What is the “Other” in Xiaomi’s phone memory and how to deal with it

Introduction: The Mysterious “Other” in Xiaomi’s Storage

Have you ever looked into your Xiaomi memory settings and found that the lion's share is taken up by the mysterious "Other" section, 10, 20, maybe even 30 GB -- and you don't know where they went. The system claims that it's not a photo, not a video, not an app, but then what?

In fact, MIUI's "Other" term is a bunch of back-end data, cache, temporary files, and remnants of deleted programs -- not a bug, but a feature of Android and Xiaomi's shell -- but if that partition gets ridiculous, it's time to figure out the details, otherwise the free space will evaporate without a trace.

In this article, we will analyze in detail what exactly is included in the Other, why it takes up so much space, and most importantly, how to safely reduce its volume without risking system stability.

What is included in the “Other” section on Xiaomi

The other is a basket for anything that doesn't fall into the standard categories (Applications, Multimedia, Documents).

📁 Application cache and systems are temporary files that are created to speed up the operation of programs, such as the cache of Google Play Services or the cache of Google Play Services. MIUI Gallery can weigh a few gigabytes.
🗑️ Remnants of remote applications — not all programs are removed "cleanly"; many leave behind configuration files, databases or folders in their wake. /data/data.
🔄 Update files – Update packs that are downloaded but not installed MIUI Sometimes they stay in memory even after a successful installation.
📊 Logs and dumps of the system - error reports (/data/anr, /data/tombstones), And it's a lot of things that are created when you crash, and it's a lot of things that accumulate after you use Developer Options a lot.
🔗 Symbolic links and metadata are file system service information that takes up space but does not appear as separate files.
🎭 Hidden theme folders – if you’ve ever changed a theme in Themes, remember: old themes aren’t always completely deleted.

Interesting fact: on some Xiaomi models (such as the Redmi Note 10 Pro or POCO X3 Pro), ARCore files, Google’s augmented reality technology, also fall into the Other. They can weigh up to 1-2 GB and not be deleted automatically.

⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse "Other" with "System Data"! the latter contains critical files MIUI, And the other is basically trash that can be cleaned up!

📊 How often do you clean your memory on Xiaomi?

Once a week.

Once a month

Only when the place ends.

Never cleaned.

Why The Other Takes So Much Space: 5 Reasons

If your Xiaomi has grown to 15-20GB, one or more of these reasons is usually to blame:

Social media and instant messengers are used, and apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, or TikTok create a giant cache to speed up media loading, for example, Telegram’s cache can easily exceed 5GB if you watch videos frequently.
Frequent MIUI updates: Each update leaves behind backups and temporary files in /cache. If not manually cleaned, they accumulate for years.
Using smart cleaning and optimizing, paradoxically, the built-in MIUI tools sometimes fail to do their job and create unnecessary files in the process.
File system errors: When power is cut or crashes, the file system (F2FS or ext4) can become fragmented, causing The Other to show an inflated volume.

For example, on the Xiaomi Mi 11 with MIUI 14, users often complain that the Other takes up to 25GB due to bugs in the cache compression mechanism.

Reason.	Typical volume of "The Other"	Can it be cleaned without risk?
Cash social media	3-10 GB	Yes.
Remains of MIUI updates	1-5 GB	Yes (partially)
Logs and dumps	0.5–2 GB	Yes.
Fragmentation of the file system	2–8 GB (false display)	No (remarking required)
Ruth-remnants	0.1-3 GB	Conditionally (risk of disrupting the system)

💡

If the Other takes up more than 15 GB on a phone older than 2 years, it is likely that the accumulated updates and social media cache are to blame.

How to See What’s in The Other: MIUI’s Hidden Tools

By default, MIUI doesn’t show the detailed makeup of the Other section, but there are ways to look deeper:

1. Built-in memory analyzer

Go to Settings → Memory → Memory Analysis. You will see the categorization here, but without detailing “Other,” but if you click on the graph, the system will show large files (over 50 MB) that can be manually deleted.

2. File Manager with Access Rights

Use MI File Manager (built-in) or Solid Explorer (from Google Play). Enable the display of hidden files (Settings → Show hidden files) and check the folders:

/data/data – Remnants of remote applications
/cache – temporary update files
/data/log – system logs
/miad – MIUI advertising modules (can be removed without consequences).

3. ADB-Teams for Advanced Users

If you are familiar with ADB, connect your phone to your PC and do:

adb shell du -sh /data/* | sort -h

This command will show the size of all folders in /data, sorted by volume. Look for suspiciously large directories like /data/app-lib or /data/dalvik-cache.

⚠️ Attention: Do not delete folders /data/system, /data/misc or /data/property — It's going to make the phone inoperable, even if it takes up a lot of space.

How to enable USB debugging for ADB?

Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version and tap it 7 times to activate Developer Mode. Then go back to Settings → Additional → Developer Version and turn on Debugging over USB.

Safe Ways to Clean the Other on Xiaomi

Now to the most important thing: how to reduce the volume of The Other without risking the system, and we've collected methods from the safest to the more radical.

1. Cleaning up the app cache

The most innocuous way:

Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
Select an app (such as Facebook or Telegram).
Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.

For mass cleaning, use Settings → Memory → Clean (Clean button).

2. Removal of update residues

Remains of updates MIUI stored /cache and /data/ota_package. To remove them:

Open Settings → About the phone → System update

Click on the three dots at the top → Delete the downloaded package

Reboot the phone.

Check the folder. /data/ota_package file manager (remove manually if files remain)

-->

3.Cache reset via Recovery

If the phone is slowing down and the Other takes more than 10 GB, try resetting the cache via Recovery:

Turn off the phone.
Press the Power + Volume Up before the Mi logo appears.
Choose Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
Confirm and reboot.

This will not delete your data, but will clear the system cache.

4. Removal of logs and dumps (for experienced)

If you are confident in your actions, you can manually delete the logs:

Open MI File Manager with root permissions (if any).
Go to /data/log, /data/anr, /data/tombstones.
Delete all files in these folders.

⚠️ Note: If the Other has grown again after a day or two, the problem may be memory fragmentation, in which case only a complete reset or re-markup via Fastboot will help.

💡

Before cleaning "Other" back up important data through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset. Even safe methods sometimes cause crashes.

What You Should Not Do When Cleaning the Other

Some "tips" off the Internet can permanently knock your phone out of action, and this is strictly forbidden:

🚫 Delete folders /data/system, /data/misc or /data/property. This will lead to a bootloop (cyclical reboot).
🚫 Format a section /data through TWRP You will lose all data, including accounts and settings.
🚫 Delete files with the.odex or.vdex extension. These are optimized application components, without them, programs will not run.
🚫 Use cleaners like Clean Master or CCleaner, which often delete files and slow down the system.
🚫 Change the access rights (chmod) to system folders. This violates security and can block updates.

For example, on POCO F3, users often delete the /data/app-lib folder, thinking it's a cache, which actually stores the application libraries, and when the program is deleted, it stops working.

What is bootloop and how to avoid it?

Bootloop is a condition where the phone is constantly restarting and cannot boot the system. Most often occurs after deleting critical files to /system or /data. To avoid: 1. Always back up before cleaning. 2. Do not delete files whose names contain system, framework or lib. 3. Use only proven methods (for example, resetting cache through Recovery).

What to do if the “Other” is not reduced

If you’ve tried all the methods and The Other still takes 15+GB, the problem may be deeper:

1. Fragmentation of the file system

Over time, the file system (F2FS or ext4) gets fragmented, and the "Other" shows the wrong volume.

Make a full backup of the data.
Perform a reset to factory settings (Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset → Reset settings).
Recover the backup data.

2. Viruses or malware

Some viruses masquerade as system files and inflate "Other." Check the phone through Google Play Protect or Malwarebytes.

3. Hardware memory problems

If the phone falls or overheats, there's a possibility of broken sectors of the drive, in which case the Other will grow uncontrollably. ADB:

adb shell dumpsys diskstats

Look for errors like I/O error or bad block, and if you have any, contact the service center.

⚠️ Attention: On phones with UFS 2.1/2.2/3.0 (for example, Xiaomi 12 Pro or Redmi K50) Broken sectors can lead to total data loss. Don't ignore this problem!

💡

If the "Other" has grown again in a week after resetting, the problem is most likely in the hardware (memory or controller).

FAQ: Frequent questions about the “Other” in the memory of Xiaomi

Can I remove the “other” completely?

No, it's impossible. The other one includes critical system files that the phone won't work without, but it can be reduced to 2 to 5 GB using the methods in the article.

Why does the “Other” grow again after cleaning?

This is normal: system and applications are constantly creating new temporary files. If growth is too fast (for example, +1 GB per day), check the phone for viruses or reset the cache through Recovery.

How to Clean “Other” on Xiaomi without Root?

Without root, you can: Clean the application cache manually; Remove update residues through Settings → System Update; Reset cache through Recovery; Delete large files through the built-in memory analyzer. For deep cleaning (logs, dumps) you need root.

Should I use applications to clean up memory?

No, most cleaners (like Clean Master) not only fail to help, but slow down the phone, they remove the cache that Android creates to speed up work, and often leave their own garbage behind.

What to do if the “Other” takes 30+ GB?

This is a critical lot. The problem is probably: Accumulated updates (if the phone hasn't been reset in years); Memory fragmentation (needs a reset); Hardware malfunction (broken sectors of the drive); Start with a full reset. If it doesn't work, bring it to the service.