How to Empty Trash on Android to Make it Run Faster?

Is your phone’s memory full? If you’re all stuck in the middle after seeing the warning “storage almost full” or decided to give your Android some boost by emptying trash, the following are the steps that you’ve to perform to empty trash on Android without any leftovers.

Like Windows, Android doesn’t have a recycle bin that stores and displays everything you deleted. But, the videos, photos, music, files, and other junk you removed won’t leave the device so easily. Somewhere hidden inside the system they occupy the seat and slowly start capturing the free storage left, which is really frustrating.

Back in the years, I also thought that one click was enough to delete. But, upon usage, my first Android phone Redmi 5A started slowing down day by day. And to give it a boost, I transferred all the important files to the SD card and deleted the unwanted junk.

Even though I didn’t notice any big change in the performance and the reduction in storage space. I was shocked. And started surfing the web for the solution. At last, I successfully made everything back to normal.

If you too are facing the same problem, here’s what you’ve to do to empty trash on Android completely.

What is Trash on Phone?

Trash is nothing but cache generated by apps, games, browsers, and the unwanted files or media you delete. Thus, they’ll move to the recycle bin in your Gallery or trash folder in My Files. So you can go there and restore the deleted files whenever needed.

Why Empty Trash on Android?

Every day your smartphone has to deal with different types of applications, games, browsers, and many others continuously. But, if you’re running out of storage, the system won’t let you allow any new entries until you empty trash on Android, which is nothing but cached data and unwanted files or media.

Deleting files free up some space. But, the cache is, whatever you deleted from the gallery, my files, downloads, or any other won’t leave the device so easily. Somewhere hidden inside the system they occupy the seat and eat up all the free storage left. As a result, performance becomes poor and no app will work perfectly.

Therefore, empty trash on Android releases some storage space and boosts performance to an optimal level.

How to Empty Trash on Android?

From the above sentences, you got an idea of what is Trash on Android and why empty trash on mobile. If you’re all clear about it, perform the following actions to completely empty trash on Android and make it run stunningly fast.

Suggested Read: How to Block Ads on Android – A Complete Guide?

Empty the recycle bin/trash folder

If you’ve any photos or videos to delete on your Android, follow the regular method and delete all of them first. So that each and everything you deleted will be sent to the recycle bin. And to empty the bin, do as follows.

1. Open your gallery app and look for the trash bin (the option may vary for every app).

2. Once you find the bin, you’ll see all the photos and videos you deleted.

3. If you want to restore anything, select the important items and hit restore. Otherwise, select ‘Clear all’.

You’re done. This action will then remove all the photos and videos from your Android without any leftovers.

Note – Items in the bin are deleted forever after 30 days.

In case, your gallery app doesn’t have a recycle bin, head to the ‘File Manager’ app and delete all the unnecessary folders including DCIM, Android, etc.

Empty Trash on Google Photos

No Android comes without having Google Photos pre-installed. If you use it to save photos and videos, know how to empty trash in Google Photos to say goodbye to all the items you deleted on your Android phone.

1. First, open the Google Photos app and tap on ‘Library’ in the bottom right corner.

2. To see all your deleted photos and videos, Select ‘Bin’ in the ‘Library’ screen.

3. If you want to restore anything, select the photos you want to recover and hit ‘Restore’.

Otherwise, tap on the three dots icon in the top right corner and hit ‘Empty bin’. Lastly, choose Allow from the prompt that opens.

You’re all clear. Now, your Android has no photos and videos left in the trash bin.

Note – Items in the bin are deleted forever after 30 days.

If you don’t want Google Photos to save photos and videos stored on your device, here’s the guide on how to turn off Google Photos sync.

PS: You can skip this step if you don’t want to make any changes to Google Photos.

How to Stop Google Photos Sync on Android

Google Photos is a free storage management tool that provides 5 GB of free cloud storage for photos and videos. It comes pre-installed and by default, the sync is set turned on. So that all the pictures and videos stored on your device will be uploaded automatically.

In case you don’t want Google Photos to save photos and videos stored on your device, do as follows.

1. Launch the app and tap on your profile picture to bring up the menu.

2. Now, select ‘Photos settings’ and on the page that opens, choose ‘Back up and sync’.

3. There you’ll see some options and a toggle switch beside the option ‘Back up and sync’. To turn off Google Photos sync, simply toggle off the switch.

In case you need any particular folder to sync, keep the sync enabled and tap on ‘Back up device folders’ on the same page. And then turn on the toggle switch for that particular folder and fall back.

Stay on page and continue reading to know how to empty trash bin having files and other junk.

Empty Trash in Files by Google App

An exclusive app from Google. Files by Google is one of the best and most powerful file management tools available in the market. No matter the amount of junk stored left in the trash, Files by Google won’t let escape anything wherever it is hidden inside the system.

Let’s see how to empty trash in Files by Google app.

1. Open the app and tap on the hamburger icon in the top left corner to bring the menu.

2. Select Trash and check the files that you’d like to remove from the bin.

When you’re done, hit ‘Delete’ and give final confirmation in the prompt that opens.

Empty Trash on Google Drive

Google Drive is like Google Photos where 5 GB of encrypted free cloud storage is allotted for saving photos, videos, documents, and many others securely. If you kept the sync turned on, there’s no doubt to say that Google Drive has a backup of all the files you’ve moved to the trash.

So, follow the steps below and empty trash on Google Drive to make sure everything is clear.

1. Open Google Drive and tap on the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner of the Search bar.

2. From the menu, select Bin and then tap on the ellipsis icon (three dots) in the top right corner.

3. Finally, hit Empty Trash and give final confirmation in the prompt that opens.

To stop backup for Google Drive, follow the steps below.

How to Stop Backup to Google Drive?

Google Drive will automatically back up your data. By default, the setting is set enabled. If you don’t want Google Drive to back up the data, here are the steps that you’ve to follow to turn off Google Drive backup.

1. Open Google Drive and tap on the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner of the Search bar.

2. Select the option ‘Settings’ in the menu. On the next page, choose ‘Backup and reset’.

3. Under “Backup details”, select ‘Photos & videos’.

4. There you’ll see some options and a toggle switch beside the option ‘Back up and sync’. To turn off Google Drive sync, simply toggle off the switch.

In case you need any particular folder to sync, keep the sync enabled and tap on ‘Back up device folders’ on the same page. And then turn on the toggle switch for that particular folder and fall back.

Note – Likewise, if you have any cloud-based apps with sync enabled, once check and delete if it stores anything you deleted.

Wait, there’s one more thing left i.e clearing cache generated by every app installed on your system. To know how to clear cache on Android, visit this post.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Trash Bin is a useful built-in tool on any device. Of course, emptying trash makes the device run stunningly fast and releases a large amount of space. But, in order to help recover deleted files, nothing works better than it. So, before deleting anything, make sure whether it is important or not.

And don’t forget that your Android stores whatever you delete in the Trash Bin. Whenever you face performance issues, make sure to empty the trash bin first.