How to Clean the Other Section on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones sooner or later face an unpleasant situation: the storage is crowded, but the bulk of the storage is occupied by the mysterious “Other” section. Android system does not always correctly classify files, and over time, gigabytes of temporary data, residual files from remote programs and messenger cache accumulate there, which leads to a slowdown of the device and the inability to install new applications or take photos.

Compounding the problem, standard cleaning tools often show only superficial results, leaving hidden folders intact. Understanding the structure of the MIUI or HyperOS file system allows you to free up significant space without resorting to radical measures like a complete reset. In this article, we will discuss proven safe cleaning methods that will help return your smartphone to performance.

What is hidden in the Other section on Xiaomi

The Other section (sometimes referred to as System Files or Other) is a collection of data that the operating system cannot uniquely categorize as standard categories like Photos, Videos, or Apps, most commonly stored in social media cache that grows to tens of gigabytes when used actively, and contains error logs, temporary update files, and remnants of remote games.

Special attention should be paid to multimedia messengers: WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber store the received files in hidden directories, which the standard memory analyzer perceives as system garbage, and if you actively use these applications, they can occupy up to 70% of the volume of the “Other” partition.

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Before you start a deep cleanup, be sure to back up important documents to a cloud service or computer to avoid accidental data loss.

Another reason for this section is the bloating of streaming services and navigators: offline maps Google Maps or Yandex.Maps, as well as uploaded movies to Netflix or YouTube are often classified by the system as unknown files. Without manual verification, the user may not even know what exactly is taking place.

Basic cleaning through standard tools

The first step in the fight for space is to build on the utilities, which are the most secure and do not require third-party software. The MIUI and HyperOS shells have a Security app that can find and remove obvious garbage, but to work effectively, it needs to be used correctly, going into advanced settings.

Run the Security app on the home screen or in the Tools folder. Click on the Cleanup button and wait for the analysis to be completed. After that, the system will suggest deleting temporary files, but take your time to agree. Click on the Clean Up button only after you make sure that there is no important data in the list.

You can do a deeper analysis through the built-in File Manager. Go to Explorer, click on the folder icon in the top corner, and select Internal Drive. You can manually sort files by size, and it often turns out that the heaviest files are in DCIM, MIUI, or Android folders.

Analysis of storage using third-party snails

If standard tools don't give you a complete picture, specialized analysis apps come to the rescue, visualize the file system by showing which folders take up the most space, and one of the most effective tools is DiskUsage or Files by Google.

Once you install the application, give it the necessary permissions to access the files. The program will build an interactive memory card, where the size of the rectangles will correspond to the amount of space occupied, which allows you to instantly identify heavyweights - often forgotten downloads or browser cache.

When using third-party analyzers, it is important to exercise caution: Do not delete files whose purpose you do not know, especially if they are in system directories. Deleting critical files can lead to unstable operation of the operating system or a cyclical reboot of the device.

⚠️ Warning: Never delete files with the.obb or.apk extension from your Android folder if you plan to continue using the relevant games and applications.

Manual cleaning of messenger cache

The most effective way to reduce the size of the “Other” partition is to manually clean messengers. Auto cleaners are often afraid to touch Telegram or WhatsApp data to avoid deleting important correspondence, but there are powerful memory management tools inside the apps themselves.

In Telegram, the cleanup is done as safely as possible for correspondence. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use. Here you will see the “Storage Media” slider. Set a limit of, for example, 3 days or 1 week. Press the “Clear Telegram cache” button. Your correspondence will remain on the server and will be downloaded as needed, and space on the phone will be freed instantly.

For WhatsApp, the procedure is a little different. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. Here, the app will show a list of chats sorted by volume, you can selectively delete videos and images from specific dialogues without deleting the text itself.

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Clearing the cache inside messenger applications is safer and more efficient than deleting files through the Explorer, as it does not violate the structure of the correspondence database.

Be sure to check other social networks, such as Viber or Facebook Messenger, each of which has a memory section in its settings, and it should become a habit to clean this data regularly if you are actively communicating in the messaging.

Working with Android folder and residual files

The Android folder in the internal storage is where the most common hiding place is "garbage." It contains the application data, their cache and obb files. After deleting a game or program, the folder with its name often remains dead weight, taking up space.

For safe cleaning, follow the path Internal Drive → Android → data. Carefully examine the folder list. Look for the names of remote applications or games. If you see a folder with a name like com.example.game and the game has been deleted for a long time, you can safely delete it.

The same thing happens with the obb folder on the Android → obb path. It stores heavy data files for games. If the game is deleted, the folder with its name in the obb section becomes useless. However, beware: deleting the active game folder will lead to the need to download data again when you start.

Hidden opportunities for advanced users

For users who aren’t afraid to experiment, there are deeper cleaning methods, such as connecting a smartphone to a computer or using special modes, one of which is cleaning through ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

This method allows you to delete files that are hidden from the average user even in debugging mode via USB. To do this, you need to turn on the developer mode, activate debugging over USB and connect the phone to a PC with the Android SDK platform toolkit installed.

adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999

Executing this command through the console on your computer will start the process of trimming the cache of all installed applications to the lowest possible value (as indicated in bytes).

Also worth mentioning is the possibility of using Recovery Mode. Some custom recavators (such as TWRP) have an Advanced Wipe feature that allows you to clear the Dalvik Cache and Cache partitions. This is secure for personal data, but requires an unlocked bootloader.

Prevention of memory overflow

To prevent the problem from returning too often, you should change your smartphone usage habits. First of all, set up automatic upload of photos and videos to the cloud. Google Photos or Yandex.Disk services allow you to delete local copies after successful synchronization.

The second important step is to limit background activity. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management. Select heavy applications and limit their background activity, which will not only save battery power, but also reduce the amount of time cache generated.

⚠️ Warning: Do not install accelerator applications from unverified sources. Often they are the source of advertising debris and only simulate cleaning, consuming system resources in the background.

Regularly auditing installed applications will help keep the system clean, browse the list of programs once a month and remove those that you haven’t used in a long time, and prevent the accumulation of “dead load” in your Xiaomi memory.