Owners of Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones sooner or later face a situation where the built-in storage is overflowing and the system shows a frightening category of “Other” or “Other”. This section can take up tens of gigabytes, and standard cleaning methods often prove powerless against it. The user sees that the memory is full, but does not understand where the free megabytes go after removing photos and unnecessary applications.
In fact, the Others category is a system container for files that Android or the MIUI shell couldn’t automatically classify, including messenger cache, remnants of remote programs, error logs, temporary update files, and streaming service data, and understanding the structure of this folder is the first step to freeing up valuable space on your device.
In this detailed guide, we will discuss safe and effective ways to clean this partition. You will learn to distinguish system debris from important data, use hidden debugging functions and apply advanced methods of memory analysis. The Others system partition is not a virus, but its proliferation can slow down the smartphone and cause updates to fail. Let's start a detailed analysis of the causes and methods of solving.
What is hidden in the Others section and why is it growing?
The main reason for the growth of the Others folder lies in the specifics of modern applications. Social networks such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber store media files in their own secure directories, which the system does not always correctly display in the gallery or standard file manager. Over time, this data accumulates, turning into gigabytes of “invisible” garbage.
It also stores browser cache files, streaming platforms like Netflix or YouTube, and navigation maps, and if you’re actively using online services, their temporary data can take up the lion’s share of memory, and it also includes files left over from a failed system update or a crash when you download large files.
Often users forget about downloaded files from the Internet or email attachments. These documents are not clearly linked to a specific application in the eyes of the file system, so they fall into a common pile. Without regular cleaning, this section can grow to 20-30 GB, which is critical for models with a small amount of internal memory.
⚠️ Warning: Don't try to delete files from system folders manually through hidden menus unless you're sure of their purpose.Deleting critical system libraries can lead to a phone cyclical reboot or data loss.
For clarity, let’s look at which data types are most likely to rank in this category:
- 📱 Cache of messengers: voice messages, stickers and watched videos.
- 🌐 Offline maps and navigation data: loaded map areas for working without the Internet.
- 📦 Residual files: folders from long-deleted games and applications.
- 🔄 Temporary Updates: Installation Packs that are not automatically deleted.
Understanding the nature of these files helps you choose the right cleaning strategy, for example, messenger cache can be safely cleaned inside the applications themselves, whereas residual files are better deleted through specialized utilities or file managers with extended rights.
Basic cleaning through standard MIUI and HyperOS
The first step should always be to try to clean the system with built-in tools. MIUI and HyperOS shells have powerful tools to maintain the device. The standard Cleanup utility is able to find and delete a significant portion of temporary files without affecting important user data.
To start the process, go to the Security → Cleanup menu. The system will analyze the storage and suggest removing garbage. However, the standard scanner is often surface-like. To get to the deeper level, click on the Deep Cleanup icon or Storage Analyzer icon, and here you will see a more detailed breakdown by file type.
☑️ Checking before cleaning
In the Apps section, you can find the programs that take up the most space inside the analyzer, and they often turn out to be the ones that generate volumetric files in the Others category. Choose an app, go to Warehouse → Clear the cache. It's important not to confuse the Clear Cache button with the Clear Everything button, because they will delete your logins and settings in the app.
Also worth paying attention to is the Download folder, which many users have been storing for years. APK-file, PDF-Deleting the contents of this folder often frees up a few gigabytes that the system previously considered "other" files.
Analysis and disposal of garbage through debugging mode (ADB)
If standard methods have not helped reduce the size of the Others folder, you can use USB debugging mode. This method requires connecting the smartphone to the computer and having basic knowledge of working with the command line, but it gives access to hidden parts of the file system.
First, you need to activate the developer mode. Go to Settings. → About phone and seven times quickly click on the item "Version" MIUI» (Or "OS version"). A new "More" section will appear in the settings menu» → «For developers. Inside, activate the Debugging by Switch. USB.
What to do if your computer can’t see your phone?
To do this, you'll need a Platform Tools (ADB) package on your computer. Once you've connected your phone, run a command to view your memory. The most effective way to clean up ADB is to use commands to reset the packet manager cache or force media files to be indexed.
adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999This command instructs the system to trim caches to fit within the specified limit (in this case, a very large limit to force trimming of all possible caches). This is a safe operation that causes the system to review its caches and delete the excess.
- 💻 Installation of drivers: Make sure that drivers are installed on your PC for your device.
- 🔌 Connection Check: The cable should support data transfer, not just charging.
- 🛡️ Security: Do not enter commands whose purpose you do not know.
⚠️ Attention: Use ADB Enter commands to delete system files (for example, via rm) -rf) Without an accurate understanding of the ways can turn a smartphone into a “brick».
Use of third-party disk space analyzers
When Xiaomi’s built-in tools don’t show the full picture, specialized analytics apps come to the rescue, and programs like DiskUsage, Storage Analyzer, or Files by Google visualize the file system by showing which folders have inflated the Others section.
Once you scan, you'll see a memory card that has rectangle sizes proportional to the size of the files, and it often turns out that the Others section hides a huge folder called.thumbnails or a cache of map applications, and the contents of those folders are removed through the file manager analyzer, and it's safe for the system to remove.
And you should pay special attention to the Android/data folder, which stores app data, and if you delete the game, the heavy files can stay there, and the analyzer can find those tails and manually delete them, but be careful: removing the active application folders will reset their settings or progress.
The advantage of third-party analyzers is that they show hidden files that standard MIUI Explorer hides by default, and they can find forgotten downloads, error logs, and duplicate files that add up to a significant increase in free space.
Table: Comparison of cleaning methods
To make it easier for you to choose the right method, we have prepared a comparative table of methods for cleaning the Other folder. Each method has its own advantages and risks that must be considered.
| Method | Efficiency | Difficulty | Risk of data loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard cleaning | Low. | Minimum | Absent. |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium | Low. | Low (settings) |
| Third-party analyzers | Tall. | Medium | Medium (human factor) |
| ADB team | Maximum | Tall. | High (in case of errors) |
As you can see from the table, for most users, a combination of standard cleaning and third-party analyzers is the best option, and the ADB method should be left to advanced users who understand the consequences of their actions.
Overflow prevention and helpful tips
To keep the problem of inflating the Others folder from coming back too often, you need to implement a few smartphone care habits. Regularity is a key factor. Once a month, take 5-10 minutes to check the storage.
Set up automatic cleaning in messengers. Telegram, for example, can set autodelete cache (for example, store files for 3 days or a week), this will prevent the accumulation of gigabytes of temporary files in the background, similar settings are available on WhatsApp and Viber.
💡
Use cloud services to store photos. Set up automatic synchronization with Google Photos or Xiaomi Cloud will allow you to delete the originals from the device, freeing up space, but retaining access to the archive.
It's also recommended that you regularly check the Downloads folder and the gallery cart.The files in the cart often take up space for another 30 days after you delete.
- 🗑️ Regularity: Clean once a month.
- ☁️ Cloud: Move photos and videos to cloud storage.
- ⚙️ Settings: Limit the cache size in the application settings.
Compliance with these simple rules will help keep the system in good shape and avoid critical memory filling, which slows down the work of Xiaomi and Redmi.
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An integrated approach combining cache cleaning, garbage removal through analyzers and autoremoval settings in messengers gives the best long-term result.