Where do things go once you empty out the trash?

[Chitown28]

I am just wondering if you delete lots of files and empty the trash where does it all go? Does that stuff effect the phone is storage at all or other things?

 

[hallux]

Just as on Windows - when you delete a file the space is marked as 'available', but the information isn't necessarily actually removed from the storage medium. The trash (or recycle bin in Windows terms) is the OS remembering a certain amount of the storage location data and still reserving that space for that previous file. When you empty the trash, that memory of those storage locations is removed but the files MAY still be accessible if you have the right tools, until such time as those storage locations are overwritten.

 

[VidJunky]

Each system handles trash differently but for the most part this seems to be what happens.

When you select an item for deletion a bit in the data is changed to indicate that it should not appear in searches or folders. This may also start a timer where the data will automatically be fully deleted after X amount of time. While the data is in this limbo state it does have an effect on your storage amount. Once the trash is emptied a bit is removed from the data that then allows the system to overwrite the positions the data occupied. At that point it doesn't count towards the memory. There can sometimes be a delay after emptying the trash before the memory shows the updated total but once emptied it will stop counting towards the total.

 

[anon(40376)]

In case of the S22, go to STORAGE and it will show what's been deleted and is in Trash. Then you can delete the Trash. Then it heads out of the phone to forever pollute the atmosphere. Or in other word, you will not see it again (unless you have copies).

 

[Chitown28]

So the stuff that i empty out in the trash does not effect the performance of the phone,memory,or storage that is available?

 

[VidJunky]

So the stuff that i empty out in the trash does not effect the performance of the phone,memory,or storage that is available?

Correct. If you have both deleted something and then removed it from the trash permanently it should no longer affect the device storage and freeing that space to be reused by the device.