I found more than 10GB of wasted storage on my phone with this free Google app
Android Police 2026-07-27 10:00:15
Context: The author, Anu Joy, an Android-focused journalist, was struggling with low storage on their phone despite not installing many apps or downloading large files. They discovered the "Files by Google" app, which helped them identify and recover over 10GB of wasted storage by pinpointing duplicate files, old downloads, blurry photos, and unused apps. This app has since become a regular tool for the author to manage their phone's storage.
Key Facts
- The author used the "Files by Google" app to recover several gigabytes of storage by identifying and deleting duplicate files, old downloads, blurry photos, and unused apps.
- The app's "Clean" tab groups storage-wasting files into categories such as duplicates, old screenshots, memes, downloaded files, and unused apps, making it easy to review and delete unwanted files.
- The author found that their Downloads folder was a significant storage hog, containing old installation files, documents they'd already moved elsewhere, and images they'd forgotten they'd saved.
- The app highlights large files, including videos, making it easy to identify and delete those that are no longer needed, with the author freeing up storage by deleting just a few large videos.
- The author now uses "Files by Google" once a month to manage their phone's storage, and the app has helped them save hundreds of megabytes of space by surfacing duplicate files, forgotten downloads, large videos, and unused apps through personalized cleanup recommendations.