How to Fix Insufficient Storage Issue on Android

11/04/2017

The error message “Insufficient storage available” are very common on Android devices and sometimes it’s too annoying, since it lags your device and stops you installing new apps from Google Play Store, or even taking pictures or videos. If you are seeing this message on your Android device, chances are that you have used up most of your device’s available space.

How to Fix Insufficient Storage Available Issue on Android

The best solution to solve this is to free up space on phone’s internal storage. However, in some cases, this error message shows up even when you have enough space. If this is the case, don’t panic, we have come up with 5 plenty solutions in this post. Just scroll down below and see what you are supposed to do to fix insufficient storage available issue without rooting your Android.

1. Clear Apps’ Cache

One of the easiest way to solve this issue to clear your apps’ cached data. This will reset app’s cached data, which will free up some space. To do this, follow the steps below.

  1. Head to your phone’s main Settings.
  2. Tap on Apps or Applications and swipe to the All applications tab.
  3. Tap on the menu and tap on Sort by size to show apps that are taking up the most space.
  4. Select any particular app to delete its cache.
  5. With the screen of the respective app that you have selected, tap on Clear cache button.
You may need to repeat the some process for every app.

Alternately, you can also clear all apps’ caches at once from the Storage section of the Settings app. If this option is available on your Android, you will see a Cached data option here; tapping on it will give you the option of clearing all cached data at once.

2. Uninstall Unwanted Apps

You probably have too many apps installed on your device that are taking up your valuable storage. So, uninstalling unwanted apps is the best thing you need when your Android storage space is running out. To do this, follow the steps below.

  1. Head to your phone’s main settings.
  2. Tap on Apps or Applications.
  3. Select any application you don’t need and tap on Uninstall, then tap OK button to confirm.

You can also uninstall apps from the app drawer—just tap and hold on an app you don’t need and drag it toward the top of the screen; an uninstall icon should appear and you just drag the shortcut on top of this and tap OK button to confirm.

3. Move Apps to SD Card

If your Android device has a SD card inserted, then you can always choose to move certain apps to SD card. This is also best solution to overcome the insufficient storage issue. To do this, follow the steps below.

  1. Head to your phone’s main settings.
  2. Tap on Apps or Applications.
  3. Select any application you want to move to SD card.
  4. If the app can be moved, you will see a button that says Move to SD card highlighted—tap this button to move the app to SD card.

Keep in mind that not all apps can be moved to SD card; the way to have total freedom is to root your Android device.

5. Delete Unwanted Files

You probably have a load of duplicate or unwanted files like photos and videos in your Gallery, this might be a possible cause of insufficient storage issue. You can easily fix the insufficient storage available issue by deleting unwanted files. To do this, open your file manager app and delete anything you don’t need.

If you are using WhatsApp, check WhatsApp > Media > WhatsApp Images or WhatsApp Videos and select Sent folder. Chances are most of the files in Sent folder are not files you are particularly attached to. So, you can free up some storage space by deleting these unwanted files.

So, this was about how to fix the Insufficient storage available issue on Android. If you have any other tips on how to fix Insufficient storage available issue on Android, do share with us through the comments below.

Image credit: Pixabay

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Jaysh Amin

I'm the author as well as the founder of Tweaksify (this blog), from Mangochi, Malawi. You can read more about me here or by visiting my personal blog.

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