Why is my Cached Data 3 GB on Samsung Galaxy S4 and is it safe to delete?

[AC Question]

I keep receiving a message regarding my storage space being full on my Samsung Galaxy s4 that I have only had for ~9 months. When I went into Settings - More - Storage, I see the biggest users of space are:
Applications: 3.73 GB (and I don't even have that many applications!! - side question: Is there a way to delete some of the apps that just came with the phone from Verizon, Samsung, etc. that I don't use? I tried to "uninstall/disable" apps, but some are not even available for this.
Pictures/videos: 1.08 GB and I try to constantly clear this/save to Google cloud
Cached data: 2.99 GB NO idea why this is so high!! After reading several forums on this site, it seems like most are in MB ranges and it sounds like Clearing the Cached Data is not always good.
Miscellaneous files: 6.31 GB of which I understand most is System memory and unfixable.

Thank you in advance. This is my first time posting but I really have faith someone out there can help!

 

[belodion]

Welcome to AC.

Of those different Storage categories, you can safely clear the Cached Data. It's good practice to do so from time to time because the cached files eventually become corrupted. Opinions will differ, but a weekly cache clear may be a good idea.
Some apps can be uninstalled but others may need you to have root access first. Let us know if you want to do that....there are rooting experts here who will be happy to advise.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Rukbat]

Cached data comes in 2 forms.

Some apps cache data so that you don't have to enter something every time you run the app (like your email address or login if you check the "remember me" box) or some other data it has to go fetch every time it stops.

In Android, the operating system can kill any app at any time without warning if it needs the space, then put that app back, telling it to continue when you go to it again. (So if you long-press home to get to your password app to get the password for the app you're running, the app you're running might get killed, then rerun when you go back to paste the password). Android apps are responsible for keeping their current state at all times because of this. If you're running an app and pull the battery, that data stays in the app's cache, although it's no longer of any use. (If you multitask to another app, then never get back to that app, the same thing happens - the app never gets to clear its cache before it shuts down.)

In either case, over time, the cache fills up and periodically clearing it can't hurt. (If you close apps rather than just going "Home" all the time, you'll find that there might be 20-50MB in cache, which is negligible. But if you constantly leave apps running without shutting them down, the cache can fill up quite a lot.) About the worst that will happen is that some app will ask you to log in when you run it. (My car insurance app will if I clear its cache when it's not running.)

 

[GravitySlam]

That's nothing mine is 26.80gb.