Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the need to clean up the digital footprint left by websites.Cookies are small text files that sites store on your device to track activity, save passwords and customize personalized advertising.While they are convenient, accumulating a large amount of data can slow down the system and compromise privacy.
Android operating system with a shell MIUI or HyperOS has its own features of managing the memory of applications. Simple deletion of history is often not enough, as the data can remain in the cache or hidden folders. You need to understand the difference between a complete cleanup of application data and selective deletion of cookies, so as not to lose important logins.
In this article, we will take a look at all the cleaning methods available, from standard Chrome browser settings to advanced developer tools, and how to automate this process and what nuances exist for different firmware versions, which will help you keep your device clean and ensure maximum privacy without loss of functionality.
Why you need to clean cookies on Xiaomi regularly
Many users ignore clearing the cache until the smartphone starts to work slower or until strange errors appear in the browser. Cookies do not take up as much space as photos, but their number is in the thousands. They can contain information about your preferences, location and even authorization data on various resources.
The main reason for regular cleaning is security: if you use public Wi-Fi or pick up your phone, saved sessions can be used to access your accounts.In addition, some trackers use cross-site cookies to create a detailed user profile, collecting data about the sites visited.
Another important aspect is the correct operation of web pages: sometimes sites update their algorithms, and old cookies conflict with new scripts, which leads to pages not fully loaded, forms are not sent or you are constantly thrown out of your personal account, in which case cleaning is the only working solution.
⚠️ Before completely clearing your browser data, make sure you remember passwords from important services or they are stored in your Google account, otherwise you may lose access to your profiles.
It is also worth noting the impact on performance: when the database of cookies grows, the browser takes longer to process queries and find the right records. Regular maintenance helps to maintain a high response rate of the MIUI interface.
Delete cookies through the standard Chrome browser
Google Chrome is a pre-installed solution on most Xiaomi devices.The cleaning process here is standardized, but has its nuances depending on the Android version.To get started, open the app and tap three dots in the top right corner of the screen.
In the menu that opens, select Settings, then scroll down to Privacy and Security. That's where all the data management tools are concentrated. Click on Clear History (or Delete Viewing Data) and you'll see a list of data types that can be deleted.
☑️ Cleaning algorithm in Chrome
The key is to choose the time range: you can delete cookies only in the last hour, day, week or all the time. For deep cleaning, select the All-Time option. Make sure that the tick is only opposite to the item "Cookies and Site Data" if you do not want to delete the history of visits or the cache of images.
Once confirmed, the system will freeze for a few seconds, deleting the accumulated data. Newer versions of MIUI may require additional confirmation via biometrics or pin code if advanced protection is enabled.
⚠️ Note: Deleting cookies will result in logging out of accounts on all sites. You will have to enter logins and passwords again the next time you visit.
Cleaning data in the Mi Browser browser
Xiaomi smartphone owners often use the regular Mi Browser, which is deeply integrated into the system.It has its own engine and data storage, so cleaning up in Chrome won't affect it. First, launch your browser and go to settings by clicking on the profile icon or three menu bars.
Find the Privacy and Security section, where the interface may vary by firmware region (Global, China, EEA). You need Clear Data. Unlike Chrome, it often offers you to select specific categories: history, cache, cookies, downloads.
Select cookies and site data. The system will show an approximate amount of space occupied. Press the clear button. In some versions of HyperOS, the default Incognito function is available for certain sites, which prevents the creation of new cookies.
| Parameter | Chrome | Mi Browser | Systemic cleaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location of the menu | Settings → Confidentiality | Profile → Confidentiality | Safety → Cleanup |
| Selection of the period | Aye (from 1 hour) | Often just all the time. | No (all the time) |
| Saving passwords | Can we save it? | Risk of removal | Depends on the settings. |
| Impact on the system | Minimum | Average. | Deep. |
If you are actively using both browsers, you need to repeat the procedure for each of them separately, and the data is not synchronized between different applications at the file system level without a synchronization account.
Use of System Application Security
One of the strengths of the MIUI shell is its built-in Security app, which allows you to conduct deep garbage cleaning, including cookie residues from various applications, not just browsers.
Click on Clean. The system will scan the device for temporary files. Once the scan is complete, click Clean. However, the standard quick cleaning may not affect all cookies. For more details, click on the settings icon (cogs) in the corner of the cleaning screen or go to Memory Cleanup.
What is an Advertising Identifier (AAID)?
In the advanced cleaning settings, look for a Privacy or Special Features option, where you can access an application-specific data cleanup option, select your browser from the list and click Clear Data, which is equivalent to reinstalling the application in terms of stored information.
The system tool is preferable when you need to free up space in a complex way, it deletes not only cookies, but also error logs, temporary update files and remnants of remote applications.
⚠️ Attention: The "Accelerate" function in the Security app can aggressively close the background processes. If notifications stop coming after cleaning, check the autorun settings.
Managing cookies for individual sites
Sometimes you don't have to delete all cookies, maybe you only have a problem on one particular site, or you want to remove traces of a visit to a particular resource. Chrome and other modern Android browsers have a data management feature for individual domains.
In your browser settings, go to the Site Settings section. From there, select Cookies or All Sites. You will see a list of all the resources that have saved data on your device, sorted by data volume or frequency of use.
Find the site you want in the list (you can search). Click on it and select the Clean and Reset option or the shopping cart icon. This will remove cookies only for that domain, leaving the authorization on the rest of the sites intact. This is the most gentle method of maintenance.
💡
Use Incognito mode to visit sites you do not trust, in which cookies are created in temporary storage and completely destroyed immediately after closing the tab.
This method is also useful if you want to “reset” recommendations on YouTube or a news portal without losing saved passwords elsewhere.
Automation and advanced MIUI settings
For users who value their time, Xiaomi offers automation tools. The Security app has a Speed Up feature that can be configured to start automatically. Although it primarily frees up RAM, you can add browser cache clearing in advanced settings.
A more advanced method is to use scripts in the AutoTask app (if available in your version of MIUI) or third-party automating apps such as MacroDroid or Tasks, which can create a rule: “If it’s 3:00 a.m., clear your browser data,” which requires the application to be given special permissions through ADB or the accessibility menu.
You should also pay attention to the DNS settings. Switching to DNS with the tracking lock function (for example, AdGuard DNS) can prevent the creation of many types of cookies even at the stage of page loading. You can configure this in the Settings section → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS.
💡
Automating cleaning processes is the best way to maintain privacy without constantly manually tampering with system settings.
Remember that over-automation can lead to permanent crashes from Google or Mi Accounts if the scrubbing script is too aggressive.