After cleaning phone's free storage is lower than CCleaner stated cleaned amount

[Karrie]

Can somebody please explain this? It tells me I've cleaned 3GB+ of space, yet after the clean I still have less than 1 GB space on my phone..???!!

[nukecad]

"Cleaning" does not always mean removal, although some files will be totally removed.

But it also happens that CCleaner will delete/remove certain files to clear the data they contain, and then the operating system will immediately recreate them as empty files of the same size.
So the junk has been cleaned out but the file is still there and still the same size taking up the same space.

Or to put it another way the space has been emptied, or the space 'saved' so you can use it again, but the container for that space is still there and still the same size.

Think of it like emptying a drawer full (or even only half full) of old letters - the rubish has gone and the space can be used again, but the drawer is still there and still taking up the same space.
Iit's now just waiting to be filled up with more letters again (until next time you empty it).

[Karrie]

On 04/09/2021 at 11:37, nukecad said:

"Cleaning" does not always mean removal, although some files will be totally removed.

But it also happens that CCleaner will delete/remove certain files to clear the data they contain, and then the operating system will immediately recreate them as empty files of the same size.
So the junk has been cleaned out but the file is still there and still the same size taking up the same space.

Or to put it another way the space has been emptied, or the space 'saved' so you can use it again, but the container for that space is still there and still the same size.

Think of it like emptying a drawer full (or even only half full) of old letters - the rubish has gone and the space can be used again, but the drawer is still there and still taking up the same space.
Iit's now just waiting to be filled up with more letters again (until next time you empty it).

Ok, thank you. The explanation helps me understand why this happens, however it still doesn't solve my problem. What is the purpose of the phone's storage space being 'full' of empty containers? My phone shows me the 'storage full' warning all the time now and no I don't know how to clear it up anymore. I don't have many files - (less than 2 GB in total), as I've moved them all to my SD card. I've moved as many apps as possible to the SD card as well, but they make less and less of them possible to be moved anymore.

Most of my storage is used up by system files and apps. I've been deleting apps, but I've reached the most necessary ones that I actually use and need. And yes, they are quite large - Facebook, Firefox, OneNote, etc. But I mean what's the point of having a smart phone if I can't use the apps I need, because 'they take up too much storage'?? I've had this phone for 4 years and I'm pretty sure in the past I've had even more apps on it and the storage was not a problem. Now, I've been narrowing down the amount of apps because I keep getting the 'storage full' warning every day, yet I can never seem to resolve the issue.

What are the system files anyway? Why do they take up so much storage?

You can tell I'm obviously very frustrated, as doing a CCleaner clean up has become part of my daily routine now - even doing it numerous times a day sometimes and it's still not enough. Manually clearing up cache and deleting the thumbnails file also doesn't help because the storage is still the same. It feels as though something is constantly filling up my storage even when I hardly use the phone! I'm getting so fed up with this. You shouldn't have to deal with such stuff when simply having a smart phone!

 

[nukecad]

That's a question of how much RAM a device has as opposed to how much Data Storage it has.

When your phone is saying 'storage full' it actually means that the RAM is full, not the Data storage.

All computing devices have 2 types of memory.
Data storage memory, which holds all your data, files, photos, downloads, apps, etc.
RAM (Random Access Memory) which is what the system and apps use to store temporary data while they are running, they write and read things to and from RAM all the time that they are running. (Some app also 'reserve' RAM they are not actually using now but may want to use later).

If you 'Restart' your phone (or computer) it will clear out whatever is in the RAM, the Data storage will not be cleared. (That's what CCleaner clears, the junk in Data storage).

With most phones you can add SD cards to be able to store extra data, files, photos, etc. but you are not able to increase the physical RAM.

As the running apps all use the  RAM how many you can have running at once depends on how much RAM you have in that device.
Plus newer versions of apps tend to need more RAM than older versions did.
If you run more apps than the RAM can handle at once then the phone slows down or stops altogether.

Which is why phones are sold with different amounts of RAM, for example the Samsung S20 comes with either 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB of RAM.
The 16GB RAM version can run more apps at once than the 8GB or the 12GB.
You pay your money and take your choice.

The data storage on a S20 is much higher with options of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, and you can add extra with a micro SD card, up to 1.5 TB.
(Oddly the newer S21 does not have a card slot).

With computers/laptops it is fairly easy to swap out the existing RAM chips for higher capacity RAM chips, but phone chips are made differently and you can't do that.

