What’s Hiding in the “Other” Section of the Redmi Note 8T and How to Make Space

Owners of popular Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones often face a mysterious situation: the internal memory is full, but standard applications can not show where exactly gigabytes went. This question is especially relevant for the Redmi Note 8T model, which, despite its popularity, has a limited storage capacity in the basic versions. The user goes to the storage settings and sees an impressive block called “Other”, which can take from 5 to 20 GB or more.

This phenomenon is a legitimate concern, as the lack of space leads to slowdown of the MIUI operating system, problems with installing updates and the inability to take new photos. It is important to understand that the category “Other” is not a virus or a system error, but a specific way of grouping data by an android.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the structure of this storage, explain why it inflates over time, and provide step-by-step instructions for safe cleaning, learn how to distinguish system debris from important data, and learn what actions will help return gigabytes of free space on your Redmi Note 8T without having to do a full reset.

Anatomy of the “Other” section in the Android system

To effectively combat memory overflow, you need to understand what this mysterious volume is made of. The Android operating system that runs the MIUI shell automatically sorts files by type. However, many data do not fall into the standard categories of Photos, Videos or Apps. App cache, temporary files, remnants of deleted programs and logs of system processes — all this flocks to a common pile under the label “Other”.

Apps like Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber have a habit of saving all received media files to their internal folders, which the system often does not recognize as a gallery. If you actively use these services for work or communication in groups, they can be the main source of space consumption. On the Redmi Note 8T, up to 70% of the volume in the “Other” section, messenger cache and cached data of streaming services often take up.

In addition, it includes update files that were not deleted after installation, and backups. Sometimes the user may not even know that he downloaded a file of several gigabytes, as it could boot automatically in the background, the system simply does not know where to identify it, and marks it as “unknown data type”.

The main reasons for the growth of hidden files

The first and most common reason for filling up memory is cache accumulation. Every time you flip through a social media feed, watch a YouTube video, or listen to music online, the phone saves some of the data for faster downloading when you re-refer to it. Over time, these temporary files are not deleted automatically and take up more space. On the Redmi Note 8T, with its not-fast memory, this is especially noticeable.

The second factor is the remnants of remote applications, where when you delete a game or a program through a standard interface, configuration files and data folders are often left in the system, they are not needed for work, but they are not deleted by themselves, and these tails can lie for years in the back of the file system, slowly but surely eating up useful volume.

The third reason is that media is very specific, because if you edit photos or videos a lot, editorial apps create a lot of intermediate files, and MIUI may not recognize their format or consider them system-based, sending them to the Other section, and it also includes downloaded offline maps of navigators and saved series in online cinemas.

⚠️ Warning: Before mass cleaning files, be sure to check their contents. Deleting system logs or important configuration files can lead to unstable operation of individual applications or the operating system itself.

Standard cleaning methods through MIUI settings

The fight for space should always start with the built-in tools Xiaomi**. the shell MIUI has a powerful built-in optimizer that is able to safely remove a significant part of the garbage. To access it, you need to go to the application “Security” (green icon with a shield), which is preinstalled on each device of the brand.

Inside the Security app, we're interested in the Cleanup section, and the system will scan and suggest removing cache, advertising files, and install package residues, but to clean the Other section deeply, you need to go deeper. The same app also has Deep Cleanup, which analyzes large files, duplicates, and rarely used applications.

You can also check the storage through your phone's settings. Go to Settings → Memory. Here, the system will show you a diagram of the space allocation. By clicking on the "Other" category (or "System Data" in different versions of MIUI), you can get a more detailed list of what exactly takes up volume. Often, you can find a "Clear Recommendations" button where the system will prompt you to delete the unnecessary ones.

Remember to check Download regularly, which is where everything you download from your browser or get through instant messengers is saved by default, unless you have set up otherwise, and often you can find old APK installation files that are no longer needed.

Manual cleaning through Explorer and application analysis

If the automatic tools fail, you'll have to use manual methods. This requires more care, but it gives you better results. You'll need a standard Explorer app or any file manager with access to internal folders. Our goal is to find and remove the contents of Android/data and Android/obb folders, as well as the root folders of messengers.

Inside the Android/data folder, you can find folders with messenger names like org.telegram.messenger or com.whatsapp. They often have cache or media folders that swell to giant sizes, and you can delete the contents of the cache folders, as well as old videos and photos from the media folders if you no longer need them.

Special attention should be paid to the MIUI folder at the root of the internal drive, which can be a gallery folder with cloud thumbnails or a cloud folder where temporary synchronization files are stored, and also check the Bluetooth folder, which often automatically stores files transferred over which the user forgets.

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When manually cleaning messenger folders, use the “Clear Cache” function inside the applications themselves (Settings → Data and Memory), which is safer than deleting files through Explorer.

Using third-party utilities to analyze the disk

When Xiaomi's built-in tools don't give you the full picture, specialized analytics apps come to the rescue. They visualize the file system by showing which files take up the most space. One of the best solutions for the Redmi Note 8T is the Files by Google or DiskUsage app.

DiskUsage builds a graphics card where each file is represented by a rectangle. The larger the file, the larger the rectangle. This allows you to instantly find the heavyweights that are hiding in deep system folders that are not visible on normal viewing, and you can see that some forgotten log file takes 2 GB, and delete it with a single touch.

Another powerful tool is SD Maid, which specializes in finding the “bodies” of remote applications, scans the system for residual files that are not necessary for the OS to work. CorporateFinder finds folders left behind by apps that you have long since deleted from your phone.

Without it, they won't be able to scan the Android/data section, where most of the trash is hidden, and after scanning, carefully review the results before removing them.

Specificity of the work of messengers and streaming services

A separate and most important conversation is about the garbage generated by messengers. Telegram, for example, by default caches all the photos and videos you see. If you are in dozens of channels, the cache of this application can easily grow to 10-15 GB. On the Redmi Note 8T, this is critical. This is solved in the settings of the Telegram itself: Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use → Clear cache.

It backs up chats locally that can be duplicated. It's also worth checking your media autoload settings. Turn off automatic video downloads and GIFs in group chats so they don't take up space if you haven't even opened them. On YouTube and Netflix, check the Downloads section, which often leaves movies that take up gigabytes.

Streaming music services like Spotify or Yandex.Music also cache tracks for offline listening. If you've listened to a lot of different music, the cache can be huge. These apps have a cache limiting or cleaning function in their settings, and checking these settings regularly is the best way to prevent overflowing in the "Other" section.

⚠️ Attention: Clearing the data (not the cache, but the data) in the application settings will result in a complete reset of the program: you will lose your correspondence history, authorization and settings».

Storage prevention and management

To keep the memory problem on the Redmi Note 8T from coming back too often, you need to develop a habit of regular maintenance: Don't wait for the phone to slow down or give a message about a lack of space. Take 2-3 minutes a week to check the storage. This is enough to delete unnecessary screenshots, bad photos and heavy video files.

Use cloud storage. Google Photos, Yandex.Disk or Cloud Mail.ru let you store media files online, freeing up space on your device. Set up automatic sync and Free Space, which removes photos from your phone that are already stored in the cloud. For the Redmi Note 8T with its limited memory, this is vital.

Also, you should rethink your app installation habits: Don't keep programs on your phone that haven't been used for more than a month; many modern apps have web versions or analogues that take up less space; and control over the software you install is key to a clean and fast system.

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Regular cleaning of messenger cache and the use of cloud storage allows you to avoid overflowing the “Other” section by 90%.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)