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Android Storage Optimization Log

Device: Realme C11 2021 (RMX3231)
OS: Android 11 Go Edition
Access: ADB, non-root
Status: Baseline not yet measured; inventory in progress

1. Goal

Investigate internal storage usage, identify large and safe-to-remove files or caches, and increase genuinely available internal storage without deleting personal data or breaking apps.

User target: At least 20 GB free.

This is a target, not yet a confirmed achievable amount. The device's usable data-partition capacity and exact storage accounting must be measured first. The reported Android Settings categories may be rounded or include app data/cache and should not be added blindly.

2. Current user-reported storage picture

The following are preliminary estimates supplied by the device owner, not yet independently measured:

Category Reported size
Apps About 20 GB
Images About 2.2 GB
Videos A few hundred MB
Downloads A few hundred MB
System About 7.9 GB

The category values may overlap conceptually: app storage can include app data and cache, and Android's storage UI may classify files differently from filesystem tools. We need the actual /data capacity, used/free values, and directory breakdown before deciding what can be removed.

3. Safety rules

  • Do not delete anything from /system, /vendor, /product, /metadata, or other OS partitions.
  • Do not recursively delete Android/data, Android/obb, or app-private directories.
  • Do not run pm clear on apps. It erases app data and can remove accounts, settings, downloads, and local databases.
  • Do not clear WhatsApp or other messenger data without checking its in-app storage manager and backup status.
  • Do not delete DCIM, Pictures, or videos until originals are backed up and verified.
  • Do not assume every file under Downloads is disposable. APKs, documents, archives, and project files may matter.
  • Prefer app-provided cache controls and Android Settings over broad ADB deletion commands.
  • Record the before/after free-space value for every cleanup step.

4. Cleanup order

Use this order, starting with reversible or easily verified items:

  1. Downloads: Sort by size and review large APKs, ZIPs, videos, installers, and duplicate files. Delete only items confirmed unnecessary.
  2. Offline media: Review YouTube and other streaming-app downloads inside each app. Remove only content that can be downloaded again.
  3. Messaging media: Use WhatsApp's Settings → Storage and data → Manage storage. Review large files and forwarded media individually. Preserve important media first.
  4. Gallery and videos: Find duplicates, screen recordings, exports, and unwanted large videos. Back up before deletion; empty the gallery trash/recently deleted folder only after verification.
  5. App caches: Compare individual app storage sizes in Android Settings → Apps. Clear cache for unusually large apps where safe. Do not choose Clear storage/data unless intentionally resetting that app.
  6. Unused apps: Uninstall apps that are genuinely no longer needed. Check whether they contain local-only data before uninstalling.
  7. Browser and social app downloads: Review in-app downloads, cached media, and offline files through each app's own controls.
  8. Re-measure: Recheck free space after each category. Do not run a mass cleanup in one step because it becomes difficult to identify what actually freed space.

5. Storage baseline to collect

Capture:

  • Data partition total, used, and available space.
  • Emulated shared-storage total, used, and available space.
  • Top-level shared-storage directory sizes.
  • Android's diskstats report, if available.
  • Installed third-party package list for later app-by-app review.

The first pass is read-only. Directory sizes can take time to calculate. Permission-denied output is an access limitation, not proof that a directory is empty.

Fish-compatible ADB diagnostic

The remote command intentionally uses simple commands rather than a shell loop. The earlier storage diagnostic failed because it sent fish's end keyword to Android's /system/bin/sh, which expects a different loop syntax. No storage changes were made by that failed attempt.

begin
    echo "===== STORAGE CAPACITY ====="
    adb shell df -h /data /storage/emulated/0

    echo
    echo "===== SHARED STORAGE TOP-LEVEL SIZES ====="
    adb shell 'du -h -d 1 /storage/emulated/0 2>&1'

    echo
    echo "===== ANDROID DISKSTATS ====="
    adb shell dumpsys diskstats

    echo
    echo "===== THIRD-PARTY PACKAGES ====="
    adb shell pm list packages -3
end 2>&1 | tee /tmp/rmx3231-storage-baseline.txt

if type -q wl-copy
    wl-copy < /tmp/rmx3231-storage-baseline.txt
else if type -q xclip
    xclip -selection clipboard -i /tmp/rmx3231-storage-baseline.txt
else if type -q xsel
    xsel --clipboard --input < /tmp/rmx3231-storage-baseline.txt
else
    echo "Clipboard utility missing."
end

This captures shared-storage folders and app package names, but Android may restrict access to app-private data and dumpsys diskstats may expose only cached/last-measured totals. We will use Settings' per-app storage screen to verify large app entries rather than infer private app sizes from inaccessible directories.

6. App-by-app investigation

For each large app, record:

App App size User data Cache Keep / remove / investigate
To be measured — — — —

Prioritize apps with unusually large user data or cache, not simply the largest APK. App data may contain offline files, media, databases, and user-created content.

