Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone users often face a mysterious phenomenon: internal storage is filling up rapidly, and the lion’s share is occupied by a section called “Other”, which is puzzling, since standard cleaning tools do not always cope with this category. Understanding what lies behind this term is the key to freeing up tens of gigabytes of usable space.
The system partition is a collection of files that the Android operating system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos, music or applications, including temporary files, logs, remote application data, messenger cache and residues from firmware updates, ignoring this problem leads to slowdown of the device and the inability to install new programs.
In this article, we will look in detail at how to find these hidden data volumes, what MIUI and HyperOS tools to use for analysis, and whether to manually delete content, and learn how to safely manage your smartphone file system without resorting to a complete reset.
What is the “Other” section really hiding?
Before you start cleaning, you need to understand the nature of this partition. In the Android operating system, which runs Xiaomi shells, files are categorized. However, many applications create their own folders in the root of internal memory or in the /Android/data directory, which the system does not scan as media files, which form the volume of the "Other" partition.
Often, messengers like Telegram or Viber are the main culprits, and they can store cache of videos, voice messages and documents in their internal folders, ignoring standard galleries, and navigation map data that cache huge amounts of information for offline work, and if you actively use streaming services or play heavy games, their temporary files will also take place in this category.
⚠️ Note: Do not blindly delete all contents of the Other section through root-righted file managers, which can cause application databases to be damaged or system malfunctions. MIUI.
Special attention should be paid to update files. After successfully installing a new version of Android or a security patch, installation packages (APKs) often remain in memory. The system sees them as unknown files, since the original installer application has already completed its task.
Technical details of the file system
The Other section is often formed from files with the extension.tmp,.log, as well as folders with unknowns. MIME-The system scans the file table and, without finding a match in the database of media files, classifies them as Miscellaneous.> Using a built-in storage analyzer The first and safest step to find space is to use standard diagnostic tools. MIUI And HyperOS has a powerful tool built in that allows you to visualize space, and you have to go to the Settings menu and select Memory (or Storage), and you'll scan it and show it a data distribution diagram. Clicking on the "Other" or "Other" category can often give you a more detailed breakdown, but the standard analyzer doesn't always show specific files». Click on the “Clean” button or launch the Security app -> Cleanup: The algorithm will suggest removing obvious debris, but deep analysis will require manual mode. 📱 Go to Settings. → The phone. → Initial evaluation vault. 🧹 Use the built-in Security app to automatically search for cache. 📊 Note the graph: if the Other is more than 20%, manual verification is required, and it is important to note that the integrated analyzer may not display files hidden in system directories that are restricted by user rights. So if the partition volume hasn't decreased after cleaning with standard methods, the problem goes deeper, and in such cases, more advanced methods of analyzing the file structure need to be included. Finding hidden files through Explorer For a deeper dive into the memory structure, you will need a file manager. Xiaomi’s standard Explorer is quite functional, but for advanced features it is better to install a third-party, for example, Total Commander or the other. FX File Explorer: The main advantage of these applications is that they can display hidden files and folders that start with a dot. Open the file manager and go to internal storage. Turn on the hidden files in the Explorer settings (usually a tick to show hidden files). Now, look carefully at the root directory. You should be interested in folders with application names you haven't used in a long time, or folders with names like.temp,.cache, log. This is where gigabytes of garbage are often hidden. /Android/data. This is where the application data is stored. Inside the packet name folders (e.g. com.telegram.messenger) there may be cached media files. You need to delete the contents of this folder with caution: it is better to delete only the contents of the cache or temp subfolders, without touching the database files. /Android/data/[packet]/cache Yes Low (the application will download the data again) Logs of the system /data/log or /log Yes (with caution) Medium (root rights needed) Temporary files Memory root (.tmp,.temp) Yes Low databases /Android/data/[packet]/databases No High (loss of progress/correspondence) If you find suspiciously large files or folders, don't rush to delete them. Check the date of the change. If the file was created a few years