Hi, yesterday while looking at my gallery I noticed that a lot of photos are missing, for example, my Italy trip photos and videos are gone, not all of them though, there are some left, but videos are all gone. I didn't delete or move them, didn't touch them at all, it just disappeared. I've tried looking at my Onedrive, Google drive backups, but they are all showing current photos, that I can already see. I've also tried cleaning gallery and media storage data in settings or deleting .nomedia files (which cant be actually deleted), but no results. Booting on safe mode, using different recovery software also shows same photos that I already see on my phone. Tried to get help from Samsung Support, sadly they are as competent as I am, all the suggestions were already known. They did suggest to factory reset my phone while backuping everything using smart switch since there might be some malfunction and doing so all the supposedly hidden photos gonna be released. Not really trusting it though, because in backup I can clearly see that the photos that are being backed up are the photos I can already see, and no hidden files are being backed up. I've also restarted my phone like 6-7 times in different circumstances and noticed that everytime my phone boots it loads up 196 pictures in my camera roll, and then after some time the other part of it gets load up. So my question here today is: Is there anything I haven't tried and is it possible to recover the hidden/disappeared photos?
P.s. the photos that I'm concerned about is in my internal storage not in SD card.
After you lose data it's many times to late to do anything. Why aren't you using the SD card as a data drive to at least backup your critical data?
That in turn should be backed up redundantly to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Consider this a wake up call...
This isn't looking good. Backed up what's left, now. Try in safe mode.
It may be malware, in any case it sounds like it's factory reset time if you can't ID the root cause.
If you added any downloaded images* to the folders losing data it may be a malware jpeg, if so this jpeg must be deleted or it will continue to destroy and mutilated files in the folder it occupies. I've seen ones that do this in Android. Think. What was done, installed or downloaded?
*All downloaded jpegs should be kept in the download folder until vetted. This will help limit the damage hopefully to just the loose files in there. At least open the jpeg there and look for abnormal behaviors in that folder because you add that jpeg to your database! Antivirus may not detect these little buggers... WYSIWYG
blackhawk said:
After you lose data it's many times to late to do anything. Why aren't you using the SD card as a data drive to at least backup your critical data?
That in turn should be backed up redundantly to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Consider this a wake up call...
This isn't looking good. Backed up what's left, now. Try in safe mode.
It may be malware, in any case it sounds like it's factory reset time if you can't ID the root cause.
If you added any downloaded images* to the folders losing data it may be a malware jpeg, if so this jpeg must be deleted or it will continue to destroy and mutilated files in the folder it occupies. I've seen ones that do this in Android. Think. What was done, installed or downloaded?
*All downloaded jpegs should be kept in the download folder until vetted. This will help limit the damage hopefully to just the loose files in there. At least open the jpeg there and look for abnormal behaviors in that folder because you add that jpeg to your database! Antivirus may not detect these little buggers... WYSIWYG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay first of all, One drive should be responsible for backing up my data, thats why its there, no? I do understand that data back up need to be taken more responsibly, but again why would I keep everything backed up from my phone since everything in there is just basic daily use things, nothing that much of importance, except of course memory photos in my camera roll (which again SHOULD be backed up in my one drive). Second, if I were that careless as an IT student to download malware into my device, why would I move it to my camera roll folder ? (thats the only folder that has photos and videos missing). Third, I did factory reset my phone with a back up from Smart Switch as suggested from so called Technical Support specialist from Samsung, sadly the results are same (All photos I had before factory reset are there, no actual recovery has been made).
Sorry if I might sound rude, but I'm really frustrated. Samsung really let me down big time for the first time in 12 years of using their products.
I feel your pain as I lost an irreplaceable database myself at one point that was 30 years old. It sucks.
The only backup I trust and use is copy/paste/verify for size and if readable.
SmartSwitch can fail you miserably, never use it for critical data... same with Google junk.
In unencrpted hdds I trust.
Maybe your Google account was hacked... again always suspect malware, viruses, rootkits if unexplained behaviors are observed.
If you had a previous SmartSwitch backup saved that probably would have worked. At the time what the Samsung rep told you in lieu of the former was your best shot probably. The data was already lost unless its backed somewhere you overlooked or forgot.
It's also possible you could have a hardware failure in progress, keep a close eye on the device.