7. Progress log

Step Action Result
0 Record owner-reported category estimates Apps ~20 GB; images ~2.2 GB; videos/downloads a few hundred MB each; system ~7.9 GB
1 First ADB storage diagnostic attempt Failed due to fish loop syntax being passed to Android shell; no changes made
2 Corrected read-only storage baseline Pending

8. Decision criteria

  • Never promise 20 GB free until the usable /data capacity and current free space are measured.
  • If the total usable data partition is less than the target plus unavoidable app/system data, the target is mathematically impossible without changing the installed app set or moving personal files off-device.
  • A large System category is not a cleanup target unless a specific safe user-data component is identified.
  • Prefer moving backed-up photos/videos and removing unneeded app data over deleting Android components.
  • After cleanup, verify that the phone still boots, core apps work, media is intact, and the free-space figure remains stable after a reboot.

10. Periodic cache trimming through ADB

Android's Package Manager provides:

adb shell pm trim-caches 8G

This asks Android to remove cache files it considers disposable until the requested free-space target is reached. It is not a command to erase every app's cache unconditionally, and it does not clear app data, accounts, databases, or personal downloads. The operating system chooses which cache files to trim. The command may do nothing when free space is already above the target.

The size suffix is binary: 8G means 8 GiB. The target is a free-space goal, not the amount to delete. Choose a sensible low-water mark rather than an enormous value. Repeatedly forcing every cache to zero is counterproductive: apps may need to download or regenerate cached content, increasing data use, CPU work, battery consumption, and initial loading time.

Measure before and after

begin
    echo "===== FREE SPACE BEFORE ====="
    adb shell df -h /data /storage/emulated/0

    echo
    echo "===== PACKAGE MANAGER CACHE TRIM ====="
    adb shell pm trim-caches 8G
    echo "pm trim-caches exit status: $status"

    echo
    echo "===== FREE SPACE AFTER ====="
    adb shell df -h /data /storage/emulated/0
end 2>&1 | tee /tmp/rmx3231-cache-trim.txt

if type -q wl-copy
    wl-copy < /tmp/rmx3231-cache-trim.txt
else if type -q xclip
    xclip -selection clipboard -i /tmp/rmx3231-cache-trim.txt
else if type -q xsel
    xsel --clipboard --input < /tmp/rmx3231-cache-trim.txt
else
    echo "Clipboard utility missing."
end

Run this once manually first to confirm that the Realme firmware permits the shell command and to observe its effect. A successful command may print no result; compare the before/after filesystem measurements instead. If the device rejects the command, do not substitute pm clear or bulk per-app data deletion.

What can be automated

ADB commands execute on the phone when an authorised ADB connection exists. A non-root Android app or an ordinary on-device scheduled job cannot silently retain the ADB shell identity after the debugging session ends. For this non-root setup, the practical option is a scheduled task on the Arch computer:

  • Run a small script from a systemd user timer (or another host scheduler).
  • Check that the phone is connected and authorised before doing anything.
  • If no device is connected, exit without changing the phone.
  • If connected, record free space, run pm trim-caches 8G, then record free space again.
  • Keep a log and do not run pm clear, rm -rf, or app-specific data deletion.
  • Use a conservative cadence such as weekly, not every few hours. A free-space threshold means the command normally does nothing when the phone already has enough free space.

A host timer cannot clean the phone while the phone is disconnected. It only runs when the Arch computer is awake and the ADB connection is available at the scheduled time. A more robust implementation can retry on a short cadence while connected, but should still enforce a minimum interval between successful trim attempts.

Current device context

The owner reported that approximately 8.7 GB had been freed after the manual cleanup, and that Codespaces is the primary development environment. The Termux installation is therefore a candidate for a separate, careful reduction, but this cache-trimming procedure does not remove Termux packages or project files.

Do not treat the earlier 3.85 GiB Media Provider data figure as cache. It was reported as app data with only about 0.2 MiB cache; pm trim-caches is not expected to reclaim that data. Do not clear Media Provider data.

11. Progress log update

Step Action Result
3 Read-only per-package diskstats analysis Media Provider module reported ~3,847 MiB data and ~0.2 MiB cache; Termux ~2,186 MiB data; Brave ~1,040 MiB data plus ~871 MiB cache; Instagram ~871 MiB data plus ~494 MiB cache
4 Manual user cleanup Owner reported approximately 8.7 GB freed; exact post-cleanup df measurement not yet captured
5 ADB cache-trim capability documented pm trim-caches 8G documented as a free-space target; manual device test and host-side schedule not yet performed

12. Current state

No automated cache-trimming schedule has been installed yet. The owner-reported manual cleanup recovered approximately 8.7 GB. A one-time ADB cache-trim test and a host-side scheduled implementation remain pending. No Media Provider data has been cleared.