Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face cryptic space-shortage notifications, which reveals that memory is crowded, but when checked in detail, the lion’s share of space is occupied by a section called “Others,” which accumulates data unobtrusively to the user, eventually turning into a huge archive of temporary files, app cache and system logs.
This problem cannot be ignored, because overflowing internal memory leads to serious consequences. The smartphone starts to run slower, applications fly out, and new photos simply have nowhere to save. In this article, we will discuss proven ways to clean other files and return the device to speed.
Before we go into radical measures, it's important to understand the nature of this partition. It's not a system bug, but a buffer zone for data that MIUI can't uniquely classify as photos, videos or music. Understanding the structure of this data will help you safely free up gigabytes of space.
What is hidden in the category "Others"
The Others section is a collection of different types of data, and the first thing that gets into the app cache is that social media, messengers, and browsers store a huge number of temporary files to speed up the loading of content, and over time, these files become unnecessary, but they continue to take up space.
In addition to cache, it stores remnants of remote programs and system error logs. If you have ever installed and deleted heavy games or editors, their tails may have stayed in this section, and often includes system update files that were not automatically deleted after installation.
⚠️ Before mass cleaning, make sure that among the "other files" are not important documents that you downloaded from the Internet and forgot to move. PDF-file and time log if they are in the same folder.
Special attention should be paid to streaming services and offline maps. Apps like Spotify, Netflix or Yandex.Maps can store gigabytes of music, movies and maps in hidden directories that appear as “Others,” which often comes as a nasty surprise to users who don’t understand where memory has gone.
Use of the built-in "Security" application
The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use Xiaomi’s standard tools. Every smartphone with a MIUI or HyperOS shell has a Security app preinstalled, which can analyze memory contents and suggest garbage removal.
To start the procedure, look for an icon called Security on your desktop or in the Tools folder. Run the scan by clicking on the Clean button. The system will automatically find temporary files, installer packages. APK and_residual_ file.
☑️ Standard cleaning algorithm
Once you scan, you'll see a list of categories, select "Other" or "Unknown Files." You should be careful here: the system may suggest that you delete the cache you're actively using, for example, if you've just listened to music offline, deleting it will cause the app to download the tracks again.
Use Deep Clean within the app, which allows you to view large files that may have been lost in the system, and often this is where you find forgotten video files from messengers that are not formally photos in the gallery, but take up a lot of space.
Manual cleaning of messenger cache
The main source of the Others expansion is messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber by default store all received media files in the memory of the device, which is often not visible in the standard gallery, but takes up space in the system storage.
To effectively clean this data, you need to go to the settings of the application itself. On Telegram, this is done through the Settings menu → Data and memory → Memory Use. Here you can safely clear the cache without deleting correspondence. Messages and files will remain in the cloud and download again if necessary.
On WhatsApp, things are more complicated. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. Here you will see a list of chats sorted by location, you can delete specific videos or files sent to workgroups that you no longer need.
Why is the messenger cache so big?
Remember to check the Favorites folder in instant messengers. Often users drop files there for later and forget about them. These files are also counted in the total amount of memory occupied and can be safely deleted through the file manager.
Memory analysis through file manager
Xiaomi’s standard Explorer (or File Manager) has a powerful built-in analyzer that allows you to visually assess which folders take up the most space, a more flexible tool than simply cleaning the cache.
Open the Explorer app and go to the Analysis tab or click on the folder icon at the top. Select sized. You'll see a list of folders sorted from the heaviest to the lightest. Look for folders with app names that you rarely use.
Pay special attention to the folders Android/data and Android/obb. This is where game and application data is stored. Deleting the contents of the obb folder for the installed game will cause it to stop running and require you to re-upload additional files. 1
⚠️ Warning: Never delete files from system folders unless you know their exact purpose. Deleting files with the com.android or com.miui prefix may cause the interface to work unstable or lose settings.
Also check the Download folder. Often, APK installation files that have already been installed but not deleted are stored there, and they are useless and take up space in the Others section.
Specialized cleaning applications
If there is not enough built-in software, you can use third-party software, but you should be careful about choosing such software, many of the "cliners" themselves are a source of advertising and garbage, and the proven solution is Files by Google or SD Maid.
Files by Google integrates perfectly with Android and securely removes duplicate files, fuzzy photos and temporary application files.It doesn’t require deep access rights and works in the background, offering cleanup only when it’s really needed.
SD Maid (version of SE) is considered an expert tool, and it can find the “body” of remote applications — files that are left over after uninstallation of the program. This is one of the most effective ways to reduce the “Other” partition, but requires careful use.
Avoid installing dubious apps with names like Super Cleaner 2026 or Boost RAM, which often only create visibility, display ads, and collect user data, doing more harm than good.
Radical methods: Resetting and flashing
In cases where the Others partition has grown to tens of gigabytes and is not cleanable by standard methods, more serious intervention may be required, often due to file system errors or MIUI failures.
The most efficient but time-consuming way is to completely reset to factory settings. Before you do that, make sure to back up all the important data to the Mi Cloud or your computer, and once you reset, the phone will look like new, and the Others section will disappear.
| Cleaning method | Efficiency | Risk of data loss | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in cleaning | Low. | No. | Low. |
| Clearing messenger cache | Medium | No (with the right approach) | Low. |
| Third-party utilities | Medium | Medium. | Medium |
| Reset to factory settings | Maximum | Tall (no backup) | Tall. |
Even if the reset didn’t help and the Others section appeared immediately after setting up, it may be a firmware version bug that might be a problem, so check for system updates in the Settings → About Phone menu or consider installing a more stable version of the software.
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Use cloud services to store photos and videos. Set up autosynchronization in Google Photos or Yandex.Disk will remove originals from your phone, freeing up space in the “Other” and “Gallery” section.
Prevention of memory overflow
To keep the problem from returning in a month, you should change your smartphone usage habits, check your Downloads folder regularly, delete unnecessary files, and avoid storing files on your phone that you can easily find online.
Configure messengers so that media files do not load automatically. In the Telegram and WhatsApp settings, you can limit auto downloading videos and photos only when you connect to Wi-Fi or turn them off completely for work chats.
Once a month, you audit your installed applications, if you haven't used the program for six months, delete it. Modern applications take up a lot of space not only with their installation file, but also with their bloated cache.
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Regular prevention takes less time than dealing with the effects of overcrowded memory, and removing unnecessary items once a week will save you time and nerves in the future.