How Much RAM Memory Does My Computer Need? | Crucial
If you’re frustrated by unresponsive programs, lagging load times, and a generally slow computer, lack of RAM is probably to blame. Random access memory, more commonly called RAM, is the key to your computer working properly. This is especially true with today’s memory-hungry applications — such as office programs, multimedia editing packages, and graphics-intensive games.
Add in how much multi-tasking we now do – listening to music while working, streaming a movie while downloading files, editing a spreadsheet with dozens of tabs open in the background – and your RAM needs expand.
Learn more about how to find computer memory (RAM) that is compatible with your computer.
So how much RAM does your computer need? Can you function with only 4GB of memory, or do you need to upgrade to 64GB of memory? Let’s find out!
Why is RAM important for your computer?
Almost everything you do on a computer relies on having sufficient memory. This includes moving your mouse cursor, which uses a minimal amount of RAM, and multitasking across multiple apps, which uses more RAM. There are many processes constantly running in the background, such as system updates and security software, that also consume RAM.
That is not to say that RAM is the only source of memory storage; solid state drives (SSD) or hard drives (HD) are also used for memory storage. While RAM is used for short-term storage, such as undoing a previous action, SSDs or HDs are used for long-term storage, such as saving a document.
To put it simply, the more things you do on your computer, the more GB of RAM you need. As time goes on you will likely need to increase your computer memory as newer programs demand more memory bandwidth.
How do you know if your computer needs more memory?
It can be hard to diagnose issues with your computer. To find out if lack of memory is the culprit, here are a few signs your computer could benefit from a memory upgrade.
If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, you may need to add computer memory:
- Programs frequently stop responding
- Typing constantly involves waiting for your computer to catch up
- Clicking or selecting an icon has a delayed response
- Multitasking with more than one app or program is nearly impossible
- Working on spreadsheets slows your system to a crawl
- You get system notifications about low memory
- System updates stall productivity because your computer is so slow
- You have display problems, like pulling up a page that either partially loads, doesn’t load at all, or shows a blank space where data should be
- You try to open apps or documents and the system stops responding
Will more RAM speed up your computer?
Computer manufacturers often don’t reach the installed memory capacity in their systems to keep pricing low on their products.
For example, if a desktop computer can hold 32GB of RAM, it often comes with 4GB or 8GB or RAM. This is one of the many reasons why a memory upgrade delivers such great results: there is almost always room for improvement.
Not sure how much RAM is in your computer? We can help you find out!
How to check memory on Windows® 10:
- Click the Windows logo or Start button on the taskbar
- Right-click Computer
- Click Properties
How to check memory on a macOS Monterey:
- Click the Apple menu
- Select About This Mac
- Click on the Memory tab
You can also use our System Scanner tool to analyse how much memory your computer has and can support.
How much RAM do you need?
Generally, we recommend 8GB of RAM for casual computer usage and internet browsing, 16GB for spreadsheets and other office programs, and at least 32GB for gamers and multimedia creators.
How you use your computer influences how much RAM you need, so use this as a guideline.
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If this is how you use your computer
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Here’s how much memory we recommend
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Casual User
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At least 8GB
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Intermediate User
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At least 16GB
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Professional User / Gamer / Graphic Designer
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At least 32GB
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Is 4GB of RAM enough?
4GB of RAM is the bare minimum memory needed to run a base computer model.
That said, the bare minimum may not provide a productive use of your time as your system will likely slow down every time you run two or more programs like internet browsing, email and some word processing simultaneously. So, unless you are running a legacy system, we generally recommend running your system with 8GB of RAM.
Is 8GB of RAM enough?
8GB of RAM is the amount of memory we recommend for casual computer users. If your usage includes internet browsing, email, lots of office programs, flash games, and multitasking – this level of memory should be sufficient.
Is 16GB of RAM enough?
16GB of RAM is the amount of memory we recommend for intermediate users looking for extra speed and smooth functioning. This may be especially beneficial if you tend to have several programs open and running, simultaneously. This is also a good level of RAM for casual gamers and standard business professionals.
Is 32GB of RAM too much?
32GB of RAM is the amount of memory we recommend for serious gamers, engineers, scientists, and entry-level multimedia users.
This level of RAM allows for these memory-hungry programs to run smoothly, even as your computer ages. Therefore, It’s not too much, it’s just right.
Is 64GB of RAM too much?
