Where to see storage on Android Xiaomi: a detailed analysis

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones sooner or later face the need to check how much free space is left on the device. The MIUI shell and its modern version of HyperOS have their own peculiarities in displaying system information that can confuse a beginner. Often users search for the standard "Memory" section, but find only confusing menus or hidden settings.

Understanding where to look at storage is critical to keeping the gadget running. A crowded internal drive causes interface brakes, problems installing updates, and inability to take new pictures. In this article, we will detail all the ways to access disk space information.

We’ll look not only at the standard paths in the settings menu, but also at hidden analytics that allow you to see the real file distribution, which will help you manage data efficiently and avoid critical overflows.

Standard path through System Settings

The most obvious and safe way to find out how much memory is being used is to use the built-in settings menu. In current Xiaomi firmware versions, this section has been slightly reorganized for user convenience, so you need to go to the main menu and select Settings.

The interface may then vary slightly depending on the Android version and shell, and most of the time, you'll need to scroll down and find the About section, and that's where you get a summary of the device, including the processor model, the MIUI version, and, importantly for us, the Warehouse bar.

Clicking on this line, you'll see a visualization of the occupied space, and it'll show you how many gigabytes are already used and how many are available, and it's often a breakdown by data type: applications, images, videos, and system files.

⚠️ Note: If the About section does not display detailed statistics, try to find the Advanced Settings item or use the Settings search by typing the word memory".

In some regions, the shell may hide the detail, and then you should look at the Security app, which is preinstalled on every smartphone of the brand, which often duplicates the storage configuration functions, providing a more user-friendly interface for cleaning.

Use of the "Conductor" application

An alternative and very informative way is to use a full-time file manager, which is simply called Explorer (or File Manager) on Xiaomi devices, and this app not only allows folders, but also shows the overall picture of the storage capacity.

Run an app and look at the top of the screen, which usually shows the occupancy band of the internal drive, and then you click on it or the menu icon (three bars or dots), and you can go into the detailed analysis.

• 📁 Analyzer: built-in tool that scans memory and sorts files by size, showing the heaviest.
• 🗑️ Cleanup: Quick removal of junk files, cache and duplicates.
• 📂 Categories: Separation of files into documents, music, APK-file-installer.

The advantage of this method is that you see not just numbers, but specific files that take up space, and you can delete the unnecessary immediately without going to other menus, which is especially useful when you need to release a couple hundred megabytes in an emergency.

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Use the built-in Analyzer in Explorer once a week to find and delete forgotten large video files or application installation packages.

Work with SD-map and external storage

Many users extend their Redmi or POCO memory with a MicroSD card. It's important to understand that Android separates internal storage from external maps. Where do you see their combined volume or status?

Go back to the Settings menu and look for Warehouse (sometimes in a separate section in newer versions of HyperOS) and you'll see two separate blocks here: one for internal memory, one for internal memory. SD-You can click on a map and you can see the contents and format it.

If the card is not displayed, check the installation correctly. Sometimes the system suggests using the card as part of the internal storage (Adoptable Storage), but on modern MIUIs this feature is often hidden or absent. In standard mode, the card is only used to store media files.

When working with external drives, always remember the importance of backup. NAND-smartphone-controller.

Hidden menus and engineering tests

For advanced users who want to know everything about memory status, there are hidden engineering menus that allow you to see technical information that is usually hidden from the owner's eyes, accessed through a set of special codes in the Phone application.

One of the most useful diagnostic codes is ##6484##. This is the Engineering Test Menu (CIT), where you can select memory-related tests, although direct access to the file system is closed from here for security reasons.

You can see more in-depth statistics by entering the code ##4636##. The "Verify" menu will open. Select Usage Statistics or Usages. This shows detailed information about how applications work and, indirectly, how they occupy their place in RAM and permanent memory.

⚠️ Warning: Be extremely careful in the engineering menus. Changing settings without understanding their purpose can lead to unstable phone operation or data loss.

There is also a #64663## command that sometimes opens up the test. SD-If the card has read/write errors, this test will help you detect them before the files are lost.

Analysis via computer and ADB

The most accurate and professional way to see what exactly takes up space on your Xiaomi is to connect it to your computer. Connect your smartphone with a USB cable and select File Transfer Mode (MTP).

You'll see a device in My Computer. When you open the internal memory, you'll see the actual folder structure. However, standard Windows Explorer doesn't always show the folder size right away. You'll want to use third-party analysis tools like WinDirStat or TreeSize Free to do that.

The method is available to experts via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), and by enabling debugging over USB in the Developer menu, you can execute a command in the computer terminal:

adb shell dumpsys diskstats

This command will provide a detailed account of how space is distributed on disk partitions, including system partitions that are usually hidden, and it is the perfect tool for finding a bloated system partition.

Cleaning and optimizing storage

Once you've figured out where to look at the storage, it's a question of vacating space. Standard MIUI tools offer automatic cleaning, but they're not always effective against messaging.

The most common cache is Telegram, WhatsApp and Instagram, which store all the photos and videos you've seen in your phone's memory, and you can clean them up through the app's settings, under "Data and Memory."

• 🚀 Removing duplicates: use the “Cleanup” function in the Security app.
• 📸 Photo compression: enable sync with Google Photos and delete local copies.
• 📦 Uninstall: Remove apps that haven’t been used for more than 3 months.

Remember to check the Download folder regularly, and that's where APK installation files, forgotten documents, and images saved from the Internet accumulate, and removing them safely and quickly frees up gigabytes.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Regular monitoring of storage prolongs the life of the smartphone, as the crowded memory accelerates the wear of the flash drive and slows down the system.