YouTube is taking up 29gb of storage labeled User Data

[Android Central Question]

I have a oneplus 6 and I was looking through my storage to see what was eating up most of it. I ended up realizing YouTube was taking up most of my storage. My phone says the app size is 166mb but it also says it has 29. 37gb of user data under YouTube. I tried clearing the cache and storage but they just fill back up instantly. I do have YouTube premium but nothing downloaded as I deleted everything. Any ideas?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Open YouTube, tap your profile pic at the upper right, then Settings>Background & Downloads. Does it show there how much space any downloads are taking up?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[Schmeckle]

Hey B. Diddy,
I have checked the tab that you mentioned on YouTube and it shows I have nothing downloaded and it's taking up no space.

 

[B. Diddy]

Very odd. OnePlus seems to have had some issues recently with unusually large amounts of storage usage that is difficult to account for. Let me see if @Javier P has any insight.

 

[mustang7757]

Hey B. Diddy,
I have checked the tab that you mentioned on YouTube and it shows I have nothing downloaded and it's taking up no space.

Welcome to AC!
Where you see this for YouTube? Under app info?

 

[Javier P]

Welcome to the forums. I had never heard of such a problem and a quick search showed just a couple of similar reports.

For RAZR 2

https://support.google.com/android/...unt-of-data-even-after-clearing-storage?hl=en

And for OnePlus 7

https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/why-youtube-always-show-4-6-gb-user-data.1423199/

Unfortunately they don't include an explanation of what the problem is or how it can be fixed, short of a factory reset.

You could try this long shot. First switch WiFi and mobile data off to avoid and sync process and then go to settings - apps - YouTube - force stop - clear storage - uninstall updates (three dots top right). Stay in the storage screen for YouTube and see if User Data goes back to that high value. If it stays low switch WiFi on and wait for the sync process.

 

[Schmeckle]

Hey Javier I have tried said method but it does not seem to work sadly

 

[Schmeckle]

I'm not sure how to send pictures but I got my information from both the storage page and the app info page

 

[mustang7757]

I'm not sure how to send pictures but I got my information from both the storage page and the app info page

Hi, you can post pictures with this guidelines
https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=413366

 

[Schmeckle]

This is where I got it from

 

[mustang7757]

This is where I got it from

Try clearing data then force stop it and see if it goes back to normal

 

[Schmeckle]

Try clearing data then force stop it and see if it goes back to normal

It did not work. It just switches itself back to full once I leave that tab

 

[mustang7757]

It did not work. It just switches itself back to full once I leave that tab

What about if you uninstall the update to YouTube?

 

[Javier P]

Hey Javier I have tried said method but it does not seem to work sadly

Yeah, it was a just long shot. I'll search a bit more and I'll let you know if I find anything. In the meantime I'd recommend you to get in touch with OnePlus support and report this bug through their 'Feedback' tool.

After all this troubleshooting it seems that the problem is not related specifically to the YouTube app. It could be a weird bug in the system that reports the storage wrongly and a factory reset could do the trick. The other possibility is a hardware problem and only the OP support could help.

 

[Javier P]

What about if you uninstall the update to YouTube?

Unfortunately all done already and no dice

 

[mustang7757]

Unfortunately all done already and no dice

you think factory reset

 

[Schmeckle]

Id rather not do a factory reset, I don't want to go through the trouble of re-setting up my oneplus up again

 

[mustang7757]

Id rather not do a factory reset, I don't want to go through the trouble of re-setting up my oneplus up again

Yeah definitely not fun but sometimes needed

 

[Schmeckle]

You thinking that's my only option then?

 

[mustang7757]

You thinking that's my only option then?

I think so , you have to try it to see if it goes back to normal