Device Running Slow (Android)

Device Running Slow (Android)

Issue [Device Running Slow (Android)]

  

Devices [Android]

  

Suggested Resolutions [See Steps Below]  

Restart the device

This will clear the memory and give everything a fresh start. A lot of the time, a restart will fix minor problems and speed things up. On many Android devices, you can access the restart option by pressing and holding down the power button until a menu appears. Select “Restart” from the menu.

The Power Menu on a Samsung Motorola Android phone.

Some Android devices have remapped the power key to launch the virtual assistant. You can also restart the device by pressing the power button in the Quick Settings panel. Swipe down once or twice from the top of the screen, then tap the power icon.



A restart will often give you a little performance boost, but it won’t be long-lasting if there are bigger issues causing the device to be sluggish.

Clear the Cache on Android

You can clear the cache on an Android device by going to Settings > Apps > Select an app > Tap “Clear Cache.” Removing these temporary files can sometimes improve performance, but they will eventually be redownloaded.

First, open the Settings and go to the “Apps” section.



Here’s the list of installed apps on your Android device (you may need to expand the list to see them all). Select an app.

Select an app.

Go to “Storage & Cache” or just “Storage.”



Select “Clear Cache.”



The cache will be cleared! This works for pretty much any app, but you may want to take some extra steps to clear the cache for Android browsers.

How to update and android phone

Sluggish performance can be a result of running outdated software on your Android device—check for an update by going to Settings > System > System Update. It’s important to keep your device as up-to-date as possible. Even if the latest version of Android isn’t available for your device, you may have monthly security patches to install.

Android update settings.

Chances are there won’t be an update waiting for you, but it never hurts to check. It’s not safe to use an outdated Android device for a variety of reasons.

Free up storage space on Android

An Android device filled to the brim can suffer from poor performance. Thankfully, there are a variety of ways to free up storage space. Clearing the cache—as shown above—is just one method.

To check the storage on a Samsung Galaxy device, you’ll need to go to Settings > Battery & Device Care > Storage. For Google Pixel and most other Android devices, it’s simply at Settings > Storage. Here you’ll see the storage usage broken down by images, videos, audio, documents, apps and more.

Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel storage sections.

Google Pixel devices have a shortcut to “Free Up Space” in the Google Files app. Samsung actually points out files you could delete to make more room, including “Duplicate Files” and “Large Files.” It’s a good idea to regularly check out the “Storage” section to clear out junk.

“Files by Google” comes preinstalled on some Android phones. If it’s not on yours, you can download it from the Play Store. One feature that makes it extra useful is the ability to automatically identify things that can be removed from your phone to free up storage space.

Open Files by Google and switch over to the “Clean” tab at the bottom.

The first thing you’ll notice is a progress bar of how much storage space you’ve used. Underneath, Google has automatically suggested files you can delete to free up storage space. Common examples are screenshots, duplicate files, and photos that are already backed up to Google Photos.

See how much storage you have.

The “Junk Files” category is for temporary files, like cached files for apps. Clearing these out can cause increased battery and data usage since they’ll need to be re-downloaded.

Junk files.

For the other categories, simply tap “Select Files” to go through and choose what you’d like to delete.

Select files to download.

That’s pretty much it! Files by Google is a handy app to have for keeping tabs on your storage usage.

Downloads can add up quickly over time. Whether it’s ringtones, memes from Facebook, photos to send friends, or PDFs for work, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up in the “Downloads” folder on your Android device.

The Downloads folder can be found in the File Manager app of your choosing. On Samsung Galaxy devices, the app is simply called “My Files.” Google Pixel devices come with Files by Google preinstalled.

Downloads folders.

Once you’ve found the “Downloads” folder, it’s just a matter of selecting the files you’d like to delete and tapping the trash button.

The Downloads folder can easily get filled with stuff you don’t need anymore. Keeping it tidy can help your storage woes.

Unlike what you’re probably familiar with on Windows, Android doesn’t have a system-wide “Trash” or “Recycle Bin.” Instead, it’s managed by the apps themselves, which is where you’ll need to go to empty the trash.

The most common place where you might want to empty the trash is your File Manager app. We’ll show you where to find the trash in Samsung’s “My Files” app and “Files by Google.”

For the “My Files” app that comes preinstalled on Samsung Galaxy devices, simply scroll down to the bottom to find “Trash.”

Now you can tap “Edit” and select the items you’d like to delete, then tap the trash can icon to remove them permanently.

Delete items.

In the “Files by Google” app, you can find “Trash” in the hamburger menu in the top left.

From here, you can select individual items or tap “All Items” and select “Delete” to remove them permanently.

Select and delete files.

