How to Clear Old Downloads and Free Up Phone Space
Downloading video lectures and PDF study guides is one of the best ways to ensure you can study without interruption on the Science Scholars Academy (SSA) app. However, high-quality educational videos are large files. Over time, downloading entire course modules can take up a significant amount of your smartphone’s internal storage space.
If your device is alerting you that your storage is almost full, don’t worry! Managing your offline materials in the SSA app is incredibly easy. Here is how to safely clear out old downloads and free up space.
1. How to Check Your Storage Usage
Before you start deleting files, you might want to know exactly how much space your SSA downloads are occupying.
- iOS (iPhone/iPad): Go to your phone’s native Settings > General > iPhone Storage. Scroll down the list of apps until you find the SSA app. Tap on it to see exactly how many megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB) of documents and data the app is storing.
- Android: Open your device’s native Settings > Apps > SSA. Tap on Storage & cache. Look at the “User Data” number to see how much space your offline files are taking up.
2. Safely Deleting Old Downloads
When you are ready to free up space, do not try to delete files from your phone’s internal file manager or by clearing the app’s data in your system settings (doing so could accidentally log you out or cause glitches). Instead, use the SSA app’s built-in file manager.
- Open the SSA app and navigate to the Offline Files (or Downloads) tab on the bottom menu bar.
- Scroll through your list of downloaded courses and find the video lectures or PDFs you have already finished studying.
- Swipe left on the specific file you want to delete. A red trash can icon or a “Remove Download” button will appear.
- Tap the button to instantly delete the file from your device and reclaim your storage space.
3. What Happens to Your Course Progress?
Many students worry that if they delete a downloaded video, they will lose the “check mark” showing they completed the lesson.
Your progress is completely safe! The SSA app uses secure cloud syncing. When you finish watching an offline video, the app records your progress. The next time you connect to the internet, it syncs that completion status directly to our cloud servers.
When you delete the physical video file from your phone to save space, the app remembers that you already completed the lesson. Your learning streaks, analytics dashboard, and course completion percentages will remain entirely untouched.
4. Pro Tip: Managing Downloads on the Fly
To keep your phone running smoothly and ensure you never run out of storage right before a big trip, make it a habit to practice good file management:
- Only download the specific modules or weeks you are currently working on, rather than an entire multi-month course at once.
- Every Sunday, take two minutes to delete the video lectures you finished the previous week before downloading the lectures for the week ahead.
Still having trouble?
If you have tried all the steps above and the app is still not functioning correctly, we are here to help! Please reach out to our technical support team at support@studywithssa.com with a brief description of the issue and the type of device you are using, and we will get you back to studying as quickly as possible.