Free up space on a Pixel phone

To download more apps and media, or to help your phone run better, you can clear space on your phone.

• Storage is where you keep data, like music and photos.
• Memory is where you run programs, like apps and the Android system.

Important: Some of these steps only work on Android 11 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Free up storage

See what's using storage

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Storage.
3. Tap a category.

Free up storage automatically

To clear backed-up photos and videos automatically when your device's storage is almost full:

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Storage  Free up space   Menu .
3. Tap Settings .
4. Turn on Smart storage.

Free up storage yourself

To pick from a list of photos, videos and apps that you haven't used recently:

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Storage  Free up space.
3. To pick something to delete, scroll to the category that you want to delete and tap Select files. (If nothing is listed, tap Browse.)
4. Choose the files to delete, or choose all of them.
5. Tap Move files to the bin.

To pick from all data:

Remove photos

Remove backed-up photos and videos

If you back up with Google Photos, you can delete the copies on your phone or tablet. You can find the backed up copies in the app when your device is connected to the Internet. Learn how to delete photos and videos from your device.

Remove downloaded movies, music and other media

To delete content from Google Play:

1. Open the Google Play app with the content, like Play Music or Play Movies & TV.
2. Tap the Menu Settings Manage downloads.
3. Tap Downloaded Remove.

To delete content from other sources, delete from the app that you used to download it.

Remove apps and app data

Uninstall apps that you don't use

If you uninstall an app and need it later, you can download it again. You don't have to buy the app again if you paid for it. Learn how to uninstall apps.

Clear the app's cache and data

• Clear cache: Deletes temporary data. Some apps may be slow the next time that you open them.
• Clear storage: Permanently deletes all app data. Try to delete the data within the app first.

To clear your app’s cache and data:

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Apps See all apps
3. Tap the app.
4. Tap Storage and cache Clear cache or Clear storage 

Delete or move files

Delete downloaded files

To save space, you can delete downloaded files that you don't need.

Tip: To see more files that are using space on your phone or tablet, open your Settings app  tap Storage  Free up space  Browse.

Copy files to a computer

You can move files and folders to a computer with a USB cable and then delete them from your phone or tablet. Learn how to transfer files between your phone and computer.

Check and free up memory

You don't usually need to close apps. But if an app isn't responding, you can try to close or force stop the app. Learn how to troubleshoot apps that aren't working.

Tip: If you think that an app is using too much memory, you can delete the app. Learn how to uninstall apps.

Related resources

• Get started with Google Photos
• Can't download from Google Play