Smartphone owners Samsung Galaxy often face an annoying situation: the device’s memory is filling up, and a standard storage analysis shows that the lion’s share of space is occupied by the mysterious “Other” section. This is not a specific folder in the file manager, but a system category where the operating system Android stores the application cache, temporary files, remnants of uninstalled apps and system logs. When this volume grows to tens of gigabytes, the device begins to work slower, and it becomes impossible to install new applications.
Cleaning this section requires a comprehensive approach, since there is no single “Delete all” button for the “Other” category. You will have to sequentially go through several sources of garbage accumulation: from the messenger cache to system updates. It is important to act carefully so as not to delete important data, but at the same time effectively regain free space on your Samsung. In this article, we will analyze all the working methods, from standard settings to advanced cleaning tools.
What is hidden in the “Other” section on Samsung
Before you start deleting, you need to understand the nature of this data. The "Other" section (sometimes called "System Data") is a container for files that are not photos, videos, music or documents. This includes temporary files created by applications to speed up their work, as well as remnants after unsuccessful firmware updates.
Messenger databases often occupy a significant part of the volume. Telegram i WhatsApp save viewed media files in a hidden cache, which the system does not always correctly classify as “Images” or “Videos”, sending them to the “Other” category. Debug logs and map markup files for navigation services can also be stored here.
- 📦 Cache of applications and games that speeds up their launch.
- 🗑️ Residual files after uninstalling apps.
- 🔄 Temporary files for OTA system updates.
- 🗺️ Offline maps and navigation data.
⚠️ Attention: Do not try to delete files from system folders through third-party file managers with root access without understanding their purpose. This may result in your Samsung stop loading or losing the functionality of individual modules.
Before starting deep cleaning, back up important contacts and photos to Samsung Cloud or Google Drive cloud storage.
Clearing the application cache via settings
The safest and most effective way to reduce the size of the “Other” section is to manually clear the cache of heavy applications. The system One UI from Samsung provides a convenient tool for managing the memory of each installed app. Start with the most “gluttonous” applications: social networks, browsers and instant messengers.
Go to the menu Settings → Applications. In the list, select an application that takes up a lot of space (for example, Instagram or YouTube). Click on item Storage. Here you will see two buttons: “Clear data” and “Clear cache”. We are interested in the second option. Clicking on "Clear cache" will delete temporary files without affecting your logins, passwords and personal correspondence.
If you When you click “Clear data”, the application will return to the state immediately after installation, and you will have to enter all the settings again. Therefore, be extremely careful when choosing an action. For some system applications, the cache clear button may be inaccessible or hidden, which is normal system protection.
☑️ Manual clearing algorithm
Repeat this procedure for the top 10 applications by memory usage. This can often free up 2 to 5 GB of space instantly. If, after clearing the cache, the volume of the “Other” section does not visually decrease immediately, reboot the device - the system needs time to recalculate storage statistics.
Using the built-in Samsung optimizer
Smartphones Samsung have a powerful built-in device maintenance tool that automatically analyzes the system state. It is capable of finding and deleting some types of temporary files that the user may not notice manually. To access it, just open Settings → Device maintenance.
Click on the section "Memory". The system will perform a quick scan and offer to optimize the use of RAM and storage. Click the button Clean now. This tool removes background processes and some types of cache, but it is less aggressive than manual cleaning, so as not to disrupt the stability of operation Android.
| Cleaning type | Security | Efficiency | Risk of data loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in optimizer | High | Medium | No |
| Manual cache clearing | High | High | Minimum |
| Third-party utilities | Medium | High | Medium |
| Reset settings | Low | Maximum | Total loss |
⚠️ Attention: The built-in optimizer does not delete the deep cache of messengers (for example, the database data Telegram). This requires actions within the applications themselves or manual cleaning through the settings described above.
Cleaning messengers: Telegram and WhatsApp
Messengers are the main culprits in the bloat of the “Other” section. They cache all the photos and videos you've viewed, even if you didn't save them to the gallery. B Telegram this function is implemented most aggressively. Go to the application settings: Settings → Data and memory → Memory usage.
