How to Clean the “Other” section on Xiaomi Redmi 9T: Proven Ways

Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a situation where internal storage suddenly becomes crowded, even though there are not so many photos and apps, and the culprit of this problem is often the mysterious category “Other”, which can take up tens of gigabytes and inflate over time. On the Xiaomi Redmi 9T model, which has a fixed amount of memory, this becomes a critical factor affecting the speed of the system.

In this article, we will explore the nature of this section and offer step-by-step instructions for safe cleaning without losing personal data. You will learn what system processes create “garbage” and how to properly manage media files in messengers. Understanding the structure of the Android file system on the MIUI shell will help you keep the gadget in optimal condition.

Don't panic if you see that this partition takes up more than 10 GB. It's not a virus or a breakdown, but a feature of the operating system that caches data to speed up the launch of applications. However, regular cleaning is necessary to avoid slowing down the interface and problems with installing updates.

What is hidden in the “Other” section really?

The Other category in a smartphone’s storage is a collection of different file types that the system cannot categorize as standard groups like Photos, Videos or Apps, which includes temporary files, running cache, remnants of remote applications, offline maps of navigators and streaming services. On Redmi 9T, this section can grow especially quickly due to the active work of background processes.

Special attention should be paid to the cache of social networks and messengers, for example, Telegram or Viber can save videos and photos viewed in hidden folders, which the system sees as unknown data, and often hide error logs and usage reports, which are created automatically.

⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders through root-righted file managers without understanding their purpose. MIUI or cyclic reboot of the device.

You can use built-in diagnostics or third-party tools to analyze content in detail, and it's important to understand that you can't just take and delete all the content in this category, because some files are vital to running installed programs, and a competent approach involves selective cleaning.

Using Xiaomi's built-in cleaner

The safest and easiest way to start the fight for free space is to use the regular application “Security”, which is preinstalled on all Xiaomi smartphones. It can find obvious unnecessary files and clean the cache of system applications without risking the stability of the OS.

Once the scan is started, the system will suggest removing the “garbage” that most often makes up the lion’s share of the “Other” section, but standard cleaning is often superficial. For a deeper analysis, you need to go to the “Clean” section and carefully study the proposed categories, especially “App Cache” and “Advertising Files”.

Settings → About the phone → Storage → Cleaning

It is worth noting that the built-in tool does not always show the full picture; it can ignore the large cache files of some messengers or the data of navigation applications, so it is recommended to conduct a manual check after the standard procedure.

Cleaning the app cache manually

If the automatic methods didn't work, you'd have to go to manual cleaning, which is a more time-consuming process, but it frees up a really significant amount of memory, and you'd have to go to the phone's settings and find the application management.

In the list of installed programs, look for those that consume the most resources: social networks, browsers, video services. Inside the menu of each application there is a button "Clear cache." It is important not to confuse this with the "Clear everything" button, since the second action will delete your logins, passwords and correspondence.

Focus on photo and video editing apps, and streaming platforms like YouTube or Netflix, which often accumulate gigabytes of temporary data. On the Redmi 9T, with its FullHD+ screen, the cache can take up a lot of space due to the high quality of the previews it stores.

Analysis of garbage in WhatsApp and Telegram messengers

Messengers are the main eaters of space in the Other category, and they store all the media files sent and received into their hidden directories, and WhatsApp and Telegram have their own memory management tools that work better than the system ones.

In Telegram, you need to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use, where you will see the exact amount of cache you have occupied and you can clear it (with a single button), and it is recommended that you set up automatic cache cleaning, for example, every 3 days or week, to prevent the partition from growing again.

WhatsApp is a little more complicated. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. You can see which chats are taking up the most space and delete specific videos or documents. Often users forget about groups where they are constantly sending heavy files.

⚠️ Before mass cleaning of messengers, make sure that important documents and photos are saved in the cloud or on your computer. After deleting them from the messenger cache, access to them without re-uploading will be impossible.

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Turn on the autodelete feature in the Telegram and WhatsApp settings so that the cache does not accumulate indefinitely and clog the “Other” section.

Work with files.thumbnail and hidden folders

One of the most common reasons for the storage bloat is the.thumbnail folder.It sits in the hidden DCIM system section and stores thumbnails of every photo and video ever viewed. On the Xiaomi Redmi 9T with its quality screen, these thumbnails can weigh several gigabytes.

To get to this folder, you’ll need a file manager with hidden file access (such as MI File Manager or Total Commander). In the Explorer settings, activate “Show hidden files.” Then follow the path Internal Memory → DCIM →.thumbnail.

The contents of this folder can be deleted, and the system will automatically recreate it when you open the gallery again, but it won't swell to giant sizes at once, and it's temporary data, and the loss of that data won't affect the original images.

The path to the folder: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnail

It's also worth checking the Android/data folder, which may have tails from games or apps that have been deleted long ago, and if you see folders with app names that aren't already on the phone, you can manually delete them.

Radical measures: Resetting and data transfer

If none of the above methods helped significantly reduce the size of the Other partition, there may have been an accumulation of errors or damage in the file system, in which case the most effective solution would be a complete factory reset, which would return the phone to the “out of the box” state.

Before starting the procedure, be sure to back up all important data. Reset will delete all user files, contacts, messages and settings. On Redmi 9T, this can be done through the recovery menu or through system settings.

• 📱 Go to Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings.
• 💾 Select the option “Erase all data” (Factory Reset).
• 🔒 Enter the screen unlock password to confirm.
• ⏳ Wait for the process to be completed and the initial setup.

After resetting, the Other section usually takes up a minimum amount (less than 1 GB), which ensures that there is no debris left in the system, and then try to regularly carry out preventive cleaning to prevent the problem from returning.

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Full reset is the only 100% solution if the file system is corrupted or the Other partition takes up an abnormally large volume for no apparent reason.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)