexels)
Nowadays, people can use the so-called cloud to store files instead of dumping them all in smartphones.
To save your files on the cloud, use the Files app to browse and select the files you want to store.
Tap the 'share' icon (shaped like an incomplete sideways triangle), select 'More' and choose between 'Save to Drive' or 'Upload to Photos' so files can be saved on the cloud.
Once done, you can delete the same photos and files from your phone to free up space.
It is advisable to connect to a Wi-Fi network when backing up files to save on data usage or avoid extra mobile data charges.
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