How to Free Up Memory on your BlackBerry Smartphone
Posted in BlackBerry 101 on 28 May 2008 12:38 by Adam Zeis | 86 comments

CrackBerry.com's BlackBerry 101 Lecture Series

So you’ve downloaded ringtones and themes.  You have loads of messages and call logs.  And you ask?  Why is my Berry so slow?  And then one day you wake up and POOF!  You notice all your call logs and messages have been deleted.  So you rush over to your PC and start to search the forums, only to find out you have a memory leak.  Your valuable device memory has been eaten up, and as every good cannibal does – your BlackBerry has started to eat itself up to save space – meaning your messages and call logs are the first to go.  So now you want to prevent this from happening in the future, right?  Well here lies your answer.  In this tutorial, we will go over the best and most common ways to free up memory on your device.  Some are more “technical†than others, but most users should be able to do it.

How to Free Up Memory on your BlackBerry Smartphone 

First off, you want to be sure you have a memory card for your device.  One of the most important accessories you can buy – a memory card is priceless.  It gives you loads of room to store all those ringtones, videos and MP3s that would otherwise eat up your device memory.  If you don’t have a memory card, check out the wide selection in the ShopCrackberry.com store.

The overall and most obvious way to free up memory is to delete any applications on your device that you do not use.  To do this, from your BlackBerry home screen press the Menu key, then go to Options > Advanced Options > Applications

Free Up Memory!

  • Select the unused app and press the Menu key.  Then select Delete.
  • Reboot the device.
  • If you choose to delete anything, your device will restart and yield a higher File Free.

The next few things we can do to start freeing up memory are fairly simple as well:

Enable Content Compression: Go to Options > Security and enabled Content Compression, this will free up some space.

Set Keep Appointments to 15 Days: This won’t make a major difference but will definitely free up some space.

Delete the “Help†Application: Once you get the hang of your BlackBerry you don’t really need this app. Go to Options --> Applications, select Help and delete it.

Delete the Sample Video: Go to Options > Advanced Options > Applications.  Highlight BlackBerry Sample Video, press Menu and Delete.

Delete the Unused Languages: You will have an option to remove them from the Application Loader screen.

Delete BrickBreaker: Why you ask?  Well if you never seem to play it then it just takes up space – so lose it.

Delete Pictures: Delete any unwanted images or move them to your memory card.

Clean Up Browser Cookies and Cache: Start the mobile browser.  Press the Menu key and select Options > Cache Operations.  Clear History & Clear Cookies.

Free Up Memory

Reduce Allocated Media Memory: Start the Media App.  Press the Menu key.  Change the Device Memory Limit to 12mb.

Free Up Memory

Change Save Time for Messages:  Click the Messages icon.  Press the Menu key and select Options.  Select General Options.  Scroll to Keep Messages and lower the value.

Free Up Memory

Change Call Log Options: Click the Phone icon.  Press the Menu key.  Select Options > Call Logging.  Change to None (or Missed Calls if you prefer).

Remove Unused Apps: You can also remove any unused apps such as Tasks, Memo, BlackBerry Messenger etc. to free up space.  All of the standard apps can be removed from the Application Loader in the Desktop Manger.

Deleting Old Messages: Deleting SMS messages and emails will save space and reduce lag as well.  I tend to delete all my previous SMS messages every morning.

Limit Your Themes: Everyone wants to have a good choice of themes, but having only 1 or 2 at a time on your device will save lots of space. 

Removing Default Items and Modules

Now we can get a bit more technical and remove some of the other features that will save even more space.  To start, you will need to have your current OS installed on your PC.  If you don’t have it you can usually download it here: BlackBerry - BlackBerry Desktop and Device Software Download Sites and install it to your PC.  After it is installed, plug in your BB and open Desktop Manager.  Do a complete backup of your device (from the Backup/Restore menu).  When the backup is complete, close the Desktop Manager and unplug your BB.  Delete the vendor.xml file from your PC (should be located in c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader).  This file is really unnecessary as it only tells your device specifics about your carrier and OS, so we can just trash it.

There are certain items that can be removed to save space such as Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), Push to Talk (PTT) on some AT&T Devices, themes etc.  Decide what you don’t use and we can remove them from the device.  Navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\xxx\Java on your PC (where xxx is the installed OS version).  From here we can do the following:

Remove Wallpaper:

net_rim_bb_media_320x240_b.COD

or

net_rim_bb_media_240 x 260_b.COD

These two files will most likely have your device model in them but it is essentially what the file name will appear as.