With Android phones there are ways to use some of the data storage memory (or some of an SD cards memory) as extra RAM, but it involves 'Rooting' the phone which is a technical process. (And may void your warranty, although that's not usually a worry with an older phone).
Also note that it doesn't work with all makes of phone.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/add-ram-android-device-microsd-card/

PS. On a practical side that might be of more help -
I also have an old smartphone with only 2GB RAM.
I only open apps when I'm using them and when I'm not I use the Task Manager to stop them running. (On my old Galaxy pressing the centre button opens the task manager and you just swipe running apps off the screen to close them).
That way I never have more than 4 or 5 apps open/running at once and the  2GB RAM can cope with that.
It's opening another, then another, then another, ...., without closing any and so leaving them all running in the background that takes up the RAM.
(I've had friends ask me to look at why their phone is running slow and on looking they have had as many as 30 or 40 apps open at once using all the RAM).

[Karrie]

On 06/09/2021 at 14:31, nukecad said:

That's a question of how much RAM a device has as opposed to how much Data Storage it has.

When your phone is saying 'storage full' it actually means that the RAM is full, not the Data storage.

All computing devices have 2 types of memory.
Data storage memory, which holds all your data, files, photos, downloads, apps, etc.
RAM (Random Access Memory) which is what the system and apps use to store temporary data while they are running, they write and read things to and from RAM all the time that they are running. (Some app also 'reserve' RAM they are not actually using now but may want to use later).

If you 'Restart' your phone (or computer) it will clear out whatever is in the RAM, the Data storage will not be cleared. (That's what CCleaner clears, the junk in Data storage).

With most phones you can add SD cards to be able to store extra data, files, photos, etc. but you are not able to increase the physical RAM.

As the running apps all use the  RAM how many you can have running at once depends on how much RAM you have in that device.
Plus newer versions of apps tend to need more RAM than older versions did.
If you run more apps than the RAM can handle at once then the phone slows down or stops altogether.

Which is why phones are sold with different amounts of RAM, for example the Samsung S20 comes with either 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB of RAM.
The 16GB RAM version can run more apps at once than the 8GB or the 12GB.
You pay your money and take your choice.

The data storage on a S20 is much higher with options of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, and you can add extra with a micro SD card, up to 1.5 TB.
(Oddly the newer S21 does not have a card slot).

With computers/laptops it is fairly easy to swap out the existing RAM chips for higher capacity RAM chips, but phone chips are made differently and you can't do that.

With Android phones there are ways to use some of the data storage memory (or some of an SD cards memory) as extra RAM, but it involves 'Rooting' the phone which is a technical process. (And may void your warranty, although that's not usually a worry with an older phone).
Also note that it doesn't work with all makes of phone.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/add-ram-android-device-microsd-card/

PS. On a practical side that might be of more help -
I also have an old smartphone with only 2GB RAM.
I only open apps when I'm using them and when I'm not I use the Task Manager to stop them running. (On my old Galaxy pressing the centre button opens the task manager and you just swipe running apps off the screen to close them).
That way I never have more than 4 or 5 apps open/running at once and the  2GB RAM can cope with that.
It's opening another, then another, then another, ...., without closing any and so leaving them all running in the background that takes up the RAM.
(I've had friends ask me to look at why their phone is running slow and on looking they have had as many as 30 or 40 apps open at once using all the RAM).

Hi. This makes no sense whatsoever. My phone clearly shows this is an internal storage problem, not a RAM problem.

Please see my next screenshots in the links below, as there seems to be a limit of the size of attachments that I can add on here.

Screenshot 3

Screenshot 4

Screenshot 5

Screenshot 6

Screenshot 7

Screenshot 8

Edited September 9, 2021 by Karrie

[nukecad]

Your first 2 screen shots are showing the RAM, 4GB.
Before cleaning your active apps were using was 2.2GB with another 558 MB reserved.
After Cleaning your active apps were using 2.3GB with 558 MB reserved.
(Something, possibly CCleaner itself, had started using 0.1GB more of your RAM).

Your other screenshots (in the cloud) show that you have 32GB of internal storage on the phone, of which 31.8GB is full.
You also have an SD card with a usable capacity of 119.7GB of which 96.2GB is full.
(Screenshot 6 shows that the best).

