How to effectively clean the memory on the Xiaomi phone

Xiaomi smartphones are famous for their excellent price-performance ratio, but even powerful devices become slower over time. The main reason for the decline in performance is often crowded internal storage. When the free space runs out, the MIUI or HyperOS system can not effectively manage temporary files, which leads to interface friezes and long launch of applications.

Users often face a situation where the phone insists on making space, blocking the ability to take a new photo or install an update. Memory cleaning is not just deleting old pictures, but a complex process that involves working with cache, duplicates and hidden system logs. In this article, we will discuss proven methods that will help to return the device to its former friction without losing important data.

Don't ignore reports of space shortages, as this can lead to unstable operating system. Proper file management allows you to extend the life of the drive and ensure smooth multitasking. Let's take a look at where to start optimizing your gadget.

Use of the built-in Security application

The first and most secure tool for putting order in the file system is the standard Security app, preinstalled on all smartphones of the brand. This tool is designed specifically for the MIUI shell and is able to find files that are hidden from the eyes of the average user in a standard conductor. Run cleaning through this channel ensures that you do not remove critical system components.

To get started, you need to start the application and select the Cleanup item, and the system automatically analyzes the contents of the drive and suggests removing temporary files, remnants of deleted applications and advertising debris, a process that takes only a few seconds, but its effectiveness depends on the regularity of the procedure.

⚠️ Warning: Before pressing the "Clean" button, carefully review the list of found garbage. Sometimes, the category "unnecessary files" may include small documents or thumbnails that you planned to keep.

Inside the app, you can have Deep Clean, which scans the folders of messengers and social networks, and you can selectively delete old videos from WhatsApp or Telegram without touching important correspondence, which is especially true for users who are in dozens of active groups.

• 🧹 Remove the cache of the system and applications with one click.
• 📦 Finds and suggests removing APK-installer.
• 🖼️ Scans the gallery for similar and blurred photos.
• 📉 Shows the dynamics of the vacated place in real time.

Regular use of a standard cleaner keeps your phone in good condition, but this may not be enough to make a full-fledged storage revision, especially if you’re a media user.

Storage analysis and removal of large files

Often, the bulk of the memory is not occupied by system logs, but by user-generated content: movies downloaded for offline viewing, or photo archives. Newer versions of the HyperOS and MIUI 14 shells have a powerful analysis tool that visually displays what exactly is occupied by space, and you can find it in the settings by going to Settings → Phone → Storage.

Here you'll see a color diagram where each sector is responsible for a particular type of data, and if you click on Documents or Video, the system sorts files by size, and this allows you to instantly find forgotten movies in the video. 4K permitting ZIP-Archives that have been dead for months.

The Download folder is worth a special attention, and browsers and instant messengers save all open files by default, often accumulating presentations, restaurant menus and instructions that were needed one minute five years ago, and deleting the contents of this folder often frees up several gigabytes instantly.

• 📂 Sorting files by size helps find heavyweights".
• 🗑️ Removing duplicate photos saves up to 15% of space.
• 📼 Cleaning the gallery basket frees up the space finally.

Remember to check the "Other" section, sometimes it hides data from navigation apps with offline maps of entire countries, and if you're not planning a trip soon, you can delete the maps and download them again as needed.

Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks

The leaders in disk space consumption are always Telegram, WhatsApp and VK. These applications store every image viewed, every audio and video listened to in the local memory of the device. Over time, the cache can reach 10-20 gigabytes, which is a significant part of the volume of budget models.

Unlike system cleaning, in-app cleaning is more accurate. For example, Telegram needs to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you can not only clear the cache, but also configure file autodeletion. It is recommended to set the option "Storage media" to a value of "3 days" or "1 week".

⚠️ Note: Clearing the cache in messengers does not delete your correspondence, but deletes downloaded media files from the phone's memory. They will be re-downloaded if you open the dialogue again when you have the Internet.

For WhatsApp, the procedure is slightly different. In the app settings, select Data and Storage → Storage Management. The system will show a list of chats sorted by volume, and it often turns out that the most space is occupied by groups where postcards and videos are constantly sent.

Social media also requires attention. VK cache accumulates very quickly because of the news feed preload. You can clean it up in Settings → App → Memory Use. Regular prevention is more important than a one-time promotion, because the cache grows exponentially.

Removal of duplicates and similar photos

Modern smartphone cameras allow you to take hundreds of pictures per minute in serial or live mode. Often users leave ten or two identical frames, then choose the best one, and the rest simply forget to delete. MIUI Gallery is equipped with a smart algorithm that helps to combat this chaos.

In the Gallery app, go to Albums → Screenshots or use the Recommendation feature, and the system will prompt you to delete similar images, leaving only the best quality photos, and it is also worth checking the album "Recently Deleted", as the files are stored there for 30 days and continue to occupy space.

If there's not enough built-in tools, you can use third-party solutions, but with caution. Many cleaners are overloaded with advertising. You'd better manually walk through a video album, because it's the videos that take up the most space. One minute video in 4K can weigh more than a thousand ordinary photos.

• 📸 Serial shooting creates a lot of unnecessary visual noise.
• 🎞️ Video files take up 100 times more space than photos.
• ☁️ Moving archives to the cloud frees up local memory.

Screenshots are another category that everybody forgets about: We take screenshots to save a phone number or a store address, and we never go back to them. The screenshot folder usually grows to giant sizes and requires quarterly revision.

Working with cloud storage and Google Photos

The most effective way to make space permanent is to move media files to the cloud. Google Photos offers a "Free Space" feature that removes from the device those images and videos that have already been securely stored in the cloud account, which is secure and reversible at any time.

Xiaomi’s own Mi Cloud is available to users of the Xiaomi ecosystem, allowing you to sync contacts, messages, notes and photos. By enabling gallery sync, you can store originals in the cloud, and only leave smaller copies on your phone for quick browsing.

It is important to set up the download settings correctly. Google Photos allows you to select the Save Place (High Quality) mode, which compresses the photos without any visible loss of quality, but allows you to store them in unlimited quantities (within the overall account limit).

Using cloud technology turns your phone into a terminal for accessing data, not a single storage medium, and this is especially important when your device is lost or broken, because your memories are safe.

Removal of unused applications and their residues

Apps are another memory expense. Even if you delete a game or a program, it often leaves behind folders with configuration files, cache and error logs. Android has a concept of "residual files" that are not deleted in a standard uninstallation.

Go through the list of installed programs in the settings. Sort them by size or by last use date. If you haven't opened an app for more than a month, chances are you don't need it. MIUI has a Turbo Mode or just an app management menu where you can see long-out of use software.

⚠️ Note: Do not remove system applications that you are not sure of their purpose (e.g. Mi Service, MSA Global, various service plugins) This may disrupt notifications or authorization in your Mi Account.

For advanced users, there is an option to clean through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), but that requires a PC connection. An easier way is to use a file manager, such as MI File Manager or Total Commander. Find the Android/data and Android/obb folder. This stores app data. If you deleted the game, a folder with its name (such as com.rockstargames.gtasa) can still take 2 GB.

💡

Periodically check the list of applications with administrator rights and file access. Often, old programs continue to hang in the background and collect data even if you do not use them.

You also have to look at the widgets on your desktop, some of which are constantly updating content and storing it in cache, and removing the extra widgets will not only clean up your memory, but also save you a little bit of battery life.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

💡

Regular hygiene of the digital space is more important than one-time promotions: set up auto-delete in instant messengers and use cloud services to store archives so that the phone always flies.