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Help Files application taking up 90 GB somehow

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UndefinedN00B

Lurker
Hey, I have a Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus running Android Q (Android 10), and I have 128GB of storage. The other day, my storage usage went from about 30GB to 126GB from nowhere. I checked what was taking up my storage and it said "Other". So I checked on advanced storage usage and it says "My Files" (The App) is using up 90GB of storage! I try to go through the files I have on there and I can't find anything that could take up that much storage.

I also checked my DCIM to see how much storage my photos and videos are taking up and it says about 20GB (I take 4k resolution pictures). I can't figure out how this happened.

I'm thinking of uploading all my pictures and videos to Google Photos. I'm also gonna save all my other files (such as PDFs) on an SSD. Then factory reset/delete all data from the device. I was wondering if you guys know an app or something where I can check how much storage a directory is using up or it tells me what is taking up most of my storage. If there is an app that can do that, please let me know.

Otherwise, if you have any better ideas feel free to let me know. If not, I would really appreciate it if you guys can send me some tutorial videos on how to factory reset my device/delete all personal data from the device correctly.

Thanks!
 
I am currently having the same issue with a few apps.

I have not been able to diagnose it.

If you are lucky, in the settings of your app there may be an option for settings backup, and import/export data.

Export your data to a file/folder where you can find it again, and then go into your device settings.

Settings
Apps
(show all)
(find your offending app)
Storage

Stop here and check the cache.
If that is what is so large, clear it and you are done.

If not, then continue on.

Clear Data
(this should not affect any of your personal data)

Now open the app again, and go back to the backup settings and Import Data.

select the folder/file you saved the backup info in.

This should restore your settings to the app.

If your app does not have the backup feature, then you have to manually reset all of the app settings for that app.
 
The My Files app is just a basic file manager. It's not taking up 90GB of storage space itself, it's an app you can use to determine what files are residing in your internal storage that make up that 90GB.. It's the file manager app Samsung includes on its devices. Nothing flashy or extravagant about it but like any file manager you can copy, move, rename, and delete files and folders, and use it to check file sizes and such. Go into your Apps menu, start up the My Files app and use it to navigate through the various folders containing your files.
 
@svim
Pretty sure OP said that a search through the files turned up nothing.

'I try to go through the files I have on there and I can't find anything that could take up that much storage.'
 
svim said:
The My Files app is just a basic file manager. It's not taking up 90GB of storage space itself, it's an app you can use to determine what files are residing in your internal storage that make up that 90GB.. It's the file manager app Samsung includes on its devices. Nothing flashy or extravagant about it but like any file manager you can copy, move, rename, and delete files and folders, and use it to check file sizes and such. Go into your Apps menu, start up the My Files app and use it to navigate through the various folders containing your files.
Click to expand...
I also bothered with such a problem, but I realized that this is normal and does not affect the main memory, it's like virtual memory
 
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This is a constant issue for me, disappearing storage space from constant updates are forcing me to reset my phone every few months.

I came here looking for an alternative to resetting my phone every few months.

Perhaps the OP has the same issue that's giving me grief and a Factory Data Reset though not the ideal solution will recover the lost space.
 
RunrunHibi said:
Try CCleaner app. I use the built in Mi Cleaner on my Xiaomi phone.
Click to expand...

I tried CCleaner but it was not able to find any of the missing hidden gigs of data that the updates had consumed. A factory reset restores the lost data so It's stored hidden in Andoid there somewhere.
 
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