How do you free enough space on Lumia 530 to install an update?

[Janne Jokitalo]

My mom's phone (Lumia 530) has only 4GB phone memory. There is an update incoming, but it's of size close to 650MB. It won't fit into available memory, so I bought an SD card to either download the update file there, or move enough stuff from phone memory onto the SD card so that there would be more available.

But alas, most of the 4GB is consumed by system files (2.91GB), which can't be moved. So I tried to move everything else. No can do, I'm only able to free about 500MB, but not even close to required 650MB.

I changed (or actually the phone offered to do it for me once it detected on boot that a new SD card has been installed) the location of all new content to be downloaded and/or stored on the SD card. But apparently the update files need to be downloaded into the phone memory. I can understand that, but this leaves me with no choices to install the incoming update. Unless anyone has an idea?

 

[gpobernardo]

My mom's phone (Lumia 530) has only 4GB phone memory. There is an update incoming, but it's of size close to 650MB. It won't fit into available memory, so I bought an SD card to either download the update file there, or move enough stuff from phone memory onto the SD card so that there would be more available.

But alas, most of the 4GB is consumed by system files (2.91GB), which can't be moved. So I tried to move everything else. No can do, I'm only able to free about 500MB, but not even close to required 650MB.

I changed (or actually the phone offered to do it for me once it detected on boot that a new SD card has been installed) the location of all new content to be downloaded and/or stored on the SD card. But apparently the update files need to be downloaded into the phone memory. I can understand that, but this leaves me with no choices to install the incoming update. Unless anyone has an idea?

How large is your "Others" storage in the phone memory? You can try clearing some of it out by deleting the temporary files from your phone (which will clear out all of your temporary files also).

You can also try moving all your photos from the phone (even if they are in the SD Card) to your PC for the moment; based on my HTC 8s before, even if your photos are in your SD Card the phone might be keeping some of the thumbnails in the cache in the "Others" storage where more photos increased the Others storage. Disable "automatic" upload, too, for the photos.

Let us know what happens and welcome to Windows Central.

 

[Bram Vanroy]

I had a similar problem. What worked for me is setting the phone back to factory settings, then NOT signing in with your Microsoft account (preventing any back-ups or settings to be downloaded) and installing the update. After that's done you can log in.

 

[Janne Jokitalo]

Thanks, Bram! I'll see about it the next time I get ahold of the phone.

 

[ludawg94]

I have that same issue too when I wanted to update to the latest developer preview for the phone. I did all I could to move over any apps to SD card and uninstall apps, heck even wiped out my test messages and email with no luck at all. System apps and main component take up huge chunk of the space. I do not feel like restarting the phone though since it takes a lot to get back to how I use the phone. I hope MS releases the feature of the update to the SD card to make up for this problem in updating the phone using the main 4gb memory.

 

[Adi Cosmin]

Reset your phone, and you will have about 1.2 gb free space on internal memory, before installing an update be sure that updates are downloading on sd card, if not, downloaded updates will full your internal space and you will don't have enough space for installing updates.Anyway, you need also about 350 mb free of virtual memory.

 

[Shahmeer Shahid]

Can you please guide step by step how to make the update files download on the SD card and then install regularly ? At the moment it downloads to phone storage and then tries to install itself but since there is no free space it continuously loops the installing and downloading of the update.

 

[ttsoldier]

Can you please guide step by step how to make the update files download on the SD card and then install regularly ? At the moment it downloads to phone storage and then tries to install itself but since there is no free space it continuously loops the installing and downloading of the update.

If you are currently trying to install windows 10, there is a bug now that will not allow the build to install on 530. Smm

 

[ttsoldier]

Can you please guide step by step how to make the update files download on the SD card and then install regularly ? At the moment it downloads to phone storage and then tries to install itself but since there is no free space it continuously loops the installing and downloading of the update.

If you are currently trying to install windows 10, there is a bug now that will not allow the build to install on 530. Smm