Help Storage space low. What should I do?

[benjamin163]

Hello,
I have a message coming on my phone which says storage space is running low.
So it takes me to 'manage applications' where I can see what I've downloaded, what's running, all my apps and apps on my sd card.
I am trying to move all my apps onto my sd card.
however, lots of them don't give me the option to do that.
eg adobe flash player 10.1 doesn't give me that option and it's 11.29MB.
Contacts storage is 16.02MB and I can't move that either.
Maps and qik are also large ones that I can't seem to move.
Can anyone give me any tips on how to free up storage space?
Any help gratefully received.

 

[benjamin163]

The other weird thing is that when I look on 'SD & Phone storage' it tells me that I have 1.04GB available on my sd card and 18.52MB available on my phone storage.
So can anyone tell me why it's saying I'm running low on storage space in the first place?
Thank you

 

[Usta]

The low storage space refers to the internal storage, and 18MB is low for that purpose.
Some of the apps cannot be moved to SD card on a normal way, and that includes Maps and Flash player.

There is something wrong with your contacts storage - 16MB is too much. I'd suggest to back up your contacts and clear the cache in Contacts storage.

Also, download App2SD application from market and see if you have moved all the apps to SD that was possible. Also clear the application cashed as suggested by App2SD.

 

[Missing_Link]

There's a very good app called ACCleaner - a Cache Cleaner. Works really well and is simple to use. And it's free

 

[benjamin163]

thanks for that Missing Link.
I'll give it a go and report back.

 

[benjamin163]

Yes that worked thanks, although it cleared kb rather than mb!
I still wonder why my phone tells me I'm running low on disk space when my phone storage menu tells me I have over a GB of space available.
And I'm still puzzled as to why some apps can't be moved to my SD card.
Any ideas?

 

[Casual Pete]

The other weird thing is that when I look on 'SD & Phone storage' it tells me that I have 1.04GB available on my sd card and 18.52MB available on my phone storage.
So can anyone tell me why it's saying I'm running low on storage space in the first place?
Thank you

You only have 148mb of phone memory,this is used for your apps.The space on your SD card is mostly irrelevant.

 

[sare99]

The other weird thing is that when I look on 'SD & Phone storage' it tells me that I have 1.04GB available on my sd card and 18.52MB available on my phone storage.
So can anyone tell me why it's saying I'm running low on storage space in the first place?
Thank you

The simple answer to this is because the two areas of memory are considered to be entirely separate. The low memory warning you are seeing is only concerned with/guaging the phone's internal memory capacity (in your case you have 18.52MB of the original 148MB quota remaining). That memory is not linked to nor does it care that you have an abundance of memory elsewhere i.e. , 1.04GB on your SD card.

The only thing you can do to free up phone memory is move all the apps you can over to your SD card (the App 2 SD function somebody else referred to above is excellent for this) or delete them entirely if you don't really use them e.g. I just deleted Google Maps from my phone and freed up about 12MB of space because I have only used it once in the 9 months I've had it. Also look for apps which perform the same function which can be moved to the SD card and go with those e.g. Astro and ES File Explorer are both file managers and Shazam and SoundHound are both music identifiers. Astro and Shazam cannot be moved over at present but ES Explorer and Soundhound can saving you another 5 -6MB of space.


Cache cleaning is the next best thing as mentioned by previous posters and, once again, the App 2 SD will help you to do this safely.

 

[benjamin163]

Thanks so much for the answers they are very useful.
In true Columbo style though, Just one more thing...
I understand the difference between the phone's internal memory (needed to run apps) and storage space. But the alert that appeared on my phone specifically said 'running low on disk space' which I think must be talking about storage space, no?
I shall certainly delete some apps to try and free up internal phone memory though. Although, I was under the impression that unless they were active they didn't affect the phone's internal memory. Is that right?

 

[SUroot]

The running low on space warning is "internal storage" i.e the /data partition. This happens when you get close to only 15MB left.

 

[Usta]

I shall certainly delete some apps to try and free up internal phone memory though. Although, I was under the impression that unless they were active they didn't affect the phone's internal memory. Is that right?

It is better not to use the word "memory" at all.
There is Internal Storage - this is where the apps are installed and this is the space that is running low. It doesn't matter if you are using the applications or not - they still take their space. Try to keep the free space always above 20MB.
There is External Storage - this is the SD card and here is where some of the apps are moved. Not really relevant as mentioned above.