When on vacation, there’s nothing worse than trying to take a picture or download an important app and realising that you don’t have enough space to do so.
This is why it’s vital to take steps to free up storage capacity on your mobile device well before you set off on a getaway.
If you can’t snap some quick photos with your phone as you travel, it can naturally complicate your ability to be present and live in the moment – and that’s the best way to enjoy a holiday, after all.
In this guide, we’ll go over how to maximise your phone’s storage space. By following these tips, you can ensure that you’ll be able to use your smartphone stress-free throughout your vacation.
Compress Documents
These days, phones are no longer just tools for sending messages, taking pictures and playing a few simple games.
Most of us also store both important and less important documents on our smartphones, including bank statements, phone bills and scanned copies of identification documents.
To save space without permanently losing these files, you can compress them into a ZIP file to ensure they take up less space on your phone.
And if you ever need your documents again, simply use a ZIP to PDF converter to turn them back into their original forms.
You’ll be glad to know that many such tools exist for mobile phones, which makes compressing your files into a more manageable form easy, even when you’re on the go.
An easy way to clear some storage space on your phone is to go through your files and compress those that you don’t immediately need. This process can be undone, so don’t worry about losing access to these documents.
Remove Unwanted Apps
If your goal is to travel light, the biggest travel tip we can give you is to only bring what you need. This applies both to what you pack along in your luggage, but also to the apps downloaded onto your phone.
Chances are that most of us have apps on our phones that we haven’t opened in weeks, and perhaps even months.
From mobile games to messaging platforms, food delivery apps, and even business apps, there are countless apps that you’ve likely downloaded, used for a little while, and then promptly forgotten about.
Simply scroll through your phone or even check through your device’s app history to see how many apps you own but don’t actually use.
Any that haven’t been opened in a while can easily be culled to free up extra space on your phone.
iPhone users have the option to automate the process of uninstalling unwanted apps. You can do this by heading to ‘Settings’ and toggling on the ‘Offload Unused Apps’ option.
When apps are uninstalled through this method, your phone retains your data within the app, allowing you to re-install them at your convenience without losing anything.
Use Cloud-Based Solutions
While smartphones are incredibly useful devices when on vacation, they’re also limited by their storage space. There are only so many pictures, videos and songs you can keep without quickly running out of capacity.
Luckily, there are plenty of innovative solutions that allow you to store data on the cloud, which is an external network of servers.
When you move items on your phone to applications like Dropbox, Google Drive and MEGA, they no longer need to take up space on your phone.
You’ll be glad to know that most smartphones come with in-house cloud storage options: Android users can save their data onto Google Cloud, while iPhone owners can use iCloud.
Besides helping you save storage space, utilising the cloud also allows you to back up your data.
When travelling, there’s a risk of your phone being lost, stolen or damaged. If your smartphone is your only means of storage, you can lose access to all the pictures you’ve taken on your journeys.
Using a cloud-based solution eliminates this risk and makes sure you always have access to your data, no matter what happens to your physical phone.
Transfer Pictures And Videos To Your Computer
Today, phones play the role that cameras used to when it comes to documenting our journeys.
In fact, it’s hard to find a tourist who isn’t spending a good chunk of their time shooting videos and taking dozens of travel selfies.
Even those of us who still use DSLR cameras immediately transfer the footage we capture onto our beloved smartphones.
While keeping travel footage in a phone lets us view it whenever we want, this can also take up massive amounts of digital space.
If you view the breakdown of how your storage space is being used, it’s highly likely that a big chunk of it is made up of photos and videos.
Thankfully, it’s possible to clear some space without having to delete your travel footage. We already mentioned using cloud solutions, but you can also go the old-fashioned route and transfer your pictures and videos to your computer, which has significantly more storage space than your phone. This way, you don’t have to limit the number of photos you take on your travels.
As with using the cloud, saving your pictures on a laptop or a PC also safeguards them in the event that your phone gets lost or damaged.
Another benefit of computer storage is that you’ll have easy access to your footage and can conveniently upload, edit and send it to friends.
Whether you’re visiting Mahabaleshwar, Goa, Agra or another tourist hotspot in India, it’s vital to ensure that your phone has enough storage space to fit all the pictures and videos you’ll take on your travels.
Thankfully, there are several time-honoured strategies you can employ to free up space on your phone.
In this guide to travelling ‘lite’, we’ve gone over the most effective of these strategies. If you’re planning to go on vacation, add the tips we’ve given you to your own preparations to make sure both you and your phone are ready for the exciting adventure ahead.