Basically your phone's 32GB of internal storage is full to the brim, over 99.4% full.
And as running apps save their cache's/temporary files there then not having any space for them to do that will be slowing everything down.
So you need to move or delete some of it and free up a chunk of the internal storage.

If you look at your screenshot 7 it shows you what is taking up that internal storage.
By far the biggest is 'Other Apps' at 16GB.
Then the System itself at 7.1GB.
Then the Secure Folder at 4.5GB (4.4 of which is also 'Other Apps' as shown in screenshot 8).
Then photos/videos at 2GB.

So of you phones 32GB internal storage you have 20.4 of it full of 'Other Apps'.
You also seem to have 8.04GB of 'Duplicate Files' (see screenshot 4).

You might want to take a look at just what those 'Duplicate Files' are and remove (or move) them if possible? That should give you the space needed.

I'm afraid though that to realy make a difference you are going to have to look at that 20.4GB of apps that you have installed, and uninstall/remove the ones that you don't use or need.
Only you can decide which those are.

Whilst CCleaner can delete junk files for you and clear up some space, doing that is not going to make much of a difference in this case.
(Your internal storage is just too full for removing junk files to make much difference).
And CCleaner is not going to remove your apps, or non-junk files -  you would soon start shouting if it did.

 

[Karrie]

On 06/09/2021 at 14:31, nukecad said:

That's a question of how much RAM a device has as opposed to how much Data Storage it has.

When your phone is saying 'storage full' it actually means that the RAM is full, not the Data storage.

All computing devices have 2 types of memory.
Data storage memory, which holds all your data, files, photos, downloads, apps, etc.
RAM (Random Access Memory) which is what the system and apps use to store temporary data while they are running, they write and read things to and from RAM all the time that they are running. (Some app also 'reserve' RAM they are not actually using now but may want to use later).

If you 'Restart' your phone (or computer) it will clear out whatever is in the RAM, the Data storage will not be cleared. (That's what CCleaner clears, the junk in Data storage).

With most phones you can add SD cards to be able to store extra data, files, photos, etc. but you are not able to increase the physical RAM.

As the running apps all use the  RAM how many you can have running at once depends on how much RAM you have in that device.
Plus newer versions of apps tend to need more RAM than older versions did.
If you run more apps than the RAM can handle at once then the phone slows down or stops altogether.

Which is why phones are sold with different amounts of RAM, for example the Samsung S20 comes with either 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB of RAM.
The 16GB RAM version can run more apps at once than the 8GB or the 12GB.
You pay your money and take your choice.

The data storage on a S20 is much higher with options of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, and you can add extra with a micro SD card, up to 1.5 TB.
(Oddly the newer S21 does not have a card slot).

With computers/laptops it is fairly easy to swap out the existing RAM chips for higher capacity RAM chips, but phone chips are made differently and you can't do that.

With Android phones there are ways to use some of the data storage memory (or some of an SD cards memory) as extra RAM, but it involves 'Rooting' the phone which is a technical process. (And may void your warranty, although that's not usually a worry with an older phone).
Also note that it doesn't work with all makes of phone.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/add-ram-android-device-microsd-card/

PS. On a practical side that might be of more help -
I also have an old smartphone with only 2GB RAM.
I only open apps when I'm using them and when I'm not I use the Task Manager to stop them running. (On my old Galaxy pressing the centre button opens the task manager and you just swipe running apps off the screen to close them).
That way I never have more than 4 or 5 apps open/running at once and the  2GB RAM can cope with that.
It's opening another, then another, then another, ...., without closing any and so leaving them all running in the background that takes up the RAM.
(I've had friends ask me to look at why their phone is running slow and on looking they have had as many as 30 or 40 apps open at once using all the RAM).

Hi, thank you for trying to assist me with my issue. I knew I don't have this amount of files as my phone states I do, so I took my phone to a tech specialist store for them to have a look. In their opinion my phone's internal system is just messed up because the device itself is already nearly 5 years old and the apps have been updating for so long they've messed up the phone's internal system. A factory reset is an option, but in their opinion I would reach the same state very quickly just because the device is very outdated already. So the best option is to just buy a newer phone. And no, they didn't suggest I buy it from them...

[nukecad]

TBH my Samasung (from 2013) is older than that and is nowhere near that full.
It does slow down now and again and I clear out the applications caches myself, then power off and power on to restart it.
Some newer apps won't install and I've also had apps that stopped working, because my Android version is now too old for the app updates.

