Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the unpleasant situation where the device's memory fills up in an incomprehensible way. MIUI 12 can show a huge volume in the "Other" section that cannot be removed by standard means, which causes panic, especially if the phone runs out of space for photos or apps.
In fact, this section is a collection of cached data, residual files after deleted programs and temporary downloads. Understanding the nature of these files is the first step to successful cleaning. System debris does not disappear on its own, requiring user intervention.
In this article, we will discuss proven methods that will help you return gigabytes of free space, you will learn how to safely remove excess without damaging important data or operating system operation.
What's in the Other category on MIUI 12
The Other section is a kind of black box of the Android file system in the MIUI shell, which includes files that the system cannot uniquely classify as images, videos, music or documents, often messenger data, streaming services cache and application logs.
The bulk of the data is cached data, for example, if you've watched YouTube videos or browsed through social media feeds, media files are stored locally to speed up downloads, and over time, they can reach tens of gigabytes.
⚠️ Note: Not all files in this section are garbage; some are necessary for installed games and programs to function properly. Blindly deleting system folders can cause crashes.
It also stores residual files, and even after you delete an application, the folders with the settings or the data that you download often remain in memory, and they create the illusion of a "missing" place.
Using the built-in Xiaomi cleaner
The safest and easiest way to start the fight for space is to use Xiaomi’s regular tools. The manufacturer has built a powerful module into MIUI 12 to service the device. Go to the Security app and select Cleanup.
The system will analyze the device and suggest that you delete temporary files. However, standard analysis is often superficial. For a deeper cleaning, click on the garbage icon or use the Deep Clean feature in the app menu.
Here you can see the app details. App cache can be selectively cleared, for example, it's safe to delete the browser or navigator cache, but it's best not to touch the messenger data if you don't want to lose your correspondence history or media files.
💡
Use the built-in Deep Cleanup once a week to prevent a critical mass of temporary files from accumulating.
Remember to check the Big Files section, which often includes forgotten downloads or duplicates that rank in the Other category due to indexing errors.
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
The leaders in filling in the “Other” section are traditionally Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp and Instagram, which save every photo and video you see in your device’s memory. Standard cleaning through Android settings may not remove all attachments.
It is recommended to use built-in cleaning tools inside the applications themselves. Telegram does this through the Settings menu → Data and memory → Memory Use. Here you can configure the autodeletion of the cache, for example, delete files older than 3 days.
On WhatsApp and Viber, it's the same. Go to chat settings and look for Memory Use, and you'll see the most spaced dialogs, and you can delete media from specific conversations without deleting the text itself.
It is important to understand the difference between cleaning the cache and cleaning the data. Cache cleaning is safe, it will only delete temporary files. Data cleaning will reset the application to the state of the original installation, removing all your correspondence and logins.
Delete residual files through the Explorer
For advanced users, a method of manual cleaning through the standard Explorer is available, which allows you to find and delete folders of previously deleted applications that continue to hang dead weight. Go to the root folder of internal memory.
Look for folders with names of remote games or programs, often found in Android/data or Android/obb directories. Be careful to delete only those folders that you know are titled.
Also worth checking is the Download folder, which often accumulates.apk installation files that are no longer needed after installing programs, and various documents from the Internet.
☑️ Checking manual removals
If you are not sure about the purpose of the file, you should search the Internet by its name. Deleting system files can lead to unstable MIUI operation.
Analysis of storage using third-party snails
If the built-in tools don't work, specialized analytics apps come to the rescue, visualize disk space by showing which files take up the most space, and Files by Google or DiskUsage is considered one of the best.
These programs build a memory card where the size of the rectangles corresponds to the size of the files, so you can instantly find the heavyweights hidden in the back of the system folders, often forgotten movies or archives.
⚠️ Warning: Third-party cleaners with aggressive advertising often become the source of garbage themselves.
SD Maid has also proven to be a reliable tool for finding “bodies” — remnants of remote applications — that runs deeper than Xiaomi’s standard analyzer and finds hidden dependencies.
Radical methods: Reset to factory settings
If the Other section has grown to an obscene size and nothing helps, the last resort is a complete reset, which is guaranteed to remove all the accumulated garbage as the phone returns to the "out of the box" state.
Before starting the procedure, be sure to back up all important data to your computer or the cloud. After resetting, it will be impossible to recover information without a backup. Go to Settings → About Phone → Reset.
Select "Erase all data." The phone will reboot and start the cleanup process. It takes a few minutes. Once turned on, you'll get a clean system without any extra ballast.
What if the reset didn't help?
This method is effective, but it is time-consuming, as it requires reconfiguring all apps and accounts, and only use it when other methods have run out.
Comparison of Memory Cleaning Methods
The choice of method depends on your technical training and the amount of free time, and below is a table that will help you determine the method of cleaning.
| Method | Efficiency | Risk of data loss | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in cleaner | Low. | No. | Minimum |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium | Low. | Low. |
| Third-party analyzers | Tall. | Medium. | Medium |
| Reset to factory | Maximum | Tall (no backup) | Tall. |
As you can see from the table, it's important to balance safety and efficiency. Always start with the least risky methods.
💡
Regular prevention (cleaning the cache once a week) is more effective than dealing with the effects of a filled memory once a year.
Preventing filling in the “Other” section
To keep the problem from coming back, change your smartphone usage habits, enable automatic cache cleaning in your app settings if the developer has it, and it works great on Telegram, for example.
Check the Downloads folder regularly and delete unnecessary files; don't store movies or music you've already watched or listened to on your device; transfer your photo archives to your computer or cloud storage.
Keep an eye out for MIUI updates. Often, new firmware versions fix bugs that lead to incorrect space calculation or memory leaks.
💡
Controlling application permissions also helps: deny programs access to memory if they don’t need it to work, which will limit their ability to create files in the Other section.
Compliance with these simple rules will allow your Xiaomi to work quickly and consistently for many years to come.