What is Other on Xiaomi and How to Remove It

Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a situation where the device’s internal memory mysteriously runs out, and when trying to figure out the reasons through a standard analyzer, the user finds that the lion’s share of gigabytes is in a section called “Other”, which causes confusion and irritation, since the system does not give a direct answer to what exactly is stored there.

In fact, Xiaomi's Others are not a virus or a system bug, but a collection of temporary files, application cache, residual data after remote programs and system logs. MIUI and HyperOS have the ability to accumulate this data to speed up the interface and applications, but over time this leads to a shortage of free space. Understanding the structure of this partition will help you safely free up valuable resources of the device.

In this article, we will discuss in detail what this volume consists of, why it can not be simply ignored, and what proven cleaning methods exist without risking damage to the operating system.

Section Anatomy: What the “Other” Category Hides

When you see the Other category swell to tens of gigabytes, it's important to understand the nature of the other category, and first of all, it's the app cache. Social media, messengers, and browsers store images, videos, and web pages so that when you reopen them, they load instantly, but that data is rarely deleted automatically.

The second component is residual files. Once an application is deleted, there are often folders with settings, error logs and temporary data that software developers forget to prescribe for autodeletion, Xiaomi sees these files, can't attribute them to a particular working application, and dumps them into a bunch of "others."

It can also store offline map data, downloaded design themes, fonts and voice assistant data, sometimes including broken downloads or files that the system has not correctly recognized.

⚠️ Warning: Don't try to delete files from system folders manually through Explorer unless you're sure of their purpose.Deleting critical libraries can lead to a cyclical smartphone reboot.

The largest volume is usually multimedia data messengers. Telegram and WhatsApp create thousands of thumbnails and temporary copies of videos that are not formally part of the gallery, but take up space.

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Use the built-in Security app for initial analysis: it often shows a more detailed breakdown by application than a standard File Manager.

The impact of messengers and social networks on memory

The main “eaters” of space in the Other category have long been recognized as messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and VK store a huge amount of data. The peculiarity of Telegram is that it caches all the media you have viewed, even if you have not saved it to the gallery. These data technically refer to the app’s cache, but in the Xiaomi analyzer often appear as part of the total volume of “Other” or a separate large category that is summarized.

Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are also aggressive in their resource consumption, keeping previews of videos, stories and recommendation feeds, and the more you use the feed, the more junk accumulates.

⚠️ Attention: Clearing messenger cache through Android settings can reset authorization or remove draft messages.

To effectively combat this, you need to regularly clean the cache inside the application settings, for example, Telegram has a feature called Memory Use, which allows you to clear the cache with a single click without deleting correspondence.

Below is a table showing the approximate cache weight of popular apps after a month of active use:

System files and logs: Touch or not to touch

A significant part of the Others section is system processes, which are error logs, usage reports, geolocation data, and temporary update files, and MIUI or HyperOS creates them for stable operation, but sometimes the self-cleaning mechanism fails. Usually, these files weigh a little, but with prolonged use without rebooting, their volume can grow.

Files occupy a special place. OTA-After successfully installing a new version of Android or shell, the installation package often stays in memory. It can take from 2 to 5 GB. Also, this includes data from Google and XiaoAI voice assistants, which store records of your queries to improve recognition.

Is it worth removing system debris? Yes, but only with proven methods: manually removing files from the /data or /system root folders without superuser (Root) rights is impossible, and with Root rights it is extremely dangerous. It is better to rely on regular tools.

Manual cleaning through File Manager

For those who prefer to manually control the process, there is a method of cleaning through a standard conductor, which requires careful attention, so you need to go to the root folder of internal memory and look for folders with the names of remote applications or clearly temporary directories.

The safest way is to clean the Download and Bluetooth folder, and users often forget about downloaded installers. APK And the documents that you don't need anymore, and it's worth checking the folder. Android/data, But beware: Deleting data inside active application folders will reset their settings.

Algorithm for safe manual cleaning:

• 📂 Open the Explorer app and go to internal storage.
• 🔍 Find folders with names of remote games or programs and delete them.
• 🗑️ Clear the folder. MIUI/debug_log, If it takes up a lot of space (this is the logs debugging).
• 📸 Check the.thumbnails folder (you need to enable the display of hidden files) - this is the cache of the gallery.

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Manual file deletion is only effective if you know exactly what the folder is for, and in questionable cases, it is better to use automatic cleaning tools.

After manual check, it is recommended to restart the device so that the system recalculates the file index and the freed space is displayed correctly.

Use of the built-in "Security" application

The most reliable and secure way to fight the category “Other” is to use the regular application “Security”, which is preinstalled on all Xiaomi smartphones.It has access to system areas closed to ordinary file managers, and knows how to safely delete temporary files.

To get started, start the app, select Clean up, and the system will analyze the device, and look at the Recommended Cleanup and Cache section, and Deep Cleanup, which finds large files, duplicates, and rarely used applications, is also useful.

It is important to regularly update the databases of viruses and junk files inside the Security app itself so that it recognizes new types of temporary data.

Remember that once the cache is cleared, applications can take a little longer to load on their first run, because they have to recreate temporary files. This is normal system behavior.

Radical measures: reset to factory settings

If the category “Other” is absurd (for example, 40-50 GB on a 64 GB device) and cannot be cleaned by standard methods, it is possible that the file system is damaged or there has been a critical indexing error, in which case a complete reset helps.

Before doing this, make sure to back up all important data to the cloud or computer, as all files will be permanently deleted. Reset will put the phone out of the box and the Other section will disappear, giving way to real data.

How to perform the reset:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select “Erase all data”.
3. Confirm the action with the password unlock the screen.

After the process is completed and the initial setup is completed, the system will run faster and the memory will be freed up completely.

⚠️ Warning: Resetting to factory settings deletes Google and Mi accounts. Make sure to remember passwords from them, otherwise it will be impossible to activate the phone after reset (protection) FRP).

Prevention of memory overflow

To prevent the “Other” problem from returning with alarming regularity, you need to develop a digital hygiene habit: Don’t store files on your device that you don’t use. Check your download folder regularly and delete old APK installers.

Use cloud storage. Photos and videos are better synced automatically with Google Photos or Mi Cloud, and then deleted from the device using the "Free Space" function, which will reduce the load on local memory and reduce the cache volume of the gallery.

Also, avoid using third-party app store cleaners, which often work more aggressively than they should, removing useful data and displaying intrusive ads, consuming even more resources.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)