I purged gigabytes of invisible app junk from my phone to avoid paying for cloud storage
At one point, we've all run out of storage on our phones, and freeing up space can be annoying.
I was lazy and was tempted by Google One's subscription to store my pictures, data, and backups.
But I chose to forgo that option after I realized the recurring costs I would have to bear.
That's when I decided to purge unwanted data from my phone to avoid paying for a subscription that I didn't really need.
Android's invisible app junk was at the core of my problems
Bloat that nobody wanted
When I started to clean my phone's storage, I noticed most of my storage problems weren't related to photos or videos.
While I'm guilty of having duplicate images and screenshots, the storage photos took up wasn't as bad as the invisible junk from apps.
I've uninstalled plenty of apps in the past, and I'm constantly testing new ones.
And with most apps, there are often residual folders, caches, OBB expansion files, and all types of logs associated with them.
There are ways to curb these unwanted files, but most aren't easy to remove.
With a simple online search, I found an open source app on the Play Store called SD Maid 2/SE.
While the app's Play Store ratings weren't reassuring, I gave it a shot after reading recent reviews.
To my surprise, it did exactly what I needed.
The CorpseFinder feature in SD Maid 2/SE can scan for residual folders and files that I couldn't find manually.
What's neat is that the app shows me the exact locations and sizes of these files and lets me review them before deleting them.
Verify and audit the files you are deleting, as some may be important documents you might need later.
The app lets me clean my system by targeting empty folders that are no longer in use and temporary files that have no business being there.
The app also lets me clear data and caches from installed apps. It's a faster way to clear caches than the traditional method.
Earlier, I would have to find each app and follow these steps: go to Settings> Apps> [App Name]> Storage> Clear Cache.
But with SD Maid 2/SE's AppCleaner feature, I could do it effortlessly and with fewer taps.
Since I'm a premium user, I ran SD Maid 2/SE's AppCleaner on social media apps, browsers, and streaming apps like Netflix. I cleared about 6GB of storage.
Features like AppCleaner and Schedules are locked behind SD Maid 2/SE's paid tier.
You can either subscribe for $3 a year or make a one-time payment of $6 for a lifetime license. While the basic free tier gets the job done, the premium tier offers some neat features.
There are other premium features that I would like to highlight, but for brevity, I'm listing them below for a brief overview:
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Deduplicator: Delete duplicate files.
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Swiper: Delete files with a single swipe.
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Media Squeeze: Compress images and videos.
For now, I follow a simple workflow that involves running frequent scans and selectively auditing and deleting files.
You can automate these tasks within SD Maid 2/SE; however, it requires a one-time paid upgrade or a subscription.
If these features are essential for you, it might be worth getting the paid upgrade.
But since I want to avoid paying for various services, I use SD Maid 2/SE along with good old-fashioned manual auditing.
It never hurts to check your storage manually
The tried and tested way
After I removed some invisible app junk, I also removed some obvious files that I asked SD Maid 2/SE not to scan.
I like to check certain files manually, especially APKs that are not available on the Play Store or older versions of apps I prefer.
I started with Files by Google to clean up a few images, large files in my downloads folder, and some apps I wasn't using.
But I found using my OnePlus' OEM file manager most useful. It had shortcuts that pointed me to APK files sitting in folders.
The file manager also let me know which sources, such as WhatsApp and other apps, were using the most storage.
I sorted all the files from these sources by size and deleted the ones I didn't need.
But I still needed space, so I transferred the remaining important documents and images to my NAS (Network Attached Storage).
I understand that not everyone has a NAS in their home, especially given current storage prices.
But if you have an unused external storage device such as a Flash Drive, you can transfer old files to it to free up storage on your phone. It's a rudimentary solution, but still effective in 2026.
Alternatively, you can back up data using an open source app like Syncthing on your computer.
My next storage-related frustration was with the apps I use daily.
Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram tend to store a lot of media files, and since I receive many payment screenshots and images, it was time to clear them out.
The first thing I did was turn off auto-download for photos and videos in both messaging apps, as it's the main culprit for hogging storage.
This way, I could choose which media to keep in my internal storage and which to discard after viewing. It gives me more control over my internal storage, and I recommend turning on this setting in all messaging apps you use.
Speaking of photos, I also recommend using Google Photos' Free Up Spacetool whenever you can.
The tool deletes local copies of your photos and videos after they've been backed up to the cloud.
If you're not comfortable uploading your personal memories to Google's cloud service, you can also use a reliable Google Photos alternative like Immich.
It's a great photo management app that closely matches Google Photos' user experience.
Storage space is getting crucial
With the ongoing memory crisis, conserving storage space is more crucial than ever.
Resorting to cloud services like Google One may seem convenient right now, but the recurring cost isn't worth it in the long run.
But using apps like Maid 2/SE and maintaining a strict regimen for manually deleting invisible app junk can go a long way.
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