Modern Xiaomi smartphones, including the popular Redmi and Poco series, come with powerful tools to protect user data.The system automatically creates copies of contacts, messages, photos and app settings so you can quickly recover information when you lose a device or reset.
Often users are faced with a situation where the internal memory of the device is overflowing for no apparent reason. In the background, cloud storage begins to consume Internet traffic, and notifications of space shortage in Mi Cloud appear with alarming regularity. Many owners of equipment do not know that the process of creating backups can be completely controlled or stopped.
In this article, we will discuss how to disable Xiaomi reservations to free up resources and stop paying for extra gigabytes. We will look at the settings of the built-in Mi Cloud service, alternative solutions from Google and ways to force sync stops for advanced users.
Why you should turn off automatic reservations
The main reason users are looking for a way to deactivate this feature is because of the limited amount of free space available, the company provides only 5 GB of free space, which is filled in just a couple of weeks of active use of a smartphone with a good camera, and after exhausting the limit, the system begins to aggressively offer a paid subscription.
The second important aspect is the power consumption and consumption of mobile traffic, the constant background synchronization of large amounts of data, such as video in the video. 4K or RAW-This can be very draining, especially on models with less than the capacity of the battery or when using networks. 3G/4G traffic-limited.
In addition, some users prefer to store their data locally or use third-party file managers and hard drives, considering cloud services less secure.
⚠️ Before disabling all save features, make sure you have an up-to-date copy of important contacts and photos on your computer or external media.
Disabling backup in Mi Cloud
The built-in Mi Cloud service is the main tool of Xiaomi’s ecosystem for storing data, which is the most common cause of overflow notifications, and to manage this process, you need to log into the appropriate settings menu of your account.
Go to Settings and select the topmost item with your name and the Mi Account logo. This shows the general status of cloud usage and the list of applications that are eligible for sync. Click on Cloud or Mi Cloud to see detailed statistics.
In the list that opens, you'll see switches for each type of data: Gallery, Contacts, Messages, Recorder, and more. You can turn off sync selectively for heavy files, leaving only important text data active. To turn off completely, look for the Create Backup or Storage Management button.
If you want to stop the process right now, find the Stop Sync button or just turn off the main switch at the top of the screen. The system will warn you that no new data will be saved. Confirm the action and the background load will stop immediately.
- 📱 Open the Settings. → Mi Account.
- ☁️ Go to the Cloud section.
- 🚫 Click Stop Sync or turn off application-specific toggles.
- 💾 Select Delete Cloud Copies if you need to free up space on the server.
Synchronize Google and other services
In addition to the proprietary solution, every Xiaomi smartphone has active synchronization with a Google account, a feature that often duplicates the actions of the Mi Cloud, creating backup copies of call lists, SMS and application settings, and managing this process is in the system settings of Android.
To access these options, go to Settings → Google → Backup. Here you will see when the last copy was created and what data it includes. Google One Backup Switch allows you to completely prevent the system from sending data to search engines.
The Google Photos app is also worth noting. It is often turned on by default and uploads all images taken in original or compressed quality. To stop this process, open the Google Photos app, click on the profile avatar and select Photo Settings → Offline Download, then switch to the Off position.
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Use Traffic Saving mode in sync settings to prevent large files from downloading over the mobile network, leaving this option only for Wi-Fi.
Be sure to check the settings of messengers like WhatsApp and Telegram. They create their own backups in Google Drive, which can take up tens of gigabytes. Inside each app in the Chats → Backup Chats section, you can adjust the frequency of creating copies or disable them completely.
Local reservation: management and cleaning
Even if you disable cloud services, Xiaomi’s smartphone can continue to create local copies of the system and application data, which are stored in internal memory and take up precious space, which is often confused with “junk”.
Local backups are created through the standard Security app or the Advanced Settings menu, and the path to them is usually: Settings → About Phone → Reserve and Restore. It stores full system images that can weigh several gigabytes.
If you don't plan to roll back the system to a previous state anytime soon, you can safely delete old local copies. Go to the copy management menu, select unnecessary dates, and click Delete. This will instantly free up space on the internal drive.
| Type of data | Location of the file | Average size | Should I keep it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| System settings | /MIUI/backup/AllBackup | 1-3 GB | Just before the firmware. |
| Photos (Localno) | /DCIM/Camera | Depends on the user. | If you wish, |
| WhatsApp Media | /Android/media/com.whatsapp | Up to 10+GB | Only important. |
| Cash app. | /Android/data | 1-5 GB | No (can be cleaned) |
To automate the cleaning process, you can use the built-in Cleanup tool in the Security app, which finds old APK installation files, remnants of deleted applications, and temporary files that often grow to unthinkable sizes after a system update.
Use of third-party backup applications
If the built-in tools of Xiaomi and Google do not suit you with their intrusiveness or functionality, you should pay attention to third-party solutions. Specialized applications allow you to flexibly configure the rules for storing data and choosing the place of their storage.
One of the most popular solutions is the Titanium Backup app (requires root rights) or more affordable analogues like Swift Backup, which allows you to create full copies of applications along with their data and save them directly to your computer or any other cloud of your choice, bypassing the manufacturer's restrictions.
Should I get Root rights to manage backups?
For users who don’t want to go into technical details, PC-sync applications like Resilio Sync or Syncthing are a great option. NAS-server immediately after the file is created, freeing up the phone's memory.
- 💻 Syncthing – synchronizes between devices without cloud.
- 📦 Swift Backup is a replacement for Titanium Backup.
- 🔄 Foldr – Automatic uploading of photos to PC or FTP.
- 🛡️ Migrate – creating full firmware images for transfer to another phone.
Solving memory overflow problems
Even after all backup services are turned off, memory can continue to disappear, often because the synchronization process has stalled and continues to accumulate temporary files in the system cache, requiring manual control.
The first thing you need to do is clear the cache of Google Play and Mi Cloud services. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find the right service in the list, click Memory and select Clear Cache. Don't confuse it with the "Erase Data" button, otherwise you will have to re-enter passwords.
⚠️ Warning: If the cache has been cleaned, check the Recycle Bin folder in the Gallery, where deleted photos can be stored for 30 days, continuing to occupy space on the device.
Sometimes the problem is with the.thumbnails file, which stores thumbnails of all images viewed, and this hidden file can grow to several gigabytes, and can be found through the file manager, including the display of hidden files, along the path /DCIM/.thumbnails. Its contents can be safely deleted.
☑️ System check after synchronization is disabled
In extreme cases, when the system continues to behave incorrectly, you may need to reset the network settings or completely reset to factory settings.Be sure to copy all the important data to an external medium before this step, as it will be impossible to restore it after a reset without a backup.
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Regular manually checking the storage and selectively deleting heavy files is more effective than constantly fighting automatic synchronization.