ago and is large, it's likely a forgotten log or backup. Files with the date of "today" is not recommended to touch, as they can be used by processes running right now. The leaders in filling the “Other” section are always messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and Discord store every picture, video and voice message in local memory for quick access. Over time, this cache can grow to 10-20 GB or more, while remaining invisible in the gallery. The most effective way to clean up is to use the built-in tools of the applications themselves. For example, on Telegram, you need to go to Settings. → Data and memory → Memory usage. Here you'll see the Clear Cache button, which is safe: your correspondence and media files will stay in the cloud and re-download when viewed, and space will be freed up instantly. WhatsApp is similar, but files are often duplicated in the file system. After cleaning the cache in the application settings, it is recommended to check the folder /Android/media/com.whatsapp. There may be deleted status files or media files that were deleted in the chat but remained in the phone’s memory, similar to TikTok and Instagram, whose cache also inflates the “Other” section». ⚠️ Before clearing the messenger cache, make sure that important files (documents, rare photos) are saved to the cloud or sent to Favorites, as cleaning the cache will delete their local copies. Regularly checking these settings will help keep the volume of the Other partition under control. Install automatic cache cleanup if such a feature is available in the app (for example, in Telegram you can configure autodeletion of the cache after 3 days or a week). When you delete an app from your Xiaomi phone, the standard uninstallation procedure often doesn’t delete the folder with that app’s data. This is done so that when you re-install the user does not lose your settings or save games. However, if you do not plan to return to the program, these files become useless ballast. To find such "tails", use the file manager and go to the folder. /Android/data and /Android/obb. Look for folders with names of remote games or applications, for example, if you deleted a heavy game, its resource files (OBB) may occupy 2-3 GB and lay dead weight. You can remove them safely. You can also check the root of the internal memory for folders with the names of remote programs. Often developers create folders at the root (for example, for example, developers create folders, /Yandex, /VK, /Avito). If the application is no longer available, these folders can be deleted entirely, and this is one of the most effective ways to combat bloating of the "Other" partition». You can use specialized cleaners to automate this process, but even these are not always better than manual control. Regular audit of installed applications and their residual files is the best prevention of space shortage. ADB For users who are not afraid of technical tools, there is a way to clean through the ADB (Android Debug Bridge: This method allows you to access system files and delete what is hidden from the average user without having to obtain root rights. However, this method requires a computer connection and basic command line knowledge. USB. Go to Settings. → About the phone and press 7 times on the "Version" MIUI» (or OS), You can go to the developer, and then you can go to the menu, Advanced Settings. → For developers, activate the Debugging item on USB. Connect the phone to the PC, open the command line with administrator rights in the folder with ADB and type a command to clear the cache of all applications at once: adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999 This command forcibly trims the cache of all applications to a minimum, and you can use the command to search for large files: adb shell find /sdcard -size +100M It will display a list of files larger than 100 MB, which will help you quickly find the heavyweights hiding in the "Other" section. ADB, Because the system won't give you any warnings, like when you delete it through the phone interface (FAQ) Can you delete the "Other" partition completely? You can't delete the partition itself completely, because it's a system category. But you can clean the contents to the minimum (several hundred megabytes) by removing the cache, logs, and application residues. Is it safe to delete files from the folder? Android/obb? Delete files from Android/obb It's only safe for games and applications that you've already deleted or don't plan to use. Deleting active game files will make it inoperable and require re-uploading. Why does the Other section grow again after cleaning? The Other section is a dynamic category. Apps are constantly creating new temporary files, cache and logs as they work, and that's normal behavior on the Android operating system. Do you need Root to clean the Other? Most of the time, root rights aren't needed. Standard tools, file managers and cleaning the cache of applications can be released 90% Root is only needed to remove deep system logs, does overflowing the Other partition affect the speed of the phone? Yes, if the free space in memory runs out completely (less than 1-2 GB), the MIUI system starts to work slower, there may be malfunctions in applications and problems with installing updates.