Have you noticed a slowdown in the performance of your Android phone? Doesn’t it run as fast as before? Have you thought it could be a cache problem? You have thought well, yes because the cache affects a lot the performance of an operating system.
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What is the Android cache
When we install an Android application, we don’t always occupy the same memory on our device, but little by little we occupy more and more space because of the temporary files we generate with every time we use the applications.
These temporary files or residual files are the cache of our Android phone and are used to make applications faster without having to download all the necessary files and data every time we open an application.
Why clean the cache of an Android phone
The problem is that over time the cached data can exceed a gigabyte of memory, so I suggest you to periodically clean the cache to free up space since not all applications eliminate residual files that you no longer need.
Clearing the cache allows you to save space, clean temporary files that you don’t need and improve how your phone works.
How to clear the application cache
To delete data from the cache, it is not necessary to use third-party applications such as Clean Master or CCleaner. Since the release of Android 4.4.x the operating system allows us to clear the cache from the settings of our device.
Android allows us to delete the cache of a specific application from Settings> Applications now choose the application whose cache you have decided to delete> Memory> Clear cache .
We will see the Clear Cache option next to the Clear Data option with which we have to be very careful, as this last option deletes all the application data from your phone, as if it had just been installed, thus losing all our data.
You absolutely must not press on delete data.
Clear the operating system cache
If we want to clear all the cache, we need to access the Recovery Mode. There we can completely eliminate the cache partition from our device. This option is called Wipe cache partition. Don’t be confused with “Clear data” which deletes all data from your device.
This process eliminates both the application cache and the system cache and the process is much slower. While deleting the application cache from the Settings takes only a couple of seconds, deleting the cache partition from Recovery takes several minutes. More or less!
Restart your Android device in recovery mode, every phone has its method, look for yours here, but not everyone is there. Once in this mode, clear the cache.
How to clear the cache with Android 7.0 Nougat
On Nougat, very little has changed from the previous operating system with regards to cache cleaning:
- Access the Settings app on your phone or tablet.
- Click on the ” Applications ” section.
- Now look for the application that you think takes up a lot of memory space due to the cache. Click on the application name when you find it in the list.
- Then click on the “Memory” option.
- And finally, click on the ” Clear cache ” option.
How to clear the cache with Android 6.0 Marshmallow
On a mobile device or tablet with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, to empty the cache, simply use the configuration offered by any device. Instead of installing external applications, simply follow these steps to eliminate any cache traces:
- Access the Settings app on your phone or tablet.
- Click on the ” Applications ” section. If you are using a Samsung Galaxy, you should click on the “Application Manager” option before continuing.
- Now look for the application that you think takes up a lot of memory space due to the cache. Click on the application name when you find it in the list.
- Then click on the ” emoria – xx MB memory of the device used ” option.
- And finally, click on the ” Clear cache ” option.
How to clear the cache with Android 5.0 Lollipop and earlier
Also for Android 5.0 Lollipop, clearing the cache is a very simple task. If you have a mobile phone with the Android 5.0 version (or even a previous version), the steps to follow are:
- Open the “Settings” tab.
- Access the ” Applications ” section.
- Make sure you select the ” Install ” tab (or “All”) to show all the applications you have installed on your phone, and click on the name of the application whose cache you want to clean.
- Finally, click on the ” Clear cache ” button.
What happens if I clear the cache
Clearing the cache clears the memory of all those temporary files that have been downloaded and created applications that we have used. When you open the application again, all the temporary files you need will be recreated.
It does not delete user data or any important files, it only deletes temporary files that the application is able to restore and create as soon as they are needed.
When should the cache be cleaned?
It is recommended to repeat the process of deleting the data from the application cache every so often, for example every month or two weeks, since there are many applications that fill the cache immediately with the storage of temporary files.
You don’t have to do it every day, because doing so will slow down the opening of the applications because they will have to reload all the information.
