Warning...Storage Full!

[EJB986]

Galaxy J3 2017.
Warning16GB storage is full to around 15.4.
Have cleared the cache on virtually all apps.
Removed a couple not used.
Looking via my PC can only find about 4.1 GB used by apps.
Docs/Images/Videos etc are all empty.
How can I find the 11 or 12 GBs that don't show or is that simply the operating system that can't be interfered with?

Have an extra SD card storage but it is only at 50% everything that can be moved to the card has been moved.
PS. I have removed updates from quite a few apps with little effect.
PSS. Will replace phone in a few weeks but need it running well until then!

Please?

 

[svim]

You should ignore what you're seeing from your PC, it's running a different operating system and using different file system than your phone. Basically you're only going to see a limited, restricted in scope view of what's actually stored on your phone.
Instead, use the Settings >> Storage menu that's in your phone to get a better, more accurate reflection on what's actually stored in your phone's internal storage. Or use a file manager app, that's also a native Android utility running on your Android device. The installed Android operating system is going to take up a substantial amount but there should be a sizable amount of storage left. So there's likely to be some file or files that are taking up a lot of storage space.
But if you're going to be switching to a new phone soon anyway, weigh your options on how much space you do need just to get by.

 

[Brian706]

One thing to note is that the operating system takes up some of that storage. Some devices can be ~10Gb for the system partition. In that case, a 16GB device would only have around 6GB available.

The free app Disk Usage is pretty good about showing exactly where your storage is being used.

 

[EJB986]

Thank you both for the information.....all understood.
I only have about 5% free so will plod on for the time being.
We are away for a time and I use OsmAnd as a satnav in Europe....I have other devices (Car and Tom Tom) but OsmAnd gives me the phones battery convenience when walking.
Next phone will have 64GB!
Thanks again.

 

[nickdalzell]

Andoid has its own low storage alert (a disc icon with ! beside it) and when you get that, your emails stop syncing, and other data stops syncing. Downloads from Play Store stop working. YouTube Music downloads stop working.

If it gets below 1% you can't send/receive SMS/MMS or take pictures.

 

[EJB986]

Thank you Nick.
If that happens I'll uninstall a few apps to keep me going for 3 or 4 weeks.
Apart from Phone and OsmAmd sat nav app nothing else really matters.
In fact I'll do that shortly to be sure.