File Manager apps typically delete trash after 30 days. However, you can go in and manually remove the files whenever you want.

If you’re to the point where you feel like there’s nothing left to delete to make more room on your device, it may be time to embrace the cloud. Keeping photos and videos in apps such as Google Photos, Dropbox, or OneDrive can save a lot of space. Using a cloud storage app does come with some added concerns, though. First of all, you’ll probably need to pay for a storage plan at some point. Perhaps more importantly, your media will be in the hands of a third party, and that comes with privacy and reliability concerns.

If you’re lucky, you may have an option to expand your Android device’s storage without moving to the cloud. Some Android devices still include SD card slots. It’s become an uncommon feature among the majority of devices, but SD card slots are not yet extinct. Micro SD cards are very affordable these days. You can snag a 128GB micro SD card for less than $20 and probably double the amount of storage space you have. Once you have the SD card, you can move files and even apps to it to get more internal storage space.

Delete unused apps

Unused apps take up space and can slow down your phone—it’s easy to uninstall Android apps in bulk from the Play Store. Android has features intended to limit what unused apps can do, but removing them entirely is your best bet.

Open the Play Store and tap your profile icon in the top right. Select “Manage Apps & Device” from the menu.

Go to the “Manage” tab and select the apps you’d like to uninstall. Tap the trash icon in the top right to remove them.

Delete the apps you aren't using anymore.

It’s always a good idea to get rid of apps you aren't using anymore. For performance and security’s sake.

Update apps on Android

Updating apps can solve performance issues—open the Play Store on your Android device and go to Manage Apps & Device > Update All or See Details > Update. The infamous “bug fixes and improvements” changelog can sometimes mean the developer fixed performance issues.

First, open the Play Store and tap your profile icon in the top right.

Select “Manage Apps & Device” from the menu.

On the next screen, you’ll see either “Updates Available” or “All Apps Up to Date.” If you see the latter, there are no updates available.

Otherwise, tap “See Details” to look at which apps have updates.

Now you can tap the arrow to read the update changelog or select “Update” to start the update.

Regardless of your Android device’s performance, it’s always a good idea to regularly check for app updates.

Speed up animations on Android

Android’s hidden “Developer Options” menu has options to speed up the animations on your device. This is a long-time trick to make Android devices feel faster, and it still works.

After enabling Developer Options, open them and look for “Window Animation Scale,” “Transition Animation Scale,” and “Animator Duration Scale.” By default, they’ll all be set to “1x.” Switch to “.5x” or “Off” to speed them up.

Android animation scales.

Now, when you’re navigating around, animations won’t take as long, making your device feel snappier. The Developer Options menu has a lot of other features to offer, too.

Use "Lite" Android apps

Some of the most popular Android apps are pretty beefy in size. They require a good chunk of storage and resources to function smoothly. Some of these apps have "Lite" versions intended for low-powered, budget devices, but there’s nothing stopping anyone from using them.

Here are a handful of “Lite” alternatives to some popular Android apps:

  • Facebook Messenger Lite
  • Facebook Lite
  • Google Go
  • Google Maps Go
  • Gmail Go
  • Microsoft Outlook Lite
  • YouTube Go
  • Instagram Lite

Automatically turn on WIFI on Android

Slow performance can sometimes mean slow internet—so make sure you’re always using Wi-Fi when you can. Android can automatically turn on Wi-Fi when you’re at places you frequently use Wi-Fi. This way, you never accidentally stay on a slower data connection.

For Samsung Galaxy devices, you’ll want to go to Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > Intelligent Wi-Fi > Turn Wi-Fi On/Off Automatically.

On Google Pixel and other Android devices, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Internet > Network Preferences > Turn On Wi-Fi Automatically.

Not only can this make sure you’re using a solid internet connection, it can also prevent you from accidentally racking up data on a mobile connection if you forget to turn on Wi-Fi.

Factory Reset the Android

If nothing seems to solve the performance issues on your Android phone, the last thing to try is a factory reset. A factory reset completely erases everything off your device and takes it back to the way it was “from the factory.” Essentially, it will be like new again, and that often solves common problems.

To get started, open the Settings and go to System > Reset Options > Erase All Data (Factory Reset).

The next screen will tell you everything that will be erased and show all of the accounts you’re currently signed into. Tap “Erase All Data” to continue.

You’ll be asked to enter your lock screen PIN or password, then tap “Erase All Data” once more to confirm.

The device will go through the process of wiping all data and restart. You’ll need to set it up again just like you did when you first got the device.


Links verified on: 4/25/2023
How to free up space on Android: 8 ways: https://www.howtogeek.com/112356/free-up-space-on-android/


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