The popular Redmi Note 7 smartphone often faces a cryptic space-shortage notification, and when you go into storage settings, you find that a significant amount of internal memory is occupied by a category that MIUI labels as Other, which is puzzling because the user has not downloaded files of this size or installed heavy applications.
To make matters worse, Android doesn’t always correctly classify data types, and as a result, standard cleaners may not see hidden reserves to free up space. On Xiaomi devices with MIUI shells, this problem is particularly acute due to the aggressive accumulation of system logs and messenger cache.
In this article, we will take a closer look at what’s behind this section and how to safely free up gigabytes of valuable space, learn how to distinguish system files from user debris, and understand what tools to use to diagnose the storage of your Redmi Note 7.
The Nature of the Other Partition in Android
Category Other is a kind of file system black box, where the operating system folds all files that can not be uniquely identified as photos, music, videos or documents. In the case of Redmi Note 7, which runs on Android 9 with a MIUI shell, this partition can grow to an impressive size.
The main inhabitants of this section are temporary files left over from various applications, such as browsers storing web page data to speed up loading, and streaming services cache parts of the video, which eventually ceases to be useful, but is not automatically deleted, taking up space in the Other category.
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders through root-righted file managers without understanding their purpose.This can result in a cyclical device reboot or data loss.
Also, there are often hidden remnants of deleted applications, if the program was installed not through the official Google Play store, but through the official Google Play store. APK-When a file is deleted, some libraries may remain in the system, they are no longer in use, but continue to be listed in the total memory balance as unknown data.
System cache and MIUI logs
MIUI is known for its deep penetration of system processes, which provides rich functionality but generates a lot of backend data. Logs are text files that the system records every action it takes. On the Redmi Note 7, they can take hundreds of megabytes if not cleaned in time.
The debugging logs and error reports are particularly large. If the system crashes or the app crashes, Android creates a detailed report. The user may not even know about it, but the file is already in the Other section. The longer you use your smartphone without rebooting, the more such reports accumulate.
The system cache is another important component, which speeds up the interface, but can become fragmented or error-prone over time, and unlike the application cache, the MIUI system cache is harder to clean with standard means without going into recovery mode.
- 📂 System Services Logs and Error Reports.
- 📂 Temporary firmware update files.
- 📂 Cache preload interface MIUI.
- 📂 Voice assistant and speech recognition data.
You can use the built-in Security app to clean logs, but it doesn't always delete all the deep logs. More advanced users sometimes use ADB commands to clean those partitions, but for a regular Redmi Note 7 owner, regular cleaning through the regular means is enough.
Memory messengers as the main consumers of memory
The biggest source of garbage in the Other category on modern smartphones are messengers, in particular Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp, which stores all received media files in their hidden folders, the system does not always correctly recognize them as “Images” or “Video”, so it refers to other files.
Telegram is particularly aggressive, caches all the videos and photos you've watched, even if you haven't saved them to the gallery. On the Redmi Note 7, with its limited internal storage (32 or 64 GB), the Telegram cache can quietly grow to 5-10 GB, making it a prime suspect in a space shortage.
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In Telegram settings, enable the “Use less storage space” function, which will limit the cache size and cause the app to automatically delete old files viewed.
Similar to WhatsApp: Backups of chats that are created daily are often stored locally before being sent to the Google Drive cloud. If the automatic upload doesn't work, those files stay in the phone's memory. They can weigh gigabytes, especially if there's a lot of video in the chats.
To check how much space the messenger cache takes, go to Settings → Applications → All applications. Find the messenger you want and select Memory, where you will see the real value of the place, which often exceeds the data displayed in the general statistics of the storage.
Analysis of contents using third-party snails
The standard file explorer in MIUI gives you a general idea of memory occupancy. For a deep analysis of the Other partition, you should use specialized utilities. They visualize the file system, showing which folders take up the most space.
One of the most effective programs is DiskUsage or Files by Google, which is that they build a memory card where the size of the rectangles is the size of the files, and you can see if a hidden folder has grown into an obscene size.
☑️ Memory check with third-party software
When using these slits on Redmi Note 7, be careful about folders called.thumbnails or cache. The.thumbnails folder contains thumbnails of your photos. If you have thousands of photos, this folder can weigh several gigabytes. It can be safely deleted, the system will recreate it the next time you open the gallery.
⚠️ Note: When analyzing third-party programs, do not delete files with the.obb or.apk extension unless you are sure that they belong to remote games.
You should also pay attention to the folder. MIUI/debug_log. It's a debugging system that sends debugging information to it, and if you're not a developer and you're not debugging the firmware, you can delete the contents of that folder painlessly, freeing up space in the Other section.
Table: Comparison of cleaning methods
There are several ways to combat memory overflow, each with its own benefits and risks, and here is a comparison table to help you choose the best method for your case on the Redmi Note 7.
| Cleaning method | Efficiency | Security | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Cleaning (Safety) | Low. | Tall. | Low. |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium | Tall. | Low. |
| Third-party analyzers (DiskUsage) | Tall. | Medium | Medium |
| Reset to factory settings | Maximum | Demands backup. | Tall. |
As you can see from the table, Xiaomi's regular tools are good for prevention, but they don't solve the problem radically. Third-party analyzers give the best result by allowing spot removal of garbage. However, the most effective, but also the most time-consuming method is a complete dump.
If you've chosen a cleanup path through the analyzers, you should do it sequentially, delete the app cache first, then the temporary files, and then move to more serious system folders at the end, which minimizes the risk of accidental deletion of important data.
Radical measures: Resetting and reflashing
When the Other partition takes up more than 20-30% of memory and does not decrease after cleaning the cache, the last argument remains - resetting to factory settings. On the Redmi Note 7, this is often the only way to get rid of file system errors that incorrectly display the amount of occupied space.
Before you reset, make sure to back up. Use Google's cloud or the built-in Mi Cloud. You can also transfer photos and videos to your computer or microSD card. Remember, once you reset, your phone will be like new and all your data will be deleted.
How to perform a full reset (Hard Reset)
There is also a clean flashing option through a computer using the Mi Flash Tool, which completely erases all memory parts, including hidden ones, and records a fresh copy of the system, which guarantees the removal of any software debris, but requires a computer and stable Internet to download the firmware.
After resetting or flashing, the Other section is usually reduced to a minimum (1-2 GB), taking up only system files.This returns the Redmi Note 7 to factory speed and makes room for new apps and photos.
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Regular reboot of the smartphone (once every 3-4 days) prevents the accumulation of temporary files and logs, reducing the growth rate of the Other partition.
Prevention of memory overflow
To keep the memory problem on the Redmi Note 7 from returning, it’s important to stick to simple digital device hygiene rules: Don’t store files on your phone that you don’t need right now.
Set up automatic cache cleaning in the Security settings, set the frequency once a week, for example, so that the system can remove the accumulated debris without making the Other partition volume critical.
- 🗑️ Clean the Downloads folder regularly).
- 🗑️ Turn off auto-save media from messengers to the gallery.
- 🗑️ Remove unused apps immediately without waiting for an update.
- 🗑️ Check your memory statistics manually once a month.
Following these guidelines will help you extend the life of your Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 and avoid annoying notifications about space shortages.