Deleting apps just adds to Other storage

[Tabletized]

Fully updated Tab A7.

After clearing cache and data for apps before deleting them, I check my storage available. After deleting the app itself, my available storage remains the same. The only difference is that the space taken by Apps is lower, while the space taken by Other rises by an equal amount.

This has been going on for months, with numerous deleted apps showing this behavior. The apps do not show as Uninstalled in Google Play Store or appear anywhere in the Galaxy Store equivalent, so it appears they're not saving installation packages for reinstall. As a test, I manually reinstalled an app from the store, and all it did was lower my available storage space from what it was before I deleted it in the first place.

I hooked up the tablet to a Windows 10 computer, but that doesn't appear to allow access to all the hidden/system folders on the tablet like it does on the desktop. That means I can't see what is going on in Windows.

Is there a way to clear out the junk natively in Samsung or Windows without reverting to a factory reset or some random app from one of the stores?

[realaud]

Do you have RAM plus turned on? "Other" could be the space allocated to RAM plus.  My "other" is a fraction larger than my allocation for it. It may also be the space where certain app settings reside, so when you uninstall an app, the space where it's data was stored is also returned.

[Tabletized]

RAM Plus is on, and there's no option to turn it off on the 2GB/4GB screen. I'm guessing the space I've lost to this issue is over 10GB as it is. Shutting down and restarting hasn't helped.

[realaud]

You don't get this screen?

In any case, according to my Google searches, the "other" category contains temporary files, app cache, failed downloads and other settings. https://thedroidguy.com/other-storage-on-android-1230434 , so I wouldn't worry about it unless it's taking up an enormous amount of space, in which case you should boot into recovery mode and clear the cache partition.  

[Tabletized]

That's correct, no toggle at the top.

I tried booting into recovery mode but all it did was boot normally. That meant a full shutdown followed by holding the power and volume up buttons on boot up. Maybe it's done differently.

I'm well past the searching Google stage, so that's why I'm asking here.

[realaud]

Did you read the article about what is contained in "other"?. Also, you did the reboot correctly, you may have let go of the buttons too soon or too late. You have to hold the button until the phone starts the boot and then let go as soon as you see the Samsung logo. May take several tries.

[bill-e]

Recovery Mode

Turn off the device 

* Connect to a computer via USB

Press and hold Volume Up + Power buttons simultaneously till the device logo appears

When it logo appears, release Power button but hold the Vol Up for a few more seconds until the Recovery Mode screen appears

You can use the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons to scroll up or down, and the Power button to select

* Some devices need to be connected to a computer in order to enter the Recovery Mode.      

[Tabletized]

Thanks. I figured it out before you posted. They key was it appears necessary to have the tablet plugged in to a computer to be able to enter recovery mode. No idea why, but it worked for me.

Clearing out the cache partition did nothing noticeable. I manually cleared the caches for almost all my apps (not my browser or system apps), then used a calculator to get a crude estimate of my app space usage. It lines up with what the system reports. So either a system app, of which there are a ton that are all small in storage space, have a ton of cache somewhere, or the issue is what I originally posted.

[LongHiker]

@Tabletized It sounds like they are still in the Trash folder. Open My Files, click on Trash, click the 3 dots in upper right and select Empty. 

[Tabletized]

Trash was already empty, so there's no 3 dots option since there's nothing there to empty.