{"id":505,"date":"2019-01-09T16:13:44","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T16:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmt-solutions.co.uk\/V2\/?p=505"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T11:22:14","slug":"how-to-clean-your-phone-or-tablet-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmt-solutions.co.uk\/V2\/how-to-clean-your-phone-or-tablet-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Clean Your Phone or Tablet – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Do I need to clean my phone?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I don\u2019t know about you, but my phone isn\u2019t just a phone.\u00a0 It\u2019s a camera, sat nav, mini-computer, iPod, Kindle, notepad and more.\u00a0 Considering everything we use them for, it\u2019s not surprising that a phone can start to feel slow or run out of storage space.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got a simple guide below to clean out your phone \u2013 or your tablet – all the tips apply to tablets as well, but I\u2019ll refer to phones for the sake of simplicity.\u00a0 Where instructions differ for Android and iPhone users, I\u2019ll make it clear.\u00a0 So get your mobile (or tablet) charged up, and you\u2019re ready to start!\u00a0 We found so much to say about this, we’ve split it into two parts to make it easier.<\/p>

Before you start<\/b><\/p>

Please back up!\u00a0 In case you accidentally delete the last picture of your dog, or that video of your baby\u2019s first steps, making a backup will allow you to get everything back.\u00a0 You can find instructions for Android here<\/a> and for an iPhone\/iPad here<\/a>.\u00a0 Done that?\u00a0 Let\u2019s begin.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Storage management on an Android<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Storage taken up by apps<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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What\u2019s taking up all that space?<\/span><\/p>

You can see what\u2019s taking up your storage in Settings:<\/p>

For Android users, this is under <\/span>Settings > Storage & Memory<\/b> <\/i>(or just <\/i>Storage <\/b><\/i>depending on model).\u00a0 You can click on each item to see how much space is being used by individual apps, for example, arranged with the largest first.\u00a0 For iPhone users, go to\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2013 you\u2019ll see a list with the largest items at the top.<\/span><\/p>

From there you can decide what you want to clean out and skip to the relevant section below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Android users – for a quick and easy clean, hit the button that says <\/span>Free Up Space<\/b><\/i>.\u00a0 You will be shown a list of suggested things to delete, including downloaded files and infrequently used apps.\u00a0 Just tick the boxes and you\u2019ll instantly free up space.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Apps<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I downloaded three fun camera apps on Christmas Day to play with \u2013 but haven\u2019t used any of them since.\u00a0 It\u2019s so easy to download an app, which can end up just sitting there unused, or in a \u201cmay come in handy one day\u201d folder, but some of them take up huge amounts of space.\u00a0 You can safely remove even purchased apps \u2013 if you do need one in the future you can download it again from the App\/Play store.\u00a0 App purchases are tracked with your account, so even if you switch phones, you won\u2019t have to pay for it twice.<\/p>

Android users \u2013 open your app menu, and long press on an app icon until you see a bin icon with the word <\/span>Uninstall<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 This may appear at the top of the screen, or on newer versions of Android, it may be a little menu next to the app icon.\u00a0 Either drag the app icon up to the bin and let go or tap the uninstall <\/i><\/b>icon next to the app.<\/p>

If you have an iPhone, just long press the app icon until it starts to shake, and then tap the X that appears in the corner of the icon to delete the app.\u00a0<\/p>

On both iPhones and Android, some apps come pre-installed \u2013 some of these can be removed or hidden, some cannot \u2013 these won\u2019t have an X or an Uninstall icon when you long press them.<\/p>

If you\u2019ve got a few apps that do similar things, consider whether you really need them all.\u00a0 I don\u2019t use the built-in Gmail app, so have hidden that and deleted all data relating to it to save space.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Uninstalling an app on Android<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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App data<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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By now you\u2019ve only got your essential and favourite apps left \u2013 but these still create a cache file that can build up in size.\u00a0 Cache files are created as you use apps, with data that will make the app run quicker if it\u2019s stored locally on the phone.\u00a0 They can all be safely deleted \u2013 but you may need to log in again if your app requires a login, and progress on some games may be lost if they don\u2019t sync to the cloud.<\/p>

On a newer Android (version 7 onwards), you can open <\/span>Settings <\/i><\/b>then go to Storage & Memory<\/i><\/b>, and scroll down to Cached Data<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 If you tap this, it will delete the cached data for all your apps at once.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve got a slightly older Android, then go to Settings>Storage & Memory>Other apps<\/i><\/b> \u2013 you will see a list of your apps sorted by size. \u00a0You can tap the ones that are using the most storage and then press Clear Cache<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 This will free up storage but may also improve the phone\u2019s performance.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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You can also clear all data used by the app if one app is taking up a lot of storage \u2013 for example, the Facebook app on my phone is 214MB, but it\u2019s currently using an additional 410MB for data.\u00a0 If you clear all app data, you will definitely need to log in again, and progress on games will be lost.<\/p>

For iPhone users, the process is slightly different \u2013 you will need to go to <\/span>Settings>General>iPhone (or iPad) Storage<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 You will see a list of your apps sorted by size and can tap on each one and clear the cache\/browsing data where available.\u00a0 Some apps will not let you do this \u2013 if they\u2019re taking up a lot of space then it is worth deleting the app, and then downloading it from the App Store again, as this will be a clean install without the cached data.\u00a0 The same warning about logins and games applies \u2013 any apps that don\u2019t sync to the cloud may need to be logged into, and progress on games may be lost.<\/p>

If there is no option to clear the cached data, then go to the Settings of the app itself, and see if you are able to clear the cache – see the Spotify screenshot at the bottom of this post.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Clearing cached data<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Delete offline maps<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The offline mode in Google Maps is fantastic for being able to navigate while not eating up your data allowance \u2013 but the saved maps can take up a lot of space.\u00a0<\/p>

If you\u2019re an Android user, open Google Maps and tap the top-left menu button, then <\/span>Offline Maps<\/i><\/b> to see any offline maps that you have saved.\u00a0 Press the three dots to the right of a map to delete it.\u00a0<\/p>

If you\u2019re an iPhone user, open up the menu and then <\/span>Settings<\/i><\/b>, then press Clear Application Data<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Deleting offline Google maps<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Delete other offline content<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Lots of apps now have the ability to download content to use offline, which is great for those times you won\u2019t have internet access and are stuck on a plane for example!\u00a0 This offline content can take up a lot of space however so it\u2019s a great idea to clean it out once in a while. Places that offline content could be lurking include:<\/p>