The other in Xiaomi Redmi 9 storage: a secret memory eater. How do you reduce its size?

You opened your storage settings on your Xiaomi Redmi 9, and suddenly you found that the lion’s share is occupied by the mysterious “Other” section? 10, 20, or even 30 GB — and it is unclear what these files are, why they are not deleted through standard means, and most importantly, whether they can be safely cleaned. This problem is familiar to many owners of Xiaomi smartphones, especially on budget models with limited memory.

Unlike obvious categories like Photos, Videos, or Apps, Other is a kind of black box of the system, where service caches, temporary update files, data from disabled applications, and even artifacts from old firmware accumulate, but it's not all that scary: some of these files can be deleted without risk to the system, and some of them can be optimized, and the main thing is to know what is hidden under this label and what tools to use.

In this article, we’ll not only look at what’s in the Other on Redmi 9, but also show you how to clean things up, from built-in MIUI features to hidden commands for power users, and why this section can suddenly grow after you upgrade or install certain applications.

What is the Other item in Redmi 9's vault?

To start with, "Other" is not a single file type, but a collection category for everything that the system failed to classify as standard (photo, video, audio, etc.) and includes:

• 🗃️ Cache of system applications – temporary files from Google Services, MIUI Launcher, Security and other services that are not automatically cleaned.
• 📦 Remnants of Remote Applications – folders with settings, logs, and program data you uninstalled long ago.
• 🔄 Update files – downloaded but not installed firmware packages (including: OTA-update).
• 📑 Logs and dumps of the system are error reports that are created when failures occur (for example, /data/tombstones).
• 🎭 Hidden themes and design files — MIUI Keeps copies of themes, fonts and animations even after they are deleted.
• 🔗 Symbolic links and tags are technical artifacts of the file system that take up space but are not visible to the user.

Feature of Redmi 9 (and other smartphones MIUI 11/12) It's because the system is actively using the "Other" partition to store duplicate updates and backups of settings, for example, after updating the firmware, the old files are not always deleted, but remain in the backup. /data/ota_package or /cache. This is done for the possibility of rollback, but over time accumulates up to several gigabytes.

Another memory eater is the Google Play Services cache, which is responsible for account synchronization, geolocation, and push notifications, but its cache can grow to 1-2 GB, and standard cleaning through settings often does not help.

Why the Other Takes So Much Space: 5 Top Reasons

If the “Other” partition on your Redmi 9 suddenly grew to 10+GB, one or more of these reasons are usually to blame:

1. Update MIUI every major update (e.g., with a MIUI 11 on MIUI 12) retains tails, such as old libraries, temporary installer files and backups of system applications, which the system does not automatically delete to allow you to roll back.
2. Active use of Google services: Apps like Google Maps, YouTube or Chrome create cache to speed up work, but do not always clean it correctly. For example, YouTube can store up to 500 MB of preloaded videos even if you did not watch them.
3. File system errors: Redmi 9 uses the F2FS file system (or ext4 on some modifications), which becomes fragmented over time, causing deleted files to physically remain on the disk, taking up space.
4. Aggressive caching apps: Messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp), social networks (TikTok, Instagram), and even games (PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact) can save gigabytes of data in the Other if not configured correctly.
5. Hidden backups. MIUI automatically creates backups for Wi-Fi, SMS and applications settings in /data/com.android.backup. These files rarely exceed 100MB, but if there are many backups, they add up.

Interesting fact: on the Redmi 9 with 64 GB of memory, the “Other” section often takes up more space than on models with 128 GB. This is due to the fact that the system on “small” devices actively uses compression and caching to save space, but at the same time, it cleans garbage worse.

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Before cleaning Other, check if Adaptive Memory is included in Settings → Memory → Settings. It automatically deletes unused files, but sometimes it works too aggressively by deleting the data it needs.

How to Safely Clean the Other on Redmi 9: Step-by-step

Before you start cleaning, remember two key rules:

⚠️ Note: Do not manually delete files from folders /system, /vendor or /boot — It's going to crash the system. /data and /cache.

⚠️ Warning: If after cleaning the smartphone began to slow down, restart it. MIUI Reconstructs the cache at the first start after such manipulations.

Now, let's get to the point. Here are 4 proven ways to reduce the size of the Other:

1. Standard cleaning through MIUI

The safest, but not always effective method is:

1. Open the Settings → Memory.
2. Tap on “Clean” at the bottom of the screen (the system will prompt you to delete the app cache).
3. Go to Files (the folder icon at the bottom) → Categories → Other.
4. Select large files (e.g..apk,.tmp,.log) and delete them.

2. Clearing the Google Services cache

This method will help if the Other has grown because of Google services:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Google Play Services and open it.
3. Slip "Storage" → "Clear the cache" (not data!).
4. Repeat for Google Play Market, Google Chrome and YouTube.