The reason I back up they way I do is from hard lessons learned going back to XP Pro and other OS's. Also never clone (copy/paste only) or encrypt data drives. Always use a good SD card that's V30 rated like a Sandisk Extreme. All critical data goes here, and everything you need to do a full reload including installable app copies. App that allow settings to be saved like Poweramp, contacts all go on the data drive as do vid and music libraries. ColorNote will save it's backup directly to the SD card, it's a very useful that can used for bookmarks. Don't forget all passwords as well.
Keep the DCIM and download folders on internal memory. Only these and installed apps go on internal memory. Periodically backup the DCIM files to the SD card but DO NOT use the phrase dcim in the backup copy folder name... and then redundantly back up the SD card periodically. Best to time stagger these backup between 2 or more hdds. Develop a plan, put some thought into it. You have all the hardware you need for a robust dual drive device if you use it!
I have 2 N10+'s and this is how I run them. Zero issues.
@blackhawk. Agree... Never trust Google Photos. Somehow I also lost a lot of my photos. Mostly the ones that I shared (as file). Was that because I deleted them directly using Root Explorer? No. Because I downloaded them to Restored folder and deleted through Explorer? No. Because I deleted them from Sent folder of WhatsApp? No... I tried each one of these and couldn't consistently delete the items from Google photos... But how? Why? Just don't trust the application.
nugroho2 said:
@blackhawk. Agree... Never trust Google Photos. Somehow I also lost a lot of my photos. Mostly the ones that I shared (as file). Was that because I deleted them directly using Root Explorer? No. Because I downloaded them to Restored folder and deleted through Explorer? No. Because I deleted them from Sent folder of WhatsApp? No... I tried each one of these and couldn't consistently delete the items from Google photos... But how? Why? Just don't trust the application.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Always redundantly backup critical data and verify it's size is correct, it's readable and complete. Copy/paste only, never clone media files ie music.
A drop, malware, hardware failure, a near lightning strike, a boot loop, a user mistake etc can destroy data instantly. Expect it will happen because eventually it probably will. No such thing as overkill with data backup. Multiple copies in different locations that are time staggered and not connected to a PC preferably on hdd. An earth grounded safe or metal box is ideal to store them in at 50-70F.
Great advice! I see these posts about lost data, and people don't realize, you have to backup this data somewhere. The FIRST step is something like Google Photos or Amazon even. But these are not enough (it's a start, at least).
General recommendation is a 3-2-1 backup, as detailed here: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/
Bottom line, if it's something you don't want to lose, then have a REAL backup beyond just GPhotos or similar.
Especially in today's world of cellphones and flash-drives. Both are easily lost or damaged. At least in the old days you can sometimes recover data from spinny drives (I did a LOT of this work for people, using specialized software)... but flash drives don't work the same, and they likely fail to read completely, leaving ALL the data gone in a flash (pun intended).
Backup, BACKUP, BACKUP!!!
EDIT: Also note, if you use something like Gphotos, you can very-easily download ALL the photos from there. This makes it rather easy to backup those files by simply copying that ZIPped file as necessary. You'll have to do this manually every so often, but it's quite easy to do.
This same thing just happened to me. All of my folders including my camera pics were deleted, except my downloaded folders. All the photos are missing from my backups, all trash bins are empty, and Samsung Customer Service suggested that I do everything I had already done. I thought I'd be fancy and get the ZFold 4, which doesn't have an option to use an SD Card. I even downloaded a recovery program to my laptop and it couldn't find any photos. I'm currently waiting on an adaptor, so I can download photos from my last SD card in my previous phone. I've never been more angrier with a phone than I am right now.
Related
Woops! I thought I had deleted some incriminating pictures from the gallery and with astro file manager BUT while looking through the SD card , I found old deleted pics!
How can I really delete pictures without them showing up in some cache directory?
I heard that in-order to do so you needed to email them to someone totally random. I can give you a totally random email address for this purpose if you like ;-)
I think there are Cache clearing apps on the market, last i remember anyways.
LOL...
Thats no good. It should delete without any apps...damn.
all it does is super compress them so they can be overwritten...
As you'll no doubt aware, most disks/SSDs, memory sticks, microSDs still contain most old "deleted" files, even if they aren't obvious, until where the data was has been overwritten by something else..
Couple of useful bits of code, TestDisk & PhotoRec can help recover lost stuff (or stuff someone thought they'd deleted (!!!!) )..
get them here..
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
NB Both these bits of software can completely screw machines/PCs/Laptops. whatever so BE CAREFULL!!!!!
I'm just about to try PhotoRec on the N1 and see what she finds... & will report...