64GB of RAM is typically recommended for top-end users. If you’re a professional user of RAM-intensive programs, like AAA games running at the highest refresh rate and resolution, 3D modelling applications, 4K or 8K photo or video editing software, you may want to future-proof your computer’s memory by installing at least 64GB of RAM.
How much memory (RAM) does your computer need for design or photo software?
Does your computer need more RAM than the system requirements?
Although a computer will run an operating system (OS) with the minimum requirements, the response time and multitasking capabilities will be poor. Any future upgrades might require higher minimum requirements, as well. You will want more than the minimum requirements
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Operating System
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Minimum Requirements
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We recommend
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Microsoft© Windows©10 64-bit
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2GB
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8GB
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Adobe© Windows©10 32-bit
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1GB
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4GB
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Adobe© Windows©8 64-bit
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2GB
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8GB
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Adobe© Windows©8 32-bit
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1GB
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4GB
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Adobe© Windows©7 64-bit
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2GB
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8GB
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Adobe© Windows©7 32-bit
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1GB
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4GB
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Mac© OS X Sierra
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4GB
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8GB
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Mac© OS X El Capitan
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2GB
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8GB
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Mac© OS X Yosemite
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2GB
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8GB
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Mac© OS X El Mavericks
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2GB
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8GB
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Mac© OS X High Sierra
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2GB
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8GB
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Mac© OS X Mojave
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2GB
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8GB
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Will I need more RAM in the future?
The minimum system requirements for almost every app continue to increase, but it’s possible to set your computer up with enough memory to avoid having to continuously upgrade.
Maxing out your installed RAM will likely suffice until the end of your computer’s life, so it’s in your best interest to be proactive and add more RAM as needed.
Updating your OS is often a time to upgrade your memory. Because your computer’s OS uses hardware resources like RAM to run properly, the OS has a significant impact on overall performance. Typically, a newer version of an OS demands more memory than its predecessor. Adding more memory when you upgrade your OS ensures a smoother transition, prevents potential problems, and optimizes the performance of your system.
Also, new software often requires more memory than its predecessors, particularly productivity applications, such as photo editing software, video editing programs, and games. Similarly, new hardware components like video cards, storage, and even the processor require sufficient memory to deliver their promised level of performance.
If you’re purchasing an inexpensive computer with minimal memory, you may want a memory boost.
Before paying a higher price for more preinstalled RAM, check out the available upgrades. You might save money while significantly boosting performance.
How to upgrade RAM
RAM is one of the most affordable and easiest components to upgrade. Use our Crucial® Advisor™ tool or System Scanner tool to find out how much RAM your system currently has and how much it can hold. We can help you find a 100% guaranteed compatible upgrade for your system.
When it comes to adding system memory requirements, the general rule of thumb is the more, the better. On average, doubling the amount of memory in your system will give you sample «space» to work and will make an obvious difference in overall speed. This is especially true with today’s memory-hungry applications such as office programs, multimedia editing packages, and graphics-intensive games for which more RAM is needed. More memory allows you to run more programs at once, and our favorite programs will be easier to use.
But how much memory (RAM) does your computer actually need?
When deciding how much memory you need, consider what you use your computer for, the operating system needs, and any software you use that is particularly memory-hungry. Installing the right amount of RAM will enable you to multi-task with ease.
ignite — Not consuming all the machine RAM with cache size > RAM size
I would like to use Ignite Persistence but there is something I am not getting. My current understanding is that Ignite will always consume all the machine memory before the data on the disk will grow larger than the data in RAM. Let me explain:
With a machine with 128GB of memory, If I set the memory the region to 100GB then Ignite will also consume 100GB of RAM.
<bean>
<property name="name" value="Default_Region"/>
<property name="initialSize" value="#{100 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024}"/>
</bean>
The problem is that I would like to say that I reserve 100GB out of 128 for Ignite and then the rest spill over to disk.
But I would like to make sure I keep enough RAM available to start some ad hoc processes if need be.
If on the same 128GB machine I define a region with 300GB then ignite will consume all the memory available (80% of the machine I think) before the disk size is greater than the memory size but it means that I cannot keep more than 20% available for other processes.
<bean>
<property name="name" value="Default_Region"/>
<property name="initialSize" value="#{300 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024}"/>
</bean>
Couple of questions:
- Is my understanding correct?
- Is there a way to work around this?
Thanks a lot
- ignite
2
Ignite with native persistence enabled is a database. All the data is on disk. Some percentage of the data is also in memory (hopefully 100% but not always).
The 80% thing is the default, what you get if you don’t specify a data region.
