Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a lack of internal space or an excess of pre-installed applications. MIUI operating system and the new HyperOS are rich in features, but with them come dozens of programs that may never be needed by the user. Wrong actions when trying to make room can lead to unstable device operation or even a “brick”, so it is important to clearly understand the structure of the file system.
In this article, we will discuss which folders and files are allowed to be touched and which are best bypassed. We will look at methods for safely removing system software without obtaining root rights using debugging tools. A competent approach will speed up the gadget and free up gigabytes of valuable space for your personal data.
Before we start radical measures, we need to do a basic audit of the storage, and often users delete not what takes up the most space, but what catches the eye, and analysis of file categories will help identify the real memory eaters.
Storage analysis: Search for large files
The first step is always diagnostics. The standard Android tools and MIUI shell provide built-in analyzers, but third-party utilities often give a more detailed picture. You need to find files that are unnecessarily large for their type.
Note the messenger folders. Telegram and WhatsApp store all the media files they receive in the device’s memory by default. Over the years, these folders can grow to tens of gigabytes, and it’s also worth checking the DCIM folder, where photos and videos are stored, and the Download folder, where installation debris often accumulates.
⚠️ Warning: Before mass deleting photos and videos, be sure to back up your computer or cloud storage. Recovering a remote without a backup is almost impossible.
For in-depth analysis, use the built-in Security app. Go to Cleanup and then select Storage Analysis. The system will suggest removing duplicates, large files and unused applications. However, the automatic analyzer may miss specific debris from remote games.
- 📂 folder Android/data — here are stored cache and game data, after deleting the application, this folder can be cleaned.
- 📂 Tencent or Alipay directory – often contain heavy logs and temporary files.
- 📂 Root folder MIUI — It contains system logs that are safe to delete if the phone is working properly.
Pay special attention to files with the.apk extension. They remain in the download pack even after installing programs, their removal is completely secure and frees up space.
Secure removal of user applications
The easiest way to free up space is to uninstall applications that you don't use. Unlike system processes, custom software can be removed without restrictions. Go to Settings → Apps → All applications and sort the list by size.
Often users forget about old games or photo editing software that were installed "on a one-time basis." Deleting such apps will not only return space, but can also stop background processes consuming battery. Some programs, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, have very heavy official clients.
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Instead of heavy social media apps, use their lightweight web versions or Lite analogs if available from the Play Market Store, which will save up to 500 MB of storage.
If standard deletion is not available (the gray button), then the application is system. Trying to remove such programs by standard methods is impossible, but there are workarounds, which are discussed below. Don't try to just disable system processes through settings if you are not sure about their purpose - this can lead to a cyclical reboot.
Also check the "Other Apps" section in the settings, which may hide services you've been installing for a long time, such as food delivery apps or taxis, and removing them will not affect the operating system.
Cleaning cache and temporary files
Cache is temporary data that applications save to make things faster, and over time, the cache can take up a significant amount of memory, and cleaning it is a safe operation, because applications can recreate the necessary temporary files.
To clear the cache of a particular application, go to Settings → Apps, select the desired program (for example, YouTube or Chrome) and click Memory. There you will see the "Clear Cache" button. Don't confuse it with the "Clear All" button, which will reset the application settings and log you out of your account.
There is also a system cache that accumulates during Android, which can be cleared through the Recovery Mode menu, which means turning off your phone, pressing the power and volume button (the combination depends on the model), then selecting Wipe Cache Partition, which will not affect your personal data.
- 🗑️ Browser cache – often takes hundreds of megabytes, is safely deleted in browser settings.
- 🗑️ Cash cards – offline cards can weigh a few gigabytes, check if you need loaded regions.
- 🗑️ Streaming cache – Spotify and Netflix cache music and videos for offline viewing.
⚠️ Cache clearing may temporarily slow down applications as they will have to re-upload data from the network.
Regular cache cleaning is especially important for devices with a small amount of internal memory (32-64 GB), which is less common on models with 256 GB or more, but monitoring is not a problem.
Remove system software (Bloatware) through ADB
Many users want to remove pre-installed applications from Xiaomi, Google or carriers that cannot be removed in the standard way, using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tool, which is safe if you remove only known packages and does not require unlocking the bootloader.
First, you need to activate the developer mode. Go to Settings. → About the phone and quickly press 7 times on the item "Version" MIUI" or "Version". OS". Then you'll see "Developers" in the Advanced Settings menu. USB".
☑️ Preparing for removal of system applications
Connect the phone to your computer and run the command line with administrator permission. Enter a command to check the connection:
adb devicesYou'll see a request for debugging permission on your phone screen, confirm it. If the console displays the serial number of the device, the connection is established. You can now delete packets with the command adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 packet name.
Here is a list of popular packages that Xiaomi users often delete:
| Annex | Packet name | Risk of removal |
|---|---|---|
| Mi Video | com.miui.videoplayer | Low. |
| Mi Music | com.miui.player | Low. |
| Post | com.android.email | Low. |
| Calculator | com.miui.calculator | Low. |
| Scanner. | com.xiaomi.scanner | Medium (needed for payment) |
How to return a remote application?
Be extremely careful with packages containing the framework, system, settings or provider name, and their removal may result in an interface failure or loss of communication.
Working with Android folder: what not to touch
The internal memory of a smartphone contains system directories, which are strictly limited in interference. The Android folder is critical. It contains data and obb subfolders. The data stores settings and saves applications, and the obb stores heavy game files.
Deleting the contents of the Android/obb folder will cause games to stop running and require re-uploading data. Deleting the folders of specific applications inside Android/data will reset them to factory settings, only if the application is not working correctly or you want to completely clean it before deleting it.
There are folders that you can not touch manually through the file manager:
- 🚫 /system — contains operating system files.
- 🚫 /vendor — Drivers and hardware-specific components.
- 🚫 /data (root – database of all user settings.
Trying to delete files from these directories without root rights simply won't work, but if you have superuser rights, the bug can be fatal.Modern versions of Android (11 and above) restrict even access to the Android/data folder for third-party file managers for security reasons.
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Never delete files with the.xml or.db extension from your system folders unless you know exactly what they are responsible for, which can disrupt the entire interface.
Cleaning hidden debris and dens
In addition to the obvious files, the phone accumulates error logs and crash reports. There is a built-in cleaning feature in the MIUI shell, but it is not always aggressive. You can use the command through the engineering menu to clean the logs, but this requires caution.
Dialer code ##6485##. In the menu that opens, you can see detailed battery and memory statistics. Although there is no direct "remove everything" button, knowing the codes helps diagnose battery status. Adb logcat-c is used to clean the logs through ADB, but it has a temporary effect.
A more efficient way is to find folders with application-specific logs, which are often at the root of internal memory and have names like logs, logs, tombstones, and if you're not a developer and you're not debugging an application, you don't need those files.
⚠️ Note:.tombstone files are created when the system crashes, and can be deleted, but if they appear constantly, this is a sign of a serious software error that the cleaning will not fix.
It's also worth checking the folder. MIUI/debug_log. If you haven't sent bug reports to developers, the contents of that folder can be painlessly deleted, which can free up a few hundred megabytes if the phone hasn't been reset in a long time.