My mate dodgy Rob found fascinating deleted SMS messages on his wife's (non-Android) 'phone.... the story of what he did about it is even funnier...
Cheers!
Lodger
Yup, Photorec can recover deleted stuff - .jpegs, .mov, .mpegs.. at least it did from my N1... - you have been warned ...
Running Ubuntu (Linux) & looking at the microSD card it reports 907 items on the microSD
Photorec recovered 3,724 items (!).. on the microSD and kindly copied them all to my Laptop..
If you really really need to feel confident something has gone then (I'm not an expert mind...) i understand you need to either..
a) (quick 'n dirty method ..) Fill up the apparently " empty" bit of the SD with garbage - eg some other .jpegs... or
b) To be really certain, re-format her: Several times... probably with several different file systems (FAT32, NTFS, EXT3...) , and don't chose the "quick" options...
Cheers!
Lodger
mine disappear after a soft reset
Damn.....not good. How am I suppose to receive rated r pics from girls and not have my gf find out!
iag48 said:
Damn.....not good. How am I suppose to receive rated r pics from girls and not have my gf find out!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youre a horrible man
cymru said:
I heard that in-order to do so you needed to email them to someone totally random. I can give you a totally random email address for this purpose if you like ;-)
I think there are Cache clearing apps on the market, last i remember anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I developed CacheMate for clearing cache. It would not work for this purpose. There are a few places where the images would be stored. When in the DCIM directory in /sdcard using Astro, make sure you are viewing hidden file and directories. You can do this by check the "Show Hidden Files" checkbox in Menu > Preferences > Look and Feel. You need to delete the pics from the .thumbnails directory too. If you really want, you can always cue them up in the gallery and delete them that way (long pressing on the pictures brings up the multiple select checkbox). Hope this helps a little.
Thanks for the help.
Re: get pics back from sd card
Actually, the easy way to recover deleted photos from sd card or hard disk is to use a photo software. You can google it and you will get many photo recovery softwares. But they are mostly not free. I have come across the same thing like you. Finally, I get my pics back with Yesterdata.
Kind Tips:
Don't save the recovered data on your memory card again. Find another place for it like on your computer or other external disk, for safety's sake.
iag48 said:
Woops! I thought I had deleted some incriminating pictures from the gallery and with astro file manager BUT while looking through the SD card , I found old deleted pics!
How can I really delete pictures without them showing up in some cache directory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should not happen as deleted pictures remains on the phone. But there are nexus photo recovery tool that helps to undelete photos on nexus phones. See this article: recover deleted photos on nexus phone
hope this helps.
Hey,
Has anyone ever looked into how the Whatsapp Backup is stored? It can be used after reinstalling the app, but not after hard resetting/flashing/etc. So it should be stored on the phone, but not the normal isolated storage of the app since I can reinstall it and use the backup then.
Is there special access necessary or could other apps also access (and modify/export) this backup? I'm asking this because I hope to find a way to make a backup that really is useful, I almost only write via whatsapp because SMS cost way more than internet here. Thanks!
why do you think whatsapp isnt useing isolated storage? shure it is, but you still cant access it - unless you have a interopt unlocked device
the reason you can restore, is that the app id stays the same.. you could try to deploy an older (uncrypted) whatsapp xap to your phone, if the app id still stays the same (and im not shure it does! actually i think it doesnt..) you would gain access... again, thats total theory! i havent tryed this, and it has propably the potential to mess up your backup...
maybe GoodDayToDie has some more info about the app-id thing.. i'll also do a quick research
tfBullet said:
why do you think whatsapp isnt useing isolated storage? shure it is, but you still cant access it - unless you have a interopt unlocked device
the reason you can restore, is that the app id stays the same.. you could try to deploy an older (uncrypted) whatsapp xap to your phone, if the app id still stays the same (and im not shure it does! actually i think it doesnt..) you would gain access... again, thats total theory! i havent tryed this, and it has propably the potential to mess up your backup...
maybe GoodDayToDie has some more info about the app-id thing.. i'll also do a quick research
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! I din't know files in the isolated storage keep being there after you uninstall the app..
I tried deploying an old Version (1.4) of Whatsapp and it replaced the current one, so it should use the same app id. I didn't find anything in the isolated storage, but the backup is still there when I reinstall it from the store. I'll try launching the deployed app first now.
have you checked out the IsolatedStorageSettings?
