Does Force Stop Free Up Space on Your Phone?

Force stopping apps is one quick way that many users try to free up storage space on their phones. But does it actually work?

The short answer is – not directly. Force stopping an app frees up some temporary RAM (memory) that the app was using to run in the background. However, it doesn‘t affect the app‘s stored data on your phone‘s internal storage.

So force stopping by itself won‘t increase free storage space, but it can be used in combination with other steps like clearing an app‘s cache and data to remove clutter and save space indirectly.

Let‘s look at some of the top ways you can maximize storage on your phone.

Why You Need to Free Up Space

Having enough free storage space keeps your phone running at peak performance. Here‘s why it matters:

• You can store over 10,000 photos on the average 128GB phone. No wonder storage gets filled up quickly!

• 80% of storage is typically consumed by photos and videos on most phones according to a VentureBeat study.

• Almost half of apps downloaded go unused, eventually taking up valuable space according to AppBrain.

• Phones start slowing down when storage is less than 25% free. Performance suffers even if unused space is only system files and caches.

• Running completely out of space can corrupt data and causes crashes according to Android Central.

So keep reading to learn the insider tips and tools you need to reclaim your storage – without losing anything important!

Force Stop Apps to Reclaim RAM

Force stopping apps frees up the RAM or working memory that it uses to run in the background. Here is what happens:

• The app is completely shut down and removed from your phone‘s RAM.

• Any background tasks and processes it was running are also stopped.

• This clears up RAM that the app was occupying so other apps can use it.

This is useful if an app is frozen or glitching and you want to restart it completely fresh. The freed up RAM can also give a slight speed boost to your overall phone.

However, an app‘s core files and cached data stored on your internal storage are untouched. So force stopping alone doesn‘t increase free space – but it‘s a handy troubleshooting trick.

Here is how to force stop apps on both major platforms:

On Android:

• Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications
• Select the specific app
• Tap Force Stop

On iPhone:

• Double press the Home button to open the multitasking view
• Swipe up on the app‘s preview window to force close it

This stops the app without deleting data, allowing you to restart it fresh. Now let‘s see how to actually clear storage for more space.

Uninstall or Disable Apps

Removing unused apps entirely frees up the storage space they occupy. You have a couple options:

Uninstall apps – This completely deletes the app and all its data. Only uninstall apps you definitely won‘t need again.

Disable/hide apps – Stops the app from running and removes its icon, but keeps its data intact so you can restore it later. Great for pre-installed apps you can‘t fully uninstall.

Be sure to check for any unused games, social media apps, or bloatware apps you can remove. This quickly nets you the most storage as app binaries are much larger than caches.

According to AppBrain, the average user has over 100 apps installed totaling multiple gigabytes!

Clear App Cache and Data

Apps store temporary usage data and cached files that build up and consume storage unnecessarily:

• Cached data – Web pages, images, and other media temporarily stored for quicker loading.

• Temporary files – Misc. temp usage files apps create and don‘t delete.

• Saved settings – User preferences and login details that remain after uninstalling.

Clearing this clutter can recover anywhere from a few megabytes to over 1GB for heavy usage apps like Facebook or Chrome.

Here‘s how to wipe this type of data:

On iPhone

• Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
• Select the app and tap Offload App

On Android

• Go to Settings > Storage > Internal Shared Storage
• Tap Cached Data to clear cache for all apps
• Or go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > App Name > Storage & Cache > Clear Cache and Clear Storage

Be diligent in wiping cached data, browser history, and other temporary files regularly to prevent sneak storage creep!

Remove Unneeded Media Files

Photos and videos consume more storage than anything else on modern phones. Removing the low-value filler can clear up a ton of space.

Here are smart ways to clean up your media:

• Delete blurry photos – Our phones hold on to lots of subpar, boring shots by default. Be ruthless in mass deleting anything pointless.

• Remove screenshots – These pile up extremely quickly, especially on iPhone. Delete in bulk for instant gains.

• Delete duplicates – Use tools like Google Photos to find duplicate copies of the same images.

• Crop videos – Edit longer videos to remove unneeded sections. Saves space while keeping the highlights.

• Downsize images – Use advanced camera apps to save images at lower resolution if you don‘t need 12MP versions.

• Transfer to a PC – Copy media to your computer to create a backup while deleting device copies.

Follow these best practices going forward to avoid filling up storage again quickly!

Manage Messages and Attachments

Text message threads and attachments like photos, videos, and documents can also slowly eat up chunks of storage if left unchecked:

• Memes, GIFs, and other images forwarded and saved in message threads accumulate over time.

• Audio and video messages sent via apps like WhatsApp can be unusually large files.

• Entire email attachments and files sent directly through messaging apps remain in your storage rather than just being downloaded temporarily.

Here are some tips to keep message storage creep at bay:

• Delete old conversations – Wipe any text threads you no longer need or that have piled up attachments.

• Remove attachments – Open conversations and manually delete the files/media individually.

• Disable auto-save – Turn off auto saving attachments from messages to your camera roll or downloads folder. Only keep what you need.

Actively monitoring your stored messaging content is essential to avoid it turning into a stealth storage hog!

Adjust System Settings

Both major mobile platforms have system settings related to storage management that are useful to enable:

On iPhone

• Optimize iPhone Storage (Settings > General > iPhone Storage) – Automatically offloads unused apps and clears cached data to free up space daily.

• Turn On iCloud Photo Library (Settings > Photos) – Stores all images/videos in cloud rather than device storage. Greatly reduces local usage.

On Android

• Enable Storage Manager (Settings > Storage > Storage Manager) – Clears backed up photos and videos if space runs low.

• Turn on Storage Saver (Settings > Storage > Storage Saver) – Stops background activities and limits apps to free up space.

Adjusting these settings makes your OS proactively handle storage optimization instead of you needing to manually clear space.

Advanced Tips to Reclaim More Space

If trying all the above still doesn‘t free up enough storage, here are a few advanced tricks to reclaim more capacity:

• Partition cache wipe – Wipes your storage partition cache to delete corrupted junk files. Requires booting into recovery mode.

• Factory reset – The nuclear option. Wipes your phone completely clean for a fresh storage slate. Make sure to backup data first!

• Use cloud/streaming apps – Store files in the cloud or stream media rather than store it locally. Great for music, videos, and images.

• Expand storage – Add physical storage like an SD card or bump up to a higher capacity phone. Useful if you take lots of media and need the room.

With a robust storage strategy combining deletion, optimization, cloud usage, and more, you can stay ahead of the storage creep we all deal with on our modern smart devices!

Hopefully these tips give you everything you need to free up space when that "storage full" warning pops up again. Please share any other creative storage freeing methods I missed!