Should I offload an app or delete it?

An app on your phone is three separate things stacked together: the program itself, the data it keeps locally, and any documents you made inside it. Offloading and deleting cut that stack at different heights, which is why the two options free wildly different amounts of space and carry wildly different risk. iOS names the distinction explicitly; Android does not have an exact equivalent but gets to the same places by a different route.

Step by step

1. Look at the size breakdown, not the single number.In the storage section of settings, tapping an individual app shows two figures: the app size and the documents-and-data size. A 200 MB app carrying 8 GB of downloaded podcasts is a different problem from a 3 GB game with nothing in it, and they need opposite treatments.
2. Offload where the program is the bulk.Large games, editing apps and anything with a big install download are the ideal candidates. Offloading reclaims the program size, keeps everything else, and a tap re-downloads it and puts you straight back where you were — still logged in, settings intact.
3. Clear the app's own downloads where the data is the bulk.Streaming, podcast, map and audiobook apps store offline content that offloading does not touch, because it is data rather than program. Go into the app's own settings and remove downloads there. This usually frees more than everything else combined.
4. Delete only when nothing inside matters.Deleting takes the program, the data and the documents. For an app whose content lives on a server — social apps, banking, shopping, streaming — that is harmless and you can reinstall freely. For a notes, voice-recorder, scanner or offline-journal app it may destroy the only copy.
5. On Android, choose between clearing cache and clearing storage.There is no offload. Clearing the cache removes regenerable temporary files and is always safe. Clearing storage or data resets the app to a just-installed state — logged out, settings gone, local content gone — without removing the app. That is closer to a delete than most people expect from the wording.
6. Consider disabling instead, on Android.Manufacturer and carrier apps that cannot be uninstalled can usually be disabled. That reverts them to the factory version, removes updates, and stops them running. It reclaims the update size and stops the notifications, which is often the real goal.
7. Turn on automatic offloading only if you accept the trade.iOS can offload unused apps by itself when space runs short. It is genuinely useful on a phone that is permanently near full, but an app you need in a hurry, on a train with no signal, will not be there. If that scenario matters to you, leave it off and manage manually.

Tips

• An offloaded app can only be re-downloaded if it is still in the store and still supported on your phone's OS version. On an old phone, an offloaded app you rely on may not come back — check before offloading anything critical.
• Re-downloading an offloaded app on mobile data can be expensive on a large game. It will usually wait for wi-fi, but it will also happily use data if you tell it to.
• Deleting and reinstalling is the standard fix for a badly misbehaving app precisely because it clears the data layer. That is the same reason it is dangerous for an app holding local-only content.
• If you are freeing space in a hurry before a photo shoot or a software update, offloading three or four large games is the fastest large win available and it is fully reversible.

Common mistakes

• Deleting a notes, voice memo or scanner app to free space — Those apps commonly store locally by default. The content goes with the app and there is no undo and no bin.
• Offloading a podcast or streaming app and being surprised nothing was freed — The downloads are data, not program. Offloading deliberately preserves data — that is the whole point of it.
• Reading Android's 'clear storage' as 'clear cache' — They sit next to each other and sound similar. One removes temporary files; the other logs you out and wipes the app's local state.

Alternatives

• Offload: iOS only. Removes the program, keeps data and documents, icon stays with a cloud badge. Fully reversible with one tap.
• Clear cache: Android, and inside many iOS apps' own settings. Removes regenerable temporary files only. Always safe, often frees a surprising amount, and the app rebuilds it.
• Clear storage / clear data: Android. Resets the app to factory state without uninstalling. You will be logged out and local content is gone.
• Delete / uninstall: Both platforms. Removes everything. Reinstalling gives a fresh app.
• Disable: Android, for preinstalled apps that cannot be uninstalled. Reverts to the factory version and stops it running.

Questions people ask