Free Up Memory

(The best way to handle them is to move them to a separate directory - Create a new directory labeled "Removedâ€)

Select the COD file and move it to the “Removed†folder.

This will remove all of the pre-installed wall paper, leaving you with a blank background.

Remove Default Themes:

Themes are supplied by BlackBerry and the carrier. Each device is carrier branded during manufacture; the branding controls the loading of specific theme components.

In this case, T-Mobile themes are identified by "100".  Other carriers have similar numbers assigned. You can ignore themes with non matching numbers; they will be skipped in the process.


net_rim_theme_100_320x240_b.COD
net_rim_theme_bbdimension_zen_320x240_b.COD

Both of the above are needed for normal device operation. You can safely remove the following:


net_rim_theme_bbdimentions_icon_320x240_b
net_rim_theme_bbdimentions_l_320x240_b
net_rim_theme_bbdimentions_today_320x240_b

Free up Memory

Removing these is optional, it will save about 700 Kb.

Remove Push To Talk:

If you are not using it (your device may not even have it), remove these files:


KnJCDE
net_rim_bb_phone_ptt_app

Remove Voice Activated Dialing:

Move all files prefaced with net_rim_vad_ to the Removed folder.

Free Up Memory

Remove Password Keeper:

Move all files prefaced with net_rim_bb_passwordkeeper_resource_ to the Removed folder.

Free Up Memory

Connect your device to your PC and run the Application Loader to complete the changes. 

If there are other applications you want to remove, verify which modules are used with by going to Options > Advanced Options.

Choose an application, press the Menu key and select View Properties. All modules are that make up the application are listed.*

*Keep in mind, other applications may share modules. Be prepared to restore some of them if you run into problems (that’s why we did a backup first).

After these procedures you may also find that Desktop Manager will not recognize your device.  If this happens, go to Control Panel > System > Device Manager on your PC and delete you Blackberry Device.  Then reconnect it and it should be accepted by the Desktop Manager.

If you somehow manage to screw up and brick your device – fear not and read this: How do I Recover a Dead BlackBerry?

For more information and help on this topic, visit the How To Increase your BlackBerry's File Free Memory Thread in the CrackBerry Forums. 

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Comments
By: whitters2240 | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 11:51

Awesome. Thanks for the tips. It helped me a lot!

By: ryanfisher101 | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 11:52

Very cool. Thanks! Much easier to understand than some of the other tutorials on freeing up device memory.

By: ywbyun | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 12:16

If you remove voice activated dialing your Options > About won't work anymore. A small price to pay for freeing up space but I thought I would mention that.

By: cjcarbone | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 19:47

alt + caps + H will get you there, so will alt + e a c e

They will both get you to the About screen!
'

And thanks for the writeup!

By: inc188 | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 12:39

ya. Thanks.. its really help full.. Cheers

By: Al Sacco | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 13:23

Nice post, Adam.

I actually wrote a very similiar article last month:

BlackBerry How To: Free Up Device Memory
http://www.cio.com/article/338863

AS

By: Adam Zeis | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 15:18

Just read yours Al, wish I had seen it earlier as I could have added a bit to mine.

By: DebMomOf3 | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 14:00

I was actually just wondering what had happened to my call logs - thank you so much for posting this!!!

By: sommerface | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 15:03

thank you for this! i can't wait to get home from work and start freeing up space (or at least getting rid of crud I don't use...ever).

By: jonjonthebeast | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 18:00

Wow that's a wealth of knowedge.

By: kingsario | Date: Wed, 05/28/2008 - 22:43

good stuff here! :tup:

By: cynbad | Date: Fri, 05/30/2008 - 10:09

this has been a HUGE help to this newbie!!! Love love my first blackberry (CURVE) and I want to help it all I can!!!! THANK YOU

By: Biggzjm | Date: Mon, 06/02/2008 - 00:20

Jus got my blackberry, and this as help me to gain some more space thx

By: sheldon2 | Date: Thu, 06/05/2008 - 10:22

just wondering how one would go about getting it back if it was deleted....thanks

By: MnM (not verified) | Date: Thu, 06/05/2008 - 11:14

Great info. I have been wondering how to get rid of some of the junk they dump on these phones.

I have found that a lot of people don't use the VAD. I think it's one of the best features on the phone. But I do a lot of driving and talking on the phone =)

By: jazzyl | Date: Sat, 06/07/2008 - 06:49

thank you that is very useful information every crackberry should know this information.

By: kriscad | Date: Tue, 06/10/2008 - 22:15

great post!!!

