Clearing Cache partition

[Kevin Christof]

If you clear cache partition to much on your phone for no reason could it damage your phone

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[Tech-Newb]

No it wont.... but your phone will be heating up more oftenly and drains more battery. Your phone will suck more power to rebuild the cache if you clean it too much. Cleaning once a month is enough.

Posted with ❤Love❤

 

[Kevin Christof]

Once a month is good enough Alright

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[Crashdamage]

Clearing the cache partition is neither necessary nor beneficial. Since starting using Android v1.0 on a HTC G1 I've never needed to clear the cache partition. I leave it alone to do its job for the life of the device with no penalty in speed or stability. That's what cache files are for - to speed up operation. So what good is an empty cache?

The reasoning that supposedly cache files become corrupted over time is doesn't apply any more. It''s a holdover from the bad old days of Windows running on FAT filesystems. Back then, they sometimes did corrupt due to nasty old FAT running on magnetic HDs. Now we have modern filesystems like ext4 runnng on chips instead of little spinning disks. While not totally impossible, (anything is possible) the chances of corruption are miniscule, microscopic. You might win the lottery first.

It won't do any damage to clear the cache partition. But unless you have problems you're fairly sure are possibly cache-related, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Kevin Christof]

So I should never clear cache partition or clear cache at all the only time I should clear cache is for a single app if it's messing up right ? so this means u should just let cache stack up and not worry about it and I'm using a Samsung grand prime

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[Crashdamage]

You have it about right. You can clear caches if you want, it won't damage anything, but it's kinda counter-productive since power and CPU cycles will be used rebuilding them. And since they will rebuild, any space gained is only temporary.

 

[Kevin Christof]

Alright I think I got it .. only clear partition if your phone is going slow or its not working functionally... and if an app is having a problem we should just clean the apps cache and not the whole cache off the phone .. so by answering that does that mean we need to clean cache partition on our phone once a month or no?

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[belodion]

If you clear cache partition to much on your phone for no reason could it damage your phone

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I think you posted this before and my reply was 'I don't know that anyone has ever tried it'. You'd have to actually try it to find out, but who would?

 

[belodion]

Crash: What you say is interesting and clearing is often dished out as an attempted fix, but I remember one instance - just one - where clearing did fix a problem on my Nexus 5....though I can't remember the problem. It could be said that the rebooting effect of cache wiping did it, but I would have tried a simple reboot as well as other things first.

 

[Kevin Christof]

Belodin I did post it before I posted it again because your last reply didn't exactly answer.my questions so thankyou you for all the help this so what I'm going to do

1.If your phone going slow and it doesn't work I would try a simple reboot first to see if it solves the issue

2.if it's still not working in would try to clear a cache from a single app that it's not working for

3.if that doesn't solve the issue I would just clear cache partition and hope that fixes up the problem


(I have one more question should I bother clearing cache once a month or should I just do it after everyone phone update?)

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[Crashdamage]

Crash: What you say is interesting and clearing is often dished out as an attempted fix, but I remember one instance - just one - where clearing did fix a problem on my Nexus 5....though I can't remember the problem. It could be said that the rebooting effect of cache wiping did it, but I would have tried a simple reboot as well as other things first.

Thanks. But let me try to be perfectly clear exactly what I'm saying before anyone jumps to conclusions...

I'm not saying cache files are never the problem. I'm saying that problems due to actual file corruption is not happening. Or at least, the odds of that are microscopic, near lottery odds with today's memory chips and filesystems. But, you say, what about a memory chip gone south? If a chip fails, you would have more problems than corrupted caches. So lets eliminate file corruption as a reason to clear caches.

However, there's still a legitimate reason for clearing caches. It's rare, but real. And that is a cache file may hold files that, for lack of a better term, have become obsolete, or maybe you could say incompatible, with the software using them. Think of it as similar to this:
You have a game on your computer and lots of saved play data. You install an update to the game and afterwards it runs but some of your saved play data is wrong or the game hangs when accessing it.
Your play data is the problem. It's no longer compatible with the game. But there's nothing actually wrong with the file - no errors, no corruption. When you contact the game's maker he says it's a compatibility problem with older game data. Or maybe he says a bug in game is causing generation of bad data. Whatever, he says all you can do is delete your saved gameplay file and let the game generate a new one.

That's a similar situation to what can happen with caches and why sometimes clearing a cache straghtens out a problem. IMO this is fairly rare. I've used Android since v1.0 and can count on one hand how many times clearing a cache actually helped and have fingers left over. And then it was only an app cache, not the cache partition.

So, to wrap this up...I'm saying...
1. Actual file corruption is an extremely unlikely reason to need to clear caches.
2. While I'm not saying to never clear caches or that there is never any benefit, I am saying the benefits while real, are rare.
3. If you're having problems and can't figure why clearing cache files is a reasonable thing to try. Can't hurt, might help. If it's an app clear the app cache only.
4. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Treating clearing caches like regular maintenance is madness. With very rare exceptions I don't touch cache files for the life of a device and have no problems with stability or performance.
5. Cache files purpose is to speed up operation, which they do well. So what good is an empty cache?

 

[Golfdriver97]

I will admit, I often suggest a cache clear in recovery for some problems.
The reason is two-fold:
1. It is a shutdown of the OS
2. It can't hurt, and sometimes helps issues.

Users often accept this type of reply as it is better than the far too often suggested 'Reset your device'. I will suggest a reset, but usually as a last resort. I equate it to amputation. Sometimes it needs to be done, but it shouldn't be suggested just because there is signs of an infection in a finger.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Once a month is good enough Alright

I used to do this, but have arrived to the point where I don't anymore. Partially from what Crash has said in the past, and partially because it can be a hassle to do this to several devices.

I now clear as needed.

 

[Crashdamage]

I will admit, I often suggest a cache clear in recovery for some problems.
The reason is two-fold:
1. It is a shutdown of the OS
2. It can't hurt, and sometimes helps issues.

Users often accept this type of reply as it is better than the far too often suggested 'Reset your device'. I will suggest a reset, but usually as a last resort. I equate it to amputation. Sometimes it needs to be done, but it shouldn't be suggested just because there is signs of an infection in a finger.

Completely agree. While you were writing your reply I was doing some rewriting to mine, and added a bit about it's OK to clear caches to try and fix a problem. You might want to read it again.

 

[Kevin Christof]

I will admit, I often suggest a cache clear in recovery for some problems.
The reason is two-fold:
1. It is a shutdown of the OS
2. It can't hurt, and sometimes helps issues.

Users often accept this type of reply as it is better than the far too often suggested 'Reset your device'. I will suggest a reset, but usually as a last resort. I equate it to amputation. Sometimes it needs to be done, but it shouldn't be suggested just because there is signs of an infection in a finger.

What did you mean when you said " it is a shutdown of the OS"

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[Golfdriver97]

What did you mean when you said " it is a shutdown of the OS"

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When rebooting into recovery, you are shutting down Android (the OS or Operating System), and booting into another segment of the actual OS. Often, between the shutdown, which is no different from doing a reboot, and the cache clear, this fixes some issues.