How to Clean the “Other” Section on Xiaomi Redmi 8 T Note

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the unpleasant situation when the device’s memory is overflowing with a mysterious “Other” section. On models like the Redmi 8 T Note, this section can take up tens of gigabytes, turning the phone into a clumsy gadget. Android does not always correctly classify files, placing app cache, remnants of deleted programs or temporary update files into this category.

Compounding the problem, standard cleaning tools don't always see the contents of this folder, considering it to be a system folder, but there are proven ways to safely reduce its volume. In this article, we'll look at effective ways to free up space that will help your device run faster.

Before we start taking drastic measures, it is important to understand the nature of the origin of this data, which is often not viruses, but simply accumulated digital garbage from messengers and browsers, and the right approach to cleaning will allow you to return gigabytes of free space without having to completely reset your settings.

What is hidden in the “Other” section of MIUI

Xiaomi’s Other is a black box where it puts data that doesn’t fall into the standard categories like Photos or Apps, most often hiding social media cache, offline navigator maps, and temporary streaming service files, and understanding the structure of that data is the first step to a successful cleanup.

Special attention should be paid to messengers such as Telegram or Viber, which have a habit of saving all the media files viewed in hidden folders, which the system sees as system data, and also includes the remnants of remote games and error logs, which take up a significant amount of memory.

Sometimes this section contains files left over from a failed firmware update or file system failure. If you haven’t done a file revision on your Redmi 8 T Note in a long time, the volume of this partition can reach critical values, slowing down the entire interface.

⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders through third-party root file managers unless you are sure of their purpose.

You can use a built-in storage analyzer to analyze content in detail, and it will show you which applications are the most likely to contribute to the bloating of the Other section, and it's usually social media and video players that are the ones that lead the way.

Basic cleaning through standard Xiaomi tools

The safest and easiest way to start the fight for space is to use the built-in MIUI tools. Xiaomi’s shell has a powerful Security app that includes a cleanup function that scans the device for temporary files and cache that can be deleted without risking personal data.

To start the process, go to Settings → Storage or open the Security → Cleanup app. The system will prompt you to remove debris, but often misses the deep cache. Click on the Clean button to delete obvious temporary files. This will free up some space, but won't solve the problem completely.

You can do a deeper analysis by going to the storage settings, and here you'll see app-specific details, pick the app that consumes the most resources, and click Clear Cache, and it's important not to confuse this with the Clear All button, which will delete your logins and settings.

Regular use of standard cleaning helps keep the system on track, but for older models like the Redmi 8 T Note, this may not be enough, as MIUI algorithms sometimes ignore certain types of files for performance.

Deep cleaning of the cache of messengers and social networks

The main culprits of memory overflow are most often messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber store copies of all files sent and received. To effectively clear the Other section, you need to go inside the settings of each application.

On Telegram, the path to clean is in the Settings menu → Data and memory → Memory Use. Here you can clear the cache and set up automatic deletion of temporary files. Set a timer for autodelete, for example, for 3 days or a week, so that memory does not clog again.

For WhatsApp, the procedure is a little different. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. Here you can select the chats that take up the most space and delete media files. Often users are surprised to find gigabytes of unnecessary videos in family chats.

Be sure to check other social networks, such as VK or Instagram, which also have cache clearing sections in their settings, and removing the cache won’t affect your correspondence or accounts, but will return significant disk space.

⚠️ Attention: Clearing the data (not cache) in messengers will delete all correspondence and stored files within the application.

After cleaning all popular applications, it is recommended to restart the device, which will allow the Android system to re-index files and correctly display the changed amount of memory occupied.

Using PC and Analysis through ADB

If standard methods don't work, you can connect to your computer. By connecting the Redmi 8 T Note to your PC in file transfer mode (MTP), you can visually assess folder structure. Often, at the root of the internal drive lie forgotten folders from remote applications.

For more advanced users, there is an ADB tool (Android Debug Bridge) that allows you to access hidden system folders that you can't see on a normal connection, and you need to enable USB debugging in the Developer Menu.

The command to analyze folder size through ADB is as follows:

adb shell du -sh /sdcard/Android/data/* | sort -hr

This command will show you a list of application folders, sorted by size, and if you find a folder that is disproportionately large, you can decide to clean it, but be careful: deleting the system folders can lead to errors in the application.

Using a PC gives you more control over the file system, and you can manually find and delete “heavy” video files that were accidentally saved to the memory root rather than the camera folder.

Radical measures: Resetting and reflashing

When the software methods are exhausted and the Other partition still takes up half the memory, the last measure is a complete reset, which will return the phone to factory state, completely clearing the Other partition and all user data.

Before you run Hard Reset, make sure to back up your important data. Go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all the data. After that, the phone will be as new and the memory problem will disappear 100%.

An alternative to a full reset might be to upgrade to the latest version available. Sometimes newer versions of MIUI fix memory errors. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version and check for updates.

⚠️ WARNING: Full reset will delete all photos, contacts and apps. Make sure your data is stored in the Mi Cloud cloud or on your computer.

After reset, take your time to install all the applications at once, install them gradually, watching the Other section grow, which will help identify the culprit application that is causing the memory leak.

Prevention of memory overflow

To keep the problem from coming back, it's important to get in the habit of cleaning regularly, and make a rule: check the storage once a month and clear the cache of heavy applications, which will take a couple of minutes, but save you from a sudden shortage of space.

Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Set up automatic upload of media files to Google Photos or Yandex.Disk with the function “Free space”, which will store the originals in the cloud, leaving only thumbnails on the phone.

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Tip: Turn off autoloading media files in instant messenger chats, which will prevent thousands of unnecessary pictures and stickers from being saved in memory of your Redmi 8 T Note.

Also worth stopping is the Play Market cleaners, which promise to speed up the phone, often creating garbage and intrusive advertising, and Xiaomi’s built-in tools are enough to keep things in order.

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Main conclusion: Regular manual cleaning of messenger cache is more effective than any automatic accelerators.

By following these simple rules, you can extend the life of your smartphone and avoid a situation where the device becomes unusable due to space shortages.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)