"Other" in Internal Storage has 10GB of unexplained files. Other file apps showing different results

[manishb]

Something odd has suddenly appeared on my phone and I have suddenly GBs of free storage gone. I have a Galaxy A50 and observed this issue in the last few days. I think this issue was not there a while back, but may have started recently. I definitely had more than 10GB of free space a month or so back and I have not installed any large apps or downloaded/received many large files.

The Samsung MyFiles app in my case shows 59.28GB out of 64GB used (the "Other "folder is 10.51 GB) => Phone has 4.72 GB free.

However, the Files by Google shows only 50.82GB used out of 64GB => 13.18 GB free. The google files app is unable to enumerate this ~10GB completely. 

Solid Explorer (third party files app) shows 4.70GB free of 51.58GB => This app has no idea about some 12.42GB of my phone's storage.

The google files and Samsung MyFiles app have never shown this difference of storage space.

I think this is something Samsung is missing and these "Other" files are not readable or something. I think there is a serious problem Samsung has with Android 11 and have messed up something with the File Storage. I have no idea where this "Other" files are and what it contains and how to even begin clearing it up.

And no, this is not a cached file problem. I wiped my Cache completely and it made difference to this. I even tried to wipe the Cache of several apps having large amounts of cached files, but that also did not make any difference in reducing the Other size. I have tried my best to find where these files are and have been unable to. These files are simply hiding.

This could be related to the WhatsApp Dual app media folder missing issues so many people have reported. Probably there are more folders missing like this and everything is enumerated under Others now.

To be clear for the WhatsApp dual app issue I mentioned above, there are 27 different posts in the r2.community.samsung.com in the last month indicating its a wide issue which I also have.

https://r2.community.samsung.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?filter=location,dateRangeType&q=wh...

[SamsungJon]

Hi Manish, in regards to the Whatsapp issue, a software update will be released to resolve it. The issue arose due to the file path being changed for where media files are saved. 

In the meantime before this is released, can you please ensure that all your WhatsApp files are backed up? 

We thank you for bringing this to our attention and hope to resolve this soon.

For the storage issue, we are still looking into this and will get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience.

[manishb]

Thanks for the update. That is really great to hear. I will wait for the update.

Just wanted to say that I am really appreciative that you/your team takes the inputs positively and helps towards a fix.

I believe this is the second issue this year, you have been able to address for me with a real fix. On some of the other region forums, the response is lacking.

[SamsungLaura · Accepted solution]

Hi @manishb, we have received a response from our team. The “Other” tab houses files which users have saved to a Secure Folder, and the Android/data folder which includes the device’s Operating System. The Android/data folder cannot be accessed on the handset using My Files, however it can be accessed by connecting your mobile device to a computer via USB.

Hope this clarifies things. 

[manishb]

Thanks for sharing the details. I will take your word for it. 

I deleted my Secure Folder completely and currently on my phone "Other" has 6.9GB out of 64GB on my A50. I suppose that's a fair size for the Android data files.

Additionally as I had mentioned earlier deleting the dumpstate/logcat had helped recover some space (~3GB) from "Other" earlier.

[mimig999]

Hi. 

I am having the same problem listed above. I can successfully access the Android/data folder on my computer. However, it is not clear to me what to delete at that point. The folders within are all related to apps. There does not seem to be any folder entitled "Other." Please advise

[SamsungLaura]

Hi @mimig999, thanks for reaching out. If you are unsure of what to delete, I would start with uninstalling apps that you no longer use.

[venkateshraviraju]

Hello,

I bought new S21 FE 5G last week. I was setting up my phone with the apps I need. Yet to use those apps by logging in (just installed).

I see that it consumed 8.53 GB for 20 to 25 apps. But then 'System' is already consuming 23.03 Gb.

Isn't the 'apps' part of 'system'?

Together, 31+ gb is too much. This has consumed 26% of my memory without even I start to store any data (images, videos, apps, etc.). See the screenshot.

I am also using M30s device for almost 3 years now and the 'system' is consuming only 15.12 Gb.

Please see both the screenshots and  can you please let me know how to optimize my 'system' storage in S21 FE?

S21 FE 5G modelM30s model

[ala222]

I found it . There's a glitch in samsung phones where emptying the bin does not actually delete the videos/ photos .. please watch this how to empty thr other storage .. there might be some storage used by apps but you will see the difference in the video.

https://youtu.be/B2_pC3R1SNw

Please like and share the video

[JustSomeOldDude]

Shouldn't the "Android Data" and "Operating System" be in the "System" file rather than the "Other" file??????
And IF, as you have said, the "Operating System" and "Android data" is in the "Other" file.... What's in the "System file????

[Samsung_PVamxeH]

Hi There Laura

I am in the Android/Data folder on my galaxy tablet and there are 52 folders in it but when I go into the folders almost all of them are empty.  So why is the other folder showing 18.72 GB used.  I am getting warnings that something on my tablet is going to be deleted on July 7th 2023 and I don't know what I am going to lose.  Please help!