Owners of the budget but popular Xiaomi Redmi 9 smartphones often face a nasty situation: the device’s memory is filled, but a detailed analysis of the storage reveals that the lion’s share of space is occupied by the mysterious “Other” section. Android system does not always correctly classify all types of files, creating this “gray zone” that can grow to tens of gigabytes. Understanding the nature of this data is the first step to freeing up useful space without deleting important photos or documents.
The problem is not only relevant for older models, but also for current versions of the MIUI shell, because the algorithms for working with the file system remain similar. When you see that the memory is clogged and the folders are empty, it is a signal that the system debris is accumulating, the application cache, the residual files after deleted programs or temporary update logs. In this article, we will discuss what is hidden under this category and how to safely remove excess.
There are many myths that the Other section contains viruses or hidden system files that will cause the phone to crash, which is a misconception. In the vast majority of cases, it is just user-generated content that the operating system could not categorize as standard categories like Photos, Videos or Apps.
The nature of the category “Other”
The “Other” section in Xiaomi Redmi 9 memory is a kind of file system black box, which includes files that do not have a clear extension or format that a standard storage analyzer understands. Often these are temporary files that are created by applications while working, but not deleted by them after completing tasks. For example, messengers can save downloaded files to temporary directories, which the system sees as unknown data.
The cache files of streaming services and browsers are special. When you watch videos online or listen to music, the device stores some of the data for quick buffering. Over time, this data accumulates by taking up gigabytes. System logs are another source of inflating this partition. They are created during the Android debugging process, but ordinary users do not need them.
Remnants of remote applications may also fall into this category: If you deleted a game or program incorrectly, or the developer did not provide for a complete cleanup during the uninstallation, the data folders remain dead weight. In some cases, the firmware update files that the system somehow did not delete automatically after the successful installation are also “flewed” here.
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders through root-righted file managers unless you are sure of their purpose.
Why does the volume of the section change?
Diagnosis: What exactly takes place
Before we start taking drastic measures, we need to diagnose and understand which applications or processes generate the most garbage. This is difficult to do with standard MIUI tools, because the built-in analyzer often shows only the total mass of data. For deep analysis, we should use specialized utilities that visualize the file system.
One effective method is to use disk space analysis applications like DiskUsage or Files by Google, where they build a graphics memory card where the squares are the size of the files, and this allows you to instantly find the heavyweights, and it often turns out that half of the "Other" partition is taken up by the cache of Telegram, WhatsApp or TikTok.
Note the app names folders, which may contain files with or without the.tmp extension, which is the main candidate for deletion, and check the Android/data folder, which stores game and program data, and removing the contents of this folder for active applications will cause them to reset or progress, so proceed carefully.
- 📱 Telegram and WhatsApp store thousands of media files in hidden caches, which the system often refers to as “another».
- 🎮 Games: Cash pack games (OBB files) and temporary download files can weigh several gigabytes.
- 🎬 Streaming: YouTube, Netflix and music services cache videos and tracks for offline viewing or fast download.
Basic cleaning with built-in MIUI facilities
The safest and easiest way to free up space is to use a built-in cleaning tool, which is called Cleanup in Xiaomi’s shell and is located in the Security app, which scans the device for obvious debris: residual files, ad cache and temporary files.
To run, go to Settings → Memory or open the Security → Cleanup app. The system will prompt you to delete files it considers safe to delete. However, the built-in scanner is often superficial and does not affect the deep layers of the Other section. It is good for daily prevention, but powerless against old debris.
It is important to clean the shopping cart regularly in the gallery and the explorer. Deleted files do not disappear without a trace, but move to the basket, where they are stored for 30 days, continuing to occupy space. In the context of the "Other" section, this may not be obvious, since the files are already deleted from the main view, but are physically on the disk.
☑️ Basic cleaning algorithm
Manually cleaning the app cache
The most effective way to combat the bloated “Other” section is to manually clean the cache of heavy applications, and social networks and instant messengers are the main culprits, and unlike a complete data cleanup, a cache reset does not delete your correspondence, contacts or logins, but only temporary files.
