Owners of budget smartphones often face a situation where the device starts to work slowly, and notifications about lack of space appear with alarming regularity. Samsung Galaxy A10 is a popular model, but its built-in 32 GB storage quickly fills up with modern applications and media files. When the system partition is more than 90% full, the operating system Android cannot correctly create temporary files, which leads to interface freezes and apps closing.
The problem is aggravated by the fact that out of the available 32 GB, about 20-22 GB are actually available to the user, since the rest of the space is occupied by system files and pre-installed applications. Freeing up memory on this device requires an integrated approach: from simple cache cleaning to radical measures to transfer data. In this article, we will look at all the available ways to restore the performance of your gadget without having to buy a new phone.
You should not ignore system signals about lack of space. Full drive not only slows down your work, but can also lead to the loss of important data when trying to take a photo or save a document. Let's look at what tools the manufacturer itself offers and what third-party methods really work.
Using the built-in Samsung optimizer
The company Samsung implemented into the shell One UI a powerful built-in a device maintenance tool that often goes unnoticed by users. This service automatically analyzes the system state and offers to delete unnecessary files. To start the scan, go to menu Settings → Device maintenance → Storage. Here you will see a color chart showing the distribution of space between applications, images, videos and system data.
Pressing the button Clean now will start the process of deleting temporary files and cache, which can be safely erased. However, the automatic mode does not always remove everything unnecessary, especially when it comes to large files in a folder Download or duplicate photos. This section also offers the function of deleting unused applications that have not been opened for more than a month.
⚠️ Attention: The built-in optimizer does not delete personal files (photos, videos, documents) without your confirmation, but before mass cleaning it is always better to create a backup copy of important data on your computer or in the cloud.
Regular use of this tool helps keep the system in good shape. System cache it tends to grow over time, taking up hundreds of megabytes, which do not bring any benefit. If automatic cleaning does not give the desired result and little space is freed up, you need to move on to manual file management.
Set up automatic cleaning in the "Device Maintenance" section by selecting "Auto-optimization" so that the phone itself frees up space at night.
Managing cache and application data
The most voracious consumers of internal memory are social networks and instant messengers. Applications like Telegram, Viber i WhatsApp save every photo and video you view to your phone's memory, even if you have already seen this content. To check how much space a particular app takes up, open Settings → Applications and sort the list by size.
Select the heaviest application and go to the section Memory inside its settings. Here you will see two buttons: Clear cache and Clear data. The first deletes temporary files, speeding up the app, but does not affect your logins and correspondence. The second button completely resets the application to its factory state, deleting all message history and settings.
- 🗑️ Browser cache: Chrome and Samsung Internet can accumulate gigabytes of data from visited pages.
- 📸 Social media cache: Instagram and TikTok save previews and downloaded videos for quick access.
- 🎮 Gaming resources: Game cache can take up to 5 GB if the game downloads additional levels.
Particular attention should be paid to the messenger Telegramas it loads all media files into the device memory by default. Go to the settings of the application itself, select Data and memory → Memory usage and press Clear Telegram cache. This action is safe and will not delete your conversations, since they are stored on the server, but can free up several gigabytes of space instantly.
Transferring photos and videos to a memory card
The model Samsung Galaxy A10 supports installation of memory cards of format microSD up to 512 GB, which is a salvation for owners of devices with a small amount of built-in memory. Transferring media files to an external drive is the most effective way to free up internal space for system work. First, make sure that the memory card is correctly formatted and recognized by the phone.
To move files, open the standard application My files. Go to the section Internal memory and find the folder DCIMwhere photos from the camera are stored, and the folder Pictures for screenshots and images from the Internet. Select the required files or entire folders, click on the menu (three dots) and select Move. Then specify the path to your memory card SD card.
| Data type | Medium size | Recommended storage location | Impact on speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos (JPEG) | 2–5 MB | SD card | Low |
| Video (Full HD) | 50–150 MB | SD card | Medium |
| Applications | 100 MB - 2 GB | Internal memory | High |
| System files | 10–15 GB | Internal only | Critical |
After transferring files, it is recommended to change the camera settings so that new pictures are immediately saved to the memory card. Go to the application Camera, click on the gear icon and find the item Save location. Switch the checkbox to SD card. This will prevent the internal storage from quickly filling up in the future.
Transferring media files to an SD card frees up internal memory for system processes, which directly affects the speed of the interface.
Removing hidden system files and downloads
Often users forget about the folder Downloadwhere APK installation files, PDF documents and old versions of apps accumulate. These files are no longer needed after installing applications or viewing documents, but continue to take up space. Open your file manager and carefully examine the contents of your downloads folder. Removing old installers can free up from 500 MB to 2 GB of space.
Another source of "garbage" is files of the format .thumbnails. These are thumbnails of photos that the system creates for quick display in the gallery. Sometimes the size of this hidden folder can reach several gigabytes if there are thousands of pictures in the gallery. To clear it, you need to enable the display of hidden files in the Explorer settings, find the folder and delete its contents.
⚠️ Attention: The file .thumbnails will be automatically recreated the next time you open the gallery, but it will take up less space until you add thousands of new photos.
Also check folder Bluetoothif you have ever received files using this protocol. There may be old presentations, music or videos you received from friends several years ago. Manual revision of these directories often gives better results than automatic cleaners.
How to find hidden files?
In the "My Files" application, click on the three dots in the upper corner, select "Settings" and turn on the "Show hidden files" switch.
Disable and delete preset Software
On a smartphone Samsung A10 there are a lot of Google and Samsung apps pre-installed that you may never use. Some of them can be removed completely, while others can only be disabled. A disabled application stops working in the background, updating and taking up space in the list of active apps, although its installation file remains in the system.
To manage pre-installed software, go to Settings → Applications. Select an unnecessary app (for example, unnecessary Microsoft services or duplicate browsers). If the button Uninstall is inactive, click Disable. The system will warn you that the application will be hidden and replaced with the factory version when you reset the settings. This is a great way to clear the list of applications and reduce the load on the processor.
- 🚫 Facebook: Often pre-installed and running in the background, consuming resources.
- 📺 Samsung TV Plus: A video streaming service that not all users need.
- 📰 Google News: Content aggregator that can be removed to save space.
Be careful when disabling system components. You should not touch applications whose names contain the words System, Service or Frameworkif you are not sure of their purpose. Disabling critical services can lead to unstable phone operation or network connection problems.
Resetting settings as a last resort
If none of the above methods helped free up enough space and the phone continues to slow down, there may be errors or hidden garbage in the file system that cannot be removed manually. In this case, a full reset to factory settings will be an effective solution. This procedure will return the phone to its out-of-the-box state, deleting absolutely all user data.
Before performing a reset, it is critical to save all contacts, photos and documents to external media or cloud storage Samsung Cloud / Google Drive. After the reset, you will lose everything that was not saved separately. To start the procedure, go to Settings → General settings → Reset → Reset data.
⚠️ Attention: Make sure that the battery level is at least 50% before starting the reset so that the phone does not turn off during the process of overwriting system partitions.
After completing the process and initial setup, it is recommended to install only the necessary applications and immediately set up saving photos to the SD card. A clean system works much faster and requires less RAM to service background processes.
☑️ Preparing to reset settings
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Why is there no memory after deleting applications freed?
When you uninstall an application, its installation file is erased, but data folders (cache, downloaded files, settings) often remain in the internal memory. You need to go to the file manager and manually delete folders with the names of deleted apps.
Is it possible to transfer applications to a memory card on Samsung A10?
Yes, this function is available, but it does not work for all applications. Go to Settings → Applications, select the app and click Memory. If the button Change is active, you can transfer the application to the SD card. System applications cannot be transferred.
Is it safe to delete the DCIM folder?
No, in folder DCIM all your photos and videos taken with your phone camera are stored. Deleting this folder will result in complete loss of your photo archive. You can only delete individual files inside it or move them to a memory card.
How to find out what exactly takes up the most space?
Use the built-in analyzer in the menu Settings → Device maintenance → Memory. It will show a detailed diagram of the distribution of space by category: images, videos, audio, documents and applications.
Why does the system show that the memory is busy, although I deleted everything?
Part of the space is always reserved for system needs and the swap file. In addition, the trash can in the gallery and file manager can store deleted files for another 30 days. Check the trash settings and empty it.