How to Safely Clean the Other Section on Xiaomi Redmi 9 with NFC: 7 Proven Ways

Why The Other Takes So Much Space on the Redmi 9 NFC and What to Do About It

Owners of Xiaomi Redmi 9 with NFC often encounter the mysterious “Other” partition in the storage settings, which takes from 5 to 20 GB — and sometimes more. This section does not apply to applications, media files, or cache, but eats up the lion’s share of internal memory.

In fact, “Other” is a collection of system files that MIUI (Xiaomi firmware) does not classify as separate categories.

• 📁 Residual files of remote applications (incomplete uninstallation leaves “tails” in the /data/app-lib and /data/data)
• 🔄 System logs and error dumps (automatically created when crashes, take up to 1-2 GB)
• 🗄️ Update cache MIUI (It remains after patching, even if the update is successful)
• 📱 ARCore and Google Play Services files (required to work) AR-applications, but often inflated to 3-5 GB)

The problem is compounded by the fact that the Redmi 9 NFC comes with 64 or 128 GB of memory, of which the user can actually access ~50-110 GB (the rest is occupied by firmware and preinstalled applications). When the Other grows to 10+ GB, the smartphone begins to slow down, and the system issues warnings about space shortages. You can solve the problem without resetting to factory settings, the main thing is to know which files can be deleted manually and which cannot be touched categorically.

Method 1: Cleaning the cache of system applications (without root)

The safest method is to remove the cache of the built-in MIUI and Google services, which is automatically recovered, but often takes 2-4 GB for no apparent reason.

How to clean:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select “Show System Processes”.
3. Find the following apps in the list (and clear the cache for each one): 🔍 Google Play Services (can weigh up to 1-2 GB) 📱 Services and feedback (Xiaomi feedback service) 🔄 MIUI Daemon (system demon, cache up to 500 MB) 📊 Analytics (statistics collection, up to 300 MB)

⚠️ Note: Do not clear data (Clear data) for Google Play Services, this will cause a failure of the Google App Store and Services!

Method 2: Removing logs and dumps through Engineering Mode

Redmi 9 NFC keeps detailed logs of system errors that are rarely needed by the average user, but can take up to 3 GB. These files are stored in hidden folders and do not appear in the standard file manager.

Instructions:

1. Open the Phone app and enter the code: ##4636###
2. In the menu that opens, select “Usage statistics”.
3. Scroll down to the "Dumpstate/logcat" section and click "Clear logs".
4. Confirm the action and restart the smartphone.

To remove them manually:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC and turn on “Debugging by USB” (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 times click on the version, then go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers).
2. Use an ADB-enabled Explorer (such as Total Commander or FX File Explorer) to access /sdcard/Android/data.
3. Delete the folders of applications that you have long removed (such as games or social networks).

For advanced users: If you have root access, you can use the command:

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 name.packet

This will completely remove the app along with all the residual files.

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Before you massively delete folders in /sdcard/Android/data, check their contents – sometimes they store saves games or settings for applications that may come in handy.

Method 4: Storage optimization with MIUI Storage Analyzer

MIUI 12/13/14 has a built-in memory analysis tool called Storage Analysis, which shows which files are in the Other section, but this tool is hidden in deep settings.

How to find him:

1. Go to Settings. → Memory.
2. Click on "Clean" (bottom of the screen).
3. In the upper right corner, tap on the icon «⚙️» (Settings) and select "Deep Cleaning».
4. Wait until the analysis is completed (it may take 5-10 minutes).
5. In the “Other” section, you will see categories of files that can be safely deleted: 🗑️ Residual APK (installation files of remote applications) 📄 Duplicate files (e.g. copies of photos) 🔍 Unnecessary downloads (files from the browser or messengers)

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Analysis of storage using MIUI Storage Analyzer is the most secure way, since the system itself determines which files can be deleted without risking stability.

Method 5: Reset the partition cache (Wipe Cache Partition)

If previous methods didn’t work, try resetting the recovery partition cache.This won’t delete your data, but will clear temporary files that can take up to 1-2 GB.

Instructions:

1. Turn off Redmi 9 NFC.
2. Press the Power + Volume buttons up at the same time until the MI logo appears.
3. In the Recovery Mode, select the language (if required).
4. Go to Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
5. Confirm the action and wait for the completion.
6. Reboot your smartphone (Reboot → System)

How to use SD Maid:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Start the analysis (CorpseFinder will find the residual files).
3. In the Explorer section, go to /sdcard and manually check the folders: Android/obb (game cache), Download (unnecessary downloads).thumbnails (image miniatures)

Remove the unnecessary and restart the smartphone.

⚠️ Warning: Some apps (like Clean Master) aggressively delete files, which can lead to crashes. Avoid "optimizers" that promise to "speed up your smartphone by 300%" - this is a marketing hoax.

Method 7: Extreme measure - reset to factory settings

If the Other takes up more than 15GB and previous methods have failed, it's a radical reset, but it's guaranteed to clean up all unnecessary files.

How to do the reset correctly:

1. Create a backup copy: 📱 Contacts (export to.vcf) 📷 Photos and videos (copy to PC or cloud) 🔑 Passwords (save to Google Password Manager)

Settings → About the phone → Resetting settings

"Erase all data."

5-10 minutes

After discharge:

• ✅ «Other" will decrease to 1-3 GB (normal for MIUI).
• ⚠️ Do not restore data from backup MIUI Backup – It can contain the same junk files.
• 🔄 Install only the necessary applications, avoiding “junk” software.

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After reset, disable automatic backup to Settings → Accounts → Mi Cloud, if you do not want old unnecessary files to take up memory again.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up 'Other' on Redmi 9 NFC