The laptop says not enough memory what to do. Clearing the cache in the Google Play application. Causes and solutions to low memory issues

What can stop you from installing a new application from Google Play? Is it just a lack of memory? Suddenly your Android smartphone says “Not enough memory”, although there is space.
What to do? You see that there are enough free megabytes both on the Micro SD card and in the internal memory. But how to explain this to a smartphone?

1. When memory is really low

To be fair, it must be said that sometimes the smartphone is right. For example, if you are focusing only on the space on the map, and installing the application there is not provided. Or if the application requires additional space to run.

Then like it or not, you will have to free up space. There are several proven ways to do this:

  • Remove unnecessary applications. This is a question exclusively for you: perhaps old games are no longer so interesting? Or do you have several applications installed that duplicate each other?
  • Move apps to Micro SD card whenever possible. On this topic we have.
  • Clear the cache using special utilities (for example, CCleaner). Sometimes it takes up a surprising amount of space, being, in fact, unnecessary.
  • Clear memory manually using Root Explorer or another file manager. This approach is very effective, but requires knowledge. Deleting the wrong files will make your smartphone inoperable. Therefore, before manual cleaning, be sure to make a backup.
  • Reset the entire system and reinstall applications via Titanium Backup. This is a slightly more complicated method. For it you need to have the Titanium Backup application installed. Make backup copies of all settings apps. Reset the system completely. Install Titanium Backup again and restore applications from copies. This method does a good job of cleaning the system from garbage and often adds several hundred megabytes to free memory.

2. When there seems to be enough memory

There are situations when a smartphone or tablet refuses to install an application not only on the memory card, but also in the internal memory. At the same time, there is sufficient free space. How to force Android to face reality and still install the application?

There are several ways that might work:

  • Clear Google Play and Google Service Framework application cache. Open the Settings menu, select these two applications and clear their cache. After this, restart your smartphone. If there is free space, the device will now be able to use it.
  • Uninstall Play update. To do this, you need to go to Settings, find the Applications item there, and Google Play in the list. Tap on it and in the page that opens, select the “Uninstall updates” button. It is recommended to do this if clearing the cache did not help.
  • Clear Dalvik cache. Turn off your smartphone and turn it on in Recovery mode (to do this, you usually need to hold down the power button and the volume button). Select Wipe cache partition from the menu. If you have not encountered this before, then we will give you a hint: the touch display does not work in this mode; you need to select using the volume buttons. At this point, select the Advanced Options sub-item, and in it – Wipe Dalvik Cache. This action will reset the Dalvik cache and not only free up some space, but also help the system work efficiently with what it already has.

To avoid such problems in the future, you can use the Link2SD or Folder Mount utilities, which will help you virtually combine Micro SD and internal memory into a single array. Remember that in this case the memory card becomes virtually non-removable, so before this operation, get a sufficiently large Micro SD.

So, you, or rather your phone, does not have enough memory. This, unlike in humans, can be solved, you just need to find out all the nuances, why this happens and what to do then.

Therefore, I foresee that this entry will not turn out to be small (although I am writing with optimization), but having familiarized myself with all the aspects of why there is always not enough free space in the memory of an Android device when downloading applications or updating, in the future it should be enough.

More than once I have received a letter saying I’m downloading an application, but the android says there is not enough memory even though there is memory.

This is not the fault of the phone, but of the Android OS, or rather the developers. The bottom line is that the system determines public memory, which in turn is divided into specific categories.

ATTENTION: here you must remember that in some versions of Android, you cannot install applications in the memory where files (documents, music, videos) are stored and vice versa.

I think that already from this one sentence above it becomes clear why the android writes that there is no free memory, when there is it, you see it.

So that you have fewer questions in the future, I recommend that you remember what the four folders are for.

The “system” folder stores system files (you have nothing to do there), the “cache” stores cache or otherwise temporary files (you can clear the contents, the memory will definitely increase).

Programs are installed in the “data” folder and system settings are saved. The fourth folder is “Sdcard”, which stores music, photos, videos, etc.

Let’s dwell a little on the “Sdcrad” folder. Usually it is stored in the internal memory of the device, but if you insert a USB flash drive, it will move to it.

IMPORTANT: Android allocates a certain amount of memory for each folder (section). So, if the “data” folder is completely full, and even 6 GB of free space remains in “Sdcrad”, you alone will not be able to download and install applications, but you will see that there is free memory.

