What happens when you clear data from an Android app: Popular apps explained (2023)

Usually, if you're having trouble with an Android app on your phone or tablet, you must have been made aware of itclear its cache or data. When you click the Clear Data button, you will be greeted with a message that your account and files will be deleted. Now that could scare anyone. And one would be curious to know what happens when they delete data of an android app?

We will try to answer all your questions in this post. We explain the aftermath of deleting data for popular apps like Facebook, Instagram, Google Play Store, Contacts, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and more.

Let's start with data deletion followed by the aftermath of data deletion.

How to clear an app's data on Android

You can find the options to clear cache and clear data in the app info settings for each app. Here are the steps:

Step 1:Open Settings on your phone and go to Apps or Installed app or Apps & notifications.

Step 2:Tap the app whose data you want to clear. Let's say WhatsApp.

Step 3:Tap Storage followed by Clear Data or Clear Storage depending on the available option.

What happens when you delete data

When an app is installed, a directory of the app is created on your phone. The directory or folder contains account details, customizations made to app settings, and offline files.

If you clear an app's data or storage, the data associated with that app will be deleted. And when that happens, your app behaves like a freshly installed one. You'll need to log in again, grant necessary permissions, change notification settings, and the like. This applies to all apps.

In other words, clearing data is equivalent to resetting an app. Think of wiping data as the combined process of uninstalling and reinstalling the app, except for re-downloading the app. SinceClearing data will remove the app cache, some apps like Gallery app take some time to load.

Clearing data will not delete the app updates. If you open the app after clearing its data, you will see the latest version that was previously installed on your phone.

Likewise, deleting data will not delete any of your accounts. You will only be signed out of most apps. For example, if you delete data for the Twitter app, your account will still be active. You just have to log in again. So make sure you know your account username and password before clicking the Clear data button.

Deleting data is different fromReset app preferences on Androidas it removes data in some apps besides resetting app preferences. This is not the case with app preferences reset, which mainly restores settings of all apps to their original values.

Now that you know the basics of deleting data, let's review what happens when data is deleted for popular apps.

What happens when you clear data from Android Launcher

Clearing data from an Android launcher will erase the customizations you've made to your home screen.app drawerand other features through this launcher.I use the Nova launcher, and if I delete his data I have to set everything up from scratch like home screen, folders,gestures, appearances,Type of notification badgeetc. as if I installed the Nova app on my phone for the first time.

You can save your startup program customizations by creating oneLauncher settings backupbefore deleting his data. Deleting data does not remove the backup files. However, we recommend saving it to the cloud if the app allows it.

What happens when you delete data from Google Play Store and Play Services

Google Play Store often annoys users due to various issues such as:waiting for a download,White screen issue,download pendingetc. At such times, deleting his data can be a godsend.

Clearing data for the Google Play Store keeps the apps on your phone and their data intact. Your subscriptions will also remain unaffected as they are linked to your Google account. Only the settings in the Play Store, such as B. App download settings, theme, auto download, etc. will be reset, including Play Store search history.

You will not be signed out of the Play Store as it uses a Google account which can be seen under Settings > Accounts. Deleting Play Store data or data from other Google apps will not delete or unlink the Google account.

Similarly, Google Play Services is also notorious for bugs as wellwill not be updated,Play Services has been terminatedetc. To fix them, you can erase their data. Deleting data for Play Services will not affect your personal data or the data associated with an app.

What happens when you clear data from the Phone, Contacts, and Messages apps?

When it comes to the phone app, one worries about history and contacts. Clearing Phone app data will not delete your call history or contacts. But of course, any customizations made to the app settings will be reset.

Likewise, deleting data for the pre-installed Contacts app or a third-party Contacts app won't affect your contacts - both local and synced. However, we strongly recommend you to take a localbackup of your contactsand sync it with Google or another backup service before deleting the data to avoid unnecessary damage. If you accidentally delete your Google contacts, find outHow to recover deleted contacts from Google.

Note:Deleting data for the Contact Storage System app in Settings > Apps will delete your contacts.

Even messages remain untouched when you clear data for the Messages app on your phone. Only the app settings like notifications will be reset.

What happens if you delete data for camera and gallery

Clearing data for the camera app will only reset its settings like front camera image size, HDR, gridlines, etc. Likewise, for the gallery app as well, only settings like sorting mode, themes, etc. will be changed. Your photos and videos will not be deleted if you delete the data of either app.

