Why does Android show "insufficient storage" and how do I fix it?

[DarkGabriel1701G]

Okay, so... Why the hell Android is plagued by the "insufficient storage" error? Every damn smartphone with Android that i've seen or had has this problem sooner or later and it drives me crazy. Two days ago I broke the screen of my Xperia E because I had this error (now I've lost all my WhatsApp history, and that left me even more upset) and every fix I tried didn't solve it, I had more than 280MB available and that junk couldn't download a freaking WhatsApp update. My mother's LG has this, my father's Xperia has this, my sister's Samsung has this, my girlfriend's... Well, basically, every single Android phone I know of.

Why the hell this happens?! And why the hell this wasn't fixed yet?! I'm tired of this and I doubt I'll ever buy something with an Android logo again.

 

[Laura Knotek]

re: Why does Android show "insufficient storage" and how do I fix it?

Welcome to Android Central.

Please take a look at this guide: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ambassador-guides-tips-how-s/315804-guide-android-memory-how-deal-low-memory-warnings.html

Hopefully it will you understand and manage your storage space.

 

[Aquila]

Wait, an error because of mismanagement of storage space broke the screen on a device? How does that work?

 

[DarkGabriel1701G]

I broke the screen because I was angry that day, anyway, I never complained about that problem since I was the one who caused it, but the Storage thing is surely ridiculous, and I had done everything in the link Laura posted before, since I used Google to try and solve the Storage problem since forever. This thread is more of a rant than of actual call for help, since I doubt I'd solve that cr*p.

 

[Aquila]

Ah, ok roger that. Sorry to hear that

 

[anon(632115)]

The storage "thing" is not ridiculous. Did you ever try to put a gallon of water in a pint glass?? In relation to Android and you can include things such as Windows they all need some empty space to function which is why you are getting that message. Your options are replace the device or clear some space.

 

[Aquila]

In general we strongly recommend buying devices with plenty of storage space, and it looks like this model may have come with only 4GB on board, which is not enough for the user to be able to do "normal" things. I usually by 64GB if it is available, however the Nexus 5X I just ordered the max size is 32GB, so I got that. At this point, 16GB isn't even enough for normal use.

 

[DarkGabriel1701G]

Tell that to people who can afford the latest devices and live in a country that isn't going down a hole.

Also, I just uninstalled like 3 apps and I'm afraid I lost them forever, since this junk still won't let me download anything from Google Play.

SO, basically, the strongest point of having a smart-something (having apps) is lost.

 

[dpham00]

Well personally I wouldn't recommend anything below 8gb internal storage as an absolute bare minimum. Anything below that is asking for trouble in 2016 . The only exception for 4gb would be if the device supported adoptable storage. Not sure where you are, but consider Android one devices which would be a lot more affordable.

Personally I was able to pick up 16gb internal devices for $8 on promotion. But this depends on the circumstances

 

[Aquila]

That and the Moto G if that's an option.

 

[DarkGabriel1701G]

I understand I've been rude, I apologize for that, so much is happening lately that it's difficult for me to get a hold of myself. I live in Brazil, the country is on the brink of bankruptcy and the unemployment is the highest in decades (I'm unemployed too). Since Brazil has little free market and one of the highest tax rates in the world, the simpliest of products here are expensive enough that people tend to buy what in Europe or U.S. are called "low-end smartphones", since that's what most can afford here. My Xperia was an E1, my dad's phone was the most expensive one, the Xperia E3, and now I had to revert to an old Samsung Fit, with the 2.2.1 version of Android (a lot of apps don't support it anymore).

This may seem a little weird, I just wanted to let you people know the context of why every smartphone I know of has these problems, because that's the kind of product most can afford in my country. And to make it all worse, the carriers here fill these same products with useless apps that you can't uninstall, and rooting is too risky for a person like me to perform.

I'm sorry for all the trouble I may have caused.

 

[treetopsranch]

Just get a trac phone for $20.00 and be done with it. Works wonderful for actually making phone calls. Probably sold in your local Walmart in Brazil.

 

[miva2]

I understand not everyone wants to root.
I have also come accross this problem on both my devices (XPeria Ray and Galaxy Ace 2). Really the only solution to make you device useable is to factory reset it once in a while... I know that sounds stupid. If that is still not enough I would recommend putting a LIGHTWEIGHT custom rom on it. I had a bloated rom (really cool one though) and could install maybe 5 apps on my phone. Needless to say I was not happy with that, a lighter rom does the trick. I have lots of room for apps now and haven't encountered that problem in quite a while.