Let me have a quick look where this thing is on my harddrive... when i find it, i'll be able to tell you where / how it saves the backup
tfBullet said:
have you checked out the IsolatedStorageSettings?
Let me have a quick look where this thing is on my harddrive... when i find it, i'll be able to tell you where / how it saves the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I have no real clue how to do that, the only thing I can is deploying apps and watching their isolated storage thanks!!
they used "messages.sdf" & "contacts.sdf" before, but then at some version they started to migrate this files into a database.. not shure where it gets stored, or if you can access it with simply browsing the IsoStoreage... ill make a quick test project to test out how or if we could access it..
EDIT: actually i was talking **** the .sdf files are already databases, and the data still resides there... and forgot to mention: even if you couldn't see the database files, you should see the user-picture thumbnails that reside in "cphotos/" + some-sha1-hashed-userinfo...
IsoStore is cleared when an app is uninstalled. So far as I know, this is instant, as part of the app removal process, although I suppose I haven't actually checked that. However, apps can (and many do) implement a backup situation to cover this use case by using a unique identifier that survives a re-install. There are several places such IDs can come from. Since the one you have survives app installs but *not* OS reflashing (even though you presumably sign on with the same Live ID afterward), I'm guessing it's a value that uniquely identifies your OS install and is randomly generated the first time the OS boots. Re-flashing counts as a new install, I guess.
I'd have to investigate further to be sure. There could be other mechanics at play, such as the OS keeping the data around for a short time in case you re-install the app, or the app storing its data in some other (off-phone) location. It's not storing it in some special folder within the phone, though; there's nowhere else it could!
Backup history with Whatapp on Android. Then check the backup file on:
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt
Or
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db and wa.db (root)
Coweri said:
Backup history with Whatapp on Android. Then check the backup file on:
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt
Or
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db and wa.db (root)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but this is Windows Phone, not android..
@GoodDayToDie so, there is no simple way like deploying an app with the same ID and trying to access the backup with it?
Since the data would have been deleted when the old app was removed (and since you can't sideload an app with the same Product ID as an existing Store app), no, that won't work (well, it didn't in WP7; I guess you could try again here; some things are somewhat less secure now than before).
th0mas96 said:
GoodDayToDie so, there is no simple way like deploying an app with the same ID and trying to access the backup with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait for a interop-unlock... thats the way to go in this case.
Until then, you can send your conversations to yourself by mail (option form the context menue)
GoodDayToDie said:
IsoStore is cleared when an app is uninstalled. So far as I know, this is instant, as part of the app removal process, although I suppose I haven't actually checked that. However, apps can (and many do) implement a backup situation to cover this use case by using a unique identifier that survives a re-install. There are several places such IDs can come from. Since the one you have survives app installs but *not* OS reflashing (even though you presumably sign on with the same Live ID afterward), I'm guessing it's a value that uniquely identifies your OS install and is randomly generated the first time the OS boots. Re-flashing counts as a new install, I guess.
I'd have to investigate further to be sure. There could be other mechanics at play, such as the OS keeping the data around for a short time in case you re-install the app, or the app storing its data in some other (off-phone) location. It's not storing it in some special folder within the phone, though; there's nowhere else it could!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GoodDayToDie, any news about this Whatsapp backup feature in Windows Phone? Is it possible to utilize this feature as an "ordinary" developer?
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
GoodDayToDie said:
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be an explanation. But then the Whatsapp developers could easily offer a full backup, as on other platforms, linked to the phone number or something. Then you could restore the messages even after a phone exchange. But who knows what's in their heads ...
GoodDayToDie said:
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it doesn't seem to be online.. it backups pretty big chats extremely fast with 2 bars of GPRS, so it can't be via internet.. it even backups without connection at all. That's the weird thing.. how are apps even allowed to store files that keep being there after an uninstall?
There are a couple really sneaky ways you could do that; one that comes to mind is creating a fake "image" or "ringtone" or similar, serializing the data to it, and then looking for it the "first" time the app is run after installing. However, I'm definitely more curious now. There are folders which apps can request permissions to write to, but usually that's a trick limited to "second-party" apps (OEMs, etc.) and prohibited for third parties.
I've already looked into the code, as far as i can tell there is no online backup feature. it just stores the conversations in a database.
And to answer yout question schluff: no there is absolutley no way the usual developera to utilize this.
btw: @GoodDayToDie could you provide us the newest WhatsApp XAP (2.11.312.0)?
