“Other” in the memory of Xiaomi Redmi: what it is and how to clean without harming the system

Why Xiaomi Redmi Memory is being hammered by “Others” and what to do about it

Have you ever gone to Settings → Memory on your Redmi and seen the mysterious “Other” category take the lion’s share? This is not a system error — this is how MIUI designates files that don’t fall into the standard categories (“Apps”, “Images”, “Video”). This group can include system process cache, temporary update files, log files, remnants of deleted applications and even hidden messenger data.

The problem is that over time, The Other grows to giant sizes — often taking up 10 to 30 GB on devices with 64 or 128 GB of memory. Redmi Note 10 Pro, Redmi 9A or POCO X3 users are faced with this most often: the phone starts to slow down, apps fly out, and the system warns of space shortages, although you “did not download anything.” In this article, we will examine what exactly is hidden under the label “Other”, how to safely clean it and prevent re-accumulation of garbage.

Spoiler: Not all files in this category can be deleted without consequences. For example, deleting some system logs can cause MIUI to malfunction. So we will focus on secure methods that do not require root access or complex firmware manipulation.

What’s Behind the Other in Xiaomi’s Memory

The Other category is the garbage bin of the operating system, where files that don't fit standard labels are deposited, and this is what it usually includes:

• 📁 Cache of system applications: temporary files from com.android.systemui, com.miui.home and other services MIUI. They are needed for quick interface operation, but often don’t clear automatically.
• 🔄 Remnants of Remote Applications: Folders /data/data or /Android/obb, which remain after uninstallation of programs through Settings (without using "complete cleaning»).
• 📄 Log files and memory dumps: records of crashes, errors and debugging (/data/anr, /data/tombstones). They are created by a diagnostic system, but they are rarely needed by the average user.
• 🔗 Symbolic links and empty folders: artifacts after updates MIUI or reset settings that take up space but do not contain useful data.
• 📥 Hidden downloads: files downloaded in the background by browsers (Mi Browser, Chrome) or messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp) that did not get into the Download folder.

On Xiaomi devices with MIUI 12-14 firmware, the Other can take up a particularly large amount of space due to the F2FS file system the company uses to optimize speed, which is worse at auto-freezing space than ext4, so it accumulates more debris faster.

🔍 How to check what exactly takes up space? Install Files by Google or SD Maid (requires root for deep analysis) will show the file distribution by category and help identify heavy folders.

Method 1: Cleaning the cache of system applications

The safest and most effective method is to remove the cache of the built-in MIUI services. This will not affect your data, but will free up 1-5 GB of space.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Show All Apps.
3. In the search bar, enter the names of system services in turn and clear their cache: 📱 com.miui.home (Luncher) MIUI) ⚙️ com.android.systemui (System Interface) 🔒 com.miui.securitycenter (Security Center) 📊 com.miui.analytics (Collection of statistics)

Warehouse → Clear the cache

⚠️ Warning: Don't click Clear Data for System Applications! This can reset launcher settings, delete widgets or cause errors in work MIUI.

Find com.miui.home in the list of applications | Clear cache (not data!)|Repeat for com.android.systemui|Reboot phone after cleaning-->

Once the device is restarted, the system will recover the necessary cache, but its volume will be minimal, a method that is especially useful for owners of Redmi Note 8 Pro and Redmi 9T, where the launcher cache often grows to 2-3 GB.

Method 2: Remove Remnants of Remote Applications

When you delete an application through Settings, MIUI does not always clear all the files associated with it.

• 📂 Folders in /Android/obb (game data, for example, PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact).
• 🗃️ Files in /data/data (settings and application cache).
• 📄 Temporary files in /sdcard/Android/data.

To remove them:

1. Open Explorer (or install Solid Explorer for convenience).
2. Go to /sdcard/Android/obb and delete the folders with the names of the remote games/applications.
3. Check /sdcard/Android/data – files up to 500MB-1GB can remain here.
4. For complete cleaning, use the ADB command (requires PC): adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 name.packet Replace name.packet with application ID (e.g., com.tencent.ig for PUBG Mobile).

⚠️ Warning: Do not delete the folders of current applications! This will cause malfunctions in their work. Before cleaning, check if the application is installed through Settings. → Annexes.

Method 3: Cleaning Log Files and Memory Dumps

MIUI actively logs system processes that are rarely needed by ordinary users, which can take up to 5-10 GB, especially if the phone is rebooted frequently or errors occur.

To remove them:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB Debugging (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 times click on the version, then go back to Additional → For Developers).
2. Open the command line on your PC and type: adb shell su rm -rf /data/anr/* rm -rf /data/tombstones/* rm -rf /data/log/* exit Note: The su command requires root rights. If there are none, skip it and clear only the available folders.
3. Reboot the phone.

Without root, you can delete some logs through MIUI Security:

1. Open Security → Cleaning → Deep Cleaning.
2. Select System Garbage and confirm removal.

💡 Useful advice: If you are not ready to use ADB, set up SD Maid (in settings, enable Show system files). The application will find secure logs for deletion even without root.

Method 4: Resetting cache via Recovery Mode

If previous methods didn’t work, try clearing /cache partition through Restore Mode.This won’t delete your data, but will reset temporary system files and updates.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up until the MI logo appears.
3. In the Recovery menu, select the language (if you have a choice: 🔧 Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache 🔄 Confirm the action and wait for the completion.

Reboot → System

⚠️ Warning: Don’t choose Wipe Data or Factory Reset – it will delete all your files and applications!Cache Clearing (Wipe Cache) is secure and does not affect user data.

This method is especially effective after failed MIUI updates, where the system backs up files but does not delete them. For example, after upgrading the Redmi Note 11 from MIUI 13 to MIUI 14, up to 1-2 GB of unnecessary data can remain in the cache.

💡

Cleaning the cache through Recovery is the only way to remove update files that are not visible in standard Explorer.

Method 5: Using Hidden MIUI Functions

MIUI has built-in deep cleaning tools that aren't always obvious. Here's how to activate them:

• 🧹 Hidden storage cleanup: Open Settings → Memory. Click on the memory usage graph, then click on Other. In some versions. MIUI There is a button to Clean or Control that deletes temporary files.
• 🔍 Search for Large Files: In Explorer (Files) click on three dots → Storage analysis: sort files by size and remove unnecessary ones (like old WhatsApp backups or downloads from Telegram).

Cleaning up the downloads:

1. Go to Files → Categories → Downloads.
2. Click More → Sort by size and delete unnecessary files (especially.apk,.zip,.rar).

The optimal level of the "Other" is 2-5 GB. If the volume exceeds 10 GB, it is worth applying the methods from this article.