By: LilCostello | Date: Wed, 06/11/2008 - 22:51

This was perfect, I deleted everything in the Lecture except the Password Keeper and preloaded themes (for now).
Easy to follow and yeilds great results!

P.S. My About still works as well.

Cheers!

By: seipmoney | Date: Thu, 06/12/2008 - 13:10

This was very easy to follow for a new blackberry user thanks!!!

By: NYRSinceBirth | Date: Sun, 06/15/2008 - 01:31

Worked flawlessly. I was a little freaked when it didn't connect, but I forgot that once you run the app loader it reboots your device. Came right back up and works fine now. One thing that did worry me, was the fact that Windows forced me to close (BB DM ran into a problem... select close), it happened twice, but didn't happen after that. I'll credit my crappy computer for the scare. Thanks a lot, more write ups should be like this. Very clear and understandable.

By: sage1166 | Date: Sun, 06/15/2008 - 16:37

I'd love to ditch the PTT and other junk AT&T preloaded but can't find the above-mentioned folder. I don't see any "Shared" folder when I go into the RIM folder. I'm running Vista Home and have a new 8310.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

By: gizmo_0109 | Date: Mon, 06/16/2008 - 10:53

Ok...maybe I am doing something totally wrong because I am a newbie, but I have the current software and I followed all the directions totally. And i cannot find a single file on my computer named net_rim_bb anything...when I go under C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\ I don't even have a "Shared" folder to look for them?? Why am I havin this problem?? I can't free up all the unwanted wallpapers and themes and whatnot because this doesn't exsist on my computer for some reason. I've tried everything I know how to do. Any thoughts? I'm on T-Mobile if that's any help. Thanks! Jessi =)

By: emclaire76 | Date: Tue, 06/17/2008 - 16:49

I can't find it either!!!!! I tried every config of the os and then removed everthing til I got back to the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\ and found nothing past it.

I have a new 8310, and have downloaded the newest os, etc...I could find. (Verizon)

By: binalayan | Date: Wed, 06/18/2008 - 06:10

To all who can't find the Shared/Loader Files/
You have to download and install the latest OS on your PC.

Now we can get a bit more technical and remove some of the other features that will save even more space. To start, you will need to have your current OS installed on your PC. If you don’t have it you can usually download it here: BlackBerry - BlackBerry Desktop and Device Software Download Sites and install it to your PC. After it is installed, plug in your BB and open Desktop Manager. Do a complete backup of your device (from the Backup/Restore menu). When the backup is complete, close the Desktop Manager and unplug your BB. Delete the vendor.xml file from your PC (should be located in c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader). This file is really unnecessary as it only tells your device specifics about your carrier and OS, so we can just trash it.

By: gizmo_0109 | Date: Thu, 06/19/2008 - 16:36

Ok...I know I'm a newbie...but I did that first before even attempting to start freeing up memory...I followed all the directions and made sure I had the current OS...and I d/l the new one....and still no dice...the folder is not there.

By: curveballer | Date: Sat, 06/21/2008 - 16:43

Working off a very limited device, so cannot implement these suggestions. PLEASE HELP.

Specifically, I have no access to Options > Advanced Options > Applications since my Curve froze up a few days ago. Also no access to any other desktop icons/apps, can only make/receive calls :

- Battery Pull has no effect
- fyi, Bberry Device Mgr:, enterprise server currently not set up for mail synchronization

Is there any way to manually access/clearout my device's mail from using the USB data cable?

Many THANKS

By: tellsells | Date: Fri, 06/27/2008 - 20:00

I cannot find "Cache Operations" to clean up browser cookies. After going to options there is no listing of Cache Operations anywhere.
Am I missing something?

By: lilme08 | Date: Wed, 07/02/2008 - 11:32

is there a way to remove the shop applications from the phone? how about the standard alarm clock that comes on the 8110 (att)? the ATT navigator all of those things

By: Lovely1 | Date: Wed, 07/02/2008 - 23:32

so as it turns out, most of my pictures were not in the media card, but on the device. This was very helpful. Is there anyway to delete the preloaded pictures on my device? Blackberry pearl 8130.

By: saechavarry | Date: Thu, 07/03/2008 - 08:16

Thanks for the info, it helped me alot!!

By: Anonymous (not verified) | Date: Mon, 07/07/2008 - 03:08

Thank you so very much for the extremely helpful device, I was just before throwing my phone against the wall!

By: pinoiryder | Date: Wed, 07/09/2008 - 14:32

thank you for the info.. i am new to this BB world.. all help is really appreciated.

