Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the unpleasant situation of overcrowded storage and standard analyzers unable to pinpoint exactly where gigabytes went. The Other or System column hides gigabytes of data that are neither photo, app, or video, and this storage is inflated by messenger cache, residual files after remote programs and temporary system downloads.
Cleaning this section requires caution, as improper actions can lead to operating system failures or loss of important correspondence. Unlike simple photo deletion, working with the system cache involves understanding the structure of MIUI files. We will discuss safe and advanced methods of freeing up space that will help return the performance of your device.
Before we start taking drastic measures, we need to understand the nature of these files. Android and the MIUI shell create temporary files to speed up applications, but often forget to delete them. The accumulation of such “digital garbage” is a natural process that requires periodic manual intervention by the user to maintain the health of the gadget.
Analysis of the contents of the folder Other
The first step is always diagnostics. Standard conductor doesn't always show the real picture, so you should use built-in analysis tools or third-party utilities to visualize disk space. Often it turns out that the lion's share of the space is occupied by a Telegram or Viber cache, which the system classifies as other.
For a detailed look, you can use Xiaomi's Explorer app by going to the memory analysis section, and here you'll see a file distribution diagram. Notice the Apps section, because it's often the huge databases that hide inside that inflate the volume of the Other, and the structure analysis allows you to identify the culprit without deleting system files.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete files with the.obb or.dat extension from active game folders unless you want to lose progress or need to re-download resources.
If the built-in tools can't find specific files, you should look at hidden folders at the root of internal memory. Some applications create their own directories for temporary storage that are not automatically deleted, and can be as large as tens of gigabytes, especially if you're talking about video editors or navigators with offline maps.
Cleaning through standard MIUI facilities
The safest way to start the fight for space is to use the built-in Security app, designed specifically for Xiaomi shells, and knows which files to touch and which ones to avoid. Cleanup scans the device for obvious debris, but often requires manual checks for deep cleaning.
Launch the app, select Clean up, and wait until the scan is over. The system will prompt you to delete temporary files, but click on the "Select Files" button or similar option for detailed viewing. Here you can safely delete browser cache, installation residues. APK-files and image miniatures.
- 🗑️ Open the Security app and go to the Cleanup section».
- 📂 Click on the Deep Clean icon for more detailed analysis.
- ✅ Select the categories “Cash” and “Small Files” that can be deleted without risk.
It is important to note that standard cleaning rarely affects the cache of messengers completely, as this can lead to loss of media files. Therefore, after the automatic procedure, it is recommended to manually check the settings of the most “heavy” applications. Regular cleaning through standard tools prevents critical memory filling.
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Use the “Accelerate” function in the Security app before clearing the memory – this will close the background processes and allow you to delete files that have been blocked by the system.
Working with messenger cache
The main source of the Other section growth is messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber store all the photos, videos and documents viewed in local memory. Over time, this collection can weigh more than all the other data on the phone combined, and the cleaning here must be done through the settings of the applications themselves.
Telegram, for example, has an automatic cache cleaner feature that needs to be activated manually. Go to Settings → Data & Memory → Memory Use. Here you will see the exact amount of space you occupy. Pressing Clear Cache will securely delete temporary files, but leave your correspondence and media in the cloud available for re-upload as needed.
For WhatsApp, the procedure is a little different. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. The system will show a chat list sorted by volume, you can selectively delete media from specific dialogues without deleting the correspondence itself, which allows you to save important text messages, getting rid of heavy videos.
☑️ Checking messengers
Remember that after cleaning the messenger cache, the “Other” section will decrease, but with active correspondence it will begin to grow again.Setting up automatic cache cleaning every 3 days is the optimal solution to maintain the balance between free space and application speed.
Use of the Files app by Google
If Xiaomi’s standard tools don’t seem effective enough, installing the official Files by Google app is a great solution, a utility that often comes pre-installed, but not everyone has the full potential to find duplicate files, blurred photos, and old screenshots.
Launch the app and go to the Cleanup tab, and Google's algorithms will suggest removing temporary application files, which often corresponds to the Other section of system memory. Unlike aggressive cleaners, this tool works more carefully by analyzing file usage rates.
One useful feature is to find duplicates. Often users download the same file multiple times or save images from multiple sources, and the app will find them and suggest removing copies while leaving the original, a safe way to free up a few gigabytes that the system could count as "other."
| File type | Where to find | Can be removed | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | Settings → Applications | Yes. | Low (account login) |
| Folder.thumbnails | DCIM/.thumbnails | Yes. | Low (slow gallery) |
| Log files | MIUI/debug_log | Yes. | No. |
| OBB files | Android/obb | Only remote games | Tall (breaks games) |
Manual removal through the conductor
For advanced users, manual file manager cleaning is available, and it requires care, because you're working directly with the file system. Go to the root folder of internal memory and look at directories with the names of remote applications or games.
Often, after you delete a heavy game, the folder with its name and data files is left dead weight. Find such folders and delete them. It is also worth checking the Download folder, where forgotten installers and documents often accumulate. Enter commands or paths carefully so that you do not touch the system partitions.
Pay special attention to the Android/data folder, which stores app data, and you can only delete content if you're sure that the app is no longer needed, or if you want to reset it to factory status, or the app may stop working properly or require re-authorization.
⚠️ Warning: Never delete folders with system service names (e.g. com.android.providers or com.miui), this will lead to unstable interface operation and possible bootloop.
What to do if the folder is not deleted?
Resetting settings as a last resort
If neither method helped reduce the size of the Other partition, it could be that the file system has accumulated errors or corrupted system logs, in which case an effective, albeit radical, solution is to completely reset to factory settings, which will return the phone to a "out of the box" state.
Before you do this, make sure to back up all your important data. Reset will delete everything: contacts, photos, apps and settings. Go to Settings → About Phone → Reset → Erase all the data. The process will take a few minutes, after which the phone will restart.
After a reset, the Other section usually takes up the minimum amount needed to run the system, which confirms that the problem was in the software debris, but if after a clean installation of all applications, the partition began to grow uncontrollably again, this may indicate a flash memory malfunction or a bug in a particular firmware version.
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Full reset is the only guaranteed way to clear the Other section 100% if the cause is a file system error.
Prevention of memory overflow
To keep the problem from coming back in a month, it's important to get in the habit of keeping the device up to date. Don't wait until the memory is full and the phone starts to slow down. Take 5 minutes every week to check the storage and remove the unnecessary.
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Set up automatic sync with Google Photos or Xiaomi Cloud, then turn on the Free Space feature, which deletes local copies of files already uploaded to the cloud, which will significantly reduce the load on internal memory.
- 📅 Set up a weekly reminder of a memory check.
- ☁️ Set up autosynchronization of photos in the cloud.
- 🚫 Turn off auto-save media from messengers to the gallery.
Also keep an eye out for system updates. Xiaomi engineers regularly release patches that optimize memory and fix bugs that inflate system partitions. The current version of MIUI or HyperOS often works more stable and cleaner.