How to Clean Memory on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a situation where the device starts to run slower or the system blocks the installation of new applications due to lack of space. The problem of crowded storage is relevant even for models with a large amount of internal memory, since modern applications, high-resolution photos and video content take up gigabytes in a matter of weeks. The MIUI operating system or its global version HyperOS provide powerful built-in tools, but not all users know how to use them correctly.

Understanding how Android works will help avoid cleaning errors. It is important not just to delete files at random, but to approach the issue systematically, freeing up space from genuinely unnecessary garbage, application cache and duplicates. In this article, we will discuss all available methods, from standard system tools to advanced folder techniques.

Before we start taking radical steps like resetting, we should try soft optimization methods that are safe and allow the phone to return to its previous speed without losing personal data. Let's look at the basic steps that need to be taken to free up disk space.

Use of the built-in Security application

The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use a pre-installed system application, called Security (or Security) in the MIUI shell, and its functionality is much broader than just antivirus protection, and it is deeply integrated into the system, allowing it to correctly detect system debris without affecting important files.

To start scanning, you just need to open the application and press the Cleanup or Speed button. The system automatically analyzes the contents of the drive and suggests removing temporary files, remnants of deleted programs and advertising cache. Often users ignore the "Recommendations" or "Large files" section, even though this is where gigabytes of forgotten content are hidden.

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Don’t ignore the “Big Files” section of the Security app – that’s often where old videos from messengers that you’ve already viewed are found, but they keep taking up space.

It is important to note that the built-in cleaner works in safe mode, it will not delete your personal photos or documents without direct confirmation, but you should be careful when cleaning the social media cache through this tool, as this can lead to logging in some applications.

• 🧹 Open the Security app on the desktop.
• 📊 Click on Cleaning for Automatic Analysis.
• 🗑️ Select file categories to delete and confirm the action.
• ⚙️ Go to the Deep Cleaning section for more detailed analysis.

After a standard cleanup, you should go to Deep Cleanup, where you can remove obsolete APK installation files, empty folders, and long-unused applications, and it's a great way to find hidden debris that you can't see when you're browsing a file manager.

Analysis and removal of large files and duplicates

One of the main reasons for the lack of space are duplicate photos and forgotten large video files. In modern shells Xiaomi has a built-in analyzer that groups files by type and size, you can find it through the Files app (Conductor) by selecting the tab Analysis or Storage.

It's going to show you files that are sorted by volume, and it's often found that a lot of the memory is taken up by videos that were taken a few months ago, or by backup chats, and deleting those files instantly frees up space, and you should also look at the Download folder, where you accumulate documents and installers.

Duplicates deserve special attention. When the messengers are often synchronized or malfunctioning, copies of the same images can appear on the phone. The built-in duplicate search tool allows you to quickly identify them and remove unnecessary versions, leaving only the originals in the best quality.

• 📂 Go to the Files app and select Storage Analysis.
• 🖼️ Check the “Similar Photos” section to find duplicates.
• 🎥 Sort the video by size and remove unnecessary videos.
• 📥 Clean Download folder from old installers APK.

⚠️ Before mass deletion of photos, be sure to check the folder "Recently deleted" in the Gallery. Files there take up space for another 30 days, unless they are permanently deleted from there.

Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks

The leaders in disk space consumption are traditionally Telegram, WhatsApp and social networks like VK or Instagram, which store every photo, video and voice message viewed into cache, which can grow to tens of gigabytes over time. Standard cleaning through Android settings is often inefficient, since it deletes only part of the temporary data.

The best way to do this is to use the built-in cleanups inside the apps themselves. For example, on Telegram, you need to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use and click Clear Cache. You can also set up autodelete files that you downloaded more than 3 days or weeks ago, which will make room, but it won't delete your history.

WhatsApp has a similar situation, and it has a Warehouse section in its settings, and it has data where you can see which chats are taking up the most space, and you can selectively delete media from specific conversations without deleting the actual conversations, which is especially useful for work chats, where heavy documents are often forwarded.

Remember that once the cache is cleared, the next time you run, the apps can take a little longer to load, because they have to re-download thumbnails and data, but this is a temporary effect that quickly fades.

Management of applications and their data

Over time, apps that you've stopped using accumulate on your smartphone. They not only take up space, but they can run in the background, consuming resources. Regularly auditing installed programs is an important part of Android maintenance. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps and sort the list by size.

You'll be surprised to find that a game or video editor takes 5GB, even though you haven't run it in months, and it's better to uninstall it. If you can't delete it (system applications), you can try Stop it or Disable it if you have one. It's also worth checking the "Start" section of the battery settings to prevent unnecessary programs from running with the phone.

For advanced users, the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) feature is available, which allows you to remove even system applications that are usually hidden. However, this method requires connecting to a computer and knowing the commands.

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.example.package

Using such commands requires extreme caution, and removing critical system packets can lead to unstable interfaces or loss of communication.

⚠️ Warning: Never delete system packages that you don't know what they are intended for (especially those that contain the words framework, system, google) and this can lead to a "boot" of the device.

Working with memory card and cloud storage

If internal memory is physically scarce, you should consider expansion options. Many Xiaomi models support microSD cards. They can be used as portable storage for photos, music and documents. In the newer version of Android, you can not install applications on a memory card, but porting media files is a great solution.

The alternative is cloud storage. Google Photos allows you to store images in the cloud, freeing up space on your device with the Free Space function. You can also use Mi Cloud to synchronize contacts, notes and screenshots. Set up automatically uploading photos to the cloud and then deleting local copies is the most effective way to forget about space shortages forever.

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Using cloud services in conjunction with the function "Free space" allows you to store thousands of photos without taking up a megabyte of internal memory of the phone.

When working with a memory card, it is important to format it on a computer or through the phone menu (pre-save data) to avoid file system errors.

Radical measures: Resetting to factory settings

If no methods are working and the phone continues to signal a lack of space, it may be that critical errors have accumulated in the system or that fragmentation of the file system has reached a limit, in which case a full reset to factory settings (Factory Reset) helps, which will return the phone to the "out of the box" state.

Before this procedure, be sure to create a full backup of all important data, as in the process all contacts, messages, photos and installed applications will be deleted. Reset can be done through the Settings menu → About the phone → Resetting or through Recovery mode (pressing the power and volume button when the phone is turned off).

Once reset, the phone will run as fast as possible. Don't rush to install all the apps at once. Install only the necessary ones and keep track of what takes up space in the first days of use. Often, this step helps you understand which application is a memory eater.