What is in the folder “Other” on Xiaomi and how to clean it

Owners of Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones sooner or later face a mysterious partition in the storage called “Other” that can take up tens of gigabytes, slowly but surely eating up free space. Many users panic when they see system files inflated to 20-30 GB, and begin to look for ways to remove excess.

But blindly deleting files can lead to system instability or loss of important data. In this article, we will take a closer look at the anatomy of this section, explain why it grows, and give safe instructions for cleaning it, and understand what the name is about and whether you should be afraid of these files.

Anatomy of the Others section in MIUI and HyperOS

The Others section is not a single folder, but a collection of all files that the system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos, music or documents. The Android operating system and the MIUI shell (or the new HyperOS) automatically sort content, but junk files, app cache and remnants of remote programs fall into this basket.

Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber are actively using this space to store temporary files that are not displayed in the gallery. For example, if you send files or watch videos in chat rooms, copies of them are saved in hidden directories, increasing the volume of “Other”.

This section also includes update files that didn't automatically delete after installation, error logs, temporary browser files, and remnants of deleted games, all of which form the volume you see in your memory settings, and understanding the structure helps you keep the extra one from being deleted.

The main sources of proliferation of garbage files

Social networks and instant messengers are often the main culprits of memory overflows, and their mechanism involves storing every image or video viewed in cache, which can grow to huge sizes over time, especially on Telegram, where channels are updated every second.

The second source is streaming services and browsers. YouTube, Spotify and Chrome store buffered data to speed up loading, and if you haven't cleaned your browser's cache in a long time, there may be gigabytes of temporary files that the system classifies as "others."

The third factor is that apps are not properly deleted, and when you delete a game or a program, the folder with its settings and temporary data often stays in place, and these orphan files are no longer needed, but they can't delete themselves, and they can't, and they can't, because they're still in the "Other" section.

Safe cleaning through standard Xiaomi tools

The easiest and safest way to free up space is to use the built-in cleaning tool, which automatically finds files that are safe to delete without affecting system settings. First, open the Home Screen Security app.

Inside, select Cleanup. The system will scan and suggest removing the garbage. However, to work with the Others section, click on the Cleanup button in the Recommended section and then go to the deep cleanup.

In deep clean mode, you will see file categories: large files, unused applications, duplicates. Carefully review the list, especially the "Big Files" section, as there may be forgotten downloads or videos that you do not want to lose.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete files that have the words system, android, or config in their name unless you are sure of their purpose.

Manual management of files through the Explorer

For more advanced users, manual cleaning is available through standard Explorer. Go to the Folders section and look at the Android/data and Android/obb directories. This is where the app data and game cache are stored.

You can find the org.telegram.messenger directory in the Android/data folder (or similar for other messengers), which often hides cache and files folders inside, which you can safely clean if you understand what you're doing, which will give you gigabytes of free space.

It's also worth checking the root folders of the applications. Many programs, like Viber or Skype, create their folders at the root of the internal memory. If you've already deleted the application but the folder is still there, delete the contents of the folder.

💡

Use size-sorting in Explorer to instantly find the heaviest folders that are hiding in the Others section and see which application created them.

Don't forget the Download folder or Downloads. Often, installations get there. APK-files that become useless garbage after installation, but continue to be listed in the total memory.

Specificity of garbage in Telegram and WhatsApp

Messengers deserve special attention, as they generate up to 80% of the garbage in the “Other” section. Telegram has a powerful memory management tool built in. Open Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use.

Here you will see the Cached Files slider, set up automatic deletion in, say, 3 days or 1 week, which will prevent the folder from growing in the future, and there is also a Clear Telegram cache button that will securely delete temporary files.

On WhatsApp, the situation is similar, but files are often in hidden folders. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. Here you can see the chats that take up the most space and delete media selectively.

⚠️ Note: When cleaning the messenger cache through the Explorer (folder) Android/data) You may lose contact avatars and thumbnails that you will have to download again.

Using ADB for deep cleaning

For power users who want full control, there is an ADB (Android Debug Bridge) cleaning method that allows you to delete files hidden from the average user and clear the cache of system applications.

To start, you need to enable USB debugging mode in the About Phone section (click on MIUI 7 times) and activate USB Debugging in the Advanced Settings menu.

adb shell pm clear com.android.cache

This command clears the system cache, and you can also use the command to delete specific folders, but it requires a precise knowledge of the paths, such as clearing the cache of a particular application:

adb shell pm clear com.telegram.messenger

💡

Using ADB is the best, but requires caution: A mistake in the command can lead to the removal of important system components or resetting of settings.

Once the commands are executed, it is recommended to restart the device, the system will recalculate the file indexes, and you will see the real amount of free space, which is especially effective when standard tools can not remove the "stuck" files.

Prevention and automation of the process

To keep the Others from growing again, it's important to maintain them regularly, and you can turn on automatic cleaning in the Security settings, and the system will remove the debris itself when the space is gone.

Use the "Accelerate" function in the notification curtain. Regularly closing background processes helps to reset some temporary files. It is also useful to manually check the Downloads folder once a month and delete old installers.

For root-right users, there are special scripts and modules that automatically clean /data/local/tmp folders and system logs every time you reboot.

Digital hygiene is key to a smartphone’s fast performance: Don’t store hundreds of screenshots, delete unnecessary chats, and keep an eye out for apps that have access to constant background updates.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)