How to find and clean up internal memory on Xiaomi Redmi

Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a sudden message of a lack of space, and it’s not just that: modern apps, messenger cache, and high-quality photos quickly fill the available space. Understanding where the internal memory is physically and programmatically located becomes critical to the stable operation of the device.

A MIUI or HyperOS system has a complex file structure that might not be obvious to the average user. The internal drive here is divided into a system partition and a user area that is accessible for recording. If you don't know where to look for "eaters" of space, the phone will start to run slower and new applications will stop installing.

In this article, we will take a look at the paths to storage, how to analyze the amount of workload and how to safely clean up, how to find hidden folders, what is an “Other” partition, and why standard cleaning tools don’t always show the full picture.

Analysis of storage occupancy through settings

The first place to look when you don't have enough space is the regular memory analyzer. Xiaomi's Android shell provides pretty detailed statistics, although it's often hidden in the back of the menu. You need to go to Settings, then select About Phone and click on Storage.

Here you'll see a color diagram where each sector is responsible for a specific type of data: apps, images, video, audio and system files. Visualization helps you quickly understand what exactly takes up the lion's share of gigabytes. Often, half of the memory is occupied by garbage from long-deleted programs or social media cache.

It is worth noting that the amount of available memory is always less than the manufacturer’s stated, because the system partition and reserved areas occupy a significant part of the physical memory chip, for example, on a device with 64 GB out of the box, the user is available about 45-50 GB.

⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to delete system files through root access unless you are sure of their purpose.Removing critical libraries can lead to bootloop (cyclical reboot).

Using the Explorer application to search for files

To go deeper into the file system, you'll need the standard File Manager application. Unlike the settings, here you see the real folder structure. Open the application and select the Folder tab to see the root directory of the internal drive.

Special attention should be paid to the DCIM (camera photos and videos), MIUI (screenshots, voice recorder, themes) and Android (app data), which are the directories where unnecessary digital garbage accumulates most often.

You can also use the cleaning function inside the conductor. Click on the broom icon or go to the Cleanup section. The system will suggest deleting temporary files, but it is better to manually check what exactly is proposed for removal so as not to lose important logs or save games.

Hidden sections and Android folder

With the release of new Android versions (11 and higher), access to the Android/data folder has been restricted for security reasons, but it is where the cache of games and offline maps of navigators, which can weigh tens of gigabytes, are stored. To find this hidden memory, you need to give special permissions to the conductor or use third-party file managers with SAF rights.

Inside the data folder, you'll find directories with application package names, like com.whatsapp or com.tencent.ig. They usually have a file or cache folder inside them, and cleaning those folders will make room, but can reset the settings of the relevant applications or delete downloaded materials.

Another hidden space eater is the.thumbnails folder, which is located on the DCIM/.thumbnails path, which stores thumbnails of your photos for quick display in the gallery. Over time, this file can grow to several gigabytes. It can be safely deleted, but it will be recreated the next time the gallery opens.

Application cache and messenger data

Special attention should be paid to messengers such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber. They have their own internal storage, which is not always correctly displayed in standard Android statistics. For example, Telegram stores all the media files viewed in its cache, which must be cleaned through the settings of the application itself: Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use.

In System Settings Apps, you can manage the memory of each software you install. Select a heavy app and press Storage. There are two buttons available here: Clear cache and Clear everything. The first one deletes temporary files, the second one resets the application to factory settings, removing logins and passwords.

Regularly cleaning the cache of YouTube, TikTok and Instagram can free up 1 to 5GB of space.These apps aggressively save videos for fast scrolling through the tape, forgetting to delete old data.

Transfer data to memory card and cloud

If internal memory is crowded, the logical solution is to use an external drive. Most Redmi models support microSD cards. Once the card is installed in the slot, the system will suggest using it as portable storage or as part of internal memory.

When you choose the option "as internal storage" (Adoptable Storage), the card is encrypted and tied to a particular phone, you can't read it on other devices without formatting, but it allows you to move applications and their data there, effectively expanding the main partition.

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Use U3 or V30 speed memory cards to record 4K video and install heavy apps. Cheap cards can slow down the entire smartphone.

An alternative to a physical map is cloud storage, Google Photos allows you to free up space on your device by uploading all your images to the cloud and deleting local copies of them, and Xiaomi Cloud, which is integrated into the system, can automatically synchronize contacts, notes and screenshots.

Radical Methods: Resetting and Formatting

When cleaning doesn't work and the system says "Not enough memory" even for work, the last thing you can do is reset the settings to the factory settings completely, and make sure to back up all the important data before you do that, because the internal memory will be completely formatted.

You can reset via the recovery menu or through your phone settings. From the Advanced Settings menu, select Recover and Reset → Reset. Make sure the battery is at least 50% so that the process does not interrupt.

⚠️ Warning: Once reset, the phone will be like new.All Google and Mi Account accounts will be deleted from the device, so remember your passwords to re-authorize.

Once you have completed the procedure, you will get a clean system with the maximum amount of free space, and it is recommended not to install all the applications at once, but only to install the necessary ones to control the memory filling in the future.

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Regular monitoring of the Download folder and messenger cache prevents 80% of memory problems on Xiaomi Redmi.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)