Many Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners face the uncomfortable situation of the device’s internal memory filling up rapidly and standard tools can’t pinpoint the cause. The storage list includes a mysterious section often referred to as “Other” or “System Files” that takes up gigabytes of precious space. Understanding the nature of this partition is critical to the normal operation of the gadget, as overflow can lead to a significant slowdown in the interface and errors in the application.
In fact, this partition is not a single hidden folder that is denied to the user by default, but a logical combination of application cache, residual files of remote programs, temporary system data and multimedia that was not recognized by the storage scanner, and the analysis of the contents of this partition allows you to return the device to speed and make room for new photos and programs.
In this article, we will take a closer look at where the data in this section is physically and logically located on MiUI and HyperOS smartphones. You will learn how to safely clean up accumulated junk content without losing important data and why a standard conductor does not always show a complete picture of disk space usage.
What is hidden in the Other section in fact
The Other section is an aggregated metric that Android generates from files that don't fall into standard categories like Images, Videos, or Apps, which includes temporary files created by browsers when browsing the web, streaming buffers from YouTube or Netflix, and logs from various services. Often the volume of this section is inflated due to incorrect messaging apps that store copies of media files in hidden directories.
Special attention should be paid to the cache of offline navigation cards and game engine data. For example, heavy games can download additional resources that the system classifies as unknown data. The file system of a smartphone marks this data as system or user data, but can not uniquely classify it in a specific category, so it flows into a common pool of "Other".
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to manually delete files from system folders without prior analysis, as this may cause the operating system to run unstable. MIUI or a complete loader failure.
Also, this section often gets leftovers after a failed firmware update or security patch installation. If you recently upgraded your Xiaomi, check if there are any old installation packages left at the root of the internal memory.
How to find hidden files through a standard explorer
To start the search, you need to activate the display of hidden elements in the standard file manager. In the MiUI interface, this is done through the settings of the Explorer application itself. Open the application, click on the menu icon (three bars or dots) and select Settings. Here you need to find the "Show hidden files" switch and activate it.
Once you turn this option on, folders that start with a dot will appear at the root of internal memory, and that's where the data that forms the volume of the "Other" partition often hides. Of particular interest are directories with names like.android,.cache or folders with names of remote applications. Navigating these directories requires caution, but gives you a full understanding of what takes up space.
Why can folders be empty even after the option is turned on?
Use size sorting to quickly identify the most voluminous hidden directories. Xiaomi's Explorer has a space analysis feature that visually shows the distribution of data. Go to Cleanup or Storage Analysis to see a detailed breakdown. Data visualization helps you instantly find giant files that have been lying idle for months.
Using Developer Mode to Analyze Storage
A more advanced way to diagnose is to use a hidden developer menu, and to get there, you have to click on the MIUI version number several times in the About Phone section, and after the notification that you have become a developer, a new "Developers" option will appear in the settings menu.
In this menu, find a section that's associated with storage or application launch, where you can have a command to run a memory system analyzer, and this tool shows not just the size of the folders, but the processes that keep files open, and it's especially useful for detecting bloated cache of specific applications.
Also in developer mode, you can find the adb shell dumpsys diskstats command if you have a computer connection, and this command outputs detailed statistics for each part of the file system. For the average user, you just need to activate the real-time display of CPU and storage usage, which will help track which application is currently generating junk files.
Clearing cache and data through application settings
The safest and most effective way to reduce the size of the Other partition is to work with specific memory-consumption leading applications. Most often, the culprits are social networks, messengers and browsers. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications and sort the list by size of the space occupied.
Select the application with the highest data volume. Inside, you'll see two buttons: Clear cache and Clear all data. The first button is secure and deletes temporary files. The second button will reset the application to the original installation state by removing logins and settings, but it often frees up gigabytes of space in the "Other" section.
☑️ Safe cleaning algorithm
Pay special attention to multimedia applications. Video services and music streams can store gigabytes of cached videos and tracks. The settings of these applications themselves (such as Telegram or Spotify) often have built-in tools for managing cache size that work more efficiently than Android system tools.
Specificity of the work of messengers and social networks
Messengers like Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber are the main architects of the Other section, and they store every photo and video they view into a temporary storage that the system doesn't always correctly index as media files. Telegram solves the problem through settings: Data and memory → Memory Use → Clear cache. There you can set a limit on autoloading media.
WhatsApp is more complicated, as the media database is often stored in a hidden Media folder inside the system directories. Use the built-in storage management tool in chat settings to remove the most extensive dialogs. Deleting files through a standard Explorer can cause chat messages to remain, but files will stop opening.
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Set the Telegram settings to automatically clear the cache when it reaches a certain size (e.g. 500MB) so that the Other section never grows.
Social networks like Instagram and VK also actively cache the feed. If you haven't cleaned the data of these apps in a long time, their contribution to the "Other" section can be several gigabytes. Regularly cleaning the data (not only the cache) once a month helps keep the system on track.
Radical methods: resetting and formatting
If the software methods don't work and the Other continues to grow, occupying a critical volume, a more radical intervention may be needed. One effective way is to reset network and application settings. This doesn't delete personal photos, but resets system configs that could cause file indexing errors.
In the extreme case, when nothing works, a complete factory reset is performed. Before this procedure, be sure to back up all important data to the cloud or to the computer. After the reset, the "Other" section will disappear, as the file system will be recreated without garbage accumulation.
| Cleaning method | Security of data | Efficiency | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleaning up the app cache | High (data retained) | Medium | Low. |
| Removal through the Conductor | Medium (risk of removing excess) | Tall. | Medium |
| Resetting phone settings | Low (backup required) | Maximum | Tall. |
| Using ADB teams | Medium (requires skills) | Tall. | Tall. |
Remember that after any major system update, the Other section may temporarily increase due to optimization processes.Let the phone lie on charge with the screen on for about an hour after the upgrade so that the system completes the background tasks.
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Regular preventive cleaning of the cache every two weeks prevents critical growth of the Other partition and keeps the smartphone running.