Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones sooner or later face an unpleasant situation: the device’s memory is full, and the standard analyzer shows that the lion’s share of space is occupied by the mysterious category “Other”, which is annoying, since the system does not give a clear answer to what exactly is behind this partition, and does not offer a simple button to clean it, the user sees that photos and applications take up minimal space, but free memory is less and less.
In fact, the Other section is a system container for temporary files, application cache, residual data after deleted programs and system logs. Cleaning this category can free up 1 to 10 gigabytes of space, which is critical for the stable operation of MIUI or HyperOS. In this article, we will analyze the anatomy of system debris and provide a step-by-step algorithm for safely removing redundant data without losing personal files.
Anatomy category "Other": what is stored there
First, we need to understand that the MIUI-based Android operating system is a file that is not just a random set of bytes, but the structured data that accumulates during the operation of the gadget. The bulk of the app cache is usually created to speed up the work of programs, but over time grows to a gigantic size.
The second big block is the remnants of remote apps, and when you delete a game or a social network, you often have folders with settings, avatars, and time data, and you also get error logs that create apps when they crash, and offline map data, downloaded tracks from the navigators, which the system can't automatically classify as Photos or Videos, so it's classified as Other.
⚠️ Note: Some files in the Other section may be critical to running installed applications. Blindly removing system folders through the file manager can cause programs to malfunction.
The third component is the cache of streaming services, and if you listen to music on Spotify or Yandex.Music, or watch videos on YouTube or Netflix, these apps store buffered data on the device, and over time, this cache can take up tens of gigabytes, remaining invisible in the standard gallery.
Use of built-in storage analyzer
The first and safest step to free up space is to use the system's regular tools. The MIUI and HyperOS shells have a powerful memory management tool built in that can find duplicates and large files. To access it, go to Settings → Memory. Here you will see a visualization of occupied space.
Click on the Cleanup button or run the built-in Security app and select the Cleanup section. The system will scan and suggest removing obvious debris: advertising files, remnants of deleted applications and temporary data. However, deep cleaning requires manual intervention, as automation is afraid to remove excess.
☑️ Basic cleaning through settings
Notice the Apps section inside the memory menu, and often that's where the bulk of the Other data is hidden. Sort the list by size and check the top.-5 Often, messengers or browsers take up a disproportionate amount of space due to accumulated cache.
Manual cleaning through the file manager
For more advanced users, manual cleaning is available through standard Explorer. Open File Manager and go to internal storage. You need to be very careful to delete only those folders that you know what they are doing, and most often, you inflate the folder with the names of popular services.
Here is a list of directories that can often be safely cleaned or checked:
- 📁 Android/data — It's where the game and application cache files are stored.
- 📁 Tencent/MicroMsg — WeChat junk files and sometimes QQ.
- 📁 Download – a download folder where old installers often lie APK documents.
- 📁 MIUI/debug_log — Logs of debugging, which are created by the system and take place.
Special attention should be paid to the Android/media folder, where social networks and messengers can store the received images and videos that do not appear in the gallery, but occupy space in the “Other” section. Before deleting the content of any folders, it is strongly recommended to copy important data to the computer or to the cloud.
Hidden folders in Android 11 and higher
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
The leaders in filling the category “Other” are traditionally messengers Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber, these applications save every photo, video and voice message viewed to cache. Over time, the database grows, and the system begins to classify this data as “Other”.
Telegram has a built-in automatic cache cleanup feature. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory usage. Here you can see how much space the cache takes up and set auto-delete. It is recommended to set a timer for Delete Media Files for 3 days or 1 week.
On WhatsApp, the situation is similar. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. The app will show files larger than 5 MB and allow you to selectively delete heavy videos. This is the most effective way to combat the growth of the “Other” category without losing correspondence.
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Enable Autodelete in the Telegram cache settings, which will prevent gigabytes of garbage from being re-accumulated in the Other category in the future.
Comparison of cleaning methods: efficiency and risks
There are many ways to free up space, but they vary in complexity and potential data hazard. Below is a table comparing the main methods of dealing with memory overflow on Xiaomi devices.
| Cleaning method | Efficiency | Risk of data loss | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Cleaning (Safety) | Low (200-500 MB) | Absent. | Minimum |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium (1-3 GB) | Minimum (exit from accounts) | Low. |
| Manual deletion in Files | High (3-10 GB) | Medium (can be removed extra) | Medium |
| Reset to factory settings | Maximum (full) | High (removal of everything) | Tall. |
As you can see from the table, the manual method gives you a better balance between the amount of space you vacate and the time you spend, but if the Other category is unrealistically large (for example, 20 GB on a 64 GB device), it may indicate a system error or a file system tank.
⚠️ Note: If the “Other” category does not decrease after cleaning the cache and deleting files, you may need to reset or flash the device to correct indexing errors.
Radical measures: resetting and reflashing
If none of the soft methods worked, the last option is a complete reset of the device, which is guaranteed to delete all the data category "Other", as the partition will be formatted. Before you make sure to back up all the important data via Mi Cloud or on your computer.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. The process will take a few minutes, after which the phone will return to the “out of the box” state. It is also a great way to speed up an old smartphone that has started to slow down.
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Full reset is the only way to guarantee clearing of Other if the cause of overflow is a file system error or update bugs.
In some cases, cleaning the cache of the Dalvik Cache partition helps, but this requires Root rights and login to Recovery mode. For ordinary users, this method is not recommended due to the high risk of “bricking” the device with inept actions.