To do this, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find the most “heavy” programs (usually sorted by size) and go to the app properties and select Memory. Here you will see the “Clear Cache” button. Don’t confuse it with the “Clear All” or “Reset” button, otherwise you will lose your account data.
Pay special attention to browsers. Chrome, Yandex.Browser and others accumulate huge amounts of temporary files of web pages. Clearing the browser cache through the Android settings is often more effective than through the browser menu itself, as it affects the system temporary files.
⚠️ Note: When clearing the messenger cache (e.g. Telegram) through your Android settings, you may lose some of the downloaded media files from quick access».
After cleaning the cache of several applications, it is recommended to restart the device, which will allow the Android system to re-index the file system and correctly recalculate the amount of space occupied. Often after a reboot, the “Other” section is reduced visually, even if the physical volume of freed data is small.
Use of third-party analyzers and file managers
If standard methods don't work, powerful file managers like FX File Explorer, Solid Explorer, or DiskUsage come to the rescue, and these apps show the real folder structure, and you have to look for folders with app names you haven't used in a long time, or folders with names like.temp, cache, log.
In the file manager, go to the root of internal memory. Look for folders that take up a lot of space, like the Tencent folder (for QQ users or some games) or com.whatsapp, which often contain videos that you've already viewed, but they're left in the cache. You can delete them safely.
It's also worth checking the Download folder. Often, installation files are downloaded there. APK, After installing the program, it becomes useless garbage. PDF-documents, old presentations and archives are often forgotten here, adding to the statistics of the "Other».
- 🔍 Search for duplicates: Many managers are able to find the same files that take up space twice.
- 🗑️ Removal APK: Find all files with the.apk extension and delete them if the programs are already installed.
- 📂 Android folder analysis: Check the folder Android/obb Data from remote games.
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Use the file manager's Sort by Size feature, which allows you to see the largest files, regardless of their type, and decide to delete them.
Radical methods: resetting and formatting
When software cleaning methods fail and the Other continues to grow, occupying a critical volume, the last proven method is a full reset to factory settings (Hard Reset), which is guaranteed to remove all user data, including hidden debris, file system errors and viruses.
Before performing this procedure, be sure to back up all important data to your computer or to the Mi Cloud/Google Drive cloud. Once reset, the phone will be like new from the store. To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data.
There is also a method of formatting through Recovery mode, but on modern Xiaomi with a locked bootloader it is easier to do this through the settings menu. After reset, do not restore applications from the backup "wholesale", as you risk returning all the accumulated debris.
| Cleaning method | Efficiency | Risk of data loss | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in cleaning | Low (100-500 MB) | No. | Minimum |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium (1-5 GB) | Minimum | Low. |
| File manager | High (depending on the user) | Medium (human factor) | Medium |
| Reset to factory | Maximum (frees everything) | Tall (replica needed) | Tall. |
⚠️ Warning: Before resetting, make sure that the Xiaomi Redmi battery is charged 9 is 50-60%. Interrupting the discharge process due to discharge can cause damage to the system partition.
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A complete reset is the only way to ensure that you clear file system errors that cannot be manually fixed through the file management menu.
Prevention of memory overflow
To prevent the problem from returning too often, you need to change your smartphone usage habits. First of all, set up automatic cache cleaning in messengers. In Telegram, for example, you can set a cache size limit or automatically delete downloaded files after 3 days, a week or a month.
Check system updates regularly. Xiaomi engineers are constantly releasing MIUI patches that fix memory management errors. If your Redmi 9 gets updates, don't ignore them. Also try not to store files on your device that you don't need right now - transfer the archives to your computer or external hard drive.
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Services like Google Photos allow you to free up space on your device in one click by removing local copies of already uploaded images to the cloud, which significantly reduces the load on the internal drive and prevents the growth of the category “Other” at the expense of media debris.
- 🔄 Autoclean: Set up autodelete in messengers (for example, in Telegram: Settings) → Data and memory → Use of memory).
- ☁️ Cloud: Enable gallery sync and immediately delete local copies.
- 📉 Check the vault once a month to prevent more than 85 people from filling%.