This is why your Android says there is not enough memory space, although you noticed that there is memory, and there is no way to increase the memory of the “data” folder using “Sdcrad” (you can use hacker manipulations). What to do then? There is a solution. Let's consider.

What to do if Android constantly writes there is no memory even though there is enough free space

The first option suggests itself - simply remove unnecessary applications, if any - it is known that almost everyone has five of them.

Option two: if there is one, and if not, then purchase a flash drive and transfer installed applications to it - accordingly, the internal space will be freed up.

Option three: make the default location for installing and storing applications not the internal memory, but the flash drive.

Advanced option: expand the memory, only this will require root rights, and then install the “Link2SD” program.

But if your Android is 5.0 and higher, getting root rights is not as easy as in older versions and even risky, so as not to get a “brick”.

What to do if your Android phone says not enough free space - my story

I have been a Samsung Galaxy owner for a long time. Until now, I couldn't complain, but recently a message appeared saying that the application cannot be updated because the phone does not have enough storage space for this process.

All applications are installed by default into the phone's internal memory.

In most owners it is small - only recently has it begun to appear in devices in much larger quantities.

The development of mobile software has led to a situation where it has become normal for programs to have tens of megabytes, and some of them are close to 100 MB.

There are games that have more than 1 GB, but in their case, additional files of the application itself are placed on a flash drive.

Each manufacturer can customize the system to its own option. If it is not possible to transfer the application to the SD card, you should look for a program that will offer such a function.

How much free space is missing?

My problems started when I only had 250 MB free. Theoretically, this should be enough, but to update the Facebook application, this amount was not enough.

Other applications did not report the problem, but it was only a matter of time, which did not delay.

How to get more memory

The easiest way to remove apps that you don't use. This is how it started, but still the available memory did not make a good impression.


At this point, I decided to take the opportunity to transfer installed applications to the memory card (Android 4 has a built-in function and does not need to install anything).

What applications are installed on the memory card

When deciding which applications to move to your memory card, you should always ask yourself how often they are used and under what circumstances.

In my case, games were the least important, so I decided to transfer them to a flash drive, based on the assumption that programs were more important to me.

Moving applications to a memory card

Moving applications to a built-in flash drive is very simple. Just go to the app settings and select the option to transfer to card.

After a few seconds or a few minutes of waiting, the programs will be moved.

In general, the problem of small memory on a phone sooner or later affects every user.


The best solution to this situation is to get rid of applications that are still not used, and move rarely used ones to a less strategic sd card.

Over time, the problem I described may become larger as applications become more complex and take up more and more space.

Thus, when replacing a phone, you should pay attention to the available memory of the phone, its division and whether the memory card can be used. That's all, who wants more? Good luck.

If there is insufficient memory for all the operations the computer is trying to perform, Windows and programs may become unresponsive (or stop working). To prevent data loss, Windows will report low RAM. You can also learn to recognize low-memory situations yourself and take steps to prevent the problem.

Signs of low memory

Signs of low memory include severely slow performance, low or low memory notifications, and display problems. For example, if the computer does not have enough memory, then when you try to open a menu in a program, it may be delayed in responding or stop responding altogether. And even if the menu opens, its items may not be displayed, and the selected item may not respond. In addition, after selecting an item, the menu itself may disappear, and an empty area will appear instead of the contents of the working file or document.

Causes of low memory

There are two types of memory in a computer: RAM and virtual memory. All programs use RAM, but when a program you run runs out of RAM, Windows temporarily places data that would normally be stored in RAM in a file on your hard drive called the page file. The amount of data that is temporarily stored in the page file is also called virtual memory. Using virtual memory (in other words, moving data in and out of the page file) frees up enough RAM for programs to run properly.

Out of memory problems occur when there is insufficient RAM and insufficient virtual memory. A similar situation can occur if more programs are running on the computer than are supported by the installed RAM. Additionally, problems can also occur if a program does not free memory that it no longer needs. This situation is called excessive memory usage or memory leak.

Ways to Prevent Out of Memory Problems

Running fewer applications at the same time can prevent low memory problems and data loss. It is recommended to pay attention to which applications are experiencing low memory situations and not to run them at the same time.

However, limiting the number of simultaneously running applications is sometimes unacceptable from a practical point of view. Signs of low memory may indicate that your computer needs more RAM to run the programs you use. The following are recommended ways to resolve or prevent low memory issues.