When I get the chance to extract it of my computer, yeah. It's really hard to get full FS access working these days, so I'm looking into other ways to access the install folders and storage of other Apps.
here you go
edit: I've changed nothing, so it's the whole install folder in this zip file
Thanks for the extraction! Obviously, I can't do anything with it
However, if anyone is interested in this too, in the following versions it seems to backup to the SD card, at least @Nazwzil8 reported so at twitter: https://twitter.com/Nawzil8/status/410486248156172288 he reported a lot about whatsapp, he seems a legit beta tester.
Yes, I know how to use google, yes, I tried many things now and I don't know where else to look for help so I'm asking here, a place with many smart heads full of ideas.
I was doing pretty normal thing on my phone this morning, just trying to copy all the files from internal memory onto the PC. Of course I couldn't do that thanks to "Unspecified error" during copying some of the folders, including Downloads and DCIM. I managed to copy only some of the files from internal storage. I thought a reboot might help. And so the nightmare began. All the other files I wanted to copy disappeared from gallery and Total Commander. They must be on the phone though, as there is something on the phone that uses 2gb of memory. I did not delete them, the system just fails to see them. I already tried deleting all the ".nomedia" files, clearing cache and data from Media Storage app, disabling it, rebooting and enabling again but it was of no use. I'm helpless and I don't know what to do, why did android even do this? I lost a lot of photos and images and I'm really upset about that. Any ideas what to do? The phone is not rooted, never played with software in it, it's updated to 5.1
Download any File Manager from Play Store, check if the files are on the phone memory. If not, well, they are somehow lost. Maybe you cut-paste them onto your PC, and the files were deleted, but you got an 'unspecified error' on moving.
Thanks a lot for a response. I use Total Commander on every android phone I had, I can see that my files look like they disappeared completely, android just generated empty generic folders ("Pictures etc) after I cut off the previous folders along with their content so I saved a little bit that I could. On the other hand something is occupying 2gb of data but the phone refuses to show what, so there is a chance my files are there. After copying the whole content of the phone to the folder on desktop it just shows it weight few hundreds KB. I'll be trying to use some recovery software for android. The question is how did this happen at all? It had no right to happen, what if this happened to someone who has completely no idea about that stuff? Who's to blame and who's responsible for helping such a person? Motorola? Google? Anyway, this is the last phone with no micro-sd card slot I used. A memory card is the best backup
You COULD recover your files even if they were deleted if Android still had a mass storage mode. I don't think any of the data recovery softwares play nice with the MTP transfer that android offers. Of course, the SD card is infinitely better, but a rarity these days. I am sorry for your lost data. You seem like you did everything within your reach to get it back.
EDIT: Just to be sure, did you cut-paste the folders on your PC from phone, or just copy-paste. It might be possible for files to be deleted in cut-paste, if some error occurs in copy.
Thanks for contributing. It seems Google knows better then any of us what we need and there's no more Mass Storage option which gives free access to memory. Unfortunately I don't have that option. First I ensured which files are not affected by error by trying to copy them folder after folder. Then there were left files I couldn't copy, it was DCIM with most recent photos (unfortunately) and download where I kept lots of images with cool infographics found on the internet. I thought a reboot would help to get access to them and you know the rest. Files were there no longer. I'm seriously considering switching to Windows Phone, it seem it's too much to ask for a phone that just "werks" nowadays...I have a painful lesson to use memory card as well as cloud synchronizing but didn't give up yet, still trying anything I can I also wrote to Motorola with help request but I don't think they'll help me any better than people here, although it's more their responsibility to fix that stuff, the phone is barely 6 months old.
I have an SD card that was being used in a Galaxy tab s2 , it contains all my past images and stuff. When I put it inside my Note 8, Google is now backing up all the data in the camera dcim sd card folder again. Is this normal behavior everytime moving a SD card from one device to another?
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
It is for google... Regardless whether its been backed up before, this particular phone hasn't. You can effectively turn off google drive backup, fill your phone with photo's and video's and then turn it back on and google drive will do as it always does, back it up...
Hope you are on WIFI or have an unlimited plan though as it could get quite expensive if there's a lot there...
I would rename folder from DCIM to anything else, like TAB2pics for example and let the camera create new DCIM folder and start fresh. I don't think Google will back up non DCIM pic folders. I'm not Google expert to help you with fixing what's already done outside of manually deleting them, but make sure you don't delete things you want to keep.
Just wondered why it would backup the SD card dcim folder again only because I'd put it in a new device.
