Xiaomi Phone Data Files: What Is It and Can You Delete It?

Every Xiaomi or Redmi smartphone owner is confronted with a nasty notification of a lack of space, the system is slowing down, apps are crashing, and new photos are simply nowhere to save, and in an attempt to free up gigabytes, users often go to their memory settings and see a mysterious category of Data Files or Other that can take up tens of gigabytes. What is behind this name?

Many people immediately grasp the “Clean” button without understanding the consequences. This is a risky strategy, since this section can store not only temporary debris, but also important documents. In this article, we will examine in detail the structure of the MIUI and HyperOS shell file system, explain what exactly occupies space, and give clear instructions for safe cleaning without losing personal data.

Understanding how the operating system manages storage will allow you to not blindly delete everything, but to competently control memory filling. We will look at the regular cleaning tools, hidden features of the developer menu and manual methods of working with files, this guide will help to extend the life of your device and keep it fast.

The Nature of Data Files in Android

Under the generic name “Data Files” or “Other” in Xiaomi smartphones, there is a huge amount of heterogeneous information hidden in them: it is not one specific type of files, but a hoard of cache of applications, residual files after deleted programs, temporary downloads and system logs, and the operating system classifies them as such because they do not directly relate to media files (photo, video, music) or installed applications.

The bulk of this section is cache, which is temporary data that apps save for faster work, like Instagram storing thumbnails of photos viewed here, and the browser storing copies of pages visited, and over time, the cache can grow to giant sizes, especially in messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp, which store every photo and video viewed.

⚠️ Warning: Blindly removing all files from the Data section via the file manager can result in resetting app settings or losing game progress if the data is not synced to the cloud.

Also in this category are often update files that have not been automatically deleted, and offline maps of navigators. Sometimes users download heavy files for work or study, forgetting about them, and they settle in the back of the folders, not defined by the system as media content. Understanding the structure of the folders helps to understand this chaos.

Analysis of the occupied space through settings

Before we start taking any drastic measures, we need to do a diagnostics, and the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS have a powerful memory analysis tool built in, which allows us to visually assess what is eating up space. To start the analysis, go to the Settings → Memory (or About Phone → Memory) menu.

The system will suggest a cleanup, but it will show you detailed statistics first, and you'll see a breakdown by category: apps, images, video, audio, documents, often those hidden gigabytes are hidden in the Documents or Applications category, and if you click on a specific category, you'll be taken to a file manager with sorted data.

It's important to pay attention to the size of the applications themselves. Sometimes a lightweight program can grow in size by a factor of ten due to the accumulated cache. In the list of applications, sorting by size will help identify memory eaters. Deleting the cache of a particular application often solves the problem of space shortage more effectively than cleaning the entire phone.

For a deeper analysis, you can use the built-in Security app (a green lightning icon) and the Cleanup section is more aggressive and finds debris that a standard conductor can ignore, but even this tool doesn't always see all the hidden files, so manual control remains necessary.

Secure cleaning of cache and temporary files

The safest way to free up space is to work with cache. Unlike these applications, cache can be removed almost painlessly. However, you need to do it correctly. You should not use dubious programs from the Play Market that promise “2x acceleration.” Embedded Xiaomi funds are quite enough.

To clear the cache of a particular application, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Select a heavy app (like TikTok or YouTube), click Memory and select Clear Cache. Note: the Clear All button will also delete your logins and login settings, which will require re-authorization.

In Telegram, you can clean the cache right inside the app by setting up auto-delete. Go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. You can set a cache limit or clean it completely. This will free up gigabytes without deleting your correspondence, since they are stored on the server.

The system cleaner in the Security app can also find large files and duplicates. Deep Cleanup scans the phone for the presence of the device. APK-The use of installer files that are no longer needed and sparse images is standard smartphone maintenance.

Working with Android folder and hidden data

In modern versions of Android, access to the Android/data system folder is restricted for security reasons, but it is often where game data and app cache are stored, and may require special file managers such as Total Commander or Files by Google to access it, who can request special permission.

Inside the data folder are subfolders with the names of the application packages (e.g. com.whatsapp), which are extremely careful to delete files here. If you delete the messenger database file, you may lose your correspondence history. Usually, it stores downloaded files that can be moved or deleted.

If you find.apk files in these folders that you've already installed, you can delete them. They take up space but no longer perform any function. It's also worth checking the Download folder, where everything often drops from the Internet.

System Files and Myths About Deleting Them

Often, users see that the System Files partition takes up a significant portion of the memory and want to reduce it. It is important to understand that system files are the Android operating system itself and the shell of MIUI. You can't delete them, the phone will simply stop turning on or go into an endless reboot.

However, this partition is sometimes bloated due to debugging logs or system errors. If the phone is working normally but the System partition takes up a disproportionate amount of space (for example, 20-30 GB on an empty phone), this can be a sign of a failure in maintaining error logs.

⚠️ Note: Attempts to delete files with the prefix “system”, “vendor” or “boot” through root rights without understanding the process are guaranteed to lead to “bricking” of the device.

In some cases, cleaning through Recovery mode helps, but it requires resetting all the data. It's safer for the average user to reset to factory settings through the menu if the amount of system debris is truly anomalous and not being cleaned by standard means.

Cleaning Tools: Built-in Against Third-Party

The owner of Xiaomi has two options: regular tools and third-party software. The built-in Security app is optimized specifically for the MIUI shell. It knows which files can be touched and which are critical to the system. Its algorithms are less aggressive but safer.

Third-party apps like SD Maid or CCleaner can find more debris, especially in deep system folders.However, they require more permissions and can run unstable on newer versions of Android due to Google's security limitations.

Compare approaches:

• 📱 Built-in cleaner: Safe, does not require installation, integrated into the system, but can leave tails».
• 🧹 Third-party apps: Find more garbage, have flexible settings, but require care and may contain ads.
• 🖥️ Manual cleaning via PC: The most reliable way to delete large files, but takes time and understanding folder structure.

💡

For 95% of users, the built-in Security app and manually cleaning the messenger cache is enough to keep order in memory.

Prevention of memory overflow

To avoid the problem of space shortages on a regular basis, you should develop useful habits. First of all, set up automatic cache cleaning in messengers. Telegram can set the autodeletion of the cache if it takes more than 1 GB, or clean it every 3 days, this will eliminate the need to do it manually.

The second important step is to use cloud storage. Google Photos or Google Drive, which allows you to upload photos and videos to the cloud, freeing up space on your device. Xiaomi Gallery settings also have a sync feature with Mi Cloud, although it has free volume restrictions.

Check the Downloads folder regularly. Often there are forgotten ones. PDF-documents, application installation files, and saved images from browsers. The simple habit of going through this folder once a month and deleting the extra one will save you nerves in the future.

You should also avoid using live wallpaper and heavy widgets if you don't have enough internal memory, which not only take up space, but also consume RAM, slowing down the interface, and minimal desktop design is key to the speed of Redmi's budget models.