Where is the memory in the phone Xiomi: a complete analysis of the storage

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones sooner or later face an annoying notification of a shortage of space. This system warning can slow down the device, block the installation of updates and prevent the creation of new photos. Understanding exactly where the memory is in the shell of MIUI or HyperOS is the key to stable operation of the gadget. File distribution system here has its own features that differ from pure Android.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the internal drive structure and see which folders take up the most gigabytes. You will learn to find hidden system files that are often hidden from the user’s eyes. We will also look at safe cleaning methods that will not damage the operating system. Deleting the.thumbnails folder can instantly free up to 10 GB of space, but it has the ability to recover quickly.

First, you have to understand that the internal memory of a smartphone is not just one big storage, it's divided into a system partition, a user partition, and a reserved area, and the shell interface tries to make it easier to access that data, but sometimes hides critical files too deep. Let's figure out how to manage that space effectively.

Storage Structure in MIUI and HyperOS

MIUI and its successor HyperOS use a file system that can seem confusing to a beginner. The main storage is divided into several logical parts. The first part is occupied by the operating system itself and the pre-installed applications. The second part is the user space where you upload photos, videos and install programs from Google Play or GetApps.

It is important to understand the difference between RAM (RAM) permanent (ROM). When you're looking for a file space, what you're interested in is the memory that's still there when you turn off your phone. Unlike that, RAM is only used for processes that are running right now. RAM It will not give you room for new photos.

System files take up a fixed amount, which varies depending on the firmware version. It's typically 10 to 20 GB. The rest of the space is available to the user, but it's quickly filled with messenger cache and media content. Xiaomi provides built-in tools to analyze that space, but they don't always show the full picture.

⚠️ Warning: Never delete files from system folders with names like Android, data, or obb unless you know exactly what they are responsible for, which can cause applications to malfunction or the system to fail completely.

The directory structure in the file manager looks like a tree. The root directory contains the main branches for each type of data. Understanding this hierarchy allows you to manually find the heavyweight files that automatic cleaners can miss, especially for old messaging messages.

How to see the fullness through settings

The easiest way to know where your phone's memory is occupied is to use a standard settings menu, which is secure and doesn't require third-party software. It gives you a general idea of the space distribution between apps, images and system files, and it's the first step you need to take when you notice a space shortage.

To access statistics, follow the following steps:

• 📱 Open the Settings app on the home screen or in the notification curtain.
• 📂 Find and go to About Phone (in some versions of HyperOS it may be called simply Information).

Here you'll see a breakdown by category: apps, images, video, audio, etc. If you click on any category, the system will suggest clearing it or going to a detailed list of files, which is a convenient tool for quick diagnosis, but it doesn't always show the cache size of individual applications exactly.

Also available in this section is the Cleanup function, which automatically finds temporary files, installer packages and advertising debris. Using this feature is safe, but for deep cleaning, it is better to use a manual method through the file manager. Automation can miss large forgotten files in the download folder.

Use of the "Conductor" application for deep analysis

Xiaomi's File Manager app is a powerful tool that is often underrated, and it allows you to see the real structure of folders on the disk, and you can find those hidden files that take up gigabytes, but don't show up in the gallery or standard memory settings.

To do a deep analysis, open Explorer and go to the Folder tab, and this is the root directory, and you should be interested in folders with application names, like com.whatsapp or com.tencent.mm, which often contain nested media or cache folders that have swelled to incredible sizes.

Another useful feature is size sorting. The top menu of the Explorer often has a file sorting button. If you select "Size," you'll immediately see the heaviest files on the device. These can be forgotten video files, archives or APK installation packages. Deleting such files is the fastest way to free up space.

Remember the Download folder, which is a very common place for a Redmi or Poco owner to check the directory once a month.

Memory analysis through hidden engineering menu

For more advanced users, there's access to hidden stats, and this is a menu for developers and engineers, but it gives you the most accurate information about where the memory in the phone is being spent, and there's no beautiful graphs, just dry numbers and file paths.

To get into this menu, open the Phone app and enter the code ##6484##. This will open the CIT menu. In the test list, you will find a memory-related item, usually called Storage or Internal Storage, and clicking on it will show detailed information about the partitions.

This menu shows not only the total volume, but also the health of the drive, the number of write cycles and the response rate, which is useful if the phone is slow and you suspect memory wear, but beware: some tests on this menu can reboot the device.

⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to perform write/read tests on the engineering menu (Write/Read Test) if there is important data on the phone, although the risk is minimal, there is a theoretical possibility of data loss if the test fails.

This is a useful method if the standard tools don't show where the space is gone, and you can see the blocks that are reserved by the system that don't show up in the user interface, which helps you understand why the 128GB claimed has turned into 110GB of available space.

Where does memory go: the main eaters of the place

Most often, users' content and app cache are not the system files, but rather the user's content and cache. Messengers like Telegram and WhatsApp have a habit of storing all the photos and videos you've viewed in your device's memory, and these folders can grow to tens of gigabytes over time, even if you've already deleted the correspondence.

The second major culprit is the.thumbnails folder, which stores thumbnails of every image and video ever on your phone. Even if you delete the original photo, its thumbnail can stay. This hidden folder is on the path /DCIM/.thumbnails and often weighs more than all the other files combined.

The third factor is high texture games, which can take 5-10 GB each, and the data from these games is stored in the Android/obb folder. If you delete the game icon from your desktop but you don't delete it through your app settings, the files can be left dead weight.

Below is a table showing the approximate space distribution on a typical Xiaomi smartphone with 64 GB of storage:

Effective cleaning and optimization methods

Once you've figured out where the memory is occupied, it's time to clean up, and the safest method is to use the built-in Security app, which automatically finds cache, remnants of deleted applications and temporary files, and running this utility once a week keeps the system on track.

For instant messengers, use their built-in cleanup functions. On Telegram, these are Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use → Clear cache. This action will not delete your correspondence, but will free up space occupied by media files that can be re-uploaded if necessary. On WhatsApp, a similar feature is in Settings → Data and Storage.

If the place is running out, consider transferring data. Xiaomi supports microSD cards (depending on the model); you can set the camera to save photos and videos immediately to the map; you can also transfer music and documents to the map, freeing up the internal space for the system to work.

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Use Google Photos or Mi Cloud to store your archives. Set up automatic sync with Free Space to remove photos from your phone that are already stored in the cloud.

Remember, Expand Memory, if you have it in your model, it takes some of the internal memory and uses it as RAM, and if you don't have enough space, you'd better turn it off in the settings so you don't reduce the amount of file available, and that's true for models with a small amount of internal storage.

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