PSA: You should uninstall apps on your phone in bulk using the Play Store, not Files by Google

Ever since 2018 when Google introduced a new ‘Free up space’ option in the Play Store and let users mass select apps to uninstall as opposed to manually pressing and holding each one in the app drawer to remove it from their device, we’ve been plagued with a troubling situation.

For those of us who go on a downloading rampage and get all of the latest games, and even let pre-registration games auto-install, our phone storage can quickly become stuffed full of crap we probably don’t intend to play. With life getting in the way of this and proper data management practices, we tend to leave all of those things installed until we get around to tidying up just and only when our phone yells at us and says there’s no space for our latest install.

Here’s the annoying bit – if you’re using the option in Files by Google to remove apps you haven’t used in a while, and you select tens of apps to remove, you’re forced to sit through the entire process confirming the uninstall of each, one by one. If you have 40-50 apps to remove in one sitting, you’re sitting there for quite a while tapping pop-up dialogue prompts.

Here’s what I’ve discovered and what I recommend instead. If you visit the Google Play Store and go to your profile image at the top right, tap “Manage apps and devices”, “Manage” and then check the box next to each app you’d like to uninstall, you will only be asked once if you want to complete the operation.

When I first did this, I was surprised that I wasn’t asked per app, and instead did a double take as I watched in amazement while my phone wiped all 50 apps out in one fell swoop! To be frank, I’m not really sure why Files by Google doesn’t just redirect the user to the Play Store to free up space and trash apps they’re not using, but this could be good feedback for Google’s dev team.

What I’m getting at is that Files by Google poorly implements this feature, but is usually the first to warn you if you’ve got unused software you could clear out. I’m also unsure if this bulk deletion process always existed in this more efficient format via the Play Store. If it is, in fact, newly prompting you once instead of per app, then it’s a welcome change.