What happens when you clear data for Google Photos

Google Photos is a gallery appexcept oneFotospeicher-Tool. So delete your dataUninstall appwill not delete any of your pictures or videos. After deleting the data, it may take some time for the app to rebuild the thumbnail database. So be patient.

Top:If you want to free up space on your phone, use theGoogle Photos free up space feature.

What happens when you delete data from WhatsApp

If you delete WhatsApp data, you need to verify your WhatsApp account again, just like installing it on your phone. Make sure you have access to the same number registered with WhatsApp. And yes, your chats will be deleted by deleting the data. However, you canRecover WhatsApp messages from your local backup or Google Drive.

Other things that will be reset are customization settings like WhatsApp wallpaper, font size, and memory usage.

Things not affected by WhatsApp data deletion are your profile picture, privacy settings,blocked contacts, and previous local backups. They will not be removed from your WhatsApp groups. They will appear again when you register WhatsApp but without the previous chat history. Your downloaded media files like images, videos, etc. can still be accessed through other supported apps like Gallery.

Top:ExperienceWhat Happens When You Uninstall WhatsApp?Anddelete whatsapp account.

What happens when you clear data for Instagram and Facebook

Many users worry that deleting data for Instagram and Facebook apps will delete their accounts. However, that is not true. You will only be signed out of your accounts in these apps by deleting data. This is because the data of such social media apps is stored in the cloud and not on your phone. The same goes for apps like Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

Your activities or data such as photos, comments, posts, groups, messages, stories, etc. on these social media sites will not be deleted. Even the media downloaded to your phone from these apps are still available. For example, if you save your story from Instagram to your phone, you can still see it in Gallery. After clearing the data, re-enter your account information to see the data in those apps.

Top:ExperienceWhat happens when you uninstall Instagram from phone?.

What happens when you clear data for Facebook Messenger and Gmail

WhatsApp only stores data on your phone (if it's not backed up). However, Facebook Messenger, Gmail and similar apps sync them to cloud storage. So even if you delete data or uninstall the app, your messages or contacts will not be deleted.

However, you will be logged out. After you sign in again, you can view your messages. If you don't want to sign up, you can access the news or emails from their website. Any customizations made to the apps like design, chat heads, notification settings, etc. will be reset.

Top: Find out what happens when you uninstall Facebook or Messenger.

What happens when you delete data for cloud storage services (Google Drive, OneDrive) apps

The apps for cloud storage services like Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox etc. store your files in the cloud. So if you delete data for them on your Android phone, the files associated with those services will not be deleted. After deleting the data, you will be logged out of the app. If you log in again, the files will be restored.

What happens when you clear data for YouTube

You must know by now that clearing data for the YouTube app will not delete your account and published videos. Even your playlists,Observation and search historynot be affected. They are linked to your Google account. However, theOffline-Videosyou have downloaded will be removed along with the customization settings made in the app such as autoplay, download settings and more.

What happens when you delete data in shopping apps

Do not worry. Clearing data for a shopping app will not cancel your order or delete your Wishlist. Of course you will be logged out, but if you log in again, your orders, past purchases, payments and other information will be restored.

What happens when you clear an Android app's cache?

The cache contains the temporary data for your apps, so the data can be accessed quickly when the app needs it later without having to download it again. For example, when you open Facebook, your phone saves data you see like profile pictures, pictures, etc. as cached data. The next time you open the app again, it will first check the cached data and show you the same. This saves data and other phone resources as they are not downloaded again. At the same time, the app checks whether the actual data from Facebook has changed. If something has changed, you will see the new data.

Now when you clear the cache for the app, only those temporary files will be removed without affecting your personal information like messages, pictures, accounts, files, etc. In general, Android manages the cached data itself, so you don't need to clear it manually. However, if an app is having a problem, you can try clearing its cache.

Is it okay to clear data from apps?

As you have seen above, the end result of data erasure depends on the app. The examples above show generic behavior. Some apps may behave differently.

So you should only clear data for an app if clearing cache or other solutions don't work and resetting the phone is the ultimate option. This comes in handy when an app doesn't offer a built-in opt-out option. Instead of uninstalling the app, you can clear data and log in again. Deleting data also helpsmake spacein many applications.

Next Up:If erasing data didn't solve your problem either, the final step is to factory reset your phone. Find out what happens when you format your phone.