Solved! How to find 'hidden' used memory.

dschmidt

Great
Oct 22, 2018
13
0
60
How can I find 'hidden' section of memory that is still being used? When I open the phone (attached to my PC), I only get one folder labeled 'Internal Storage' . I went into the 'DCIM' and 'Pictures' folders and transferred all my pics and vids, but the phone still says only 3.75gb out of 8.15gb is still free. It seems I'm still missing almost 5gb of storage space. Where is the other used RAM?
 
Solution
We all can learn things all the time. :) I would rather teach and share info than have people not understand. Always room for learning!

Make sure, when you do remove/delete/uninstall thing that you restart the phone (turn it off and back on) after you are done. This will also help with space issues. Another thing to consider is to have a SD card you can put personal stuff on. Photos, files, music, etc. and that will save the space on the phone itself. Lastly, make sure you clear out things like search histories (for any app), cache's, etc. As long as you don't need it, then it is best to clear it out. Like text messages. While you may need some of them, most people don't need all of them. Better to say forward the few you really want...

dschmidt

Great
Oct 22, 2018
13
0
60


Wow! Thanks for replying so promptly, I admit I'm a little surprised, but grateful.
OK, I know RAM isn't the same as the part of the memory that is used to save settings and apps (ROM?), but I didn't know what else to call it. Same with the use of the word 'missing'. I opened up my daughter's phone, which is a Vivo (because life doesn't give me enough headaches, it took me years to even partially understand my second-hand Samsung Galaxy) and went to 'Settings'. I deleted all the accumulated junk I could find from all the major apps, and turned quite a few of them off. Free space went up to 46% ! Great! then I went through and deleted apps and parts of apps (like the language packs for Senegalese, Swahili, etc.) and the free space went back down to 40%. I gave up at that point. I'm curious though, each time I hit the 'Delete' button when cleaning out the junk, another little window popped up and immediately disappeared 'to the right' before I could even read it, but I could see the word 'Delete' in the top oval.
Her phone is running better than it was, and so now I will try the same thing on my Samsung, which is so slow one would imagine it's ready to freeze solid.
Thanks for the reply and the terminology clarifications. I'm sorry for my backwardness but 62 is a little late to be expected to have a 'feel' for these phones. Cheers!


 
We all can learn things all the time. :) I would rather teach and share info than have people not understand. Always room for learning!

Make sure, when you do remove/delete/uninstall thing that you restart the phone (turn it off and back on) after you are done. This will also help with space issues. Another thing to consider is to have a SD card you can put personal stuff on. Photos, files, music, etc. and that will save the space on the phone itself. Lastly, make sure you clear out things like search histories (for any app), cache's, etc. As long as you don't need it, then it is best to clear it out. Like text messages. While you may need some of them, most people don't need all of them. Better to say forward the few you really want to your email and then clear out the rest of the texts. Those, facebook history, messenger app, etc., all add more and more data to a device. Most people don't think to clear out that stuff, but unless you really need it, better to do some spring cleaning. Well in this case Autumnal cleaning. :)
 
Solution

dschmidt

Great
Oct 22, 2018
13
0
60


Great advice! Part of my problem has always been that I don't know what is there, so I can't search for it, meaning I was ignorant of how many different functions leave data behind. When I was clearing out my Samsung Galaxy last night after working on my daughter's, I kept deleting apps whose function I was unsure of, but only knew that I never used.
But I was curious: what is the difference between 'cache' and 'stored data' for these apps?
Another thing: many times I was deleting a Google app (Maps, for example) and I kept being asked if I "wanted to replace this app with the factory version?) I'm not sure the phone came with a "factory version" of Maps. But the phone is running better now, and that was my main objective.
One last thing: how can I get a photo from line to be the wallpaper?
Thanks again for your prompt replies and friendliness. :)
 
Clearing a "cache" only clears some things. The same as it would say on a browser on a computer. While clearing "data" will clear all connection to you for that app. Making the app as it was before you input anything.

In the case of the message you are getting when trying to uninstall an app, that means that the app you are trying to uninstall may not be able to be uninstalled. If that is the case, the system gives you the option to remove all updates to it, making it the version it was when the device started out. Usually those take up less space. Just remember, when you do that, the device will then offer to update that app every time you get updates. A way to avoid that is, if the app is not removable, it may be able to be 'disabled'. If that is the case the device will no longer try to use it and no longer ask you to update it.

In regard to the image. To use anything as a wallpaper it has to be saved to the phone or the SD card themselves. If the image is in an app, then you can't use it unless you save it to the device.