Where's all the data?

[MajorLanGod]

I own a Samsung Galaxy J3 Orbit, running Android 9.

The specs say 16gb memory, but I see 10.6gb available, so am assuming the
rest is android stuff.

Lately, the phone keeps yelling at me telling me I am at 96% capacity, yet
when I use any of several file managers, I can find very little stored on
the phone. I have a 128gb microSSD card for my storage, of which I am only
using about 4gb.

How do I find out what is taking all the space on my phone's internal
storage? I really don't want to do a factory reset, but it is looking like
that might be necessary. If I do, I will probably step up to at least
Android 10, if not 11. Any opinions on that decision?

[Andy Burnelli]

On Sat, 27 Nov 2021 03:10:29 GMT, MajorLanGod wrote:

> How do I find out what is taking all the space on my phone's internal
> storage?

A lot of people recommend "Storage Analyzer & Disk Usage" by Anton
Patapovich but personally I don't recommend any apps that have ads.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobile_infographics_tools.mydrive>

While any idiot can find the best app that has ads, it takes intelligence to
find the best FOSS apps that don't stoop to that level of unwanted
intrusiveness.

One of the better FOSS storage analyzers is "DiskUsage" by Ivan Volosyuk
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.diskusage>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.google.android.diskusage/>

Not far behind in utility is the free ad-free "Diskinfo", by Kuder Apps
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.kuder.diskinfo>

Or try Storage Truth, by Scary Alien if you want to know what space is only
available to your apps for their storage and data storage use.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sa.storagetruth>

And, if you wish to live dangerously, you can have something like the "SD
Maid" by darken actually do the cleanup of your partitions for you.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.thedarken.sdm>

Each of the free, ad-free, gsf-free, google-free apps above does something
different to help you identify (and perhaps clean) out storage wastage.

> I will probably step up to at least
> Android 10, if not 11. Any opinions on that decision?

I've had them all. IMHO, they're essentially the same.
As you move up from Android 9 you don't lose much, you don't gain much.

[MajorLanGod]

>
> One of the better FOSS storage analyzers is "DiskUsage" by Ivan
> Volosyuk
>

> Not far behind in utility is the free ad-free "Diskinfo", by Kuder
> Apps

OK Disk Usage just shows me 10.3 gb used, but I can't find any way to go
any deeper

Disk Info shows me that it is all in /data. How do I access /data?

[David Taylor]

On my Android 12 phone "System" shows 7.8 GB, so your "Android stuff" seems
reasonable. What exactly does the phone say? Screenshot?

My first thought would be to try and empty any "Recycle Bin" or equivalent.
Power the phone down and back up. Is there a "Restart" option? Does removing
the SD card make any difference?

128 GB seems quite a large card. Can the phone accept such a large card? Have
you tested its capacity to see whether it's fake? Does removing the card make
any difference?

Likely you've already done these checks, though.

Cheers,
David
--
Cheers,
David
Web: http://www.satsignal.eu

[Rob]

Some apps have a "cache" that can take up loads of data and may not
be apparent. E.g. mail apps (Samsung Mail) keep a number of messages
available locally, and they may take up all your space.

Also note that data card space and internal flash space are no longer
interchangeable. You can put photos and videos on a flash card, and
some apps like navigation or map tools may recognize the data card
space and put their bulky files on it, but in general an app won't
do that and will not support the card at all (e.g. the mail app).

[Andy Burnelli]

On Sat, 27 Nov 2021 12:16:09 +0100, Rob wrote:

> Some apps have a "cache" that can take up loads of data and may not
> be apparent.

While I'm not sure the full answer to the question, I do concur that
cleaning out the cache "might" help, depending on how large it is.

Same with the "Firebase App Indexing" storage (which I clear daily).

On my Android 11 settings I a one-press Activity shortcut already set up.
For most people, they'll have to find the Activity in the Settings.

That Android location depends on your Android version unfortunately.
*How to Clear Cache Easily on Android*
<https://www.maketecheasier.com/clear-android-cache>
*How to Clear Cache Data on Your Android*
<https://www.lifewire.com/clear-cache-android-4157780>

I also have a shortcut to the Firebase app indexing clearance.

Android11:Settings > Google > Firebase App Indexing > Developer > Clear
<https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/213149/what-is-firebase-app-indexing-under-google-services-settings>

And a few others.

[Andy Burnelli]

On Sat, 27 Nov 2021 15:42:32 -0000 (UTC), Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Android11:Settings > Google > Firebase App Indexing > Developer > Clear
> <https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/213149/what-is-firebase-app-indexing-under-google-services-settings>

Forgot to screenshot this for the OP showing one of the many places in Android
you can "clear data" (in this case for 1 hour, 1 day, or for all time).


https://i.postimg.cc/Fs8GDLfX/firebase01.jpg