To determine which program is using the most memory, follow these steps:

  1. Open task manager. To do this, right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.
  2. Open the tab Processes
  3. To sort programs by memory used, click Memory(Private working set)

You can also use Event Viewer to view program errors and troubleshooting information.

  1. Open the section " Event Viewer" To do this, click Start - Control Panel - Administrative Tools, then double-click Event Viewer.‌ When prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, enter the password or provide confirmation.
  2. In the left pane, select Application and Service Logs to view errors. To view a description of the issue, double-click it. If there is a link to online help, you can view information to resolve the problem.

If Windows detects possible problems with your computer's memory, you are prompted to run the Memory Diagnostic Tool. There are two options for running the Memory Diagnostic Tool:

Important: Save your files and close all applications before selecting the first option. The Memory Diagnostic Tool will run automatically after you restart Windows. The tool may take a few minutes to complete checking your computer's memory. After the test is completed, Windows automatically restarts. If the diagnostic tool finds errors, you should contact your computer manufacturer for information on how to resolve the errors, because memory errors usually indicate problems with the memory chips in your computer or other hardware problems.

You can also launch it manually. There are two ways to do this:

  1. Start - Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Windows Memory Checker
  2. Start - Run and enter mdsched Click OK.

When you select "Reboot and check", after the reboot, when you launch the Memory Diagnostic Tool, press the F1 key. For advanced users, additional diagnostic options are provided:

  1. Test suite
    • simple
    • standard
    • extended
  2. Cache
    • Default
    • On or Off
  3. Number of passes

To run the test, press F10. It is necessary to take into account that the more complex the test, the longer the verification takes. After checking and loading the system, the Windows Memory Checker icon will appear in the tray.

View the "Log of computer problems and stability":

Opening the Support Center Service -.

Click any event on the chart to view more information about it

Click to view only problems that have occurred on your computer. This view does not include other computer events that are shown in System Reliability Monitor, such as software installation events. Select Windows Memory Checker to view the inspection report.

Some problems and solutions can only be viewed and resolved by an administrator. To view these issues, log in with an administrator account

Many users may have encountered such a situation when the system writes at startup that it does not have enough virtual or some other memory. In this case, as a rule, a notification pops up that it is necessary to free up memory for applications to work correctly, save data, close or run programs.

This problem can be solved; you just need to know the reasons for this error in order to understand how to fix it. Similar messages may appear when the paging file is disabled on the PC or is too small. In this case, the options for solving the problem are completely different.

What memory is missing

When the system issues a notification that there is not enough memory, first of all, it means RAM or virtual, which is a continuation of RAM. This means that if there is not enough RAM, the OS uses the swap file.

Many inexperienced users mistakenly mean free space on the hard drive and cannot understand why the system says that there is not enough memory when there is quite a lot of space on the hard drive.

Reasons causing the error to appear

To get rid of such an error, the first thing you need to do is understand what causes it to appear. There are several main reasons why this error occurs. Very often, users can open several different programs at the same time, which leads to low memory and the appearance of such a message. To solve this problem, you need to close unnecessary programs.

If your computer has less than 2 GB of RAM installed, then for some resource-intensive programs this is far from enough, so an error occurs. Also, a full hard drive can provoke this problem. In this case, there is no room for virtual memory if the page file is set to automatic.

In addition, the user can adjust the paging file himself and make it too small for applications to function correctly. Also, memory leaks can be caused by individual utilities, possibly even malicious ones. They usually take up all free memory.

Sometimes the error occurs due to problems with some program, which causes low memory messages to appear. These are the most common reasons why a computer complains about insufficient memory.

Low RAM

If your computer initially had a small amount of RAM installed, then you should think about purchasing additional RAM cards. Today it is an inexpensive pleasure. If the computer is old and a new one will be purchased in the near future, then such an improvement does not make sense. In this case, it is better to wait until you buy.

If not, then you can install additional memory cards yourself. This is not difficult, and you can find instructions on how to perform this operation on the Internet.

Not enough space on hard drive

Despite the fact that hard drives today have quite a large capacity, some users manage to fill up even 1 TB HDDs. In such cases, not only does an out-of-memory error appear, but the computer also begins to seriously slow down. It is not worth bringing the hard drive to this state.

In addition, you should not store media content on your hard drive, which will lie like dead weight unnecessarily. You also need to remove games that no one will play.

