What is the memory on the Xiaomi smartphone: full analysis + ways to release

Have you ever encountered a situation where your Xiaomi suddenly issues a Memory Full notification, even though you seem to have never installed anything else? Or have you noticed that after a year of using space, there are only a few gigabytes left, even though there were many more in the beginning? This problem is familiar to most smartphone owners of the brand — and it’s not just your photos or apps.

In fact, Xiaomi’s phone (like any Android device) is littered with dozens of file types, from obvious ones like videos and games to hidden system data that accumulates unnoticed. In this article, we’ll look at what takes up precious gigabytes, why space isn’t freed up even after deleting unnecessary files, and how to effectively clean memory without risking the system. And you’ll also learn which MIUI chips help you automatically manage storage — and why they’re often not enough.

1.The main memory eaters on Xiaomi: TOP-5 culprits

If you open the Storage section in Xiaomi's settings, you'll see the memory distribution by category, but this is often misleading: for example, the System category can be 20 to 30 GB, even though it's only 5 to 7 GB of really useful information.

In our experience (based on analysis of hundreds of devices), up to 60 percent of the mysteriously disappeared space is accounted for by app cache, duplicate media files, and residual data after deleting programs.

• 📸 Media files (photos, videos, screenshots) – especially in format HEIF/HEVC, Which Xiaomi uses by default. One video in 4K weigh 1 GB, and the photo in RAW — before 50 MB.
• 🎮 Games and apps are not just about themselves APK-files (which weigh between 50 and 200 MB), but also their data (OBB-Game files can take up to 5-10 GB!).
• 🗑️ Cache and garbage — temporary files of browsers, social networks, instant messengers. For example, the cache of TikTok or Instagram easily inflates to 1-2 GB.
• 📦 Residual files – after deleting applications, folders often remain in the /Android/data or /Android/obb, which the system does not automatically clean.
• 🔄 System updates — MIUI Stores old versions of firmware in a folder /cache, weighable 3–4 GB.

Interesting fact: on devices with MIUI 14+ There's a Deep Clean feature that removes up to 1 to 1.5 GB of unnecessary files per click, but it doesn't work on all models -- for example, the Redmi Note 10 Pro doesn't, but the Xiaomi 13 Ultra does. → Memory. → Cleanup.

2. How to check what is occupied by memory: step-by-step instructions

Before you delete something, you need to know what's taking up space. MIUI has built-in analysis tools, but they don't always show the whole picture. Here's how to get the details:

1. Method 1: Built-in Storage Analyzer Go to Settings → Memory. Here you will see a diagram of the memory distribution by category. Click on any category (e.g., Apps) to see a list of the most voracious programs.
2. Method 2: File Manager Open Files (or File Manager) and then go to Storage Analysis, where you can see large files and folders sorted by size.
3. Method 3: Third-party apps Use utilities like SD Maid or Files by Google to analyze more deeply, showing hidden folders (e.g. /Android/data) that the system analyzer ignores.

Important: If you see a category called Other (usually gray) that takes 5-15 GB, it’s a sure sign that you’ve accumulated residual files or corrupted data, and you can only delete them manually or through a reset.

Backup of important files

Write down a list of installed applications

Check the cache volume in Settings → Memory

Make sure the device has enough charge (at least 50%)

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3. System Files and MIUI: Why Do They Take So Much Space?

One of the most common questions users ask is, "Why is it 20 to 30 GB on my Xiaomi?" The answer lies in the features of MIUI and the Android architecture.

Especially a lot of space is being updated. MIUI. With each update, the system saves the old firmware version in the folder. /cache In case of a rollback, over time, it accumulates to 3–4 GB of garbage. You can manually delete these files through the file manager (root rights required) or using the command:

adb shell rm -rf /cache/*.zip

Another feature of Xiaomi is the duplication of system applications, for example, the device can be simultaneously MIUI Gallery and Google Photos, Music and YouTube Music. You can not remove embedded applications without root, but you can turn them off in the settings (Settings → Applications → Application Management → Disable).

4.Apps and their data: how to find and remove unnecessary

The average Android app consists of three parts:

1. APK-File – the installer itself (weighs 10 to 200 MB).
2. These applications – settings, cache, databases (can inflate to gigabytes!).
3. OBB-Files – Additional resources (e.g. game levels).

The problem is that when you delete an application through Settings → Applications, it often leaves its data behind. For example, after uninstalling PUBG Mobile, files weighing 2-3 GB can remain in the /Android/obb/com.tencent.ig folder!

How to clean:

1. Open Files → Storage Analysis → Applications.
2. Sort the list by size and remove unnecessary programs.
3. Check the folders: 📁 /Android/data — herein, the application data is stored. 📁 /Android/obb — lie OBB-game-play.

⚠️ Attention: Do not delete folders of current applications manually! this can cause crashes. first uninstall the program through settings, then check the residual files.

