Xiaomi Redmi 9C: what it is and how to clean without risk

Owners of Xiaomi Redmi 9C sooner or later face a mysterious partition “Other” in the memory settings, which takes up gigabytes of space — sometimes up to 10-15 GB on a 32-gigabyte model. The system stubbornly does not show what exactly is hidden under this category, and standard cleaning methods (cache, junk files) do not help.

In fact, the Other is hidden system files, remnants of deleted applications, error logs, MIUI temporary data, and even firmware snippets. Most of these files are not visible to the user through a standard file manager, but they can be safely deleted — if you know where to look. In this article, we will analyze 7 proven ways, including hidden MIUI settings, commands through ADB and manually cleaning folders that even experienced users often miss.

⚠️ Important: Some methods require superuser rights or a PC connection. If you're a beginner, start with secure ways (sections 2-4) and then move on to advanced ones (sections 5-7).

1.What's Hiding Under "The Other" in Redmi 9C: A Complete Discussion

The Other section of MIUI is a basket for files that the system cannot classify as photos, videos or applications.

• 📁 Remnants of Remote Applications – Folders /data/app-lib and /data/dalvik-cache, which are not cleaned during the installation.
• 📜 System Logs and Errors –.log,.tmp and anr files in /data/log (can weigh up 1–2 GB).
• 🔄 Cash updates. MIUI — folder /cache file ota.zip into /data/miui.
• 🗑️ Messaging garbage – Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber store temporary media files in hidden folders.
• 🔧 Firmware files and backup copies — /data/backup and /data/lineageos_updates (If you've ever installed custom firmware).

On the Redmi 9C with 32GB of storage, the Other section often grows to 30-40% of the total, due to the peculiarities of the ext4 file system that Xiaomi uses for internal storage, which fragments small files, and over time they become invisible to the user.

🔍 How to check the exact size?

Go to Settings → About Phone → Memory. If the Other takes more than 5GB, it’s time to clean. If it’s more than 10GB, it’s likely that the system has accumulated remnants of old firmware or corrupted cache files that are not deleted by standard methods.

💡

Before cleaning, back up your important data through Settings → Additional → Backup. This will prevent you from losing contacts and messages if something goes wrong.

2.Safe cleaning through built-in MIUI tools

Start with standard methods that don’t require root or PC connectivity, and they will remove up to 2 to 4 GB of garbage:

• 🧹 Cleaning the app cache: Go to Settings → Annexes → App management. Task three dots in the top right corner. → Sort by size. Select cache apps. >100 MB (e.g. YouTube, Facebook) → Clear the cache.
• 🗑️ Delete unnecessary files via Cleanup: Open the Security app (shield icon). → Deep cleaning. Check all categories, especially "Junk Files" and "App Remains».

Cleaning up the downloads

1. Launch Files (Folder Icon)
2. Go to Categories → Downloads.
3. Delete old APKs, archives, and media files (sort by date).

⚠️ Note: Do not manually delete files from folders /Android/data or /Android/obb — It can break games and apps. Use only built-in tools. MIUI.

3. Hidden folders: what can be manually deleted

If the standard cleanup didn't work, you'll have to dig deeper. Connect Redmi 9C to your PC via USB (in File Transfer mode) and use Windows Explorer or Total Commander to access hidden folders. Don't delete anything at random - follow the list below:

🔹 How to Find Hidden Folders?

In Windows Explorer, enable the display of hidden files:

species → Hidden elements

FX File Explorer

Solid Explorer

root

⚠️ Attention: Don't touch the folders:

📌 What does it mean?

Removed:

• 🗑️ Temporary update files (ota.zip);
• 📜 Logs of the system (/cache/recovery/log);
• 🔄 Damaged application cache files.
• Connect your phone to your PC, open Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac/Linux) and type in: Adb devices (should appear serial numbered device).
• Follow the instructions for cleaning: adb shell pm clear com.miui.cleanmaster # Cleaning the built-in cleaner adb shell rm -rf /data/local/tmp/* # Delete temporary files adb shell rm -rf /cache/* # Clean up the system cache
• Reboot your phone (Reboot → System)

🔴 Risks:

• Deleting the wrong files can lead to bootloop (cyclic reboot).
• Some applications may require reinstallation;
• If the phone doesn’t boot after cleaning, you’ll have to reflash through Fastboot.

7.Prevention: How to Prevent the Spread of the Other

To “Other” does not take up gigabytes of memory, follow the simple rules:

• 🔄 Clean the cache regularly through Settings → Memory. → Cleaning (once every 2 weeks).
• 🚫 Turn off automatic app updates on Google Play:
• 📁 Use cloud storage (Google Photos, Mi Cloud) to back up your media files.
• 🔍 Install applications only from official sources – pirated APK often leave the trash in /data.
• 🛠️ Check your Download folder once a month for unnecessary files.

📊 How much memory can be saved?

If these rules are met, the Other will not exceed 1-2 GB even after a year of use.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up "The Other" on Redmi 9C