How to Clean the “Other” folder on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Every Xiaomi, Redmi, or POCO smartphone owner is confronted with a frightening memory-starved notification, and in the standard storage menu, you may notice that the lion’s share is not apps or photos, but a mysterious section called “The Other,” which often expands to tens of gigabytes, turning a once-fast gadget into a slow-moving device.

Why doesn't the system delete these files automatically? The answer lies in the way the MIUI shell and HyperOS work. The system marks as "Other" everything that can't be uniquely classified: messenger cache, remnants of remote programs, temporary update files and error logs. It's just a one-button thing developers can't do, because there's a risk of removing important data necessary for the stable operation of the OS.

In this article, we will discuss proven ways to safely clean this section, you will learn which files can be deleted without consequences, and which are better not to touch, and what tools will help return the device to performance.

What is hidden in the “Other” section really?

Before we take any drastic measures, we need to understand the nature of data accumulation, the Other section is a kind of black box of the Android file system, and it includes files that don't belong to the standard categories like Images, Videos, or Apps, often the cache of Internet browsers that accumulates banner ads and page previews for years.

Telegram and WhatsApp have a habit of storing all the photos and videos you've viewed in local memory, even if you've already seen them in chat, and over time, these databases grow to unthinkable sizes, and the system stops treating them as part of the application, as a category of other things.

⚠️ Attention! Do not attempt to delete system files manually through root-righted file managers unless you are sure of their purpose. The error can lead to a smartphone "bricking" or endless restart.

It also records crash logs and error reports, and if an application crashes frequently, it can generate text reports that take up space, and another source of debris is the remnants of remote games and programs, and when uninstalled, some applications leave behind folders with settings or downloaded resources.

Basic cleaning through standard MIUI facilities

The battle for gigabytes of free memory is always with built-in tools. The MIUI shell and the new HyperOS have a powerful full-time optimizer. Go to the Security app and select Cleanup. The system will scan and suggest removing obvious debris.

But standard cleaning is often superficial. To get to the deep layers, go to Settings → About Phone → Storage. Here you will see a detailed diagram. Click on "Other" to see the detail if the system allows it. Often, you can find large files that are forgotten users.

It's important to clean the gallery basket regularly. Deleted photos don't disappear without a trace, but move to the Deleted album, where they are stored for 30 days, continuing to occupy space in the Other or Images section. Cleaning the basket is an instant way to make room.

• 🧹 Open the Security app and start the scan.
• 🗑️ Check the Recycle Bin folder in the Gallery and File Manager.
• 📱 Go to "Settings» → «Apps" and check the cache size of heavy programs.
• 🔄 Use the Deep Clean feature in the storage menu.

Don't forget the Download folder. Browsers by default save all downloaded files there: PDF-documents, installers APK, And often, users forget about this folder, and it turns into a digital swamp».

Clearing the messenger cache: Telegram and WhatsApp

Invariably, messengers are the leaders in filling in the Other section. Unlike iOS, where the cache is cleaned more aggressively, on Android, these apps save everything. On Telegram, you need to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you will see a cache storage slider.

You can move the cleaner slider boldly or click the Clear Cache button, and it won't remove your correspondence or photos from the Telegram cloud, and you can upload them again from the chat if you need them, and it's the safest and most efficient way to free up space.

On WhatsApp, the situation is more complicated because the history is stored locally. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. You can delete large files or clear the cache for specific chats without deleting all the correspondence in its entirety.

⚠️ When cleaning WhatsApp through the file manager, be careful: deleting the Media folder inside WhatsApp will result in the loss of all received photos and videos that were not saved to the cloud.

It is also recommended to disable auto-save media in the gallery, which will prevent duplicate files: they will be stored inside the application (in cache), but will not be copied to the system folder of images, which will simplify memory management.

Using third-party utilities for deep cleaning

When regular funds are scarce, specialized applications come to the rescue, and one of the most reliable tools is Clean Master or Files by Google, which can find duplicate files, residual files of remote applications and temporary files of the system.

The SD Maid app (especially the SE version) is famous for its Dead Souls module, which finds folders left over after deleting programs. These are the files that often form the basis of the Other section. However, use such programs wisely, without trusting them to delete system files indiscriminately.

A great way to see what exactly takes up space is to use DiskUsage or Storage Analyzer, which builds a visual memory card, and you'll immediately see which folder weighs 5GB, even if it's called weird, like.tombstone or log.

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Use Incognito mode in your browser to view heavy content, which will prevent cache of pages and pictures from being stored in your phone’s memory, which will significantly slow the growth of the Other section.

Be careful with memory accelerators that promise to clean up RAM. On modern versions of Android, this is often useless and even harmful, since the system itself effectively manages RAM, and constant forced cleaning only consumes the battery.

Radical Methods: Resetting and Formatting

When nothing helps and the Other partition takes up a critical volume (e.g., 40-50GB on a 64GB phone), the last measure remains: It is a complete reset.Be sure to back up all important data to your computer or to the Google Drive/Mi Cloud cloud before doing so.

Resetting will return the phone to factory status. All files, applications and settings will be deleted. The Other section will disappear as the file system will be formatted again. This is the most efficient way, which also often solves the system's "glitch" problems.

Settings → About the phone → Reset settings → Erase all data

There is also a method of cleaning through Recovery Mode, but it requires more knowledge. Entering the recovery mode is a combination of buttons (usually Volume Up + Power).

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Full reset is the only way to ensure that you remove system debris and file system errors that cannot be eliminated by software cleaning methods.

⚠️ Attention! Once you reset, the phone will look like new. Make sure you remember the password from your Mi Account and Google account, or you will activate theft protection (FRP), Unlocking the phone will be very difficult.

After reset, do not restore all applications from the backup "wholesale"; it is better to install the necessary programs again from the store, this will prevent the return of old garbage and erroneous configs that could provoke the growth of the "Other" partition for the first time.

Prevention: How to prevent the growth of garbage

So that the problem doesn't come back in a month, change your smartphone habits. Check the storage regularly. Go to your memory settings once a week and see if there are any new heavyweights coming in. It takes a minute, but it saves you from a headache in the future.

Set up automatic cleaning in messengers. Telegram can set autodelete the cache: Settings → Data and memory → Media Autodelete. Select a period, for example, “3 days” or “1 week”, then the application will delete old files that you did not save manually.

• 📅 Once a month, you will review the “Downloads” folder».
• 🚫 Turn off autoloading videos on social networks (Instagram, TikTok).
• ☁️ Use cloud storage for photos and videos, including the “Free Space” feature».
• 📲 Do not install applications from unknown sources (APK-files, they often contain errors in the structure of files.

You should also give up live wallpaper and heavy widgets if you don't have enough memory, not only do they land the battery, they also create a lot of temporary files on the system, and use static, optimized wallpaper.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)