Corrupted storage (I think) on Vodafone SmartN11 (running Android Go) - how to recover data?

[niyatioxe]

I'm trying to transfer the photos off my girlfriend's old phone (Vodafone SmartN11 running Android Go Edition), and I've come to believe that the device's internal storage is corrupt. She no longer needs the phone, but wants the photos from it.

Trying to access the internal omegle  in Files for Google fails, and I cannot install any apps despite Storage settings saying there are several GB available. Upon connecting the phone to a computer, no files are visible (yet when I configured an SD card as internal storage, its file structure was visible on the computer). I'm not actually sure the photos are even there (I transferred the SD card to her nexender w phone) as it says 'Unsupported Media Type' on trying to open them (though the thumbnails will show sometimes for a fraction of a second).

So how can I recover the data from this phone? I'd prefer free options, but don't mind paying $10-20 for something if it works.

[hrym]

It does sound as though there's a problem.   The first thing would be (obviously) to check that the phone's fully charged and you could also try uninstalling a few apps.   Apart from freeing up more space, if you can do this, it would suggest that the storage may be OK.

Connecting a phone to a computer is sometimes a lottery, so using an SD card as an intermediary would be a good plan.   If you can install additional apps (after freeing space), there are 3rd party file managers that work well - I use File Manager +, which can access external shared droved over wifi.