By: ellebono | Date: Mon, 07/14/2008 - 08:21

Sounds easy but only a 1 week owner of the CURVE...HELP?
ellebono

By: Anonymous (not verified) | Date: Sun, 07/27/2008 - 10:30

This was very helpful. Thanks for all your effort .

By: mariokie | Date: Sun, 07/27/2008 - 20:14

i saw some peoples' comments about not being able to find the shared folder. i too can not find it and am running windows vista as well can someone please help us out because i run out of memory in days and all my texts get wiped out. plz help the newbies!!!

By: ivy_punx99 | Date: Wed, 08/06/2008 - 09:02

Does this mean I don't have the updated OS? I haven't my BB for about 2 months and the software came with my phone!?

By: ivy_punx99 | Date: Wed, 08/06/2008 - 00:32

I'm also having the same trouble in funding the shared folder! After going into the research in motion folder, it pulls up additional 4 folders BBBI drivers, modem drivers, RIM device manger, USB drivers and I've been into all of them and can't find anything past research in motion. I have the BB pearl 8130 and I am pretty sure I have the updated OS

By: Phatz (not verified) | Date: Thu, 08/07/2008 - 04:04

My call logs and text msgs were automatically being deleted and I couldn't figure out why. I was down to about 3 million bytes of free space. Thanks to this site, I was able to get up to 21 million bytes of free space. I still have a few things left to delete, but thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: msnicky67 | Date: Thu, 08/07/2008 - 22:20

I have a low memory prob. How do I move my pics from device memory to my SD card? I need a walk through. Newbie here!!

By: MegTN | Date: Fri, 08/08/2008 - 11:38

I don't have a shared folder either. I have the newest version of Destop Manager (just d/l it last night) and also am running Vista. Is Vista the problem?

By: juwiesboo | Date: Tue, 08/12/2008 - 22:36

Okay, I'm having the same problem with not having a shared folder. I too just purchased my 8330 curve (verizon), I have downloaded the Desktop Manager just 2 days ago and my laptop is vista. I swear I have run/searched all that I know to do and cannot find this folder. I will continue to check back to see if any suggestions come out.... --->left pondering...

By: juwiesboo | Date: Tue, 08/12/2008 - 23:07

Disclaimer: I know enough about computers to be dangerous! Here is what I did after I posted my own comment:
I opened back up the Desktop Manager. Go to "options", then click on "data folder settings".
From there it shows what folder path data is stored. I copied and pasted that folder path in the c: drive line.
this opened to show 2 file folders: intellisync and loader history. I opened loader history (which opened as a notepad). from there I could delete items.
NOW...remember my above disclaimer. I have had no problems once I did this. Heck, I'm not 100% sure it made anything happen. I did realize a theme i had installed was not set as my theme anymore. Oh, well. I need to stop now or i will crash my laptop and my new BB! again, i can be dangerous!

By: spygirl | Date: Tue, 08/12/2008 - 23:04

As a new "addict" to Blackberry, this helped me a great deal! Awesome!

By: ivy_punx99 | Date: Wed, 08/13/2008 - 10:06

It states above that I needed to have the latest OS on my computer.

This means have the latest OS software that is on my phone downloaded to my PC?

Or If I have the latest do I still need to download to my PC isn't that what the back up data device is for?
Sorry probably making it harder than it seems!

By: Mic_Tech | Date: Sun, 08/17/2008 - 01:39

I appreciate you taking the time to post this information. It was very clear & easy to follow. Now I have a lean, mean crackberry machine. Ok, that was corny lol

By: wilcotn | Date: Sun, 08/17/2008 - 14:33

I've been looking for this info! Thanks!

By: pearloid | Date: Sun, 08/24/2008 - 19:56

Just theoretically speaking, what if somebody were to accidentally remove the phone application? I of course didn't do this, I'm just wondering what it would do.

By: Waze (not verified) | Date: Sat, 08/30/2008 - 12:28

Thanks alot! That really helped me out alot! I thought there was something seriously wrong with my world edition.... Is it possible when i load applications to store them on my memory card???? later

By: Lupus Yonderboy (not verified) | Date: Thu, 09/04/2008 - 16:54

I do apologize if this seems like an ignorant question, but is it safe to delete the Removed folder that was created, after running Application Loader to complete the changes. Thank you.

By: Kamden (not verified) | Date: Sun, 09/07/2008 - 01:58

it was drivin me crazy that my messages and calls were gettin deleted....all better now...thanks a million

 
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