I hit 100GB used on a six‑month‑old Pixel 10 Pro and felt a little cheated. No hoard of games, Google Photos backup enabled, yet storage was vanishing. Instead of panicking and buying cloud space, I dug in — and found a tiny, no‑frills tool that told me exactly where the space went.
The neat trick: Disky shows you what's really eating space
Disky isn’t flashy. It’s not on Google Play. You’ll find it on F‑Droid, and it behaves like an honest storage inspector: ask for the sensible permissions, scan the phone, then show a clear breakdown.
What I liked immediately was the simplicity. A pie chart up top. A descending list of folders and apps below. Tap into Apps and you see which apps are using dozens of gigabytes; open DCIM and you can follow the trail of large videos; peek into Downloads and find that podcast bundle you forgot about.
Two important caveats: Disky doesn’t delete files for you, and it asks for broad file access (that’s necessary to analyze everything). It’s open source, minimal, and ideal when you want a quick, human‑readable map of your storage without endless ads or baffling options.
If you want to clean with one tap: SD Maid 2/SE
Disky gives you the map. If you want a cleanup crew, SD Maid 2/SE is the deeper tool. It combines easy one‑tap deletes with more surgical instruments:
- CorpseFinder: hunts leftover folders from apps you uninstalled.
- SystemCleaner: removes common junk and cache detritus.
- Deduplicator: finds duplicate files that quietly eat space.
- Apps: uninstall or offload rarely used apps; clear app cache from app settings.
- DCIM: delete large videos you’ve backed up to Google Photos, or move them to a computer/external drive.
- Downloads: sort by size in your file manager and remove installers or one‑off media.
- Install Disky (via F‑Droid) and run a full scan.
- Note the biggest folders and apps it highlights.
- Use a file manager or SD Maid to remove large files, duplicates, and leftover app folders.
- For photos/videos: verify backups (Google Photos or another service) before deleting local copies.
- Reboot and run Disky again to confirm freed space.
SD Maid can point you to app settings so you can clear cache or user data right away. It’s powerful, but some of the automation—like scheduled cleanups—is locked behind a pay tier. If you prefer manual control, SD Maid’s free bits plus Disky’s analysis are a solid combo.
What was using my space (and how you can spot the same things)
On my Pixel 10 Pro the breakdown looked roughly like this: apps ~45GB, DCIM ~17.5GB, Downloads ~11.5GB. Your phone will differ, but those three buckets are typical culprits. Quick ways to act on what you find:
If you’re shopping for a phone because you keep running out of room, remember deals can change the calculus — for Pixel buyers, recent Pixel 10 Pro discounts may make upgrading less painful. And Samsung owners juggling bloat and storage tricks should keep an eye on the Galaxy S26 preview coverage for context about storage options across the lineup.
A short checklist to reclaim space (15–30 minutes)
Privacy and safety notes
Granting storage access is necessary for these tools to work, but prefer open‑source or trusted apps (Disky being F‑Droid‑distributed is a plus). For SD Maid, watch which tools you run—automated cleaners can remove files you actually need if you’re not careful.
I ended up reclaiming roughly 10GB with a short audit: a few large apps I rarely used, a forgotten folder of exported videos, and a handful of duplicate downloads. It felt like cleaning out a closet — satisfying and shockingly quick.
If you’re not into fiddling, a paid cleaner with automation might suit you. If you like knowing what happened to your storage, start with Disky, then bring in SD Maid (or your favorite file manager) for the heavy lifting.
No sweeping promises here — just a pair of practical tools and a tiny bit of time that together stopped my phone from acting like a shrinking wallet. Try the scan, follow the clues, and you might be pleasantly surprised how much room you can find.