How to Completely Clear History on Xiaomi: A Step-by-Step Guide

Xiaomi smartphones store a huge amount of data about your activity, from web pages visited to the list of calls and locations, this information takes up space in memory, slows down the device and can fall into the wrong hands when you sell or lose your phone. But how to properly delete the entire story without leaving traces?

In this article, you will find detailed instructions for cleaning up different types of history on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices, from standard browsers to system logs. We will look at both basic methods through settings and hidden features that are not written about in official manuals. It is important to understand that simply deleting files often does not permanently erase them, but it will require special tools.

Before you start, make sure you have a backup of important data. Some cleaning methods (such as factory resets) remove all information from the device, including contacts and photos. Also remember that on devices with MIUI 14+, the algorithms for storing history have changed - we have taken these features into account in the instructions below.

1. Clearing the history of the browser on Xiaomi

The standard Mi Browser and Google Chrome browser (preinstalled on many models) store not only the pages visited, but also cookies, cache, autocomplete data.

For Mi Browser:

1. Open your browser and tap three dots in the upper right corner.
2. Choose History → Clear the Data
3. Check boxes: Browsing history, cookies and site data, cached images
4. Click Clean and confirm the action.

For Google Chrome, the path is a little different:

1. Slip on three points → History → Clear the data
2. Select the time range (we recommend it all the time)
3. Mark all available items, including passwords and other login details
4. Confirm the cleanup.

Delete viewing history|Clear cookies and website data|Erase cached images|Delete saved passwords (if not necessary)-->

⚠️ Note: Even after cleaning through the browser settings, some data may remain in system logs. → Memory. → Cleaning with a choice of deep cleaning.

2. Delete call history and SMS

Call logs and messages are stored in separate databases that can be cleaned selectively or completely. On devices with MIUI 13/14, an automatic cleanup of old records has been introduced, which can be configured in Settings → Applications → Calls → Autoclean.

For manual removal:

• 📞 Calls: Open the phone app, tap on three dots → Call magazine → select the records → Delete
• 💬 SMS: In the Messages app, keep your finger in the dialogue → Choose others → Delete
• 🧹 Complete Cleanup: Go to Settings → Annexes → Manage applications, find Calls and Messages, click Clear Data

⚠️ Note: When using Mi Cloud, remote calls and SMS They may recover the next time you log in to your account. To avoid this, turn off sync in Settings. → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → Synchronization before cleaning.

3. Clearing the history of locations

Xiaomi collects data about your movements through several services: Google Location History, Mi Location and system services. Complete deletion requires disabling all trackers.

Steps for cleaning:

• 🌍 Google Maps: Open the app → tap on the avatar → Your chronicle. → ✏️ → Remove the period
• 📍 Mi Location: Settings → Confidentiality → Location services → Location history → Turn off and clean up the data
• 🔄 System Logs: Settings → Additionally. → Special facilities → Location logs → cleanse

For devices with MIUI 14, you have a Secure Data feature that can block deleting your history. To turn it off, go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Secure Data and deactivate the option.

4. Delete History in Xiaomi Apps

Many of Xiaomi’s standard apps (Gallery, Music, Notes) keep their own activity logs, such as the Gallery stores the history of photos viewed, and Notes - a list of recent changes.

How to clean:

• 📷 Gallery: Open the appendix → Albums. → Basket → Clean. For complete removal, go to Settings. → Additionally. → Clear the data
• 🎵 Music: App settings → Clear cache and Clear data
• 📝 Notes: Hold the note → Remove. To clean the basket: Settings → Basket → Clean up
• 🛒 GetApps: Download history cleared in Profile → History → Delete everything.

gallery|Music.|Notes|browser|Other-->

⚠️ Note: Some applications (such as Mi Fit for smartwatches) store data on Xiaomi servers. To delete it completely, you will need to go to the web version of the service through a browser and manually clear the history.

5. Deep Cleanup: System Logs and Cache

Even after deleting the history, the applications still have system logs on the device, which may contain fragments of your activity, and you will need to use built-in MIUI tools or third-party utilities to clean them.

Methods of deep cleaning:

1. Settings → Memory → Clean → Select Deep Clean and mark all items
2. For root-access devices: Use SD Maid or CCleaner to clean /data/log/
3. Reset to factory settings: Settings → About Phone → Reset (removes ALL, including apps)

💡

Before deep cleaning, disable sync with Mi Cloud and Google Account to avoid recovering deleted data after rebooting.

On devices with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips (such as the Xiaomi 13 Pro), system logs are stored in a secure /persist partition that is not cleaned by standard methods.

6. How to irrevocably erase data (for the sale of the phone)

If you are planning to sell or transfer your Xiaomi, a simple history cleanup will not be enough.

Step-by-step:

1. Backup important data to your PC or cloud
2. Disable all accounts: Settings → Accounts → Delete account (Google, Mi, social networks)
3. Perform a reset to factory settings: Settings → About phone → Reset settings → Erase everything
4. Use full data rewriting DD-team ADB: adb shell su dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/block/mmcblk0 bs=1M ⚠️ It'll delete everything, including the firmware, and you'll need to reflash the device.
5. Install clean firmware through the Mi Flash Tool (for power users)

💡

Even after resetting, you can recover data with programs like Dr.Fone or EaseUS MobiSaver, and the only reliable way is to completely overwrite the memory.

7. Frequent mistakes and how to avoid them

Many users make critical mistakes when clearing their history, leading to data loss or incomplete deletion, and the most common are:

• 🔄 Undisabled sync: Data is recovered from the cloud after cleaning. Always disable Mi Cloud and Google Sync before deleting.
• 🗑️ Ignoring the Recycle Bin: In applications like Gallery or Notes, files first end up in the Recycle Bin, where they are stored for up to 30 days.
• 🔍 Surface Cleaning: Using only the Clear Cache function does not delete history – you need to choose Clear Data.
• 📱 Neglecting backups: Before resetting settings, always save important data to an external drive.

Another common problem is residual data in system partitions, like on devices with a computer. MIUI 12.5+ part of the logs is stored in /data/system_ce/ and /data/system_de/, They're not cleaned by standard methods, and they require root rights to remove them.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions