Android's app archiving feature can be very handy if you have a lot of unused apps on your phone but you don't want to remove them completely. Archiving an app lets you remove its installation files from your device while retaining your personal data like logins, settings, and customizations. The app icon will also still be visible in your app drawer or home screen, albeit with a cloud symbol or faded colors to indicate that the app has been archived.

Tapping on the icon will reinstall the app with all your settings and logins intact. So, you do not have to set it up again from scratch.

Archiving apps manually

Starting with Android 15, the latest version of the mobile OS, you can archive apps on your device manually. This is very useful if you already know which apps you want to archive. If you're running Android 15 on your device,

  1. Tap and hold the app you want to archive on your home screen or app drawer.
  2. This will bring up a small menu. Tap on the 'App info' option in the menu.
  3. The settings page for the app will open. Find the 'Archive' option and tap on it to archive the app. Once the installation files of the app are removed from your device, it will be archived and its icon will acquire a faded appearance or get a cloud symbol.

Turn on automatic app archiving in the Play Store

With Android 15 having only been released recently, most devices will not have access to manual app archiving yet. Thankfully, you can still archive apps you don't use very frequently via the Play Store. You can choose when apps on your device will be archived and the process will take place automatically without requiring any effort on your part.

  1. Open the Play Store and tap on your profile picture at the top right.
  2. Tap on 'Settings' in the menu that appears on your screen.
  1. Tap on the 'General' section on the Settings page to expand it.
  2. Then tap on the 'Automatically archive apps' toggle to turn it on. Now, when your device storage becomes low, the Play Store will automatically archive apps you haven't used for a long time. You can restore archive apps by tapping on their icon in the app drawer or home screen.

Unarchiving an app

There are two ways by which you can unarchive an archived app.

Method 1: From the app icon

  1. Look for the icon of the archived app you want to restore in your app drawer or home screen. It should either have a cloud symbol or a faded appearance.
  2. Tap on the app icon and it will take a few seconds to restore. Once it is unarchived, you can start using it immediately without having to sign up or take other actions to restore your data.

Method 2: From device settings

  1. Open the Settings app on your device and tap on 'Apps'.
  2. In the list of apps that appears, tap on the app you want to unarchive.
  3. Then tap on 'Restore'. Wait for a few seconds until the app is restored and then you can start using it.

Things to know

  • App archiving only works for apps you install on your device. You may not be able to archive system apps or even certain apps preinstalled by your device manufacturer.
  • If you install apps from some other place than the Play Store, such as the Samsung Galaxy Store on Samsung devices, app archiving and restoration may not be available for such apps.
  • You can still completely remove an app after archiving it by uninstalling it from your device, but that will erase all your data. If you reinstall it later on, you will have to start afresh.