Owners of the popular budget Xiaomi Redmi 9 often face a mysterious situation: the internal memory of the device is rapidly filling up, although photos, videos and installed applications seem to be few. When analyzing storage in the settings of the smartphone, most of the free space is eaten by a section called “Other” or “System data”, which causes bewilderment and anxiety, since standard cleaning methods through “Cleanup” in the security application do not always give the desired result.
The inflating phenomenon of this partition is typical of the MIUI shell, which is based on Android. The system accumulates many temporary files, remnants of deleted programs and utility logs, which are classified as “other.” Understanding the nature of this data is necessary not only to free up gigabytes, but also to extend the life of the flash memory of your Redmi 9, as the crowded drive runs slower.
In this guide, we will take a closer look at what’s behind the mysterious label, why the system thinks these files are important, and most importantly, how to make room safely without risking damage to the operating system, and learn how to find hidden folders and use advanced storage analysis methods available to every user.
The Nature of the Other Section in the MIUI Shell
The “Other” section is not a single file, but a collection of disparate data that a file manager or system analyzer cannot uniquely attribute to media files, documents, or installations. APK-In Xiaomi Redmi 9 smartphones, this includes app cache, temporary update files, residues after a failed installation of programs and system logs. Cache is data that applications save for fast loading, but over time they can take up gigabytes of space.
Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber often store photos and videos viewed in their hidden folders, which the system perceives as “other files” if they are not marked as media in the gallery, and also include application databases, offline map files of navigators and cached streams from streaming services.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders manually through Explorer unless you are sure of their purpose. Deleting critical libraries can cause a smartphone to reboot cyclically or interface failures.
The MIUI algorithm is such that it aggressively caches data to speed up work, but it doesn't always manage it efficiently, so the Other section tends to grow in proportion to the time the device is used and the number of applications installed.
Main sources of memory filling on Redmi 9
The first and foremost culprit is social media and messengers in most cases. Telegram is known for saving all media files viewed into local memory, even if you didn’t download them on purpose. Cache folders can contain hundreds of megabytes of videos and images from channels you just swiped.
The second source is the remnants of remote applications. When you uninstall games or heavy programs, Xiaomi often leaves empty folders or configuration files that are formally listed as “other data,” and error logs (files with the extension.log) that are created by the system when various services fail.
The third factor is browser data: Google Chrome, Mi Browser, and others store cache pages, cookies, and temporary downloads, and if you watch videos online often or listen to music through your browser, that data quickly accumulates.
- 📱 Messengers: Telegram cache, WhatsApp, Viber (video, voice, stickers).
- 🎮 Games: Data cache (files) OBB), Remnants of remote games, error logs.
- 🌐 Browsers: Cache pages, cookies, temporary download files.
- 📂 System Files: Update Logs, Error Reports, Temporary Files MIUI.
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Use the built-in Cleanup feature in the Security app, but run it regularly, not just when the memory is already full, and this will prevent a large cache proliferation.
How to find and delete hidden files through Explorer
To manually clean, you need to access the file system. The Explorer app built-in on Redmi 9 hides system folders by default. You need to activate the hidden file display. To do this, open Explorer, click on the menu (three bars or dots) and select the appropriate item in the display settings.
Once you turn on mode, you'll see folders that start with a dot (like.cache or.thumbnails) that often hide thumbnails of images and temporary data. Be careful: delete only the contents of the cache folders, not the system directories themselves.
The most effective method is to use third-party disk space analyzers, such as DiskUsage or Files by Google, which visualize the memory as a map, where you can immediately see which file or folder occupies the most space in the “Other” section.
☑️ Checklist of hand cleaning Redmi 9
Using Developer Mode and ADB for Deep Cleaning
For advanced users who want to clear the Other section, there is a method using USB debugging and a computer that allows you to delete the system cache that is not available through the normal interface. First, you need to activate the developer mode: go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click 7 times on the MIUI version.
Then, in the Developer menu, turn on “Debugging USB.” Connect your phone to your PC and use the ADB command to clean the cache. This is a secure operation that doesn’t affect personal data (photos, contacts), but deletes temporary system files.
adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999This command forcibly trims the cache of all applications to the lowest possible value. In some versions of MIUI for Redmi 9, you may need to confirm the action on the smartphone screen. After you execute the command, restart the device so that the system recalculates the amount of space occupied.
⚠️ Attention: Teams ADB Enter only if you understand the way they work. A syntax error or the use of formatting commands (wipe) can lead to complete data loss.
Space analysis: table of file types
To better understand what you can delete and what you can’t touch, use the following table of classification of files that fall into the category “Other” on Xiaomi devices.
| File type | Location (example) | Can I remove it? | Risks. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | Android/data/[package_name]/cache | Yeah (safe) | Applications will load a little longer on the first run |
| Miniatures (Thumbnails) | DCIM/.thumbnails or Pictures/.thumbnails | Yes. | The gallery will regenerate the preview photo |
| Logs of the system | MIUI/debug_log root | Yes. | No risks, these are error reports. |
| Messenger databases | Android/data/com.whatsapp/databases | No (only old ones) | Loss of correspondence history when deleting the current database |
| MIUI Update Files | Downloaded_rom | Yes (if the OS is working) | Impossibility of rolling back firmware without re-loading |
As you can see from the table, most files in the Other section are temporary and secure to delete, but it is important to distinguish between active databases and archival copies.
Preventing memory overflow in the future
To prevent the “Other” partition problem from returning too often on Redmi 9, set up automatic cleanup. The Security app has a Memory Cleanup feature that you can schedule. In addition, the settings of the messengers themselves (such as Telegram) should limit auto-save media files or set up automatic cache cleanup once a week.
Check Download regularly, and users often forget installation files. APK, PDF-Documents and images that the system can also classify as “other” if they do not have a clear type of information. MIME.
Why is the place not immediately vacated after cleaning?
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Google Photos or Mi Cloud lets you store originals in the cloud, leaving only compressed copies on the device or freeing up space altogether with the Free Space feature, which dramatically reduces the load on internal memory.
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Regularly cleaning the messenger cache and using the cloud for media are the best ways to prevent the “Other” partition from sprawling on Xiaomi.