But I guess we use or phones in different ways. Besides calls/texts I mostly use it for browsing, with Firefox.
I don't use social media apps, and I always use the Task Manager to fully close any apps after use.

A factory reset would put your phone back to how it was when it left the factory and so remove all those apps you (or your phones provider) have added, freeing up space in the RAM.
Take the SD card out before factory resetting, after saving any photos etc. to it first because they will go from the internal memory as well.
After a factory reset you'd have to reinstall the apps you realy want - if the latest versions will still install on old Android.
Of course if you put all the same apps back then your space problems are likely to come back again.

So as they suggested, it's a good excuse to get yourself a shiny new phone with up to date Android.
I'd also suggest that you get the most RAM and internal storage that you can afford.
I could probably do with a new phone too, but as long as it's working fine for what I want then it's difficult to justify the cost.

[Karrie]

Yes, I do tend to use my phone a lot for many different things. I practically manage my life through there as well as perform creative work and communicate with friends & family around the world; stay up to date with what's going on in the world, etc etc, so I yeah I do need a strong operating system. I had decided not to get a new phone for a while as the shiny ads don't attract me - as long as my phone is functional and serves me for the purpose I need, I'm fine with it. However that is no longer the case with my S7 and they're purposely made that way - you can't use them for more than a number of years because of said updates. That is if you use your phone intensely like I do. So yeah, I will have to research and find the best new option at the moment.

On 06/09/2021 at 14:31, nukecad said:

That's a question of how much RAM a device has as opposed to how much Data Storage it has.

When your phone is saying 'storage full' it actually means that the RAM is full, not the Data storage.

All computing devices have 2 types of memory.
Data storage memory, which holds all your data, files, photos, downloads, apps, etc.
RAM (Random Access Memory) which is what the system and apps use to store temporary data while they are running, they write and read things to and from RAM all the time that they are running. (Some app also 'reserve' RAM they are not actually using now but may want to use later).

If you 'Restart' your phone (or computer) it will clear out whatever is in the RAM, the Data storage will not be cleared. (That's what CCleaner clears, the junk in Data storage).

With most phones you can add SD cards to be able to store extra data, files, photos, etc. but you are not able to increase the physical RAM.

As the running apps all use the  RAM how many you can have running at once depends on how much RAM you have in that device.
Plus newer versions of apps tend to need more RAM than older versions did.
If you run more apps than the RAM can handle at once then the phone slows down or stops altogether.

Which is why phones are sold with different amounts of RAM, for example the Samsung S20 comes with either 8GB, 12GB, or 16GB of RAM.
The 16GB RAM version can run more apps at once than the 8GB or the 12GB.
You pay your money and take your choice.

The data storage on a S20 is much higher with options of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, and you can add extra with a micro SD card, up to 1.5 TB.
(Oddly the newer S21 does not have a card slot).

With computers/laptops it is fairly easy to swap out the existing RAM chips for higher capacity RAM chips, but phone chips are made differently and you can't do that.

With Android phones there are ways to use some of the data storage memory (or some of an SD cards memory) as extra RAM, but it involves 'Rooting' the phone which is a technical process. (And may void your warranty, although that's not usually a worry with an older phone).
Also note that it doesn't work with all makes of phone.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/add-ram-android-device-microsd-card/

PS. On a practical side that might be of more help -
I also have an old smartphone with only 2GB RAM.
I only open apps when I'm using them and when I'm not I use the Task Manager to stop them running. (On my old Galaxy pressing the centre button opens the task manager and you just swipe running apps off the screen to close them).
That way I never have more than 4 or 5 apps open/running at once and the  2GB RAM can cope with that.
It's opening another, then another, then another, ...., without closing any and so leaving them all running in the background that takes up the RAM.
(I've had friends ask me to look at why their phone is running slow and on looking they have had as many as 30 or 40 apps open at once using all the RAM).

Hi, thank you for trying to assist me with my issue. I knew I don't have this amount of files as my phone states I do, so I took my phone to a tech specialist store for them to have a look. In their opinion my phone's internal system is just messed up because the device itself is already nearly 5 years old and the apps have been updating for so long they've messed up the phone's internal system. A factory reset is an option, but in their opinion I would reach the same state very quickly just because the device is very outdated already. So the best option is to just buy a newer phone. And no, they didn't suggest I buy it from them...