3. Removing old updates

If "The Other" grew after the MIUI update:

1. Install a file manager with root permissions (such as FX File Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Move to the /data/ota_package Delete all files with the.zip extension.
3. Clean the /cache folder (remove all its contents).

4.Cache reset via Recovery

Radical but effective way (does not delete user data):

1. Turn off your smartphone.
2. Press Power + Volume Up to Enter Recovery.
3. Choose Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
4. Confirm the action and restart the device.

What files in the “Other” can be deleted and which can not

Not all files in the Other section are equally useful, and below is a table of data types that are allowed and not allowed to be deleted:

Special attention should be paid to files with the extension.odex and.oat are optimized versions of system applications, their removal will cause the programs will stop running until the next reboot, and do not touch the /data/app-lib folder, where the libraries for installed applications are stored.

If you are not sure if you can delete a specific file, use the rule: everything in /data/data/ that has the name of the application package in the path (for example, com.android.chrome) refers to user data and can be cleaned.

Hidden MIUI settings to control the Other

Xiaomi Redmi 9 based on MIUI has several hidden features that help manage the “Other” partition, which are not visible in the standard interface, but they are available through the codes of the engineering menu or additional settings.

Here are the most useful ones:

• 🔧 Developer Mode. Activated through Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (Then you tap it 7 times. → You'll also see a "Developers" option, where you can turn off window animation and background activity, which will reduce the cache load.
• 📊 Memory statistics. Type ##4636## in the dialer, then select "Usage Statistics." Here you can see which processes consume the most memory in the background.
• 🗑️ Deep cleaning. In Settings. → Click on the “Other” graphic for 3 seconds – the “Deep Clean” option will appear (does not work on all versions). MIUI).
• 🔄 Reset Dalvik cache. If the smartphone began to brake after cleaning, enter in Recovery command adb shell dalvik-cache (requires a connection to the PC).

Another little-known trick is to turn off automatic memory optimization, and by default, MIUI starts the cleaning process every day at 3:00 a.m., but sometimes it crashes and leaves debris to turn it off.

1. Activate the Developer Mode (see above).
2. Go to Settings. → For developers.
3. Find the MIUI Optimization option and turn it off.

This will not reduce the current size of the Other, but will prevent it from growing further.

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Regularly cleaning the cache through the engineering menu (#4636##) helps to avoid the accumulation of garbage in the "Other" without using third-party applications.

Top.-5 Applications for cleaning the “Other” on Redmi 9

If manual methods don't work, you can use third-party utilities, and it's important to choose those that don't require root rights (to keep the warranty intact) and are compatible with MIUI.

• 🧹 SD Maid cleans the remnants of deleted applications, temporary files and duplicates. There is a feature CorpseFinder to find dead folders.
• 📉 Files by Google – a simple manager with a “Cleanup” tool that finds large, unnecessary files.
• 🔍 CCleaner is a classic for cache cleanup and history.Redmi 9 runs stable but doesn't remove system debris MIUI.
• 🗃️ 1Tap Cleaner – specializes in cleaning the cache of Google services and social networks.
• 🛠️ MIUI Hidden Settings – Reveals additional cleaning options hidden in the standard interface.

When using these apps, make sure they do not remove:

• Files with the.db extension (application databases).
• /Android/obb/ (game data is stored here)
• Files in /DCIM/.thumbnails (miniature photo)

It is best to work in two stages: first run the scan in SD Maid or Files by Google, and then manually check the files found.

What if the “Other” takes 20+ GB and is not cleaned?

If standard methods don't work, and the Other section keeps growing, the problem could be bigger. Here are 3 possible causes and ways to fix them:

1. Damage to the file system

Symptoms: the smartphone slows down, applications fly out, memory fills up on its own.

Decision:

• Perform a cache reset via Recovery (see instructions above).
• If it doesn’t work, do a full reset (Wipe Data), but save the data beforehand.

2. Virus or malware

Symptoms: unknown processes in the task manager, advertising in applications, fast battery discharge.

Decision:

• Install Malwarebytes and scan the system.
• Check the list of installed applications for suspicious ones (for example, with names like com.system.update).

3. MIUI error after update

Symptoms: “Other” grew immediately after the update, the smartphone warms up.

Decision:

• Reverse to the previous version of MIUI via Fastboot (instructions on the official Xiaomi website).
• If rollback is not possible, perform a clean firmware installation through the Mi Flash Tool.

In extreme cases, if nothing helps, contact the service center. On Redmi 9, there is sometimes a hardware problem with the memory controller, which causes the system to display occupied space incorrectly.

FAQ: Frequent questions about "The Other" in Redmi 9 vault