Data Backup Digest

Smartphones have limited storage space and it can get frustrating when a warning pops up to tell you that it is running low. Some smartphones can be expanded with SD cards, but even these have their limitations. The storage is not as expandable as it would be on say, a desktop computer, and as such it is sometimes important to be frugal with what you store on your smartphone. This article will explore some ideas of data that could be cleared away and how to better manage the space.

Expand with SD

If your phone has an SD card slot then it’s definitely worth expanding your storage by investing in a microSD. Your phone still functions exactly the same, but it just means there’s option to store your data on. Data can be moved across the internal and SD storage with ease, offering you more space and freeing things up.

Clean out apps

It’s very tempting to download as many apps as possible and try out all the exciting features on offer. It’s perfectly understandable and encouraged! However, you should try to regularly spring clean the apps that you’ve downloaded. Chances are that you’ve got some on there that you downloaded, used once and have now forgotten about. Or maybe you have multiple apps that do the same thing? Whatever the case, scroll through the list of your apps and see which ones you don’t need anymore. Some apps can take up vast amounts of storage space (especially games), so cleaning out the unwanted ones can free up a lot of space.

If you don’t want to get rid of the apps completely, then try clearing out some of the cached data. This is data that is stored to make the app quicker to load next time, but some aren’t great in setting cache limitations. For example, your internet browser might be storing a huge amount of cached data for sites that you’ll never visit again. If you go to your settings, then you should be able to clear out the cache of specific or all apps.

Cloud storage

While storage can’t be expanded indefinitely physically, one option worth exploring is that of cloud storage. Services like Dropbox and Google Drive are great options to store all your photos and videos on. It’s even possible to have your photos/videos automatically uploaded to the cloud once you’ve captured them, meaning that your smartphone’s storage space isn’t getting bogged down. If the fact that you’ll need an internet connection to view the photos/videos on your phone puts you off, perhaps consider storing a select few on your phone (Dropbox and other services let you save them to your device from the cloud).

Emails

Many of us like to receive our emails on our smartphone to stay totally connected. However, be sure to adjust the settings to ensure that you’re not storing all your emails on your device. Be sure to clear them out regularly, or just sync it up so that once emails are received on your computer then they are wiped from the smartphone.