Google's steps: open Settings, "Tap Storage Free up space", open the menu, tap Settings, and "Turn on Smart Storage". Its purpose, in the same page's words, is "To automatically clear backed-up photos and videos when your device's storage is almost full" ([*Free up storage on your Android device*](https://support.google.com/android/answer/7431795?hl=en), read 27 September 2026). The Pixel help page gives the same path ([*Free up space on a Pixel phone*](https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2840863?hl=en), read 27 September 2026). Neither of those two pages uses the name "Storage manager" anywhere. Whatever your phone calls the switch, both pages start from the Storage screen in Settings, so that is where to look for it.
## What it removes, and whenOnly copies that already exist in Google Photos. Files by Google's help, which covers the same feature, gives the two conditions: photos backed up in Google Photos are deleted automatically "If photos are saved for 60 days" and "If your device’s storage is less than 25%" ([*Delete backed-up photos automatically*](https://support.google.com/files/answer/10862356?hl=en), read 27 September 2026).
Google's pages do not agree on who gets it. That Files page says "Automatic deletion of back-up photos is only available for Pixels users on Android S", while the general Android page describes the switch without naming a brand and warns that "Some of these steps only work on Android 14 and up". If the switch is not on your phone, that disagreement is the likely reason, and neither page offers a workaround.
## The manual half: Free up spaceThe same screen also works by hand. Google describes it as a way "To pick from a list of photos, videos, and apps that you haven't used recently": scroll to a category, tap Select files, choose, then "Tap Move files to Trash". If a category is not listed, "tap Browse" (Android page above). Because the last step is a move to Trash rather than a deletion, a wrong tap can be undone — [where that trash lives and how long it waits](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/empty-the-trash-on-android).
## On a Samsung Galaxy: Device careSamsung describes Device care as the feature that "provides an overview of your battery, storage, and RAM". For storage: "From Settings, swipe to and tap Device care", then "Tap Storage, and then tap a category that has items you'd like to remove, such as Images". Its one-tap Optimize now button is said to delete "unnecessary files" among other things; the page does not say which files those are ([*Keep your Galaxy phone or tablet from slowing down with Device Care*](https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10001953/), read 27 September 2026). That Device care page does not describe an automatic removal of backed-up photos like Smart Storage.
Samsung's recycle bin is reachable from the same place: "Settings > Device care > Storage management > Recycle bin > My Files" ([*How to delete or restore files in the recycle bin in My Files*](https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/apps-services/the-updated-recycle-bin-feature-in-my-files-on-galaxy-devices-with-one-ui-6/), Samsung UK, read 27 September 2026). [Getting things back out of it](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/access-recycle-bin-on-android).
## Before you switch Smart Storage onThe copy it removes is the one on the phone; the backed-up copy stays in your Google account, and that is not free space. Google counts "Original quality photos and videos backed up to Google Photos" against the storage every account shares, which Google puts at "up to 15 GB" ([*How your Google storage works*](https://support.google.com/googleone/answer/9312312?hl=en), read 27 September 2026). Our view: switch it on once you have checked that backup is really running and that the account has room to keep growing, because the setting moves the problem from the phone to the account rather than removing it.
If you would rather decide when, Google Photos has a manual equivalent: "Free up space on this device", reached from your profile picture in the app. Google's page for it warns that "This feature deletes photos from your device", and that removed photos can no longer be seen if "You use your mobile device's built-in gallery". Google says that about the button; our reading is that Smart Storage leaves you in the same place, since it removes the same phone copies ([*Free up space on your device*](https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6128843?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), Google Photos, Android, read 27 September 2026). [More on that button.](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/google-photos-free-up-space)
Related: [Free up space with Google Photos](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/google-photos-free-up-space) · [Free up space on Android](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/free-up-space-on-android) · [Why is my phone storage full?](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/why-is-my-phone-storage-full) · [How do I empty the trash on Android?](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/empty-the-trash-on-android)