Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the unpleasant situation when the internal memory of the device suddenly runs out. When you analyze the storage in detail through the system settings, the user finds that the lion’s share of space is occupied by a section with the mysterious name “Other”, which can take up from 5 to 50 GB, which critically affects the performance of the gadget.
Understanding what exactly is behind this label is key to freeing up space. The MIUI shell does not always classify files transparently to the average person, and this section includes remnants of deleted programs, temporary messenger files, and even data that the system has deemed “unknown.”
In this article, we will take a closer look at the folder and look at how to clean it safely, and don’t panic or bring the phone to the service right away, as in most cases, you can solve the problem yourself using built-in tools or simple actions with the file system.
Anatomy of the "Other" section in MIUI
The Other is not a physical folder in the classical sense, but a logical category in the Android file management system, where the operating system puts all the data that didn't fall into the standard categories: Photos, Videos, Music, Apps or Documents, a kind of buffer zone for heterogeneous data.
The bulk of this is cached data, and app cache is a temporary file that speeds up programs, like Telegram or Viber, which stores images and videos that you've viewed here so you don't re-upload them every time you open a chat, and that volume becomes enormous over time.
Operating system update files fall into this category, too. After installing a new version of MIUI, installation packages are often not automatically deleted, and may include error logs, streaming service data (offline tracks downloaded for listening) and files from remote applications that the system has not yet verified.
⚠️ Warning: Don't try to delete files from system folders through root-righted file managers unless you're sure of their purpose.Deleting critical libraries can lead to a cyclical smartphone reboot.
It's important to understand that the structure of this partition is dynamic. What is 10 GB today may decrease tomorrow if you clean up the messenger cache. However, without user intervention, the amount of data in the Other category tends to only grow.
The role of messengers in memory inflating
The main culprit in overflowing the Other section is in 90% of cases messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber are based on the principle of local storage. All media files that you view in channels or chats are stored in the memory of the device. The system often cannot correctly recognize these files as Images or Video, referring them to other data.
Telegram is particularly aggressive in this regard, it caches everything that a user scrolls, creating giant databases, and if you are in multiple channels with heavy content, the cache can be as large as tens of gigabytes, which directly affects the speed of the smartphone file system.
To clean up, you need to go directly to the settings of the messenger itself. In standard Explorer, these files are often hidden or protected from removal. Inside applications, there are special sections "Memory Use" where you can see the details on the chats.
- 📱 Go to the Telegram settings → «Data and memory» → «Use of memory».
- 💬 On WhatsApp, go to “Settings» → «Data and storage» → «Storage management».
- 🗑️ Use the “Clear Cache” feature, which won’t delete your correspondence, but will remove temporary files.
- ⚙️ Enable auto-delete cache (for example, store files for 3 days or 1 week).
Regularly cleaning the messenger cache is the most effective way to combat overcrowding. Automatic cleaning, configured inside applications, will allow you to forget about the problem of space shortage for a long time.
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Install automatic cache cleaning every 3 days in your Telegram settings, which will prevent the accumulation of gigabytes of garbage without losing important correspondence.
System garbage and remnants of remote applications
When you remove applications from your Xiaomi phone, there are often tails left over, folders with settings, temporary files and databases that the developer didn't bother to delete, and over time, these residues accumulate in large numbers, and the system puts them in the "Other" section.
Another source of debris is system logs and error reports, and if an application is unstable, it can generate text files that take up space, and temporary browser files that are included if you upload large files that were not saved in Downloads.
To combat this, it's important to use the built-in Security app, which has a Cleanup module that scans the system for residual files, but it's worth remembering that the built-in analyzer doesn't always find everything.
You can do a deeper analysis through the developer menu or third-party utilities, but for most users, standard tools are enough.
☑️ Checklist for safe cleaning
Analysis of contents through a computer
If the built-in tools don't help you understand what's taking up space, you can connect your smartphone to your computer. When you connect to USB, select file transfer mode (MTP) to see the actual folder structure.
Special attention should be paid to folders Android/data and Android/obb. Newer versions of Android have limited access to them, but you can often see their weight through your computer, and that's where the caches of games and heavy apps are stored. MIUI/gallery/cloud — There may be miniatures of photos.
Use disk space analysis software like WinDirStat or TreeSize Free (for Windows) or Disk Inventory X (for macOS). Once you connect your phone, you'll see a visual memory card that will clearly show which folder weighs the most.
| folder | Description of the contents | Can I remove it? |
|---|---|---|
| /Android/data | Application and game data | Only the cache of specific applications |
| /DCIM/.thumbnails | Photo and video miniatures | Yes, they will. |
| /MIUI/debug_log | Logs of system debugging | Yeah, unless it's debugging. |
| /Download | Uploaded files | Yeah, after the check. |
Be careful when deleting files directly through your computer. Deleting system files can cause the MIUI shell to malfunction. Only delete the one you are 100% sure of.
⚠️ Note: The.thumbnails folder can take several gigabytes to delete, but the next time you open the gallery, the phone may temporarily "think" and create thumbnails anew.
Using the Explorer app to search for duplicates
Xiaomi smartphones have a File Manager app preinstalled that can find large files, a powerful tool that is often ignored, and allows you to sort files by size, which helps you quickly find heavyweights.
Go to the app, select the Files tab, and sort by size. Often, the Other section contains forgotten videos, archives, or APK installation files. Size sorting is the best way to identify unnecessary data.
Also worth checking is the MIUI/Gallery/cloud folder. If you have sync enabled with the Xiaomi cloud, temporary copies can be stored there. Check the Baidu or Yandex folder if you have used their cloud services - the cache of these applications also falls into the Other.
Hidden folders in Android
Remember the cart. In modern versions of MIUI, deleted photos and videos don't disappear immediately, but instead end up in the cart, continuing to occupy space for 30 days.
Cardinal measures: Resetting and formatting
If nothing helps and the Other continues to grow at a mysterious rate, there may have been a file system error or a logical memory failure, in which case the solution would be a complete reset.
Hard Reset completely cleans the phone's memory, returning it to the "out of the box" state, which is guaranteed to remove any debris accumulation errors, but before that you need to make a full backup of the data.
The reset process can be started through the settings menu: Settings → About Phone → Reset. Select “Erase All Data.” The phone will reboot and begin the cleaning process, which can take 10 to 30 minutes.
- 🔄 Backup your contacts and photos in your Google Account.
- 🔒 Make sure the battery is over 50%.
- 📵 Extract. SD-a card, if it is used so as not to format it accidentally.
- ⏳ Wait for the system to fully load after resetting.
After resetting, the “Other” section usually takes up a minimum amount (less than the previous one). 1 GB, which is the norm for a clean system, is the "gold standard" of smartphone maintenance, which is recommended to be performed once in a while. 1-2 year of active operation.
⚠️ Warning: Before resetting, make sure to check if you remember the password from your Google account. Once formatted, the phone will require authorization of the account that was on it before the reset (protection) FRP).
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A full factory reset is the only way to guarantee file system errors, the Other section inflates for no apparent reason.