Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones are facing a worrying memory shortage message sooner or later. Standard storage analyzer shows that the lion’s share of space is occupied by an obscure category called “Other,” which can grow to tens of gigabytes, causing slowdowns in the interface and problems installing new applications.
Many users mistakenly believe that it is a system failure or a virus and rush to do a complete reset, but in most cases the reason lies in the specifics of the MIUI shell or HyperOS, which aggregate different types of temporary files into one group, understanding the structure of this data will effectively free up space without losing important information.
In this article, we will look at exactly what the volume of the Other folder is made of, what applications most often pollute the system, and what methods can be safely cleaned, and you will learn to distinguish the necessary system cache from the digital garbage accumulated over the years using instant messengers and streaming services.
The Nature of the Other Section in the MIUI and HyperOS Shell
The Other section is not a specific file folder, but a logical category in the storage analyzer, and this is where the Android operating system, in conjunction with the Xiaomi shell, includes all the data that could not be uniquely classified as images, videos, music or documents, which is a kind of black box of the file system.
The bulk of this is cached application data, remnants of deleted programs and temporary update files, especially aggressive social networks and messengers that save previews, voice messages and viewed stories in hidden directories, the system sees these files as an unknown type of data and summarizes their volume in a general category.
And a significant portion of that could be system logs and error reports, and if your device was unstable or apps were crashing, Android could save detailed debugging reports, and these text files can weigh hundreds of megabytes without being noticed by the average user.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders through root-righted file managers unless you are sure of their purpose. Deleting critical libraries can lead to a cyclical smartphone reboot (bootloop).
It's important to understand that the file categorization mechanism on different versions of MIUI works differently, so where one firmware version sees a video file, another might define it as "Other" because of a lack of metadata or a corrupted file header, which is why the scope of this category can jump even without user action.
Main sources of filling of hidden storage
The main culprits of bloating are often apps for communication and consumption of content. Telegram, WhatsApp, TikTok and YouTube create huge amounts of temporary data. For example, videos viewed on TikTok are stored in cache so that when you re-scroll the tape does not waste traffic, but rarely deleted automatically.
Another source is offline maps and navigators, and downloaded map areas on Yandex.Navigator or Google Maps are often shown in the “Other” category, and the same goes for music services like Spotify or Yandex.Music, if you downloaded tracks for listening without the Internet.
- 📱 Cache of messengers: Thousands of thumbnails photos, voice messages and temporary document files.
- 🎬 Streaming garbage: Video buffering fragments from YouTube, Netflix and online cinemas.
- 🗺️ Offline data: Cities maps, voice navigation packets and translator databases.
- 🛠️ System artifacts: Update logs, remnants after failed installation APK-file.
Heavy games deserve special attention: modern mobile shooters and strategies load additional resources (textures, sounds) into special folders OBB and Data. Often the analyzer can not correctly define the game as a separate category and writes its gigabytes to Other.
Analysis of content through the conductor and PC
For deep cleaning, the built-in analyzer is not enough. You will need a file manager with advanced features, such as Total Commander, FX File Explorer or Xiaomi’s standard Explorer with hidden file display enabled. Go to the root of internal memory and look at the Android/data and Android/obb folders.
This is where the bulk of the app data is stored, and folders are named by packet names (e.g. com.whatsapp or com.tencent.mm for WeChat), and when you go inside, you can find folders like cache, temp or files that are huge in size. Be careful: removing files from the data folder can reset the app or clear the correspondence.
A safer method is to connect a smartphone to a computer through USB-cable, file transfer mode (MTP) You can see the directory structure more clearly, so you can sort the folders by size, and you can visually see which folders have grown the largest, and you can find forgotten downloads or remnants of deleted programs.
The path to check the cache is /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/When working with a file system via a PC, the risk of accidentally removing the system file is lower, as the interface is more convenient. USB-For a quick revision, you just need to look at the properties of the folders without copying them to your computer.
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Use the Size Sort feature in the Explorer to instantly find the heaviest folders lurking in the bowels of memory.
Effective Cleaning Methods Without Losing Data
The safest way to free up space is to use the built-in Security app. Run the Cleanup function and wait until the analysis is complete. The system will suggest removing advertising debris, app residues and large files, a basic layer that rarely cleans everything up, but is safe.
For a deeper cleanup, use the app management function. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find a heavy app (like Telegram), click on it and select Memory. There will be a clear cache button. Don't confuse it with a clear everything or reset button that will delete your logins and correspondence.
If standard methods don't work, you can use specialized utilities like SD Maid or Files by Google, which are able to find "silent" files — data that was left after deleting applications but was not removed from the system. These files often form a significant part of the "Other" section.
☑️ Checklist for safe cleaning
It is important to regularly review the Download folder. Often users download installation files. APK, PDF-documents or archives that, after use, become irrelevant but continue to occupy space, and their removal will immediately reduce the scope of the category “Other».
Radical measures: resetting and reflashing
If the Other partition is more than 20-30 GB and does not shrink after cleaning the cache, it is possible that the file system is damaged or has accumulated indexing errors, in which case a full reset to factory settings (Wipe Data) helps.
The reset process is done through the Recovery Mode menu or through the smartphone settings, which is guaranteed to remove all digital debris, returning the device to the “out of the box” state, but this is an extreme measure, requiring time to reconfigure and install applications.
| Cleaning method | Efficiency | Risk of data loss | Recommended frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in cleaning | Low (1-2 GB) | No. | Weekly |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium (3-10 GB) | No (logins only) | Once a month |
| Manual removal (Conductor) | High (depending on the user) | Medium. | If necessary, |
| Full reset (Wipe) | Maximum | High (all data) | 1 time 1-2 years |
Sometimes the problem is a bug in a particular firmware version. If the Other section grows fast again after a reset, check for system updates. Xiaomi engineers often release patches that fix file system and storage analyzer errors.
What if the memory is released, but is occupied again after an hour?
Preventing memory overflow in the future
To keep the problem from returning, change your smartphone usage habits. Set up automatic cache cleaning in popular apps. For example, Telegram can set limits on cache size (e.g., 1 GB) and media storage period (3 days, 1 week) to prevent uncontrolled folder growth.
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Services like Google Photos or Yandex.Disk can automatically delete originals from a device after uploading to the cloud, leaving only thumbnails, freeing up gigabytes of space that would otherwise be counted in the Other or Gallery.
Regularly remove unused apps. Even if you don't use them, they can run in the background, collect data and create temporary files. Periodic revision of installed software is the best prevention of slowing down Android.
⚠️ Attention: Third-party “cleaner” apps from Play Market often work aggressively, closing processes and showing ads. MIUI Or proven tools like Files by Google.
Digital hygiene will allow your Xiaomi to run quickly and consistently throughout its lifespan.The Other section is not a fatal issue, if you understand its nature and regularly monitor the contents of the storage.
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Regularly configuring autocleaning cache in messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp) eliminates 80% of the problems with overflowing the “Other” section.