And yes this problem is ridiculous and should be fixed in some way in Android. I know it happens because the user installed too many apps and the operating system needs room to operate but it should be communicated way more clearly.
If I have 1GB of internal storage, part of it taken by the system and still have ~300mb free I expect to be able to install a ~5mb app without problems. Instead it says "insufficient storage" which just doesn't make sense from a consumer perspective.

This happens because one of the caches or one of the partitions is full so it can't add to it anymore. (or something like that, can't find the explanation anymore) even if you want to install on a different partition.
It should be made more clear to the user.

------------------------------------------------------
The link in Laura's post is great!

 

[Aquila]

I understand I've been rude, I apologize for that, so much is happening lately that it's difficult for me to get a hold of myself. I live in Brazil, the country is on the brink of bankruptcy and the unemployment is the highest in decades (I'm unemployed too). Since Brazil has little free market and one of the highest tax rates in the world, the simpliest of products here are expensive enough that people tend to buy what in Europe or U.S. are called "low-end smartphones", since that's what most can afford here. My Xperia was an E1, my dad's phone was the most expensive one, the Xperia E3, and now I had to revert to an old Samsung Fit, with the 2.2.1 version of Android (a lot of apps don't support it anymore).

This may seem a little weird, I just wanted to let you people know the context of why every smartphone I know of has these problems, because that's the kind of product most can afford in my country. And to make it all worse, the carriers here fill these same products with useless apps that you can't uninstall, and rooting is too risky for a person like me to perform.

I'm sorry for all the trouble I may have caused.

I dont think you've caused any trouble. I have a friend who lives in Brazil and I think he was able to get the Moto X Play there. Although I imagine it's probably more expensive than the phones that you're talking about.

 

[Mooserman15]

Why you need more onboard storage:
4 GB internal storage, 3GB used by system, so you have 1GB. Almost nothing. System complains with 500 MB left. You have 500 MB.

16 GB internal storage, 3 GB used by system, so you have 13 GB.

 

[kimber1220]

how can i tell how much storage space my phone came with and how much is on my sd card? i hace the s5 and barely anything on it and constantly am told insufficent storage.

 

[ManiacJoe]

how can i tell how much storage space my phone came with and how much is on my sd card? i hace the s5 and barely anything on it and constantly am told insufficent storage.

It will be in you Settings somewhere.
On my LG G4, it is in Settings > general > storage

 

[Robert Petrin]

I understand not everyone wants to root.
I have also come accross this problem on both my devices (XPeria Ray and Galaxy Ace 2). Really the only solution to make you device useable is to factory reset it once in a while... I know that sounds stupid. If that is still not enough I would recommend putting a LIGHTWEIGHT custom rom on it. I had a bloated rom (really cool one though) and could install maybe 5 apps on my phone. Needless to say I was not happy with that, a lighter rom does the trick. I have lots of room for apps now and haven't encountered that problem in quite a while.

And yes this problem is ridiculous and should be fixed in some way in Android. I know it happens because the user installed too many apps and the operating system needs room to operate but it should be communicated way more clearly.
If I have 1GB of internal storage, part of it taken by the system and still have ~300mb free I expect to be able to install a ~5mb app without problems. Instead it says "insufficient storage" which just doesn't make sense from a consumer perspective.

This happens because one of the caches or one of the partitions is full so it can't add to it anymore. (or something like that, can't find the explanation anymore) even if you want to install on a different partition.
It should be made more clear to the user.

------------------------------------------------------
The link in Laura's post is great!

I had this same problem last year, with my 3 year old Note 1, although it had a 32gb SD card! I always kept the number of apps to the minimum. Being an unlocked phone, it had no carrier bloatware. Still, one day WhatsApp needed an upgrade, and there was no sufficient space. I tried to clear the caches, etc...like was advised in forums. The final solution was to uninstall all apps, and reset the phone to factory specs. To be safe, I backed up all files and contacts prior, but it worked like a charm after, until I upgraded to my present S6.

 

[NaChae Sylvain]

Try what I did and I didn't need any apps. Plus my phone no longer responded to theses minor fixes, nothing was showing in any of the folders on the phone I had to access my storage using my PC. No cache, downloads, and there were only two external apps left after 8 months of frustration

Here wrote a KB Article for it showing what I did. Let me know if this helps?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hqSw959JvJecgZW2_gX1LViy34y3WqluAH2HPCeTZUE/edit?usp=sharing