Xiaomi’s “Other Files”: What They Are, Where They Come From, and How to Clean Memory

Have you ever looked into your Xiaomi memory settings and noticed that the mysterious Other Files category takes the lion’s share?This section can eat from a few gigabytes to half of internal storage without the system explaining what goes into it. Users often confuse it with an app cache or garbage, but in fact, Other Files is a hoard of system data, temporary files and even hidden backups.

In this article, we will go into detail about what specifically applies to the Other Files on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones, why they accumulate over time and how to reduce them without risking device stability, learn which files can be manually deleted and which should not be touched, and get step-by-step cleaning instructions based on the features of the MIUI shell.

Let's warn you right away: in some cases, Other Files take up up to 30 percent of the storage memory because of a MIUI error, and the actual amount of garbage can be many times less. We'll show you how to check that.

What is “Other Files” on Xiaomi: Official Explanation and Reality

According to Xiaomi’s documentation, the category “Other Files” (Other Files in English) includes:

• 📁 System log files (error logs, crash reports, diagnostic data).
• 🔄 Temporary application files that were not deleted after closing.
• 📱 Residual data from uninstalled programs (settings, cache, databases).
• 🔒 Encrypted backups of system settings and applications.
• 📊 Use statistics files (e.g. screen time, application activity data).

However, in practice, other types of data are often included in this section:

• 🎵 Music and video downloaded via browser or messengers, but not marked by the system as media files.
• 📄 Documents and archives (PDF, ZIP, RAR), which are not recognized as "documents" in MIUI.
• 🖼️ Mini sketches and previews of images created by a gallery or file manager.
• 🤖 Update files (for example, downloaded firmware or APK-Packages that have not been installed).

The main problem is that MIUI does not always correctly classify files, for example, a movie downloaded via Telegram may end up in Other Files if the file extension is non-standard (for example,.mkv instead of.mp4).

Why Other Files Take So Much Space: 5 Top Reasons

If your Xiaomi’s Other Files section has grown to 10 to 20 GB, it’s usually one or more of these reasons:

1. Incorrectly delete applications. When you uninstall a program through Settings → Applications, MIUI doesn't always clean all the associated data, but it leaves empty folders, cache and databases that go into Other Files, especially games and social media.
2. Automatic backups: The system creates hidden backups of settings, SMS and call logs in the /data/com.android.backup folder, which can weigh hundreds of megabytes, but are not displayed in a standard file manager.
3. Memory errors in MIUI. Some shell versions (especially MIUI 12-14) have a bug: the system duplicates the counting of occupied space, showing "Other files" more than they actually are, and this can be checked through ADB or third-party utilities like DiskUsage.
4. Downloaded files that were not processed, like you downloaded a movie through a browser but didn't open it, and it stayed in the folder. /Download, But it wasn't classified as "Video." APK-files that have not been installed.
5. Logs and dumps. When you crash or overheat, your smartphone creates reports (.dmp,.log) that can weigh 500MB each, and they accumulate in /data/anr or /data/tombstones.

Interestingly, on devices with MIUI Global, Other Files typically take up less space than MIUI China, which is because the Chinese version has more built-in services that generate additional logs and temporary data.

How to see what is stored in the "Other Files"

Unfortunately, the standard MIUI File Manager does not show the contents of the Other Files section, and you will need third-party tools or manual search to see what is actually there.

Method 1: Through the DiskUsage application

The simplest method is:

1. Download DiskUsage from Google Play.
2. Start scanning the internal memory.
3. Click on the largest folders (usually /data, /android or /cache).
4. Look for files with extensions.log,.tmp,.bak,.dump – these are most often referred to as “Other Files”.

Method 2: Through ADB (for Advanced)

If you have experience with ADB, follow the command:

adb shell du -h -d 1 /data | sort -h

This will show the largest folders in the /data section, where most of the Other Files are usually hidden.Be careful: deleting files through ADB can cause crashes!

