A lot of users are being confused about the actual internal storage capacity of Samsung’s latest flagship device, the Galaxy S4. In fact, many owners of the SG4 16GB variant have been complaining about ‘memory full’ error they encounter after adding a number of their own contents to their phone. And one email telling about the same issue has reached our mailbag.
This is the shortened email message we got from one of our readers/senders:
“I got an SG4 and lately, I’m getting a ‘memory full’ or ‘out of memory’ message. Need help please.”
How To Deal With ‘Memory Full’ issue on Samsung Galaxy S4
DETERMINING POSSIBLE CAUSES
* The photos and videos stored on your phone eating up your phone memory. The easiest way to solve is this to sign up for Amazon’s Prime subscription with 30 day free trial, all member will get unlimited storage for photos saved onto the cloud. Once set up correctly, you can have all photos automatically saved onto the cloud and you can safely delete all photos on your phone to clear the memory space. Oh, and be sure to check out all the other perks that comes with an Amazon Prime account.
* Third-party application problem
* Too many apps running or open in the background
* Insufficient RAM to process request
* Memory card communication error
* Temporary device issue
* Available internal memory is not enough to complete requested action
* Memory card is full or almost full
WORKAROUNDS
* Remove the battery from the device for 30 seconds while it is still ON. Wait for a moment then replace the battery and turn the device ON.
IMPORTANT NOTES
If the ‘memory full’ problem occurs after you rooted your device and installed a custom version of the Android OS, then you may need to reinstall the original Android operating system for your device. Use Samsung Kies to install a precise Android OS for your device.
RAM or Random Access Memory refers to a temporary memory location being utilized by applications to load data for specific functions that the application performs. RAM however, is not part of the internal storage of your device.
The issue about your device not able to complete requested action may likely indicates that your device is already low on RAM when you try running the application or request an app to complete an action. The app can only complete the request until you free up memory for it to use.
HOW TO FREE UP RAM on SG4
1. Press and hold the Home key (simultaneously) for 1 to 2 seconds until the Recent Apps screen shows up.
2. If there are any open apps, swipe the app thumbnail to the left or right, to close and dismiss it.
3. Touch the Task Manager icon.
4. Touch the RAM tab to see its current RAM usage/status.
5. Check your device’s current RAM usage. If you notice a close gap on the “used/total numbers, then touch Clear Memory to empty its RAM of any currently unused data.
6. In case you see the “used” amount does not lessen after clearing the memory, try to make some adjustments to your device’s settings or configuration. Doing so will also free up RAM. Phone features such as live wallpapers, widgets and unused Home screens are all using RAM.
7. Remove any unnecessary widgets or home screes, and change your live wallpaper to normal wallpaper instead.
If problem persists, then you may need to uninstall applications that can cause issues with the device’s system when turned on. You can also contact technical support for further assistance in getting the issue completely and carefully resolved.
ABOUT SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 INTERNAL STORAGE DISPARITY
Samsung has already responded to prior complaints made by several GS4 owners about the disparity between the branded internal storage space and actual storage space of the device. And it was explicated that the voluminous features embedded into the GS4 system had caused the phone’s internal storage being occupied by its operating system and pre-loaded applications. As a result, the actual internal storage capacity is less than what is labeled on the variant. So instead of 16GB, the phone only has 8.82GB of internal storage space available for user’s own content. This denotes that the system software as such with its high resolution display and powerful features have already used up more than 6GB of the actual storage.
Billy fish, i agree wholehartedly. charlie is the arshole. as a matter of fact, he is in a arsehole
Sites like this should be noted and avoided – REMEMBER – they get paid when you visit them !!!!!
As another person has just noted, this isn’t a new fix, it’s all in the handbooks and is ObViOuS to anybody with the sense to use a phone in the 1st place !!
The issue isn’t with any real problem, unfortunately it’s a fault in the Android OS on 90% of mobiles, it ‘thinks’ its memory is full but it isn’t – And NO cleaning up software can fix it, it’s all a farce.
I use a HUAWEI Y300, a rubbish phone when bought (slow and limited), so I ROOTED it, and flashed a new ROM – et voila, all sorted, never ever runs out of RAM now or slows down now, for 2 years+. The big manufacturers all MAKE your phone fill up and slow down unrepairably probably so you buy a new one, it’s good business sense for them.
Anyway, sites like this should still be made illegal !!!
You are an arsehole this fix is for another phone and frankly an obvious fix. Please only put up stuff that is not in the phone handbook.
Waste of time
u should clear the chase
I am having the same problem. I cleared my memory yesterday. Uninstalled many useful apps. Then it showed 2.71 GB free but now suddenly after 1 day it shows 0.00 MB left 🙁 dont knw whats happening. I cant download a single pic now. Dont know what to do
That sounds great! Where does the ‘external memory’ go, though? Is it in the cloud? And when I’ve moved things into it, can I get them back?
Probably stupid questions! But I’ll give it a try – thank you.
I had been having major problems with device memory: this phone (Galaxy S4)
I had tried all that’s been said in all the help sites. Nothing worked. So I got me one of those file explorer kind of app.
I Iooked for all the music folders, opened and checked/selected all the music files. Clicked on “move” (part of the app), choose external memory, found the MUSIC folder there. Made a new folder with the name of the music album I was moving, pressed “move”, and I was done.
Did the same with the rest of the music albums.
Started with between 10mb of space and 70 mb.
Ended with almost 3 GB of space on my phone!! I never even knew this was possible!!
I’m now happily installing all the apps I’ve been wanting for a long time.
As the saying says; ” It’s the music Stupid!” No idea why nobody I on these blogs has figured this one out. It’s AMAZING to see all that precious space recovered.
I had been having major problems with device memory: this phone (Galaxy S4)
I had tried all that’s been said in all the help sites. Nothing worked. So I got me one of those file explorer kind of app.
I Iooked for all the music folders, opened and checked/selected all the music files. Clicked on “move” (part of the app), choose external memory, found the MUSIC folder there. Made a new folder with the name of the music album I was moving, pressed “move”, and I was done.
Did the same with the rest of the music albums.
Started with between 10mb of space and 70 mb.
Ended with almost 3 GB of space on my phone!! I never even knew this was possible!!
I’m now happily installing all the apps I’ve been wanting for a long time.
As the saying says; ” It’s the music Stupid!” No idea why nobody I on these blogs has figured this one out. It’s AMAZING to see all that precious space recovered!!!
This is what I’m getting … A software update (not sure what for, as I didn’t ask for it and it won’t tell me) is trying to do its stuff. I tell it OK. It says that it needs 991.25MB which could not be downloaded because there is not enough space in my device memory. I check the Storage settings – it says that out of a total space of 9.25GB I have 577MB remaining, so I understand that. I have transferred my photos and videos to the computer and deleted them from the phone. I have gone through various applications and miscellaneous files, most of which I don’t think I need, and deleted several KB and MB of caches, and stopped some altogether. I have deleted my Downloads so that it now says I have none, and yet it also says that it’s taking up 2.96GB of space, the biggest thing on my phone! Apart from 2.12GB of Applications, and 1.93GB of photos which I wanted to keep on the phone, everything else is only KB or MB. However, it still says that I only have 577MB remaining. Does it take 24 hours to update itself? I shall find out by this time tomorrow … but somehow, I don’t think it will. What else can I get rid of?!
(Old article, I realize that) but what you’re saying is that you do not have a solution!
And no, it is not RAM that is the issue. It is device memory!