Hey there, I'm using a Sony Xperia XZ1 G8341, and I've recently noticed that there's lots of hidden files in my storage, you know those that start with a dot. They don't take too much space but I'm not sure what is their purpose or if they can be deleted safely. My device is not rooted so I shouldn't be able to brick it that easily but I'm not sure. I'll attach some Screenshots if I can for you to see what files I'm talking about.
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What are all of these hidden files in my storage and can I get rid of them safely?
- Thread starter Quadra1
- Start date
dickthedev
Newbie
No I won't touch them, They are hidden for a reason. many of them are system files. If you delete them you Andriod will go hey wired or even die. .Leave them be, DON'T TOUCH THEM!!
lvt
Android Expert
This.
Having many files isn't a big deal, your device is only limited by storage space, not files count.
svim
Extreme Android User
Generally hidden files and folders (with the preceding . ) are indeed hidden for a specific reason, commonly to prevent them from being deleted by unknowing or over-zealous users. Most data that's not vital are dumped in an app's cache while things like saved settings, configuration files, and user I.D. and password get stored in those hidden folders.
Sometimes there's the matter where a user wants to delete an app completely and during the process its hidden folder isn't deleted so those might accumulate after a while, especially if there's been a lot of activity installing apps and later uninstalling them. In that instance you might be able to just delete that folder manually using a file manager app, but this also depends on where it's located, you'll only have full access to things residing in the user data partition. Unless you're rooted, you won't be able to do anything with files/folders in any of the system-level directories anyway.
Sometimes there's the matter where a user wants to delete an app completely and during the process its hidden folder isn't deleted so those might accumulate after a while, especially if there's been a lot of activity installing apps and later uninstalling them. In that instance you might be able to just delete that folder manually using a file manager app, but this also depends on where it's located, you'll only have full access to things residing in the user data partition. Unless you're rooted, you won't be able to do anything with files/folders in any of the system-level directories anyway.
While I do agree some of them might be system files I've already deleted some of the ones I knew were safe to remove and many of them were ads, thumbnails and other junk and leftovers from uninstalled apps, not sure why the developers decided to make their junk hidden though.
I do know that the amount of files I have doesn't affect my storage, most of those only have some kb of data, I want to delete them because they're annoying to look at and I'm not a fan of having a bunch of files whose purpose is unknown. I assumed all of them were just junk files from uninstalled apps since actual important system files wouldn't be so easy to delete, but I guess I'll leave them alone.
I do know that the amount of files I have doesn't affect my storage, most of those only have some kb of data, I want to delete them because they're annoying to look at and I'm not a fan of having a bunch of files whose purpose is unknown. I assumed all of them were just junk files from uninstalled apps since actual important system files wouldn't be so easy to delete, but I guess I'll leave them alone.