Xiaomi smartphone owners running MIUI 12.5 often encounter a mysterious partition in the storage called "Other" that can take up tens of gigabytes, slowly devouring available space and causing irritation to the user. The system shows volume but hides content, creating a sense of uncontrollable memory loss.
In fact, this is not a firmware bug, but a feature of the Android file system, adapted by engineers from the Chinese brand, which includes app cache, remnants of remote programs, system logs and temporary files, and understanding the nature of this data is the first step to successfully clean a device without losing important information.
Next, we’ll take a closer look at safe and advanced ways to free up space, learn how to use Xiaomi’s built-in tools and third-party utilities to effectively manage memory, and act consistently to keep the operating system running smoothly.
What is hidden in the “Other” section of MIUI
The Other section is a collection of files that the system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos, music or documents, primarily social network and instant messenger cache. Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber tend to accumulate viewed media files that are no longer formally needed, but take up space.
The second category is system logs and error reports, and applications record information about their work all the time, and if the developer didn't automatically clean old records, they're stored forever, and there may be firmware updates that the system downloaded but didn't delete after installation.
- 📱 Application and browser cache, including temporary web page files.
- 🗑️ Residual files of remote programs and libraries.
- 📝 System Logs, Error Reports and Memory Dumps.
- 📦 Downloaded but not installed update packages.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to manually delete files from system folders through a file manager without understanding their purpose. MIUI 12.5 or cyclical smartphone reboot.
Offline maps and navigation data are a special feature, and if you use Yandex.Navigator or Google Maps offline, maps of entire regions can weigh several gigabytes and be displayed in the Other category, and checking the settings of navigation applications often helps to make room quickly.
Use of the built-in "Security" application
The easiest and safest way to start cleaning up is to use Xiaomi’s regular tool, which is already pre-installed on the system and has access to the necessary system functions, and can find obvious garbage that can be removed without risk.
Launch the app and select Cleanup. The system will analyze the storage and suggest that you delete temporary files. However, the standard analyzer is often superficial. For a deeper cleaning, click on the garbage can icon or go to the application management section inside the utility.
☑️ Checklist of primary cleaning
Inside the app, there's Deep Clean, which allows you to find large files, duplicates, and rarely used apps. Be careful when choosing files to delete: check the attachments in messengers, as there may be important documents.
- 🧹 Standard Cleanup Deletes Temporary Android Files.
- 🔍 Deep Cleanup Looks for Large Files and Duplicates.
- 📱 Application management shows the cache volume of each program.
It's important to understand that the built-in tool doesn't always see all the garbage, especially if it's hidden in secure directories or has specific attributes, so after the regular utility runs, the volume of the Other may decrease slightly, in which case more radical measures are needed.
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
The main source of growth of the “Other” section is messengers. Telegram, for example, by default stores all viewed photos and videos in cache. Over time, this folder can grow to 10-20 GB. Cleaning must be done directly inside the settings of the application itself.
On Telegram, go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you will see a cache size slider. Click Clear Cache. Don't worry, your correspondence and media files won't be deleted from the server, you can download them again if necessary. On WhatsApp, the path is slightly different: Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management.
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Set a time limit (for example, 3 days or 1 week), and the application will delete old media files, freeing up space in the Other section.
Social networks like VK or Instagram also accumulate a lot of temporary data, and these apps often don't have a "clean all" button in their settings, so it's sometimes more effective to reinstall the app, which is guaranteed to remove all the accumulated garbage, but requires re-authorization.
⚠️ Warning: Before clearing the messenger cache, make sure important files are saved in the cloud or on your computer.Cleaning the cache inside the app is safe, but deleting the app data in Android settings can erase correspondence if there is no backup.
Radical method: cleaning through ADB (for advanced)
If standard methods do not help, you can use debugging on the USB and console teams ADB (Android Debug Bridge.This method allows you to delete files that are hidden from the average user, USB-cable and installed Xiaomi drivers.
First, turn on Developer Mode. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly press 7 times on MIUI Version. Then, in advanced settings, activate Debugging over USB. Connect your smartphone to your PC and allow debugging on the device screen.
adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999This command forcibly trims the cache of all applications to the lowest possible value, and this is one of the most effective ways to reduce the "D" partition on Xiaomi MIUI 12.5.
adb shell rm -rf /data/local/tmp/*- 💻 Requires computer connection and installation ADB.
- ⚡ Allows you to remove system debris that is not available in the usual way.
- ⚠️ Risks with incorrect command entry.
Using ADB gives you complete control over the file system, but it requires caution. One extra command can delete critical system files. If you're not sure about your actions, you'd better use a GUI-based software cleaner.
Analysis of storage by third-party utilities
The best way to visualize what exactly takes up space is with dedicated disk analyzers. DiskUsage or Solid Explorer builds a memory card where the squares are the size of the files, which allows you to instantly find heavyweights.
When you run the analysis, you can see folders with names like.thumbnails or log. The.thumbnails folder contains thumbnails of images from your gallery. If you delete thousands of photos, their thumbnails can stay and take up gigabytes. Deleting the contents of this folder is safe, the system will recreate them if necessary.
It is also worth checking the Android/data folder. It stores game and application data. Sometimes, after deleting the game, its cache folder (maps, resources) remains. In MIUI 12.5, access to this folder may be limited, but analyzers often know how to bypass these restrictions or request special permissions.
| File type | Where to find out. | Can be removed | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | Settings → Applications | Yes. | Low. |
| Logs of the system | /data/log or via ADB | Yes. | Medium. |
| Folder.thumbnails | DCIM/.thumbnails | Yes. | Low. |
| .nomedia files | At the root of the media folders | No. | Tall (photos missing) |
Resetting settings as a last resort
If the Other section has grown to critical size and nothing helps, the final argument is a complete factory reset, which is guaranteed to clean up all the garbage, but takes time to recover the data.
Go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset. Choose Erase all data. The system will warn you to delete all files. Once you reboot, you will get a clean smartphone, where the Other partition will occupy the minimum amount necessary for the system to work.
What if the memory is filled immediately after resetting?
After a reset, take your time to install hundreds of applications at once. Watch the behavior of the system. Often, the memory bloat causes one particular application with errors in the code. By identifying the culprit, you can avoid the problem in the future.
⚠️ Note: A full reset deletes ALL data, including photos, contacts, and correspondence, if it is not synced with your Google or Mi Account. Make sure you have an up-to-date backup before starting the procedure.
Prevention of memory overflow
To keep the problem from coming back, you need to adopt a regular digital hygiene habit, so don't let the memory fill up when it's less free. 10-15% The system starts to work slower, and the “Other” partition may behave incorrectly.
Use cloud-based services to store photos and videos. Set up automatic uploads to Google Photos and then delete local copies is a great way to keep the gallery light. Also check the Downloads folder regularly, where forgotten APK installation files and documents often accumulate.
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Regularly restarting your smartphone (at least once a week) helps the system automatically clean temporary files and complete the frozen processes, preventing the accumulation of garbage.
Keep an eye on updates. MIUI. Xiaomi engineers are constantly improving the algorithms for working with memory in new versions of the firmware. MIUI 12.5 Enhanced Edition or newer version, this may fix cache management errors.