I normally have just the camera folder and or download folder set to backup on Google photos. Basically it's wasn't backing up or synching anything ( as there was none ) from the internal storage of the phone.
Was doing thousands of pics backups and synching once I'd put my old 256gb Samsung SD card into the N8.
Yes, this was a time where I actually set the phone intentionally to keep WiFi ON when asleep LOL. Also never have it backup on cellular , I'm on true unlimited plan but I value my battery life as well, hence my global Google backup is generally to occur when on WiFi, but I'm not so sure it was backing up and synching with me having turned WiFi off during sleep. A bit a silly move , as in essence it'll being only doing this when two criteria is met , WiFi on and not sleeping.
I'm thinking once it eventually finishes it's backup then , it will be it until the next time I move SD card into my future device.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
After thinking about it, actually I'm not sure how exactly google sync works: if you rename your old DCIM directory, would old pictures still stay on your google account, would they be updated back to new DCIM directory, or would they be sync with new DCIM folder and old pictures erased? I have 3 devices linked to my Google account and it become so confusing, that I use Google for current pics only, and every few months I do full back up to my laptops and SD card, erase everything from Google and phone (and start fresh), but I have thousands of pictures and videos, so everything wouldn't fit on my Google account anyway.
greetings community,
i have tried to search it, but being pro newbie, I found nothing. Is it possible to make this folder little bit lighter it takes 22gb of space, and my poor phone has only 64gb
I have rooted devices
thank you in advance
You can delete some apps using root file manager. I've use root explorer and have for years but nowadays there are times where it will not allow me to delete some apps (YouTube, chrome are a few this has happened to me on..) that my phone will NOT allow me to. And yes I have magisk and root explorer pro has root permission when this has happened. One way to get these apps off when this has happened to me is use another root file manager. Amaze file manager did the trick. I was able to delete apps I could not with root explorer. I'm BIG on not having useless bloatware on my phone so disabling apps is NOT my style. I usually save a copy by making backup and throw the backed up apks on my laptop or a USB thumb drive and delete whatever in case I end up deleting something that messes with my phone...Far as what can be deleted and what can't you can just discover for yourself. That's what I've done. I'm currently on a custom rom and I normally don't do much deleting unless I'm using the Google stock rom. If and when I do wipe more off stock I'll return and give you a list of what I did clear out. Just look in /system/app, /system/priv-app, product/app, /vendor/app with a root app and go to town. That's what I've always done. I believe TWRP for Android 11, the test build that bigbiff dropped about a month ago works now to make backups so that would be something to maybe do before hand in case you end up needing to restore your rom. On a few other devices I've owned people would sometimes make a thread on here for apps that can be removed and all and then list what they took off and what not to. I believe this Is what you are talking about.. If so hopefully it helps
Far as making system folder smaller and not meaning apps I believe it's possible but I think maybe you would have to repartition your device to do that and although it's possible it's dangerous. One wrong move and you have a paper weight doing that. I messed up my original Pixel XL because power went out while I was doing it before I was done and it was a goner. If anything I say here isn't right or there is more information about this please someone share who has more knowledge of this sort of thing. I would love to know as well. Good day/night to all. Cheers.
100kaa said:
greetings community,
i have tried to search it, but being pro newbie, I found nothing. Is it possible to make this folder little bit lighter it takes 22gb of space, and my poor phone has only 64gb
I have rooted devices
thank you in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@100kaa
You would be better off deleting excess files, trash, and photos that are already backed up. The system partition can be mounted and some files removed, but for the most part it is a minefield. Google has a fantastic new tool (since changing Photos retention rules) called "Takeout" that allows you to back up the contents of many parts of your phone and allows you do d/l it in compressed format directly to your PC. Check it out. OTHERWISE- If you simply must carry large files like movies, music database, pictures etc. then consider getting a USB-C OTG drive.
https://takeout.google.com/
This is why you get a phone with an SD card slot.
You then use the SD card as your data drive.
Only the apps and temporary folders go on the internal memory.
Next best thing is a flash stick or use cloud based storage which has downsides to it. Even if your internal storage is huge you don't want to store critical data there. I use about 64 of my 500gb of internal vs 340 of 500gb on the data drive.
If a large data base is on a large internal memory a data restore takes... forever. Most times the SD card is spared in OS crash and burns. Plus it can be used to restore the OS drive apps and settings.
Much of the above doesn't help you now but it could with future devices. All my PCs even my laptop are configured as dual drives. I learned a long time ago it works well, saves sweat and data.