this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
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So I had a problem with this, and I am a cd.. cd/ format . person who loves computer file systems.
I think what messed me up is that certain apps have different default save folders, and I wouldn't know where they were or forget.
This ☝️
And when your storage is full from videos and gifs that friends exchange in WhatsApp or whatever, or Instagram keeping everything you post, and you want to clean up, there's no easy way to do it.
Oh boy. Do I have a bone to pick with whatsapp. Their message data management is a complete clusterfuck.
Though if you just want to delete media, that's easy. ~~Whatsapp has it's own folder in root that contains a folder for each file type~~. Edit: Not anymore, it's in
/Android/media/whatsapp/WhatsApp/Medianow. You can safely delete them all, though media files will no longer be accessible in your message history, as WhatsApp has literally no way to keep that stuff around without monolithically saving all of it on your device, locally, forever.Instagram saves content to a couple folders, all in easy to find places like root, Movies, DCIM and Pictures.
As for Instagram app data, you can clear that from app settings.
Most can be cleaned by going into Settings, Apps, Whatsapp, Storage and clicking delete cache. permanently saved ones may be more problematic
No. It's not deleted with the cache. It's like everything is saved in a separate folder.
Yeah for that it is launch files app, choose device, android, data, app/com/org folder, then there will be a files subfolder. which is often split into pictures, audio, movies, etc.
it's a deep dive for sure
A given program having a default save location is true on any platform. The "My Documents" folder on windows is used for anything but. So many applications throw files in there it's basically useless.
With Android, application files are kept in application specific locations, while user files basically always end up in Download or Pictures, sometimes, rarely, Documents. DCIM for system camera photos.
If you need to clear an applications files, that can be done via that apps page in settings.
The only difference I can see is that on phones, default file system behaviour is designed so that it gets out of most people's way, while those of us who know how it works can still use a file explorer app just fine.
While normies rely on the default file picker showing a monolithic list of what's on their phones in chronological order, we don't have to. When that thing appears, you can find any file management apps installed from the hamburger menu, and find your files using them instead.