Here you will see the “Store media” slider. Set a limit, such as 3 days or 1 week. After changing the setting, press the Clear cachebutton. This action is safe: all media files will remain on Telegram servers, and you can view them again if necessary, but they will no longer take up space on your disk. Samsung.
The situation is similar. Go to WhatsApp the situation is similar. Go to Settings → Data and storage → Storage management. The application will show a list of chats that take up the most space. You can select a specific conversation and delete media files older than a certain date or files larger than 5MB. This is a targeted cleaning that allows you to save important text conversations.
Why is the messenger cache considered “Other”?
The Android system classifies files inside application sandbox folders as application data and not as user data media until you explicitly save them to the general gallery.
Deleting residual files and downloads
Often, files from the folder Download (Downloads) that the user downloaded, opened and forgot accumulate in the “Other” section. These can be installation files APK, PDF documents or archives. Open the application My files (Samsung's standard file manager) and go to the "Downloads" category.
Sort files by size or date. Remove everything you no longer need. Pay special attention to files with the extension .apk —these are application installers, which become useless garbage after installing the app. Also check the folder Bluetoothif you often receive files wirelessly.
Another source of garbage is the folder DCIM/.thumbnails. Thumbnails of your photos are stored here. If you have thousands of pictures in your gallery, this hidden folder can weigh several gigabytes. It's difficult to delete it directly, but clearing the Gallery app cache (via Settings → Applications → Gallery → Storage) often helps reduce its size.
- 📂 Check the folder
Downloadfor old APKs. - 🖼️ Clear the cache of the Gallery application to reset the thumbnails.
- 📁 Delete empty folders from deleted games in the root of the internal memory.
Radical measures: Reset the device
If none of the above methods helped, and the “Other” section continues to take up an abnormally large volume (for example, 20-30 GB on an empty phone), errors or corrupted logs may have accumulated in the file system. In this case, the only effective solution is to completely reset the device to factory settings.
This procedure will completely delete all data from the phone, including contacts, photos and applications, returning it to the “as from the store” state. Before doing this, be sure to make a full backup via Samsung Smart Switch or cloud services. Go to Settings → General settings → Reset → Reset data.
⚠️ Attention: After resetting the settings, the “Other” section will be minimal (usually 5-10 GB per system). If it starts to grow rapidly again without active use of the phone, this may indicate a hardware memory failure or a bug in a specific firmware version.
A full reset is the only way to ensure that system garbage and file system errors that have accumulated over the years of use are removed.
After resetting, do not restore all applications at once from the backup in batches. Install them one at a time and watch how the memory grows. This will help identify the culprit application that creates an excessive cache.
Prevention and useful tips
To prevent the problem with the “Other” section from overflowing from returning, it is worth changing some habits of using your smartphone. Regularly rebooting the device (once a week) helps the system correctly terminate background processes and delete temporary files that were not cleaned up automatically.
Avoid using “cleaners” from the Play Market that promise to speed up your phone in one click. Often such applications themselves are a source of garbage, intrusive advertising and unnecessary cache. Built-in tools Samsung are quite enough to keep the system clean Android.
Disable autosaving of media from chats to the gallery in the messenger settings. This will prevent duplication of files: they will be in the application cache, but will not take up space in the general photo storage.
Keep an eye on firmware updates. Engineers Samsung regularly release patches that correct memory management errors. Go to Settings → Software update and check for new versions. The current version of One UI works with the file system more efficiently.
Why is the volume of the “Other” section not reduced immediately after cleaning?
The system takes time to recalculate storage indexes. Also, some files may be locked by active processes and are deleted only after the device is rebooted. Wait 10-15 minutes or restart your phone.
Is it possible to delete the Android folder completely?
No, the folder Android contains critical data for the operation of all applications. Removing it will cause your phone to malfunction. You can clean only the subfolder cache inside it, but it is better to do this through application settings.
Does the “Other” section affect the speed of the phone?
Yes, indirectly. When the internal memory is more than 90% full, the speed of writing and reading data drops, which causes interface lags and long application launches. Freeing up space improves overall performance.
Is it safe to use applications like CCleaner on Samsung?
You can use it, but with caution. They may delete needed cache files, causing apps to take longer to load the next time. The built-in Samsung optimizer is preferable, as it knows better the specifics of the One UI shell.