Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones sooner or later face a mysterious situation: internal storage is crowded, although there are few photos, and applications are installed standard. When you try to analyze the occupancy of the disk, you see a frightening category called “Other”, which can take up tens of gigabytes. This space is often called the “gray zone” of the MIUI and HyperOS file systems, where temporary files, remnants of remote programs and system logs are hidden.
Understanding the nature of this data is critical to the normal operation of a gadget. When the amount of free memory falls to a critical minimum, the device starts to work slowly, applications fly out, and the camera can stop saving new pictures. In this article, we will examine in detail what this section really consists of, why it grows, and what safe methods are available to clean it without losing personal data.
It's worth noting that the volume-calculation algorithms in the MIUI and HyperOS shells change periodically, and what one firmware version displayed as "Apps" may be classified as "Other" in another, so there's no universal "Clean All" button, but there are proven digital trash control strategies that we'll look at below.
The Anatomy of the Other Section: What is Hiding There
The storage system analyzer doesn't always classify files correctly. The Other category is a kind of data basket that the Android operating system couldn't categorize into photos, videos, audio files, or installed applications, primarily social media and messenger cache, which over time inflates to giant sizes.
In addition, this section often includes system update files that were not automatically deleted after a successful installation. If you haven’t done a full reset or cleaned your phone for a long time, there may be error logs, temporary browser files and (remains) of remote games.
⚠️ Note: Not all files in the Others section are garbage. It may contain important application databases or downloaded maps for navigation. Blindly removing system folders through the file manager can lead to unstable smartphone operation.
Special attention is given to the garbage files created by the shell itself, which can be sketches of images viewed in a gallery or thumbnails of videos, which, while speeding up re-views, can reach several gigabytes if you actively shoot and watch media.
Technical details of the file system
The influence of messengers and social networks
The main culprit behind the growth of the Others section is 90% of the time messengers Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber, which are designed so that every photo, video or document you receive is stored in internal memory, and when you delete a file in a chat, it often stays in the phone's storage, continuing to occupy space and appearing in the Other category.
Social networks like Instagram, TikTok and VK also aggressively cache content. After watching the feed in a week, you can quietly accumulate 2-3 GB of temporary files. The system sees this data as part of the application, but because of the specificity of encoding or saving ways, it refers it to other data, not media files.
- 📱 Telegram: Stores cache of all channels and chats viewed, unless restricted.
- 💬 WhatsApp: Stores backups locally and stores all media, even deleted by the interlocutor.
- 🎵 TikTok/Shorts: cache every video you watch for quick back-scrolling.
- 📸 Instagram: accumulates storis and tape cache that doesn't clear on its own.
To solve this problem, you need to go to the settings of each application separately. Telegram, for example, has a built-in feature called “Data Use”, where you can clear the cache with a single button and set up autodelete files older than 3 days, which is the most effective way to return gigabytes of free space.
System files and update residues
The Android operating system, in conjunction with the MIUI or HyperOS shell, constantly creates temporary files for its work, these are process logs, error reports and temporary installation files. Often after a major system update, a 2-4 GB firmware file remains in memory, which is not automatically deleted.
Also, the Other may include Google Play Services, which stores map cache, geolocation data, and synchronization information, and sometimes its data size can grow abnormally due to a synchronization error, in which case cleaning the service itself helps.
Another source is the Android/obb and Android/data folder, which stores additional game and application files, and if you delete the game but the folder with its data is still there, it will be listed under Others. In modern Android versions, access to this folder is limited, so you can only clean it through the storage settings of a particular application or using a computer.
| Type of data | Location (path) | Is it safe to remove? | Weight (approximate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash Telegram. | Internal Memory / Telegram | Yes (via app settings) | 1-10 GB |
| Logs of the system | /data/log or /miui/log | Yes. | 100-500 MB |
| Remains of updates | /data/dual_sys memory-root | Yes (if the system works) | 2–4 GB |
| Cash Google Play | Settings → Applications | Yes. | 500 MB - 2 GB |
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System update files can only be deleted if the phone is stable and you do not plan to roll back the firmware version.
How to clean the “other” with standard means
The safest way to start the memory struggle is to use Xiaomi’s built-in tools. The Security app has a Cleanup module that can find obvious debris. However, it often doesn’t see the deep cache of the apps, so it needs to be integrated.
The first step is to use Extended Cleaning in a standard application. Go to Settings → About Phone → Storage. Here the system will suggest cleaning up garbage. If that's not enough, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find the heaviest programs (social media, browsers) and select Clean up → Clear up cache.
It's important not to confuse Cache Clearance and Data Clearance. Cache is temporary files, it's safe to delete them. Data cleanup will reset the app to the "just installed" state by removing logins, passwords and settings. For the "Other" section, we need to clear the cache.
☑️ Standard cleaning algorithm
Also worth checking is the Download folder, which is often downloaded by users of APK installation files, documents or pictures that are no longer needed, which are dead weight and classified by the system as Other.
Radical methods: resetting and flashing
If standard methods have failed and the Others section continues to take up absurd volume (e.g., 20-30GB on an empty phone), it may be that the file system is damaged or has accumulated indexing errors, in which case a full factory reset helps.
Before you run Hard Reset, be sure to back up your important data to the Google or Mi Cloud cloud, as well as your computer. Once reset, the phone will go back out of the box and the Other section will disappear as all user data and cache disappear.
⚠️ Warning: Clear Install with data formatting is the most effective, but also the most difficult method.It is guaranteed to remove any file system software errors, but requires a PC and a firmware file.
For advanced users, there is a possibility of cleaning through Recovery mode. However, Xiaomi's stock recovery does not have the function of formatting the data partition without losing data, so this method equates to a complete reset. Using third-party recovery (TWRP) allows you to format individual partitions, but this requires an unlocked bootloader.
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After a complete reset, do not restore applications from backup with a “package”: Install them again from the Play Market – this will prevent the return of old bloated cache and junk files.
Prevention and third-party utilities
To keep the problem from returning, you need to maintain digital hygiene. Check the storage once a month regularly. Use cloud services to store photos and videos, enabling the "Free Space" feature in Google Photos, which deletes local copies after uploading to the cloud.
There are third-party disk space analyzers that work better than standard ones, like the DiskUsage app or Files by Google, which visualize the storage as a map, allowing you to see exactly which folder or file takes up the most space, even if the system hides them in Others.
- 🗑️ Files by Google: Safely removes duplicates and temporary files.
- 📊 DiskUsage: Shows detailed memory card (requires rights to analyze).
- 🧹 SD Maid: A professional tool for finding the “bodies” of remote applications.
Remember that filling up memory by more than 90% slows down the flash memory of your smartphone. Try to always keep at least 5-10 GB free for normal system operation and recording processes.