If you specify a size, that’s what you get. So setting the data region size to 100Gb allows Ignite to use 100Gb of memory, and any data you store beyond that is only on disk. Don’t set the data region size to be more than the amount of memory available or your in-memory database will suddenly be disk bound.
<bean>
<property name="name" value="Default_Region"/>
<property name="initialSize" value="#{100 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024}"/>
<property name="maxSize" value="#{100 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024}"/>
</bean>
This is for off-heap storage. You’ll also need to take into account Java heap space.
2
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How to clear the phone’s memory on iOS or Android: detailed instructions Understanding how to quickly and effectively free up memory on the phone
Contents
- How to clear the phone’s RAM on iOS
- How to clear the RAM of an Android phone
- How to clear the internal memory of an Android phone
- How to use phone memory rationally
- Do our phones need more memory
nine0007 How to clear internal phone storage on iOS
What is the phone memory
There are two types of memory in smartphones:
RAM
RAM (RAM, Random Access Memory) is an ultra-fast type of memory that stores data about currently open applications.
The more RAM a smartphone has, the more applications it can keep open at the same time. This gives the impression that the phone is running faster. nine0003
Switching between applications and picking up where you left off is often referred to as «multitasking». If a phone is said to be good at multitasking, it means that it has a lot of RAM or uses it well. If the phone did not have RAM, applications would completely close when switching from one to another.
Internal memory
Internal storage is the data storage on a smartphone that contains long-term data such as the operating system (OS), installed applications, photos, videos, documents, and other files. As a rule, internal memory is designed for 32, 64, 128 GB, but on new iPhones it goes up to 1 TB. So, for example, 1 minute of video in 4K format takes 300 MB of memory, and in Full HD format — about 100 MB. The average photo on a modern smartphone takes about 5 MB of memory, that is, 1 GB will be enough to store 200 photos.
Applications and games can take up to 1 GB or more. [nineteen0003
If the phone swears about the lack of memory, most likely the problem is in the full internal memory. If applications crash, there is not enough operational.
In addition, the work of modern operating systems depends on cloud storage — iCloud, Google Drive, Google Photos and others. In this case, if there is not enough space in the cloud storage, uploading new data to it and, accordingly, the functionality of the phone may be limited. Then you may need to buy additional space in the cloud storage. nine0003
How to clear the phone’s RAM on iOS
To do this, use the «Home» key. If the iPhone model has this key, just unlock the device, hold down the «Power» button for a few seconds until the «Turn off» slider appears, and without releasing the button, hold down «Home» for a few seconds, and then return to the main screen. This procedure will free up the space occupied by programs running in the background.
iPhone models released after 2018 since iPhone X (excluding SE models) do not have a home key, so you will need to set up a virtual button. It’s done like this:
Go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Touch. In this menu, turn on AssistiveTouch — this will bring the virtual button to the screen.
Next, press and hold the volume up or down button and the side button «Power» until the slider «Turn off» appears, or go back to «Settings» → «General» and scroll to the very bottom, until the item «Turn off» Now click on AssistiveTouch, where you press and hold the virtual Home button. After a while, the system will return you to the «Settings» item or the main screen — this means that the cleaning of the RAM is completed. [2]
How to clear the RAM of an Android phone
There are many ways to clear the RAM of an Android smartphone.
Unlike iOS, Android versions may vary between phone manufacturers. We will show the sequence of actions using the example of a Xiaomi smartphone: for devices of other brands, the steps will be similar. nine0003
- Open the application switching screen using a special icon — in the case of Xiaomi, this is a square at the bottom left of the screen.
- Click on the «cross» in the window that opens or close applications manually by swiping left or right.
Applications currently running will close to free up RAM.
How to clear the RAM of an Android phone
How to clear internal phone storage on iOS
Before deciding how to free up space in the phone’s memory, you need to understand which category of data occupies the main place. This is shown under Settings → General → iPhone Storage. There you can also use the recommendations of the device itself.
How to clear internal phone storage on iOS
Download or delete apps you don’t use
In the iPhone Storage section, you’ll find a list of all your downloaded apps sorted by storage space.
Unnecessary applications can either be deleted or downloaded — as a result, the space used by the application will be freed up, but its documents and data will be preserved. The application icon will remain on the desktop. If the application is needed, when re-downloading from the AppStore, the data will be returned. nine0003
In the same place, you can set the automatic function «Download unused». In this case, the device will independently recognize rarely used applications and automatically download them.
