Managing your BB Memory - Lost Call Logs and SMS
 

If you are having issues with your BlackBerry such as your call logs or SMS/Text messages suddenly disappearing, the information in this thread will help you clear up the immediate issues facing your device.

Other symptoms of low-memory on your BlackBerry include losing pictures that reside in your device memory, losing emails within the time period it is set to keep messages on the device, and often simply shutting down and rebooting.

To do first:
On your BlackBerry, go to Options > Status. Check the "File Free" entry. The number is expressed in Bytes, so a number there of "10123456" would indicate you have 10.12 MegaBytes of memory free to use on your BB.

While there is not hard and fast rule of how much "File Free", free memory, is required, the symptoms above are most noticed when the free memory is below 10MB. The lower the number, the more likely you will experience loss of call logs, SMS and email messages. It is recommended to strive to attain a file free higher than 15MB.

To do second:
Removing the battery on your BlackBerry and replacing it, will often clear up between 2-10MB of free memory. This is commonly referred to as a "reset" of the BlackBerry, and is recommended by RIM for circumstances such as these. Doing so will not delete any settings, applications, data, or personal informaton on the device. Rather, it simply clears the cached memory of the BlackBerry and releases memory to be free that has been in use by other applications and not yet released.

With your BlackBerry remaining powered on, remove the back cover, remove the battery and hold about 30 seconds. Replace the battery and allow the device to reboot. Check the file free status again, at Options > Status. You will notice a marked difference.

Following the clean-up tips in these FAQs posted below will help you short-term:

How do I free up memory on my device? - BlackBerryFAQ.com

Additional information on memory leaks on the 8100 - BlackBerryFAQ.com

Why is my BlackBerry losing its call logs or message logs? - BlackBerryFAQ.com


For long-term support on memory issues, please read this thread on Optimizing Your Memory.
Optimize your BB! How To Setup for max free memory!

What you can't do to increase device memory:
a. You cannot direct your SMS/MMS/email/messages to be stored on your Media Card.
b. You cannot load applications onto your Media Card. They must be operating from the device memory.

JS, it might be good since those other threads have so many questions/answers in them to lock this one and sticky it to keep all questions in one place

This is a sticky right?!? If so, what are we going to do all day now?!?!?

There goes my post count!

I've Stickied this and will leave it open for now... I think users that are unsure about some part of a process should be encouraged to post here.

If it deals with the pro-active installing of an OS and cleaning code files, etc., please keep that in the Optimize Your Memory thread.

The main purpose of this thread is for the "omg I lost my text messages what do I do right now" user and their subsequent questions. It does seem many people here spend much of the day copying and pasting those three FAQ links, and this thread is Stickied in hopes of cutting down on some Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from our repetitive motions. :-)

pfffttttt

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Thanks JS

Thanks for the post. I am a new bb user and am thankful for all the help.

K

ok that worked, but I deleted some of my ringtones and they no longer play but they are still in my folder, how do i clear those?

abuchanan, after you reboot your BB (remove the battery, hold 30 seconds, replace and reboot) those ringtones will not show.

I need some help, I have cleared memory as instructed but with mixed results. Here is some background. I was on the road last week and my call logs, email & related items cleared out. I now am only showing the previous couple of days of email. Obviously this was of concern. I am using a 8300 with BES coupled with Novell Groupwise. I also have a 2 meg microSD card in which the majority of pictures reside. I have very little else, no third party software, or programs running.
My biggest concern is I am not seeing the BES repopulate my corp email which I need to happen. The purge seems to have stopped but I can't say for certain it has. Any thoughts?

Welcome to the Forums, happygator. If you haven't pulled the battery to reboot the BB, do so now. Leave the power on and do so. Additionally, read the links above.

Thanks for the response, I have done that but I did do it again this morning just for good measure. I left the battery out for 10 or 15 min.
Also for good measure I archived a lot of email in my groupwise account. I think that account is low enough to not be a factor now. I also have a personal email yahoo account on the BB but that is low enough that it shouldn't be a factor.

Just what is the problem you are still having? Please look in Options >Status and post the number you see next to "file free." Also, are you getting your BES mail or not? You won't get back the mail you lost, but you should continue to get new mail. If you're not getting new mail you may need to reactivate on your BES.

file free number 22675901.
I was expecting BES to repopulate my inbox. When it originally populated my inbox I had too much stuff and it wasn't able to populate everything. As I reduced my mailbox more email came in. I expected that when I cleared up this problem with memory that it would repopulate and at least have what is in my inbox. The reason for this is I'm able to view other folders in my mailbox. Why shouldn't I be able to see my inbox as well.

Wirelessly posted (BB 8860: BlackBerry8320/4.3.1.22 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Email won't repopulate once its deleted.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8300/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I knew that was the case with my yahoo account but I thought the phone would reflect all of the email that is in my inbox. Bummer.
I know know that I want to keep an eye on my available memory, is there a min amount of memory that I don't want to go under?
Thanks again for your help.

Wirelessly posted (8800: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8310/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I recommend striving for 15-16+ free. There have been occasions with lost logs and messages above that, but rare. It is quite common under 10.

The only time you'll get email to repopulate from the BES is when you activate a new device. It will populate as per how the Admins have it setup. If you wipe the device and reactivate the same device you'll get no emails. If you activate a new device you'll get a certain amount of emails. If having messages on the device is important then it might be wise to make frequent backups using desktop manager.

As far as memory goes, I would be carefull about anything less than 15Mb. Just do a battery pull once a week and you should be fine.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8300/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I can see that I had unrealistic expectations going into this. I appreciate the help. One last question on this topic, is there a recommended mailbox size that I should stay around? I'm currently at arount 350 meg, several days ago I was twice that.