Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face a mysterious situation: the device’s memory is full, but the standard list of applications does not contain heavy files that could take up tens of gigabytes. The MIUI or HyperOS system honestly reports that there is almost no free space left, and blames the mysterious “Other” category for this, a problem that becomes especially acute on models with a small amount of built-in storage, where every gigabyte counts.
Users start to panic by deleting photos and videos, but that doesn't help much, because the system debris doesn't go away. In fact, the "Other" section is a repository where the Android shell puts everything that it couldn't classify as media files, apps or documents. Understanding the structure of this section is critical to properly maintaining the gadget and extending its life.
In this article, we will take a closer look at what this volume actually consists of, why it grows uncontrollably, and what safe methods exist to clean it up, and learn how to distinguish useful data from digital garbage, and you can return your Xiaomi performance without using radical methods like a complete reset.
What is hidden behind the category "Other"
The “Other” category in the MIUI interface is not just a single file, but a hoard of hundreds of small and large items, primarily an application cache that has not been labeled as a standard temporary file by the system. Messengers, social networks and browsers are actively using this space to store temporary data that speeds up their work, but over time this data becomes redundant.
The second big layer is the remnants of the remote programs and the system logs, and when you delete a game or an application, some of its files may remain in memory, and you also get update files that were not automatically deleted, and temporary files that were created during the operation of the operating system, and sometimes you also get files that the system can't read because of an encoding or format error.
Special attention should be paid to application databases, for example, messengers store the history of correspondence and thumbnails of images in this section. If you use your phone for several years and have never done a deep cleaning, the volume of the Other can reach 10-20 GB or more, which is a significant part of the available memory.
The Role of Messengers and Social Networks
The primary “eater” of free space in the “Other” category is almost always messengers, particularly Telegram and WhatsApp, which operate on the principle of local storage: all sent and received media, voice messages and documents are stored in the device’s memory, and even if you delete the chat, its “traces” can remain in the system folders, continuing to occupy space.
Compounding the problem, Xiaomi’s standard memory analyzer often doesn’t see the contents of instant messenger folders as separate photos or videos, and rips them off as “App Data” or “Other,” which can contain thousands of thumbnails, automatically downloaded stickers, and cached videos from channels you haven’t even opened.
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In Telegram, enable Autodelete for cache in the Data and Memory settings, setting a limit of 3 days or 1 week, which will prevent the Other category from growing in the future.
Social networks like Instagram, VK and TikTok also do their part by cacheing the feeds they've watched so that when you reopen the content, it loads instantly. Over time, this cache becomes huge. To clean, you need to go into each application's settings separately, find Memory Use, and force the cache to be cleared, because standard security cleaning may not be deep enough.
System files and update residues
The Android operating system in the MIUI shell constantly creates temporary files as it works, which can be error logs, crash reports, temporary installation files and geolocation data. These files usually take up little space, but with prolonged operation without restarting or with software failures, their volume can grow exponentially.
When your Xiaomi downloads and installs a system update, the installation package (APK or ZIP) often stays in memory. Unlike some other manufacturers, MIUI does not always automatically delete these files after successful installation. They can weigh between 2 and 5 GB and lie dead weight waiting for manual cleaning.
⚠️ Warning: Never delete files from system folders manually through a file manager unless you know exactly what they are responsible for.Deleting critical system libraries can result in a cyclical reboot or complete smartphone failure.
Also in the “Other” category, files that are left over from resetting or forced to stop applications are often included. If the application was not working properly and was completed by the system, temporary files that should have been deleted can remain in memory. Regularly restarting the device helps the system automatically clean such “tails”.
How to Safely Clean Xiaomi Memory
To start, use the system's built-in tools. Go to Settings → Memory and click on Clean. This is the basic method that will remove obvious debris. However, for a deeper cleaning, you will need to use the Security app (green zipper icon), which is pre-installed on all Xiaomi. In the Cleanup section, click on the bin icon and then select Clean.
A more efficient method is to manually cache heavy applications. Go to Settings → Annexes → All applications. Sort the list by memory size. Select the top.-5 Apps (usually browsers, social networks and marketplaces) and click “Clear” in the “Memory” section. This action is safe for your personal data (photos, correspondence), it will only delete temporary files.
☑️ Checklist for safe cleaning
If standard methods don’t work, you can use Recovery Mode to clean the system cache, but this requires caution. In most cases, simply delete the cache through the settings as described above. Also an effective way is to free up space in the Google Photos storage if sync is enabled, since local copies can be duplicated.
Analysis with third-party utilities
If Xiaomi's built-in tools don't give you the full picture, specialized analytics apps come to the rescue, and one of the most effective tools is DiskUsage or Files by Google, which visualizes the file system by showing in a diagram which folders occupy the most space, which allows you to find hidden files that the system has classified as "Other."
Using these gates can detect forgotten downloads, remnants of remote games or even malware that masquerades as a system process. However, when using third-party software, be careful: give the application only the necessary permissions and avoid programs with dubious reputations that promise to “accelerate the phone 10 times.”
Why does DiskUsage not see all files on Android 11+?
It's important to understand that after cleaning a third-party utility, the system may not immediately recalculate the volume of the Other, you may need to reboot the device or wait for several hours for the media indexer to update the database.
Comparison of Memory Cleaning Methods
There are many ways to deal with memory overcrowding, but their effectiveness and safety vary, and here is a table to help you choose the best method for your situation, whether it’s easy prevention or critical space shortage.
| Cleaning method | Efficiency | Security | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated MIUI cleaning | Low (100-500 MB) | Tall. | Minimum |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium (1-5 GB) | Tall. | Low. |
| Third-party analyzers | High (search for hidden) | Average (risk of error) | Medium |
| Reset to factory settings | Maximum (100%) | Risk of data loss | Tall. |
As you can see from the table, the most balanced approach is to regularly clean the application cache manually, which gives tangible results without the risk of losing important data. The use of third-party analyzers is justified in difficult cases when you need to find a specific parasite file.
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Regular prevention (once a month) is more effective than emergency cleaning when the phone is already writing “Memory is full.”
Radical measures: resetting and reflashing
If nothing helps and the Other category continues to grow even after all the cleanups, it may be that the file system has accumulated errors or damaged system partitions, in which case the only way out is a complete reset to factory settings (Wipe). Data/Factory Before doing this, make sure to back up all important data to the cloud or to your computer.
Reset completely removes all user data, settings and applications, returning the phone to the “out of the box” state, and then the “Other” category will occupy the smallest possible volume, which is also a great way to get rid of hidden viruses or deep-seated software bugs that could cause the garbage to grow.
⚠️ Warning: Before performing a full reset, make sure you remember the password from your Mi Account and Google Account.Otherwise, after a reset, the phone may lock due to the theft protection feature (FRP).
In rare cases, when even a reset does not help (which happens with physical wear of flash memory), it may be necessary to completely flash the device through the computer using the Mi Flash Tool utility.
Prevention of memory overflow
To prevent the Other problem from coming back too often, change your smartphone usage habits. First of all, turn off auto-save media files to the messenger gallery, set up automatic cache cleanup in your app settings, or use quick-clean widgets on your desktop.
Also keep an eye out for system updates. Xiaomi engineers regularly release patches that optimize memory and fix resource leaks. Storing the current version of MIUI or HyperOS is key to the stable operation of the file system.
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Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Setting up “Free space” in Google Photos will automatically remove from your phone those pictures that have already been uploaded to the cloud.
Check Downloads regularly, and installation files are often stored there. APK, PDF-documents and pictures from the Internet that you no longer need, but which the system stubbornly refers to user data or "Other».