Download or remove unused applications
Delete downloaded music
To delete downloaded songs, select «Music» from the application list in «iPhone Storage» and click «Edit». In this way, you can delete both all songs and songs of individual artists by clicking on the red minus sign next to the name of the desired artist. nine0003
Delete downloaded podcasts
Downloaded podcast episodes can be deleted in the same way as music: in the list of applications in iPhone Storage, select the Podcasts section and click Edit.
Clicking the red minus sign next to a podcast name will delete all episodes of that podcast. nine0003
How to delete downloaded podcasts
Delete photos and videos
Before you delete photos and videos from your phone’s internal memory, be sure to save them somewhere else so you don’t lose important memories. There are several ways to do this:
- Save photos and videos to the cloud
The default cloud storage that iPhone uses is iCloud. To save images to iCloud, go to Settings → Photos → iCloud Photos and move the slider to the right. After the feature is activated, your photos and videos will be automatically uploaded and stored in iCloud. nine0003
How to save photos and videos in the cloud storage
Files uploaded to iCloud will no longer take up space on your phone’s internal storage, can be viewed from any device with an internet connection, and will still appear in your Library.
It’s worth remembering that when you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get only 5 GB of storage.
If your photos take up more space, you’ll need to purchase iCloud+ plans or use other cloud services. nine0003
Other cloud storage services such as Google Photos or Dropbox also provide options for automatically saving photos and videos. They have their drawbacks: Dropbox’s free storage is only 2 GB, and Google Photos is 15 GB. At the same time, the latter allows you to compress photos to fit more of them.
- Save photos and videos to your computer
Photos and videos can also be downloaded to your computer. To import photos to your Mac, use a USB cable and the Photos app [3]. nine0003
Connect your iPhone to your computer with a cable, open the Photos app, then select your iPhone from the menu on the left. When prompted, unlock your iOS device with a passcode, and then, when prompted, click Trust to continue. Next, select the photos you want to import, or click on Import All New Items. In this case, all files that have not yet been uploaded to the Photos application are imported.
Be sure to wait until all photos are imported before disconnecting your phone from your computer. nine0003
Transfer photos and videos to Mac
Transfer photos and videos to Mac
If you have a Mac, you can also use AirDrop to transfer photos and videos, a feature that wirelessly sends files to nearby Apple devices. To do this, open the «Photos» application on your phone, select the photos you would like to transfer to your computer by clicking on «Select» in the upper right corner of the screen (after that, if necessary, you can click on «select all» in the upper left corner ), then click the Share icon. There you will see the AirDrop icon. Next, in the list of detected devices, select your Mac computer. Make sure you have turned on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both devices and that they are no more than 9meters from each other.
After the transfer of photos from your phone to your computer is complete, you can delete the photos from your phone.
To import photos and videos to a Windows computer, you also need a USB cable and the Windows Photos app.
Install or update to the latest version of iTunes, then connect your smartphone to your computer via USB. Unlock your device with your passcode, and then when you see the «Trust this computer?» click «Trust» to continue. Next, go to the Photos app on your computer, select Import → From a USB device, and then choose which files you want to save and where. nine0003
«Other» section
Many users also notice that most of the phone’s memory is taken up not by photos and videos or games, but by the mysterious «Other» section. This category on iOS devices includes data on internal storage that does not fit into any of the eight standard file categories: Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Books, Photos ” and “Information”. «Other» includes cache (i.e. files that are stored in the device’s memory to speed up processing of requests) of the Safari browser, cache of mail, letters and attachments, browser reading list, iTunes backups, game data, saved files, call history, notes, voice messages.
nine0003
You won’t be able to delete «Other» on iPhone in one motion: you will either have to use third-party applications or delete data manually. To do this, do the following:
First, clear your Safari browser cache. To do this, go to «Settings» Safari → «Add-ons» → «Site Data» → «Delete All Data». Remember that in this case all active sessions will be closed.
Similarly, you can clear the cache in other applications.
Then reinstall the applications or update them to the latest versions. This will help optimize their weight. nine0003
Finally, delete attachments from Messages and emails in the Mail app. To do this, go to Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Messages. There, enable auto-delete of old conversations and manually clear large attachments in the corresponding menu. In the Mail app, emails will have to be deleted manually. For convenience, make the ranking by the size of the letter.
How to clear the memory occupied by messages
How to clear internal phone memory on Android
Android smartphones give the user much more flexibility to work with stored data than iOS smartphones.
But this also carries additional risks: careless handling can lead to data loss or disruption of the system. Below we provide safe ways to clear memory on Android.
