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This article tells you how to Delete Documents and Data on Any Device that you don’t want. It’s not hard, but if you don’t know where to look, it can be hard to find the files. Apple has done a lot lately to try to fix the iPhone’s storage problems. You can store things like full-resolution photos in iCloud while only keeping smaller versions on your iPhone, and you can get rid of apps you don’t use very often. But most people’s devices will still tell them at some point that they can’t fit any more media on them. Most of us will start deleting photos, videos, and apps at this point, since these take up the most space on our devices.
Delete Documents and Data On Windows
Use the File Explorer Ribbon
- Press the Windows key + E together to open your File Explorer. If File Explorer is pinned to your taskbar, you can go to the bottom of your screen and click the File Explorer icon.
- If the File Explorer Ribbon isn’t showing at the top, click the dropdown arrow at the top of the window and uncheck the box for Minimize the Ribbon.
- In the left panel, navigate to the folder you want to delete or to the folder with the file you want to delete.
- With the folder or file selected, click the down arrow under Delete (the big red X) at the top of the window and select Permanently delete to wipe your file. If you just click Delete (the big red X), your file will go straight to the Recycle Bin.
Use PowerShell
- Press the Windows key + R together to open the Run command window.
- Type powershell and press Enter.
- Type in Remove-item [file path] -recurse, replacing [file path] with the actual path of the file or folder you wish to permanently delete. Then hit Enter.
Delete Documents and Data on Android
- Tap Freespace on the home screen (be careful not to choose Complete Erase!) and select Internal Storage. The app will calculate how much free space to wipe.
- Tap Continue and choose a shredding algorithm. NATO Standard and BSU TL-0342, which perform seven and eight passes, respectively, are the most thorough. However, they also take a long time.
- Confirm you want to proceed, and Data Eraser will wipe all available free space on your phone so that files you’ve deleted can’t be recovered.
- Your phone will be slow while the wiping process is in progress. You can abandon it at any time by opening the notification at the top of your screen and tapping Cancel.
Steps to Delete Documents and Data On iPhone
- Open to follow Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
- You will see the amount of storage occupied by your apps on the iPhone. Click on the desired app from the list, which you want to clean.
- You will see the space occupied by the app’s ‘Documents and Data’ on the iPhone. Scroll down and click on Delete App.
- Next, click Confirm.
FAQs
Go to Settings > Security > Advanced and tap Encryption & credentials. Select Encrypt phone if the option isn’t already enabled. Next, go to Settings > System > Advanced and tap Reset options. Select Erase all data (factory reset), and press Delete all data.
On Androids, all document files — including PDFs, text files, CSVs, and more — are stored in the Documents folder. Open your Android app drawer by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. This can be accessed by tapping the icon on the home screen. Select My Files (or File Manager).
Open Settings and select your name at the top. Next, select iCloud and then tap Manage Account Storage. Select the app of interest from the list and tap Delete Data or Delete Documents and Data on the next page. Confirm your choice by selecting Delete from the pop-up.