Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often wonder about the physical and logical localization of their personal files, whether they want to make room, transfer information to a computer or, conversely, protect confidential information from prying eyes. Understanding where your photos, correspondence and system logs lie is key to competent device management.
The file system of modern Android smartphones, including the shell MIUI or HyperOS, has a clear hierarchical structure. However, for the average user, it can seem confusing due to the abundance of folders with obscure names. In this article, we will analyze in detail the routes to your data, explain the difference between internal memory and the system partition, and point out hidden places where critical information is stored.
You don't have to be a programmer to navigate directories, but you have to know a few basic paths and understand what each one is responsible for, and we'll look at both the standard media repositories and the less obvious places where you can still have digital traces of your activity.
Internal memory structure and root directories
When you connect your smartphone to your computer in file transfer mode (MTP) or through a file manager, you see a root folder, often referred to as Internal Shared Drive. This is where the main app and system directories are located in the user space, and it's important to understand that this is not the entire memory of the phone, but only the part that is available for recording.
Most apps create folders with names that match their developers or functionality, like messengers that store media files here, and navigators that store offline maps, and access to that data is without super-user permission, making it easy to quickly copy.
The kernel system files and basic Android settings are in a secure partition that is not accessible for standard operations. Trying to change them without Root rights will not lead to anything, and interfering with system files can disrupt the stability of MIUI.
⚠️ Warning: Never delete folders with unknown names at the root of internal memory unless you are sure of their purpose.This can result in resetting app settings or loss of game progress data.
It’s convenient to use standard conductor or third-party solutions like Total Commander to navigate through the main folders. Understanding the structure helps you quickly find heavy files and clean the cache manually when automatic cleaners fail.
Multimedia storage: photo, video and audio
The most voluminous content is photos and videos. By default, the camera saves all the pictures to the DCIM/Camera directory. This is the standard Android path that is followed on Xiaomi devices, and if you take screenshots, they end up in the Pictures/Screenshots or DCIM/Screenshots folder, depending on the firmware version.
Images uploaded from the Internet tend to end up in the Download folder. However, many browsers and social networks create their own subdirectories. For example, Telegram can save files to Android/media/org.telegram.messenger, following the new security requirements of Android 11 and higher.
- 📸 DCIM — main folder for photos and video from the camera, as well as imported pictures.
- 🎵 Music and Recordings – Music files and dictaphone recordings are stored here (including recording conversations if enabled).
- 📥 Download – Universal folder for all downloads from the browser and some applications.
Audio recordings of the recorder often have an extension.m4a or.mp3 They're deep in structure, unless they're catalogued in a separate way: MIUI/sound_recorder Or a recorder. That's something to consider when looking for important conversations.
Users who are actively shooting high-resolution video should check the DCIM folder regularly, which can take up tens of gigabytes, and moving them to an external medium or to the cloud is the best practice to keep the system running.
System data and hidden partitions
In addition to the files visible to the user, there are hidden partitions in the smartphone memory, access to which is possible only with root rights or through debugging. USB (ADB). They're kept here. IMEI, serial numbers, calibration data of the display and sensors, and MAC-address.
Of particular interest is the /data section, which stores all the user information of applications: databases, logins, passwords (encrypted), cache and settings. Without root access, you can't see the contents of this folder, which is an important element of data security.
The /persist section contains data that should be stored even after the device is completely flashed, and that's the calibration of cameras, proximity sensors and accelerometers, and damage to that partition often causes the iron to fail even when the system is booted.
| Section | Description of the contents | Access. |
|---|---|---|
| /system | Android operating system files and MIUI shells | Reading only (no root) |
| /data | Applications, their data, user settings | Only root/ADB |
| /cache | Temporary system and application files | Reading/Recording |
| /persist | Calibration data of hardware components | Only root (dangerous) |
System logs, which may contain information about user errors and actions, are written to /data/log or similar directories. For the average user, they are useless, but can be critical to developers when debugging.
What is the EFS section?
Application data: messengers and social networks
Messengers like WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram take up a significant amount of memory, and they used to create folders at the root, but modern versions of Android require data to be stored in Android/media or Android/data, which makes it difficult to access files directly, but increases security.
Inside the messenger folders, there are usually Media, Images, Video, and Databases subdirectories. Correspondence databases (.db or.db.crypt) are the most valuable files because they contain text messages. Without the encryption key, you can't read them.
- 💬 WhatsApp: The Way Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media contains all received media files.
- ✈️ Telegram: Stores cache in Android/data/org.telegram.messenger/files, It takes up a huge amount of active use.
- 📱 Viber: Uses the structure Android/media/com.viber.voip storage of calls and messages.
Clearing the cache of these apps through the phone's settings is safe, but deleting the data folders will result in a loss of correspondence history unless a backup to the cloud was made.Always check for a backup in Google Drive before cleaning.
⚠️ Note: Messenger database files are often encrypted with a specific device. Transferring the data folder to another phone without prior backup through the cloud will not restore the correspondence.
To free up space, it is more effective to use built-in cleaning tools inside the applications themselves (Settings → Data and Storage) than to manually delete files through the Explorer, as the application may not properly update its file index.
Hidden Storage and Second Space
In the MIUI shell, there is a Second Space feature that creates a completely isolated environment, where files, photos and applications installed in the second space are physically stored in an encrypted container inside the /data partition, and from the first space they are invisible and inaccessible.
There's also a.Private folder or a hidden album in the Gallery, and the files that are placed there disappear from public access and require a password or fingerprint to view them, and they're physically in the MIUI/gallery/cloud/secretAlbum system folder (the path can vary depending on the OS version).
You can't do without a password (if you forget it) to access hidden files, and it's designed specifically to protect privacy, and the only way to get it back is to remember the password or the Mi Account that the space is tied to.
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If you're using Second Space, remember that resetting to the factory settings will remove data from both spaces, and you need to back up separately for each profile.
Some users use hidden folders with a dot at the beginning of the title (such as.secret) to hide them from the gallery. Standard file managers by default may not display such directories without enabling the "Show Hidden Files" option.
Backup and cloud data
Local backups created by Xiaomi’s standard tool are usually saved in the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder. Inside are archives with settings, SMS, call log and application listings. These files take up a lot of space and are often forgotten by users.
Mi Cloud and Google Photos account data are stored on the companies' servers, leaving only their cached thumbnails or files tagged for offline access, and full synchronization allows you to keep all gigabytes of photos out of your phone's memory.
- ☁️ Mi Cloud: syncs contacts, notes, voice recorder and gallery (if enabled).
- 🔒 Local backup: stored in MIUI/backup, Requires manual copying on PC for security.
- 🔄 Google One: Stores full copies of the system, application data and original photos.
It is important to check the size of the backup folder periodically. Old backups created a year ago can take 20-30 GB, carrying no payload, if the settings have changed since then.
☑️ Verification of backup copies
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Where is the IMEI physically stored on Xiaomi?
How to find the hidden folder.thumbnails and can it be deleted?
Where do files go after cleaning "Unknown" in the storage?
Can I transfer the Android folder to a memory card?
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Understanding the structure of the file system allows not only to effectively manage space, but also to save important data when flashing or resetting device settings.