You can use SD Maid (requires root) or Files by Google (works without root, but doesn’t show all files), which can find duplicates, empty folders, and residual data.

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If you install and delete games frequently, create a separate folder on the memory card (if you have one) and transfer it there. OBB-So they don't clog up the internal memory.

5 Media Files: How to Reduce Their Weight Without Losing Quality

Photos and video are the main memory eaters on any smartphone. On Xiaomi, the camera defaults to HEIF (.heic extension), which takes up less space, but not all programs support it, while videos are recorded in HEVC (H.265), which saves space but requires more processing resources.

Here’s how to optimize media files:

• 📷 Photo: In camera settings (Camera settings) → Photo format) select JPEG instead HEIF, If you want compatibility, or use Google Photo compression ("High quality" instead of "Original»).
• 🎥 Video: Lower the resolution with 4K full HD (1080p) This will reduce the weight of the video by 3-4 times without significant loss of quality.
• 🗃️ Storage: Transfer old photos and videos to a memory card, cloud (Google Photos, Mi Cloud) or external drive. To automatically upload to the cloud, use the Backup feature in the Gallery MIUI.
• 🔍 Duplicates: Use apps like Duplicate Files Fixer or a built-in tool in Files by Google to find repetitive photos.

Tip: If you're shooting a lot of videos, turn on the Autodelete feature in the MIUI Gallery (Settings → Autodelete) which automatically deletes bad take or blurred shots after 30 days.

⚠️ Note: When transferring a photo to a memory card, make sure it is formatted in exFAT or NTFS — otherwise, files larger than 4 GB will not be copied. You can format the card in the settings of the phone: → Memory. → Memory map → Format.

6.Cash and garbage: how to clean up without harming the system

Cache is a temporary file that creates applications to speed things up, like Instagram caches stories, YouTube caches video previews, and browsers copy pages visited, and over time, the cache grows to gigabytes, but you need to delete it carefully.

Here are the safe ways to clean:

1. Through MIUI settings: Go to Settings → Memory → Cleanup and click “Clean up garbage.” The system will delete unnecessary files, including cache, temporary data and application residues.
2. Manually for individual applications: Open Settings → Apps, select a program (like Chrome) and click Clear Cache. Don't click Clear Data - this will reset all the app settings!
3. With ADB (for advanced): Connect your phone to your PC and execute a command to clear the cache of all applications: adb shell pm trim-caches 1000000000 This command will remove the cache that takes up more than 1 GB.

Some apps (like Facebook or TikTok) recover cache almost immediately after cleaning. To avoid this, limit their background activity in battery settings (Settings → Battery → App Selections).

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Clean the cache regularly (once every 1-2 weeks), but do not delete the application data if you do not want to lose your settings and logins.

7.Memory card and external drives: how to use correctly

If your Xiaomi supports memory cards (like the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ or POCO X4 Pro), this is a great way to expand storage.

• 📱 Formatting: The card is better formatted as internal memory (in the storage settings), but then it can not be retrieved without losing data. If you need to use the card on different devices, choose portable storage.
• 🔄 Data portability: B MIUI You can transfer some applications to a map, but not all programs support this function. → Annexes → [select the application] → Warehouse → Change.
• ⚠️ Restrictions: You can not store updates on the memory card MIUI Or some system files, and the speed of the applications from the card will be lower than from internal memory.

If the phone does not support memory cards (e.g. Xiaomi) 12T Xiaomi 13, the alternative — USB-storage (through OTG-Adapter or cloud storage (Mi Cloud, Google Drive, Yandex Drive).

Important: when you use a memory card as an internal storage device, MIUI encrypts its data. If the card fails, you can't restore the files. So back up regularly!

8 Radical methods: resetting and flashing

If you’ve tried all the ways, but your memory is still full of “unknown” files, there are some radical measures:

• 🔄 Reset to factory settings - deletes all data, including system debris. Before reset, back up through Settings → The phone. → Backup.
• 🛠️ Fastboot Firmware – Complete Reinstallation MIUI Deletes all unnecessary files, including damaged partitions. Instructions: Download the firmware for your model from en.miui.com. Unpack the archive and launch flash_all.bat (for Windows or flash_all.sh (for Linux/Mac).

Removal of pre-installed applications

Titanium Backup

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.weather2

(Replace com.miui.weather2 with the desired application package).

⚠️ Note: Fastboot flashing erases all data, including files on internal memory. If you have important data on the memory card, extract it before the procedure. Also make sure that the phone model matches the firmware version, otherwise you risk getting a brick»!

After resetting or flashing, the system will be clean, but over time, the memory will start to fill up again.

• 📵 Remove unused apps once a month.
• 📸 Clean the gallery of unnecessary photos and videos.
• 🗑️ Use built-in memory cleanup (Settings) → Memory. → Cleaning once a week.
• 🔄 Update regularly MIUI — In new versions optimized memory consumption.