Other files on Xiaomi take up a lot of space: how to delete

Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face a frustrating situation: the device’s memory is full, although photos and applications are few. In a detailed analysis of the storage, it turns out that the lion’s share of space is occupied by the mysterious category “Other” or “Other”; this system folder can grow to tens of gigabytes, causing slowdowns in the interface, lags in games and the inability to install important updates. Understanding the nature of this phenomenon is the first step to freeing up valuable resources of your gadget.

MIUI and the new HyperOS aggregate a huge amount of data into this category: application cache, remnants of deleted programs, error logs, temporary messenger files and even video clips. Automated cleaning with regular tools does not always cope with deep layers of system debris. In this guide, we will discuss proven methods for safely removing excess data that will help return performance to your device without having to do a full reset.

Ignoring system partition overflows can lead to critical operating system errors. Android requires free space to create temporary files and correct background processes. If you notice that the smartphone has started to “dumb” or applications fly out immediately after launch, most likely, the problem lies in the bloated “Other” section. Let’s look at how to effectively diagnose and clean.

Analysis of contents of the category "Other"

Before we start taking drastic measures, we need to understand what exactly takes up space: The Other category is not just a single file, but a collection of different types of data, cached data from YouTube, Telegram, Instagram and other media applications, and often stores offline maps of navigators and downloaded music service playlists.

WhatsApp and Telegram have a habit of saving all the images and videos they receive into hidden folders, which the system classifies as “others.” Even if you delete the chat, its media files can remain in memory for months. System logs and error reports are another source of “heavy” debris that accumulates over time.

⚠️ Note: Do not manually delete files through file managers unless you are sure of their purpose. Android/data It can lead to malfunctioning of applications or complete system failure.

For detailed analysis, you can use built-in tools or third-party utilities. However, a standard analyzer often shows only the big picture. More advanced users can use adb commands to identify specific folders-leaders for space consumption.

adb shell dumpsys diskstats

This team will provide detailed data on disk space usage by packet and system process, and by looking at the output, you can determine which application generates the most garbage.

Cleaning through the standard “Safety” application

The safest and easiest way to start the fight for free space is to use the pre-installed Security app. Unlike third-party “cliners”, this tool has deep permissions to the system and knows which files can be deleted without risking the stability of MIUI.

Launch the app and select Clean up. The system will scan and suggest removing obvious debris: advertising files, deleted app residues and temporary data. However, standard cleaning often only affects the surface layer. For more in-depth work, go to the Memory or Storage section in the phone settings.

• 📱 Cache Clearing: Click on the Clean Up button to delete temporary application files.This is secure and will not affect your personal data.
• 🗑️ Delete large files: The app will prompt you to find and delete files larger than a certain threshold (e.g., 10MB).
• 📸 Photo analysis: A special algorithm will find similar pictures, screenshots and blurry photos that can be safely removed.
• 📦 Removal APK: Installation files of applications that are no longer needed after installing programs will be found.

It is important to repeat this procedure regularly, especially if you are actively using social media. Autoclean in the Security settings can be configured to perform when a certain occupancy threshold is reached, which will help maintain order without your involvement.

Deep cleaning of messengers and social networks

The main memory eaters are messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and Instagram store huge amounts of data. On Telegram, for example, the default caching settings allow you to take up unlimited space. To fix this, go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use.

Here, you need to set a cache size limit (e.g., 256MB or 1GB) and set up an automatic cleanup period (3 days, 1 week) to force the app to automatically delete old media files, freeing up space in the Other category. On WhatsApp, similar settings are in Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management.

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When you clear the Telegram cache, your conversations and contacts won’t disappear. You’ll simply delete the uploaded photos and videos that you can download again if necessary.

Don't forget social media. VK, Facebook and others also accumulate gigabytes of junk, and their settings often include Clear Cache, which securely deletes temporary files, and checking these settings regularly will keep the Other category within reasonable limits.

Delete Residual Files and Android Folders

When you delete apps on Android, they often have tails — folders with settings, logs, and temporary data — that can sit in memory for years, taking up space, and are best searched by advanced file managers like Total Commander, Files by Google, or Solid Explorer.

First of all, check the Android/data and Android/obb folder. This is where game and application data are stored. If you delete the game, its resource folder (often weighing 1-2 GB) can remain dead weight. Carefully check the folder names before deleting: delete only those that correspond to the programs already deleted.

⚠️ Attention: In the folder Android/data You can find important data for running applications (such as offline maps or music cache), delete the contents of only folders that are familiar to you and correspond to remote programs, and look at the root directory of the repository. Often you can find folders with names of applications that have been deleted long ago, various.tmp files or debugging logs. File searcher will help you find files that are sorted by the date of change - old files that you did not create are most likely garbage. ADB For users who are not afraid of the command line, the tool ADB (Android Debug Bridge provides a powerful system cleanup capability, which allows you to delete application data even for applications that don’t have a Clear Data button in the interface or are system-based. You will need a computer to work, USB-cable and installed drivers ADB. After connecting the phone and enabling debugging USB, You can execute commands to clear the cache of specific packages. This is especially effective for Xiaomi system applications that inflate the "Other" section. adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999999 This command forcibly trims the cache of all applications to a minimum. You can also clear the application data with the adb shell pm clear name packet. Be very careful: cleaning these system components can lead to a reset or reboot. 💻 Connection: Enable debugging by USB menu "For developers». 🔌 Authorization: Confirm the connection on the smartphone screen when connecting to the PC. ⌨️ Command: Enter a cleaning command in the terminal on the computer. ✅ Result: System will instantly free up space that standard cleaners can't see. 💡Use of the ADB — The most effective way to deal with unremovable system debris, but requires care and basic technical skills. Prevention and setting up of autocleaning To prevent the problem of overcrowded memory from returning, you need to configure automatic prevention. MIUI There's a speed-up feature that you can set to automatically start when you reach a certain memory filling percentage, and it's also helpful to limit background activity for heavy applications, and check the Download folder regularly. Browsers and instant messengers often store all downloaded files that the user forgets about. Deleting old installers, documents and pictures can instantly free up several gigabytes. Use cloud storage to archive rarely used files. Keep an eye out for system updates. Xiaomi engineers are constantly optimizing file system and cleaning algorithms in new versions of HyperOS and MIUI. Upgrading to the latest version of software often solves problems with incorrect display of the size of the occupied memory. Why does the memory fill up quickly again after cleaning? This is normal for active users. Messengers and social networks continuously generate a new cache. Set up automatic cleaning in the applications themselves and conduct a storage audit once a week. Is it safe to delete the.thumbnails folder? Yes, the folder.ttt.t.t.t.t.t. contains a critical memory space for the system to be refilled. When the space runs out, the system has nowhere to create temporary swap files, which leads to severe brakes, interface freezes and long application downloads. Should you reset to factory settings? Only as a last resort. If methods with cleaning the cache, messengers and using ADB did not help, and the category "Other" takes an abnormally large (over 20-30 GB), then a complete reset may be the only solution.