My old tablet had gotten so slow it felt like punishment to use. Apps took forever to open, and I was convinced it was just too old to be useful, until a friend watched me scroll and said the tablet was fine, it was just full.

Half an hour of cleanup later, it felt like a different device. Here is what actually made the difference.

Clear the cache first

Cached data is supposed to make apps faster, but over months it piles up and does the opposite. Clearing it is safe, you will not lose any photos, logins, or files.

1. Open Settings, then Storage or Apps.
2. Tap an app, then tap Clear Cache.
3. Start with the biggest offenders like browsers, streaming apps, and social apps.

Do not tap Clear Data, which is different and will log you out of everything. Cache only.

Then hunt the bloatware

Bloatware is the preinstalled junk that came with the tablet, games and apps you never asked for. Some you can uninstall, and some you can only disable.

• Uninstall anything you recognize and never use.
• Disable the apps that will not let you uninstall them. Disabling stops them from running in the background.
• Turn off auto updates for apps you rarely open.

The other silent killer is apps running in the background. Even when you are not using them, they sip memory and slow everything down. Disabling the ones you never open frees that up.

My tablet is not brand new fast, but it opens apps in a couple seconds instead of thirty, and I do not want to throw it out the window anymore. That was worth the half hour.