Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a mysterious situation: the storage is crowded, but on detailed analysis it turns out that the lion’s share is occupied by the category “Others”. This section can take up tens of gigabytes, blocking the installation of system updates and new applications. Users begin frantically searching for solutions on forums, trying to understand what exactly is behind this label.
The problem is systemic for the MIUI and HyperOS shell. Standard cleaning tools are often powerless against hidden messenger caches, error logs and residual files of remote programs. In this article, we will discuss in detail the nature of the occurrence of such debris and provide working instructions for its safe removal.
Don't panic at the red memory scale. The Others system partition is not a virus or a flash memory break, but a feature of the Android file system that doesn't always correctly classify user data. Understanding the folder structure will help you get back gigabytes of free space without losing important photos or contacts.
What is hidden in the “Others” section really?
When you open memory management, the system groups files into types: images, videos, audio, documents, anything that doesn't fall into any of these well-defined categories is automatically sent to a shopping cart that says "Others," and most often, there's an app cache that hasn't been flagged by the developer as being cleaned, and temporary files.
Telegram and WhatsApp have a habit of saving sent files in their own private directories, which the standard Xiaomi analyzer perceives as an unknown data format, as well as offline maps of navigators and uploaded videos in streaming services.
- 📦 Residual files after deleting applications (folders with settings and logs).
- 📱 Social media cache (saved previews, avatars, temporary videos).
- 🗺️ Data from navigation applications (offline maps of cities and countries).
- 📹 Video fragments if the shooting was interrupted or the file was damaged.
It's important to understand that there may be system logs inside the Others category, and if your phone has recently been updated or crashed, the folder could grow in size due to the recording of error reports, and deleting those files is safe, but it's best to do so after you reboot your device.
Storage analysis: Finding the heaviest files
Before we start radical measures, we need to make a good diagnosis. Xiaomi's built-in storage doesn't always show the detailed structure of folders. For deep analysis, we recommend using specialized tools like Files by Google or DiskUsage, which visualize memory by showing which folders have swelled to giant sizes.
Note the Android/data folder. This is where the caches of games and heavy apps are stored. After upgrading to version 11 and up, access to this directory is limited, but the analyzers can still show its weight. If you see that the game you deleted a week ago is 5 GB, then its data is left there.
The system analyzer can make mistakes in the calculations. Sometimes a smartphone reboot or a simple restart of the media scanner process causes the system to recalculate the file indices. After this procedure, the volume of the Others partition can decrease by several gigabytes without any action on your part.
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Use the DiskUsage app to build a graphical memory card, and larger squares will point to the folders that absorb space.
Safe cleaning through settings and built-in tools
The safest, though not always the most effective, method is to use the regular Security app, and MIUI has a powerful Cleanup tool that can find duplicates, large files, and APK installer packages. Running deep cleaning through this interface won’t hurt the system.
For more point work, go to the storage settings, where you can manually clear the cache of individual applications, find the list of heavyweights (for example, browser or social networks), select Cache and click Clear. Don't confuse this with the "Erase data" button, which will delete your account and settings inside the application.
Also worth checking is the download folder. Often users download application installation files, documents or videos that are no longer needed. The standard file manager Explorer has a category called Downloads, where these files are deadweight.
☑️ Daily Memory Hygiene
Radical methods: cleaning through PC and ADB
If built-in methods don't work, you'll have to connect your smartphone to your computer. In file transfer mode (MTP), you get access to the root structure of visible folders. Connect the cable, select File Transfer mode, and open internal storage on your PC.
It is much easier to delete large amounts of data on a computer, look for folders with remote game names, cache cards (com.google.android.apps.maps) or temporary files. Be extremely careful: deleting system folders can lead to unstable phone operation.
For advanced users, a USB debugging (ADB) method is available, which allows you to delete files from system partitions that are not accessible normally, which requires you to install ADB drivers on your PC and enable USB debugging in the Developer menu.
adb shell pm clear com.android.browserThe command above, for example, will completely clear the data and cache of a standard browser. Using ADB, you can pinpoint the cache of specific packets without affecting the user's personal data. However, working with the command line requires care and accuracy of command input.
⚠️ Note: When connecting via PC, never delete folders with system process names (e.g., starting with a dot or containing the word system, vendor, data in its entirety.
Cleaning through Recovery and TWRP
The deepest cleanup is only possible in Recovery. If you have TWRP customized reclaimers installed on your device, you get full access to the file system. In TWRP, you can open File Manager, go to the Data section, and manually delete the contents of the dalvik-cache folder or application cache.
In standard Xiaomi recovery (MIUI Recovery), the options are limited, and typically only the “Wipe Data” feature is available, which completely erases the phone, returning it to factory settings, which is an extreme measure when other methods are exhausted and the phone is not working properly.
Using TWRP allows you to clear the Cache and Dalvik Cache section without losing personal data (photos, contacts) unless they are in erasable directories. However, if you are not sure about your actions, it is better not to experiment with the recovery, so as not to lose encrypted data.
| Cleaning method | Security | Efficiency | Risk of data loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in cleaning | Tall. | Low. | Minimum |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Tall. | Medium | Absent. |
| Removal via PC (MTP) | Medium | Tall. | Medium (human factor) |
| TWRP / Recovery | Low (for beginners) | Maximum | High-pitched |
What if, after cleaning, the “Others” grew again?
Prevention: How to prevent memory overflow
To keep the problem from returning, you need to change your smartphone usage habits, first set up automatic cache cleaning in messengers, for example, Telegram can set a restriction on the storage of media files: “3 days”, “1 week” or “1 month”, old files will be deleted automatically, freeing up space.
Check the installed list regularly, and if you haven't used the program for more than a month, you probably don't need it, and removing those apps prevents them from accumulating background data and logs in the Others section.
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Services like Google Photos or Yandex.Disk can automatically upload media files to the cloud and delete their local copy, leaving only previews, which significantly reduces the load on internal memory.
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The secret to clean storage is not hoarding; regular digital cleaning is more effective than any one-off miracle.