Help Storage Doesn't Make Sense?

[LimeGreenCrocs]

My phone has basically no storage left. I've already transferred everything possible to my SD card. I have to clear the cache every time I want to use any Samsung apps. Today I discovered the breakdown of my storage usage and I'm really confused! It makes no sense at all!

I have 16GB internal storage total, and the system says:
- 5.9GB is the system
- 415MB is photos and videos (even though system otherwise says it's 66MB)
- etc etc with more things that are hundreds of MB but that I only have maybe 30MB max)
- Secure folder is 1.4GB (but I have nothing in there! When I click to see what exactly makes up those 1.4GB. it says I have 14GB of files in there???)
- 8.6GB of apps (otherwise it says I only have 3.5)

Does anyone know what's happened and what I can do about it? Thank you so much!

 

[puppykickr]

What happens when you tap 'Other Apps'?

Hopefully, it will load up another screen with all of the user (your) apps in order, either alphabetical or by size.

There should be a menu button somewhere to allow you to change the method of order- you want them to be ordered by size.

The biggest apps will be first, at the top of the list.

Now you can tap the first app and find out where the space is being gobbled up.

You have thre choices...

Delete the cache
this has no bad effects, however it will accumulate again when you use the app.

Delete the data
this will reset the app, and you will need to reset the settings and basically start over with it. Not a big deal if the important info can be exported first and then imported afterward.

Delete the app.
this will cure that app from hogging space.

Any app that you can use a browser instead (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, etc.), it is an excellent choice to uninstall these and just use your browser.
The websites can be simply saved as bookmarks.
If you don't clear cookies, then you won't even need to login to sites that you already have logged into with the browser.

There are a few other things you can try, but first do the above and check the results.
The next step involves using apps to find 'hidden' and other files that don't readily appear so easilly.

 

[svim]

I wouldn't pay too much attention to your installed apps, there doesn't appear to be anything excessive about what you have and messing doing things like frequently clearing app caches it is a temporary fix with a minimal effect anyway. Apps need their data and caches to function so micromanaging them doesn't really help solve your storage problem. The issue to look into is that 14GB of data in the Secure Folder. That's the significant thing taking up your phone's internal storage. Use the My Files file manager app and change the app's Settings to enable it to view hidden files. If you still can't determine what's taking up all that space, you might want to disable Secure Folder and see if that frees up your storage space:
https://www.samsung.com/za/support/mobile-devices/how-do-i-uninstall-or-remove-the-secure-folder/
Be sure to double-check it's current contents and back up what you want saved so you can restore it later.

 

[Hadron]

As is not uncommon with these system storage menus, the information they provide is a contradictory mess.

The first screenshot shows 5.9GB of system (which will be the size of the partitions, not the contents), 1.4GB Secure Folder, 8.6GB Other Apps. That's your 15.9 GB right there. There's nothing you can do about the system, so the bulk of the usage is apps and their data (probably stored data and caches). If your system still lets you do this (not all do) go into your app settings (do Samsung still rename it "App Manager"?) and see if you can sort them by size, that will show you where the biggest problems are.

Then there's the second screenshot which shows the Secure Folder holding 1.3 GB of "other apps" (consistent with the 1.4GB size of the folder in the first screenshot) and 14.6 GB of "files". Add those together and you also get 15.9 GB. So clearly this shot is counting everything in the entire system rather than just what's in the "secure folder", with everything other than the contents of that folder lumped together under "files" (which means it's also counting apps that aren't in that folder and even the system partitions here). So this second screenshot tells us nothing except that the only thing in there is some apps and that Samsung can still do idiotic things when they write their software (and yes, this display is Samsung software, not Android).

So personally I would ignore the second screenshot and concentrate on what's really using your space, which is the 8.6 GB of apps and their data plus the 1.3 GB of apps+data in the Secure Folder. It may be that your file manager won't show you the contents of the Secure Folder even when set to show hidden files, but that doesn't really matter: if it is all apps+data, which the second screenshot seems to say, then they'll all be visible in the App Manager and you don't need to worry about which is where.