How to Speed Up a Slow Phone Without Buying Anything

by Abdulrasaq • Tech How-To • August 7, 2025

Phones slow down for three main reasons: low free storage, too many background tasks, and visual effects/heavy apps. Fix those, and even older devices feel fresh. Follow these steps in order-each one is 100% free and uses only built-in settings.

What You’ll Do (Overview)

Step 1 - Quick Restart

1. Hold the power button → Restart.
2. After boot, wait 60–90 seconds for the system to settle.

This clears temporary processes and frees RAM that was stuck.

Step 2 - Free Up Storage (Biggest Win)

1. Go to Settings → Storage and check what’s heavy (Apps, Photos, Videos, WhatsApp, Downloads).
2. Delete or move large videos, screen recordings, and duplicates.
3. Open Files by Google (or your file manager) → use Clean to remove junk, temp files, and memes.
4. For chat apps (WhatsApp/Telegram): Storage & data → Manage storage → clear large forwarded media.
5. In Apps, sort by size → tap heavy apps → Clear cache (avoid clear data unless you know the consequences).

Step 3 - Stop Apps from Hogging in the Background

1. Auto-start: OEM tools (Samsung Device care, Xiaomi Security app, etc.) → disable auto-start for heavy apps you don’t need always-on.
2. Background data: Settings → Network & Internet → Data usage → App data usage → toggle Background data off for culprits.
3. Sync: Accounts → turn off auto-sync for apps you rarely use or make it manual.
4. Battery optimization: Settings → Battery → Battery optimization/Background limits → restrict power-hungry apps.

Step 4 - Make Animations Snappy

1. Enable Developer options: Settings → About phone → tap Build number 7× (enter PIN).
2. Go to Settings → System → Developer options.
3. Set Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, Animator duration scale to 0.5x (or off).

This doesn’t increase raw performance, but the UI feels instantly faster.

Step 5 - Update & Lighten Your Apps

1. Update Android: Settings → System → System update.
2. Update apps: Play Store → Manage apps & device → Updates.
3. Replace heavy apps with Lite/PWA versions (e.g., Facebook Lite, Twitter Lite, YouTube in browser/PWA).
4. Uninstall preloaded bloat you never use. If uninstall isn’t available, Disable it.

Step 6 - Clean Home Screen & Reduce Live Stuff

• Remove widgets you don’t need (weather, news tickers, giant clocks).
• Use a static wallpaper (avoid live wallpapers).
• Limit third-party launchers if they feel laggy; try the default launcher again.

Step 7 - Health Check (No “Boosters”)

Step 8 - Reset Options (Safe First, Nuclear Last)

1. Reset network settings to fix connectivity slowdowns (Wi-Fi/mobile/Bluetooth settings will be cleared).
2. Reset all settings (keeps your data, resets system settings).
3. Factory reset only after full backup when the phone is truly messed up: Settings → System → Reset → Erase all data.

Brand Quick Notes (Optional)

• Samsung: Settings → Battery and device care → Optimize now; disable/put to sleep rarely used apps.
• Xiaomi/Redmi: Security app → Boost speed, Cleaner, and manage Autostart permissions.
• Infinix/Tecno: Phone Master → Autostart manager; watch for aggressive battery savers killing notifications.
• OnePlus: Battery optimization → turn on for heavy offenders; disable RAM expansion if it slows things.

Extra Quick Wins