What is ‘Other’ in Xiaomi Storage and How to Clean It

Every Xiaomi or Redmi smartphone owner is confronted with a frightening notification of a lack of space, and when you analyze the memory in detail, you find a mysterious section called “Other” that can take up tens of gigabytes. This is not a system bug, but accumulated “digital garbage” that does not belong to standard categories of files like photos or music.

In the Android operating system, which runs the MIUI and HyperOS shells, there are many hidden processes and temporary files that are created by applications for quick operation, but are often forgotten by software developers and not deleted automatically, and this data falls into the category of “Other”, gradually eating up the useful amount of internal memory of the device.

In this article, we will explore what exactly this volume is made of, why it can not be ignored and how to safely return space, learn how to distinguish system files from garbage and understand how to prevent re-inflating storage in the future.

What is the Other category in MIUI and HyperOS

The Other category is a kind of black box of the Xiaomi file system, where it puts everything it couldn't identify as a media file, document or application, and the bulk of the data is cached files from popular messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber, and when you watch a video or photo in a chat, it's stored in memory for quick re-uploading, but often stays there forever.

The second big thing is streaming data and browser data, and app cache is temporary files that speed up programs, like YouTube or Spotify, which store portions of tracks and videos you've watched, and over time, these snippets can take up gigabytes, especially if you're actively using online services without cleaning them regularly.

Also in this section fall:

• 📦 Residual files of remote applications that were not erased during uninstallation.
• 📂 Temporary system files created during updates or background processes.
• 📸 Miniatures of images and videos that the gallery creates for preview.
• 📱 Data offline maps and navigators downloaded to work without the Internet.

It’s important to understand that Other isn’t a virus or a system failure, but a feature of the Android file system. However, ignoring this category can lead to a smartphone that starts to run slower and new applications simply have nowhere to install.

⚠️ Warning: Don't try to delete files from system folders manually through root-righted file managers unless you're sure of their purpose.Deleting critical system libraries can lead to a device "bricking" or endless reboot.

Analysis of occupied space using built-in tools and third-party utilities

Before you start radical measures, you need to conduct a competent diagnosis. Xiaomi standard tools provide a basic tool for analysis, but it often only shows the big picture. For a deeper dive, you should use specialized utilities that visualize the file system.

The built-in memory analyzer is on the Settings → Memory path, where the system will suggest clearing up the garbage, but this tool is often superficial. It does a good job with advertising files and obvious cache, but rarely gets to the deep folders of messengers, where the bulk of the data category "Other" hides.

For detailed analysis, third-party analytics applications like Files by Google or DiskUsage are recommended, and these programs build a graphics card where each file is represented as a block, the larger the block, the more space it takes up, which allows you to instantly find the heavyweights hidden in the bowels of the file system.

Using such utilities helps to identify hidden problems:

• 🔍 Detecting Forgotten Downloads of Multi-Gigabytes.
• 🗑️ Finding duplicate files created by different applications.
• 📉 Identifying parasitic applications that grow for no apparent reason.
• 📊 Understanding the real structure (employment) of memory, not just nominal memory.

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Use the DiskUsage app in Memory Map mode to see a visual representation of all folders. Larger squares are your top goals for cleaning.

Clearing the cache of messengers: Telegram, WhatsApp and others

The lion’s share of the “Other” category on Xiaomi smartphones is in messengers. Telegram, for example, is set to save all viewed media files in the device’s memory by default, which means that every video, photo or voice message you ever opened in a chat takes up space, even if you’ve long forgotten about it.

To clear the cache in Telegram without deleting the correspondence, you need to go to the application settings. The path usually looks like: Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use. Here you will see the “Clear Cache” button. After clicking, you will free up a significant amount of space, but your chats will remain intact (untouched), since all media are stored on the cloud server and will be rebooted if necessary.

WhatsApp is a little different. Here you can also clear the cache through settings, but it's important to check media files. WhatsApp often saves the photos and videos you receive to the gallery by duplicating them in its database.

Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management

In this menu, you can sort files by size and delete the heaviest video files or forwarded messages that take up the most space, and you can also turn off the auto-save media to the gallery to prevent future problems.

Working with Android folder and system garbage

The Android folder in the internal storage is sacred ground for applications to work, but also a hotbed of garbage. Inside it are data and obb subfolders. Data stores settings and temporary application files, and obb stores heavy game cache files. This is often where the remnants of remote games that can weigh 2-3 GB each hide.

When you delete a game through a standard menu, the obb file often remains dead weight. To delete it, you need to go to the file manager on the path Internal Drive → Android → obb. Here you will see folders with the names of the packages (for example, com.game.name). If you delete the game, the corresponding folder can be safely erased.

You have to be careful with system debris. Files with the.log or.tmp extension at the root of the system or in the MIUI folder are often error reports. They can be deleted, but it's better to do this through Xiaomi's built-in Security app, which knows which files you can touch and which you can't.

The main areas of attention in the file system:

• 📁 /Android/data — Application cache (clean through application settings is safer).
• 📁 /Android/obb — Game cache (you can delete remote game folders).
• 📁 /MIUI/debug_log — System Logs (can be deleted).
• 📁 /Tencent/MicroMsg — WeChat junk files and QQ (requires manual inspection).

⚠️ Attention: In the folder Android/data You can find the authorization files for some applications (for example, offline maps or work documents), and by removing the entire contents of this folder, you can reset the application settings to the factory.

Resetting settings and radical methods of vacating space

If cache clearing and file deletion fail to produce the desired result and the Other category continues to inflate, there may have been a logical failure or a file registry error, in which case the most effective, albeit radical, method is a full reset (Hard Reset).

This procedure will return the smartphone to factory state, completely clearing the “Other” section along with all user data.Be sure to create a full backup of important data to the Mi Cloud cloud or to your computer before you do this, since it will be impossible to restore deleted files after reset.

You can reset through the settings menu:

Settings → About the phone → Reset settings → Erase all data

Once rebooted, the phone will be like new. The Other category will be the minimum volume required to run the system, and this is the best way to refresh the device if it's been slow for several years.

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Full reset is the only way to ensure that you remove system debris and file system errors that cannot be fixed by manual cleaning.

Prevention: How to avoid overcrowding in the future

To prevent the problem with the category “Other” from returning in a month, you need to change your smartphone usage habits. First of all, set up automatic cleaning of the messenger cache. In the same Telegram, you can set the cache autodeletion period (for example, 3 days or 1 week), then the application will delete the old media files, freeing up space.

Second, check Download regularly (once a month), often with APK installation files that are no longer needed once you install the software, as well as documents and pictures from work chats.

Useful habits to maintain order:

• ✅ Turn off auto-save photos and videos from instant messengers to the gallery.
• ✅ Use cloud services (Google Photos, Mi Cloud) to store archives by removing them from your device.
• ✅ Once a week, run the built-in cleaner in the Security app».
• ✅ Remove unused applications immediately without waiting for space shortages.

Compliance with these simple rules will keep the system clean and avoid situations where the smartphone writes “not enough space” at the most inopportune time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)