Modern smartphones from Xiaomi and Redmi offer impressive specs, but even devices with large storage capacity eventually start to “gasp”: When internal storage overflows, the MIUI or HyperOS operating system slows down, applications stop responding, and the camera can not take a new picture, this is not due to hardware limitations, but due to the accumulation of temporary files, duplicates and cache, which is not deleted automatically.
Gadget owners often wonder why there are only 10GB of 128GB available if they haven’t installed a lot of heavy games. The answer lies in the way messengers and social networks that store media files for years, and in system update logs. Memory cleaning is not just about deleting photos, but a complex file system maintenance process.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available ways to free up space, from standard system tools to advanced partitioning techniques, learn how to find hidden gigabyte “eaters” and safely delete them without affecting personal data, and regularly maintaining a device will prolong its life and ensure stable operation.
Storage analysis: Search for large files
The first step in the fight for space is detailed diagnostics. MIUI It provides basic tools, but for deep analysis, it's best to use the built-in Explorer utility. → Memory to see the distribution of data into categories: applications, images, video, audio, etc. This will give a primary understanding of what is the bulk of the data.
But standard sorting often hides the real volumes of instant messenger folders, and manually checks the Android/media and Tencent directories (if WeChat or older versions of Telegram are installed), which can be used to store gigabytes of streamed videos from channels and work chats that are technically cache but take up space as full-fledged files.
For deeper immersion, you can use third-party disk analyzers like DiskUsage or Files by Google to visualize folder structure in a diagram where you can immediately see bloated blocks of data, and visualization can instantly detect forgotten downloads or remnants of remote applications.
Don't ignore the Download folder. Many users have been downloading installation files there for years. APK, PDF-Deleting the contents of this folder often instantly frees up 2 to 10 GB of space without any risk to the system.
Cleaning the cache and temporary files of the system
Android is actively using caching to speed up the loading of frequently used applications. Over time, the cache can reach tens of gigabytes. The standard Security app, preinstalled on all Xiaomi smartphones, allows you to quickly clean up this garbage. Run a scan and click the “Clean” button to remove temporary files, installer residues and advertising debris.
Deeper cleaning is available via the Recovery Mode. If you turn off your phone and press the combination of the Loud + and Power buttons, you can access the menu where the Wipe Cache Partition option is available. This procedure is secure for personal data, it only removes the system cache that may have damaged or grown after the updates.
- 🧹 Use the built-in Security app to quickly clean up system debris.
- 📱 Clear the cache of individual heavy apps through Settings → Annexes → Application management.
- ⚙️ Periodically reset the cache through Recovery Mode to optimize the system.
⚠️ Note: When you clean these apps (not to be confused with cache) through your settings, you delete logins, passwords, and correspondence history within that particular application. Be careful not to confuse the Clear All Data button with the Clear All Data button).
Special attention should be paid to the cache of the Google Play store and Google Play Services. If the store is not working correctly or takes up an abnormally large amount of space, it is recommended to clear its data. This will not remove installed applications, but will reset the store settings to factory ones, which often solves problems with downloading updates.
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Clear your browser cache periodically. If you use Chrome or Mi Browser, they can store gigabytes of temporary web page files that are not needed after you close the tab.
Optimization of messengers: WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber
The absolute leaders in memory consumption are messengers. WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber by default save all received photos and videos to the phone gallery. This leads to duplicates: the file lies in both the chat and the system folder of images. To maximize memory freedom on Xiaomi, you need to change the settings for autoloading media inside the applications themselves.
Telegram handles the situation most elegantly thanks to the cloud nature of the service. In the application settings (Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use), you can set a period of automatic cache cleaning, for example, “3 days” or “1 week”, while the files will remain in the cloud and will be available on request, but will no longer take up space on the physical drive.
WhatsApp is more complicated because it is more locally stored. Go to Settings → Chats and turn off Media Visibility, then manually delete the contents of WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images and Video folders through the file manager, saving it to the cloud beforehand, and it’s also useful to use the Storage Management feature inside WhatsApp itself to find and delete large files from specific chats.
☑️ Cleaning up messengers
Don't forget voice messages. In active work chats, they can take hundreds of megabytes. Special cleaning functions in messengers allow you to sort messages by size and delete the largest ones, often video files and voice notes.
Work with Gallery and Cloud Services
Photos and videos are the main content that the user creates. Modern Xiaomi cameras are shot in high resolution, and one minute video in 4K can weigh 300-400 MB. To free up space, it is critical to use cloud storage. Google Photos offers unlimited (compressed) or limited storage in original quality.
Turn on the Free Space feature in the Google Photos app, which automatically finds images and videos that have already been successfully uploaded to the cloud and deletes local copies of them, a safe way to free up gigabytes without risking memory loss forever, since originals remain in your Google account.
It's also worth checking the folder "Recently Deleted" in the MIUI gallery. The files you deleted don't disappear immediately, but are stored there for 30 days, continuing to take up space.
| Cleaning method | Security of data | Efficiency | Frequency of application |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleaning up the app cache | High (data retained) | Medium (1-5 GB) | Once a month |
| Deletion of photo duplicates | Medium (required inspection) | High (5-20 GB) | Six months |
| Cleaning the Download folder | Tall. | Medium (1-10 GB) | Once a week. |
| Reset to factory settings | Low (complete removal) | Maximum (up to 99%) | Only in critical situations. |
Xiaomi’s own Mi Cloud service is available to users of the Xiaomi ecosystem, allowing you to synchronize contacts, messages, notes and gallery. Activating gallery synchronization and then deleting local copies is a great way to unload your device by leaving photos to you through your Mi Account.
Removal of unused applications and their residues
Often, there are apps on your smartphone that you haven't used in months: games, delivery services, just in case banking apps, all of which take up space not only with their installation file, but with their growing cache and databases.
Go through the list of all installed programs. MIUI has a convenient sorting by frequency of use. If the application has not opened for more than 3 months, feel free to remove it. Pay special attention to games that can weigh 2-5 GB each.
What to do with system applications?
After deleting applications, it is recommended to check the file system for “tails.” Some programs create folders with their names at the root of internal memory and leave them there even after uninstallation. Manually find folders with the names of remote programs (for example, com.instagram.android or just Instagram) and delete them if you are sure that the data is not needed there.
Use App Management in your settings to see the size of each application along with the data. Often, a lightweight app has swelled to 1GB due to its accumulated history, and in such cases, it is easier to reinstall the application clean than to try to clean its insides.
Radical measures: Resetting and formatting
If the software methods failed and the memory filled up on its own, it may be that the file system is damaged or has accumulated errors, in which case the solution is to reset completely to factory settings.
Before doing this, make sure to back up all your important data to your computer or the cloud, as all your personal files, contacts, and settings will be deleted in the process.
⚠️ Warning: Do not interrupt the reset or formatting process. Make sure the battery is at least at least at least 50-60%, so that the phone does not turn off at the most inopportune moment, which can damage the bootloader.
There is also the option to “Clear all data” when booting in Recovery mode.This is a deeper level of cleanup than resetting through the settings menu.Use this method if a regular reset does not help or if you forget the password from the lock screen (the data will be lost).
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Full reset is the only guaranteed solution to memory problems caused by file system software errors, but it requires careful backup preparation.
Once you're back to factory settings, don't rush to restore all applications from the backup, install only what you need and observe memory behavior for a few days, which will help identify the culprit for quickly filling up the storage if the problem was in a particular application.