How to clear the cache on Samsung Galaxy smartphones
Android devices make heavy use of caches to speed up the loading, reduce bandwidth usage, or for offline use. Samsung Galaxy phones (and tablets) are no exception to that. Caches hold temporary data, usually files. While caches do get filled and also emptied automatically at times, it may sometimes be necessary to clear caches manually.
Common examples include apps that load old content, behave in undesirable ways after updates, or fail to load entirely. In any event, clearing the cache of specific apps or the entire device cache may resolve these issues.
Samsung Galaxy devices come with built-in options to clear caches. Third-party apps may provide better functionality, e.g., batch cleaning caches, but they are not required usually.
1. Clear the Cache of individual Samsung Galaxy apps
If an app does not work right anymore, either because it is loading outdated content, not opening at all, or having other issues, then it may be a good idea to clear the cache of that app to see if that resolves the issue that is experienced.
The following steps guide you through the process of clearing the cache of individual apps on Samsung Galaxy devices:
- Open the Settings on the device.
- Select Apps in the Settings to get a listing of all installed apps on the device.
- Open the application that you want to empty the cache for.
- Select Storage on the page that opens.
- Activate the "clear cache" button on the page.
Storage details reveal how much cache an application is using at the time. Please note that the clear cache button is not active if the cache is empty.
The cache is used automatically by the application on its next start, but the files added to it should be up to date.
2. Clearing all caches on Samsung Galaxy devices
While it is sometimes sufficient to clear the cache of one or several apps on the Samsung device to resolve related issues, it may sometimes be faster or more appropriate to clear all caches. Clearing all caches, for one, may free up lots of storage space on the device; this depends largely on the installed apps and how they are used.
- Open the Settings on the Samsung device.
- Select the Battery and device care menu on the Settings page.
- Activate the "optimize now" button on the page.
Please note that this process may not clear the entire cache. Samsung notes here that the process may be used to clear caches, but you may notice that not all application caches are cleared when the optimization is performed.
It is better, usually, to delete individual caches, unless storage space is scarce. Still, clearing caches offers only temporary recourse, and it may be better to explorer other options, including deleting unused apps or clearing Internet caches.
3. Clearing the Samsung Browser's Internet cache
Samsung Browser is the default Internet browser. It is used by many Samsung Galaxy owners, and it uses a cache, which grows over time.
- Open the Samsung Internet browser on the device.
- Tap the menu icon in the bottom right corner of the interface.
- Select Settings.
- Open Personal browsing data on the page that opens.
- Tap on Delete browsing data on the next page.
- Make sure "cached images and files" is selected. You may disable the other options, or keep them checked.
- Activate the "delete data" button.
- Confirm the process by selecting Delete when the confirmation prompt opens.
Additional information about the process is available on Samsung's website.
Thanks for the tip Martin.
It is for these kinds of posts that I follow GHacks.
What’s up with the generic comment, are you a bot?
2G?
Where on the planet is that still in use? I was forced to give up using my RAZRV3 years ago because 2G was phased out by AT&T.
Everywhere 3G has been turned off and you don’t have LTE coverage, and believe me there are many developed countries where this is the case and if it weren’t for 2G you wouldn’t even be able to make a phone call.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t believe tha term “2G” is in the article. Perhaps you are referring to “AGM G2”??
@Martin
Your website has gone insane.
When I the post button I then saw my comment posted on a different article page. When I opened this article again, it is here.
@Tachy @Martin Brinkmann
” Your website has gone insane. ”
Same here. Has happened several times.
@Tachy,
@Martin P.,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
@tachy a lot of non-phone devices with a sim in them rely on 2G, at least here in europe.
Usually things reporting usage or errors/alarms on something remote that does not get day to day inspection in person. They are out there in vast numbers doing important work. Reliable, good range. The low datarate is no problem at all in those cases.
3G is gone or on its last legs everywhere, but this stuff still has too much use to cancel.
Anyhow, interesting that they would put that in. I can see the point if you suspect a hostile 2G environment (amateur eavesdroppers with laptop, ranging up to professional grade MITM fake towers while “strangely” not getting the stronger crypto voip 4G because it is being jammed, and back down to something as old ‘stingray’ devices fallen into the wrong hands).
But does this also mean that they have handled and rolled out a fix for that nasty 4G ‘pwn by broadcast’ problem you reported earlier this year? I had 4G disabled due to that, on the off chance that some of the local criminals would buy some cheap chinese gear, download a working exploit and probe every phone in range all over town in the hope of getting into phones of the police.
>”While most may never be attacked in stingrays, it is still recommended to disable 2G cellular connections, especially since it does not have any downsides.”
The downside would be losing connectivity. I spend a lot of time way out in the countryside where there’s often no service or almost none. My network allows 2G, and I need it sometimes. I have an option on the phone to disable 2G, I may do that when I’m in the city and I have good 5G connectivity, but not out in the country.
I would imagine that the stingray exploits, like most of the bad things in this world, are probably things you will run into in the crowded big cities.
I stopped using it in a mobile (Wi-Fi line) environment, so I’m almost ignorant of the actual situation,
But the recent reality in Japan makes me realize that “the infrastructure of the web is nothing more than a papier-mâché fiction”.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/17/google-chrome-to-enable-https-first-by-default-for-all-users/#comment-4572402
It is already beyond the scope of what an individual can do.
What we should be aware of is the reality that “governments and those in power want to control the world through the Web”, and efforts to counter (resist and prevent) such ambitions are necessary.
Why do you want people to disable the privacy features? Hmmmmm?
Now You: do you plan to keep the Ads privacy features enabled?
I’d like to tell you, but apparently if you make a post critical of Google, you get censored. * [Editor: removed, just try to bring your opinion across without attacking anyone]
@Martin
You website is still psychotic. Comments attach to random stories.
@Martin please do fix the comments, it’s completely insane commenting here! :[
@Martin
The comments are seriously messed up on gHacks now. These comments are mixed with the article at the below URL.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/18/android-how-to-disable-2g-cellular-connections-to-improve-security/
And comments on other articles are from as far back as 2010.
What does this article has anything to do with all the comments on this article? LOL I think this Websuite is ran by ChatGPT. every article is messed up. Some older comments from 2015 shown up in recant articles, LOL
The picture captioned “Clearing the Android Auto’s cache might resolve the issue” is from Apple Carplay ;)
How about other things that matter:
Drop survival?
Screen toughness?
Degree of water and dust protection?