Setting up the system swap file resulted in an error

If you had to adjust the virtual memory yourself, then perhaps these changes influenced the appearance of such an error. In addition, this could be done by a special utility that is designed to optimize the operating system. To resolve the error, you need to increase the amount of virtual memory or activate it if it was disabled. Many legacy utilities will not be able to run with virtual memory disabled, and an insufficient memory warning will pop up.
Memory consumption or what to do if some utility uses up all free memory

It happens that some utility begins to actively use the RAM. This may be affected by an error in the utility itself or a failure. Calculate such a process in the system using the task manager. To launch it in the “seven”, you need to press the combination Ctrl + Alt + Del. In the eighth version of Windows, to do this, click on Win + X and select “Task Manager”.

After this, in the manager window you need to select the “Processes” section and sort by the “Memory” parameter. This is for the "seven". In the "eight" you need a "Details" section, which displays all processes active on the PC. Here you can also use sorting by the amount of memory consumed.

If you see that some utility or process is using up quite a lot of RAM, then you need to figure out what is causing it. If more than 100 MB is consumed, and this program is not a media editor or something like that, you need to pay attention to it first.

If the application is important, increased memory consumption may be caused by the simple operation of the utility during auto-update or by processes that require this software. An application crash may also be causing the problem. If the utility constantly consumes a large amount of system resources, it is worth trying to reinstall it. If this does not bring the desired result, then it is worth looking for a solution to the problem on the Internet specifically for this program.

If the process is unfamiliar, then it may be a malicious element. In this case, it is recommended to check your PC for viruses. Alternatively, it could be a system process failure. It is advisable to look for a description of this process on the Internet in order to fully understand why it is needed and what to do with it.

In addition, the error may be caused by the particular edition of the utility that is currently in use. To solve the problem, you can try downloading it from another resource or check out the support forums for this software.

Some users of the Windows operating system may experience a periodic message indicating that there is not enough memory on the computer. And to free up memory for programs to run normally, save your files and then close or restart any open programs.

Error: “There is not enough memory on your computer, please close programs”

Someone may mistakenly think that the memory on the hard drive has run out. But if you check this, it turns out that all local disks have free space.

The Windows error “there is not enough memory on your computer, close programs” indicates that you do not have enough RAM and virtual memory (also called the paging file)

What is a swap file?

The fact is that modern programs, and especially games, require more and more RAM to operate. What happens if a Windows application does not have enough RAM? To solve this issue, the paging file or its second name was invented - windows virtual memory. When more RAM is required than is installed in the computer, everything that does not fit in the RAM is placed in the page file so as not to interrupt the operation of the program or game that required this same RAM.

Pagefile.sys is the swap file!

Physically, the swap file (virtual memory) is located by default on drive C, where you have windows installed. You just can't see it through the conductor. And to do this, you need to enable the display of hidden and system files and folders in the control panel settings.

Location of the pagefile sys page file on the hard drive

How to remove the error “There is not enough memory on your computer, please close programs”?

So. In order to get rid of this error, there are two options. The first is to purchase and install (RAM). This is the most correct option.

But there is a second, so to speak, budget option. You can increase the paging file so that this error no longer appears. It is also possible that you simply have it turned off. And you need to turn it on.

Why is this not quite the right option? Because the speed of RAM is many times higher than the speed of the paging file, since it is located on the hard drive. Because of this, when loading data into the swap file, you may experience stuttering and slower loading of programs and games. But the error “there is not enough memory on your computer, close programs” will no longer appear.

How to increase or enable the page file?

Through the Start menu, go to system properties.

Go to windows system properties

In the window that opens, click “ Extra options» then the “Advanced” tab, then the first button from the top “ Options"then again the tab " Additionally" and the last button from the bottom " Change».

The above sequence of transitions

In the “Virtual Memory” window that opens, uncheck the “ Automatically select paging file size».

Next, click on drive D, or another one that has more than 6 gigabytes of free space. We put the switch in position " Specify size" and in the fields " Original size" And " Maximum size"We write 4000. After that, press the button " Set».

Increase windows virtual memory

After that, click “ OK"and reboot the computer.

Perhaps someone will ask why we installed the paging file not on drive C? The answer is simple - so as not to take up free space on the system drive C, which tends to run out. This has already been written about in the article.

Of course, if your hard drive is partitioned with only one drive C, then the swap file needs to be installed and enlarged on it.

We enable the paging file to remove the error on the computer is not enough memory