Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the unpleasant situation when one day the system reports a shortage of space, especially for the Redmi Note 7, which, despite its advantages, does not always cope with modern media volumes. In the Memory section, a mysterious category “Other” appears, which can take from 5 to 15 gigabytes, and sometimes more.
Many users mistakenly believe that these are system files that are strictly forbidden to touch, but in most cases, they are just accumulated cache of applications, remnants of deleted programs and temporary messenger files, and understanding the nature of this data is the first step to freeing up space on your device.
In this article, we will take a closer look at what’s behind the name and provide a step-by-step algorithm for safe cleaning, learn how to find hidden folders, delete excess ones without losing important photos, and prevent system storage from bloating again.
The Nature of the Other Section in the MIUI Shell
The Other section of the MIUI Android operating system is a prefabricated sodium where the system puts everything it could not classify as photos, music, videos or installed apps, a buffer zone that over time becomes accreted with fat deposits of digital garbage.
The bulk of this is cached data from social networks and messengers, where when you watch videos on Telegram or send voice messages to WhatsApp, copies of these files are stored in memory, and the standard system analyzer often does not see them as media files, but instead classifies them as “Other”.
There may also be error logs, temporary update files, and game residues, and system debris tends to accumulate if not removed periodically, leading to a slowdown in the smartphone and notifications of memory overflows.
⚠️ Note: Not all files in this section are garbage. Some data is necessary for applications to work properly. Blind deletion of system folders can lead to unstable work of the Redmi Note 7.
Basic cleaning with Xiaomi’s staff funds
Before we go to radical methods, we should use Xiaomi’s built-in tools: the MIUI shell has a fairly powerful built-in optimizer that can safely delete a significant portion of temporary files, which is the safest method for inexperienced users.
To start, open the Security app, which is preinstalled on each Redmi device. Click on the Cleanup icon. The system will scan and prompt you to delete advertising files, remnants of remote applications and APK installer packages.
Next, go to Deep Clean, where the tool will analyze large files, duplicates, and rarely used applications, and be careful when viewing large files, which may include important documents or rare videos.
☑️ Checklist of basic cleaning
If the volume of the Other partition has decreased slightly after all the procedures, then the main memory eaters have hidden deeper, and the standard scanner often does not see the cache of some messengers or specific system logs.
Memory analysis via Files app
To get a closer look at what exactly takes up space, Google’s Files Manager or Explorer is the best tool to visualize memory and understand which app is the main culprit.
Open the file manager and look for the Analyzer or Storage section, and here you'll see a diagram where different types of data are highlighted in color. Click on the application sector to see the list of programs sorted by memory.
Often, it turns out that the lion’s share is taken by Telegram, Viber or Instagram. Going to the settings of a particular application through the smartphone menu (Settings → Apps → All apps), you can see the real size of memory and cache.
| Annex | Type of data | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Cash media. | Clean in the application settings |
| Chrome | Cash sites. | Delete history and cache |
| gallery | Deleted photos | Clean the basket. |
| System system | Logs of updates | Do not touch unnecessarily |
💡
Periodic cleaning of the browser cache and messengers can free up to 2-3 GB of memory on the Redmi Note 7.
It's important to understand the difference between Memory and Cache in the app settings. Cache can be deleted safely, because it's temporary, and memory contains account data and settings, and deleting it is equivalent to reinstalling the app.
Manual cleaning through the file manager
For those who are not afraid to work with the file system, it opens up the possibility of manual cleaning, which allows you to remove what is hidden from the eyes of standard cleaners, but it requires the utmost care and understanding of the structure of folders.
Go to the root folder of the internal drive, look for folders with the names of applications that you no longer use, or folders with the names of remote games, and it is worth checking the Download folder, where old installation files often accumulate.
Pay special attention to messenger folders. For example, on WhatsApp media, files are often in deep subfolders. The path usually looks like Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media, where you can manually delete unnecessary videos and documents.
⚠️ Note: When manually cleaning, never delete folders with Android names, MIUI, System or Data in its entirety, which could cause the Redmi Note 7 to fail completely.
Use size-sorting to find the largest files right away. Often users forget about downloaded movies or archives that have been deadweight for months, and deleting them is the fastest way to get free space.
Using ADB for Advanced Cleaning
If standard methods don’t work, you can use the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tool, which is a way for advanced users to remove system debris and cache of applications that are usually protected from removal.
To start, you need to turn on the developer mode on Xiaomi. Go to Settings → About Phone and seven times click on the MIUI version. Then activate “Debugging by USB” in the “Additional” menu.
Connect your smartphone to your computer and through the command line enter a command to clear the cache of all applications:
adb shell pm trim-caches 99999999999This command forcibly trims the app cache, freeing up space, and you can use the command to delete temporary files:
adb shell rm -rf /data/local/tmp/*Risks of using ADB
Once you've done the commands, it's recommended that you restart the device, and you'll notice that the Other partition is much smaller, but remember that over time, the cache will start to accumulate again.
Prevention and optimization of storage
To prevent the memory overflow problem from returning too often, it is worth changing your smartphone usage habits: Regular prevention takes less time than emergency cleaning of 10GB of garbage.
Set up automatic cache cleaning in apps, for example, Telegram can set a self-reset of the cache of media files in 3 days or a week, which will prevent the cache folder from growing to a giant size.
- 📱 Check the Downloads folder regularly and delete unnecessary files.
- ☁️ Use cloud storage for photos and videos, freeing up local memory.
- 🗑️ Do not store videos on your phone that you have already watched and do not plan to watch again.
- 🔄 Periodically remove and re-install “heavy” applications if their cache is not cleaned normally.
Following these simple rules will help keep the Redmi Note 7 in great shape. Memory is one of the most valuable resources of the smartphone, and the proper management of it directly affects the speed of the interface.