How to free up space on Samsung phones

Free up space on a Samsung phone

1. Check what is using space. Open Settings > Device care > Storage on the Samsung phone.
2. Clear duplicates and junk. Use Device care: Storage (Settings > Battery and device care > Storage) or Files by Google's Clean tab to remove duplicate files and memes.
3. Remove backed-up copies. In Google Photos, tap your profile picture, then Free up space, if your photos are backed up.
4. Empty the trash. Open Gallery > Menu (three lines) > Recycle bin and empty it; space returns only then.

Where is storage on a Samsung phone?

• One UI 4–6: Settings > Battery and device care > Storage
• One UI 1–3: Settings > Device care > Storage
• One UI 7 and later: Settings > Device care > Storage

Samsung phones run One UI. The storage screen lists apps, images, videos and system files; images and videos are usually the part you can safely shrink.

Where do deleted photos go on Samsung phones?

Gallery keeps deleted items in Recycle bin for 30 days: Gallery > Menu (three lines) > Recycle bin. Samsung says deleted photos and videos stay in the Gallery Recycle bin for 30 days before they are permanently deleted. Since One UI 6.0 the same bin can also be managed from My Files > Recycle bin, which groups Gallery, My Files and Voice Recorder items.

Which built-in cleaners do Samsung phones have?

• Device care: Storage (One UI 1): Settings > Battery and device care > Storage. Shows duplicate, large and unused files and apps; select the items you no longer need and tap Delete, or tap Clean now.
• Recycle bin cleanup (One UI 4): Settings > Battery and device care > Storage > Recycle bin. Lists each app's recycle bin (Gallery, My Files, Voice Recorder) so you can empty them and get the space back immediately instead of waiting 30 days.
• My Files Recycle bin (One UI 6.0): My Files > Recycle bin. Restore or permanently delete files from My Files, Gallery and Voice Recorder in one place.
• Files by Google: available on Google Play — Galaxy phones use Samsung's My Files as the built-in file manager instead..
• Google Photos: Galaxy phones ship with Samsung Gallery as the camera roll; Google Photos is usually installed too. Each app has its own bin (Gallery's Recycle bin and Google Photos' Bin), and Samsung's recovery guide covers both, so a photo deleted in one app can still be sitting in the other app's bin or in your Google account backup.

What is different about Samsung storage?

• Deleted photos keep using storage while they sit in the Recycle bin for 30 days; empty it from Gallery or from Device care > Storage > Recycle bin to free the space now.
• On One UI 6 and later the My Files Recycle bin also shows Gallery and Voice Recorder deletions, so you can clear them all in one place.
• Many Galaxy A models keep a microSD slot (the A36, A56, A37 and A57 do not), but no Galaxy S model after the S20 series has one.
• Samsung lists the user-available storage on each model's spec page. On 128 GB budget models it is only about 104–110 GB, because the system and preinstalled apps take the rest.
• Ultra models can save 200 MP (S23 Ultra and later) or 108 MP photos, and many flagships record 8K video. Both make much larger files than the default 12 MP and 4K settings.

How long do Samsung phones get updates?

Galaxy S24 and later flagships (and Z Fold6/Flip6 onward) get 7 years of OS and security updates. Recent mid-range and budget A models from the A16 get 6 OS upgrades; the A35/A55 generation gets 4 OS upgrades and 5 years of security updates.

How do Samsung phones differ on storage and photos?

• Galaxy A (27 models, 2021–2026): storage from 64 GB to 512 GB, 23 with microSD, default photos of 12.5 or 12 or 16 MP (about 3.6–4.8 MB), and 0 that shoot RAW.
• Galaxy S (31 models, 2019–2026): storage from 128 GB to 1 TB, 7 with microSD, default photos of 12 MP (about 3.6–3.6 MB), and 31 that shoot RAW.
• Galaxy Z Flip (8 models, 2020–2026): storage from 128 GB to 512 GB, 0 with microSD, default photos of 12 MP (about 3.6–3.6 MB), and 4 that shoot RAW.
• Galaxy Z Fold (8 models, 2020–2026): storage from 256 GB to 1 TB, 0 with microSD, default photos of 12 MP (about 3.6–3.6 MB), and 8 that shoot RAW.
• Galaxy Note (4 models, 2019–2020): storage from 256 GB to 512 GB, 2 with microSD, default photos of 12 MP (about 3.6–3.6 MB), and 4 that shoot RAW.

The newest Samsung phone here is the Galaxy A18 (September 2026), which starts at 128 GB; the oldest is the Galaxy S10+ (March 2019). 13 of them launched before Android 11, so their system trash depends on later updates.

Samsung phones covered