Method 3: Manual search in the file manager

Open the File Manager (not the standard one, like Solid Explorer or FX File Manager) and check these folders:

• 📂 /Android/data — This may be the data of remote applications.
• 📂 /Download — unrecognized downloaded files.
• 📂 /MIUI/backup — backup MIUI.
• 📂 /data/local/tmp — time-file.

💡

If you're not sure if you can delete a file, take it to your computer or the cloud, and then check if the system is broken. If it works, delete it safely.

How to Safely Clean Other Files on Xiaomi: Step-by-step instructions

Before you start cleaning, remember the main rule: do not delete files at random, especially from folders. /system or /data/data. It could lead to a collapse. MIUI. Use only proven methods.

Step 1: Cleaning cache and debris through MIUI

Start with the built-in tools:

1. Go to Settings → Memory → Cleanup.
2. Click on “Deep Clean” and wait for analysis.
3. Delete unnecessary files (especially pay attention to “Residual Files” and “Large Files”).

Step 2: Remove unnecessary backups

MIUI creates backups automatically, but they are rarely needed.

1. Open Settings → System and device → Backup.
2. Remove old backups (they can weigh 1-2 GB each).
3. Turn off automatic backup if you do not use this feature.

Step 3: Manually clean folders

With Solid Explorer or another root-enabled file manager, delete:

• 🗑️ Files with extensions.log,.tmp,.bak in folders /data and /cache.
• 🎮 Remote game folders in /Android/obb (If the games have already been uninstalled).
• 📥 Unnecessary APK-file /Download.

Step 4: Reset the partition cache (without data loss)

If Other Files take up an unnecessarily large amount of space, try resetting the /cache partition cache:

1. Turn off your smartphone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up to enter Recovery.
3. Select Wipe Cache Partition (cache will be cleared, data will not be cleared).

What NOT to do when cleaning “Other Files”

Some actions can lead to data loss or system failure.

⚠️ Warning: Never delete folders /data/data or /system It's going to crash. MIUI, And the smartphone will have to refashion.

• ❌ Format a section /data It'll erase all user data, including photos and apps.
• ❌ Delete files with unknown extensions (e.g.,.db,.dat) – they may belong to system processes.
• ❌ Use cleaners like Clean Master, which often remove important files by masking them as garbage.
• ❌ Clear the folder. /MIUI It stores the theme settings and system data.

If after cleaning the smartphone began to slow down or restart, restore deleted files from the backup (if any) or perform a reset to factory settings.

💡

If Other Files are more than 10GB, check the real volume first through DiskUsage. Often MIUI shows inflated numbers due to accounting errors.

How to Prevent the Accumulation of Other Files in the Future

To prevent the “Other Files” section from growing again, follow these tips:

• 🔄 Clean the cache regularly through Settings → Memory. → Cleaning (just 1 time per month).
• 🚫 Turn off automatic reservations in Settings → System and device → Backup if you don’t use backups.
• 📱 Remove Apps correctly: through Settings → Annexes → Remove, not just dragging the icon to the cart.
• 🔍 Check the folder. /Download The presence of unnecessary files (especially APK and media files).
• 🛡️ Update. MIUI — In new versions, errors in memory accounting are corrected.

If you install and remove games frequently, use the Cleanup feature after you delete it in Google Play:

1. Open Play Store → Settings → General → Clean up after removal.
2. Turn on the option – this will delete all application data when uninstallation.

For advanced users: you can limit the creation of log files by disabling Log in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times on the version to open Developer Mode, then turn off Enable Error Log).

Myths about “Other Files” on Xiaomi: what is true and what is not

There's a lot of inauthentic information going around about Other Files, and we're going to look at some of the most popular myths.

If you see that the Other Files take up 20+GB on a new smartphone, it’s likely that the problem is incorrect memory counting (especially for MIUI 12-13), in which case only resetting settings or updating the firmware will help.

FAQ: Frequent Questions About Xiaomi's "Other Files"