Find out what is taking up the most space
First of all, in order to clear the internal memory of your Android phone, go to «Settings» → «About phone» → «Storage». It will show the categories of data that take up space in the phone’s memory. As a rule, now users have the main amount of storage occupied by photos and videos, applications and games. nine0003
Move photos and videos to the cloud
Android allows you to automatically save photos and videos to the cloud. To set this up, go to the Photos app, then to your Google Photos account, then to the Photo Upload section.
There in the upper right corner behind the three dots you will see «Startup Settings». Make sure the «Startup and sync» slider is turned on. nine0003
The quality of uploaded files can be selected in the corresponding menu in the same section: higher quality will keep media files unchanged, which is useful if you plan to print photos in the future, while compression will fit more photos in the cloud.
Once synced, you can use the Free Up Space feature in your account settings in the Photos app to delete your cloud-saved photos and videos from your phone’s internal storage. You can always find media files in the Google Photos app. nine0003
Free up space on the device
Delete unused applications and games
In the «Storage» → «Apps and data» section, you can find programs and games that take up the most space in your smartphone’s memory. By entering a specific application, you can clear the cache (temporary data to speed up the work) and other non-critical application data, or delete it completely.
nine0026 Clean app cache and data with built-in and downloaded apps
On Android smartphones, built-in and downloaded apps can do most of the junk work for you.
- Integrated cleaners
In the storage settings, you can go to the built-in memory cleaner — to do this, in the «Storage» click on the «Clear» button. An application will open that will allow you to configure the cleaning options. When you’re ready, click the «Clear» button. You will be surprised how much junk has accumulated on your device. The same function, by the way, will also clear the RAM of the smartphone. nine0003
If there is still not enough space, you can use the «Deep cleaning» option, which is located on the same screen just below.
With it, you can remove duplicate photos from the gallery, screenshots, unnecessary and rarely used applications, data files, and more. At the same time, important data for you can be saved without deleting anything. nine0003
Deep cleaning
- External cleaners
In addition to the built-in Android smartphone cleaning tools, you can also use external ones by downloading them from Google Play. For example, CCleaner and OneBooster perform these functions — each of them has more than 100 million downloads.
Phone cleaners
Transfer some data to an external memory card
Unlike Apple phones, you can also install an additional memory card, an SD card, in Android smartphones, thus expanding the available space. If you installed an SD card to expand the internal memory, then in the «Storage» settings you can choose which categories of data will be automatically saved on the memory card. To do this, go to Storage settings, select the data type and install External storage — this way you can offload the phone’s internal memory.
nine0003
How to clear the internal memory of an Android phone through a computer
Another important feature of Android smartphones is advanced memory management through a computer.
When connected to a computer, you will be prompted to select the operating mode: through file transfer or photo transfer. The second will give you access to the photos on your internal storage, while the first will give you full access to the file system. There you can find and copy to your computer the categories of data you need in the appropriate folders:
- Audiobooks — audiobooks;
- Download — downloads;
- DCIM and Pictures — photos and pictures;
nine0007 Music — music.
USB operating mode selection window
«Other» on Android
The «Other» section of Android smartphones includes application data, failed backups (backup copies of data to restore in case of loss of original data), temporary files and cache. This data is perfectly cleaned with an internal cleaner. It is not worth deleting them manually: there is a risk of interfering with the operation of important applications.
How to use the phone’s memory rationally? nine0023
- Listen to music via streaming services without saving tracks to phone memory
Subscribing to streaming services such as Apple Music and Yandex.Music will allow you to access a large number of tracks without downloading or saving them to your phone’s memory. True, to listen you will need access to Wi-Fi or mobile Internet.
- Set up automatic saving of photos and videos to the cloud and do not keep copies of photos
Get in the habit of regularly cleaning the same type of photos manually or using cleaning apps, and set up automatic import of media files to the cloud storage.
If you have an iPhone, then when shooting in HDR — a mode of improved image quality — it will prompt you to save the original photo as well. Disable this feature if you want to save space.
- Delete saved maps after travel
Most mapping programs allow you to save maps for later offline access, which is convenient when traveling, especially abroad. However, these maps take up a lot of space on your phone’s memory, so be sure to delete your saved maps after your trips. nine0003
- Cancel automatic saving of photos and videos from messengers
Messengers like WhatsApp and Viber save photos and videos that other users send you to your phone gallery by default. Disable this feature in the settings to save space on your smartphone’s internal memory.
Do our phones need more memory
Although you can buy a phone today with up to 1TB of internal storage, consider how much you need based on your needs.