Owning a modern Xiaomi or Redmi smartphone often involves a constant struggle for free space in internal memory. The gallery is one of the main consumers of resources, accumulating thousands of images, screenshots and saved images from messengers, which over time leads to a significant slowdown and the inability to install new applications.
Cleaning media files is not just about removing unnecessary frames, but about a complete process of maintaining the device. Many users are unaware of the hidden capabilities of the standard Gallery app, which can automatically find duplicates and system debris. In this article, we will discuss in detail all available methods of freeing up space.
We'll look at both MIUI and HyperOS, as well as advanced file system management tools, learn how to safely delete social media cache, find forgotten folders, and prevent memory from being refilled in the future.
Analysis of the occupied space in the storage
Before you start mindlessly deleting files, you need to conduct a memory audit. Xiaomi’s Android shell provides convenient tools to visualize what exactly takes up gigabytes, which allows you to understand whether you should delete old videos or just clean up the messenger cache.
To start the analysis, go to the Settings menu and select About Phone, then click on Warehouse. Here you will see a color diagram where each data type has its own sector. Click on Images or Video to see a detailed breakdown by app and folder.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete system folders with unknown names, even if they take up a lot of space.This can lead to malfunctioning of the Android operating system.
Often, it turns out that the lion's share of memory is not personal photos, but the cache of applications like Telegram or TikTok. The standard analyzer will show which application has bloated more than others, and then you can make an informed decision about cleaning.
Use of the built-in Galleries cleaner
Xiaomi’s standard Gallery app hides a powerful tool for quick cleaning, doesn’t require third-party software installation, and works directly with a database of media files, and is the safest way to remove obvious debris.
Open the app and go to the Albums tab. Scroll down to the bottom where you'll find the Other Albums section or the Clean button. The system will automatically scan the device for screenshots, recently deleted items and duplicates.
☑️ Checking before cleaning
The algorithm finds visually similar images, even if their technical parameters (resolution, weight) differ, and this often happens when editing photos or re-uploading from the cloud.
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Use the "Select All" feature in the screenshots section with caution, and important images with confirmation codes or tickets may be lost among them.
Manual removal of hidden folders and debris
Many apps create their own folders at the root of internal memory, which are displayed in the gallery as separate albums, often storing banner ads, avatars and temporary files that are of no value to the user.
To get to them, go to File Manager. Turn on hidden files in the Explorer settings. You need to find folders with application names like.thumbnails, ad, cache. Be careful: the.thumbnails folder can weigh several gigabytes, because it stores thumbnails of all the photos you see.
| The name of the folder | Description of the contents | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| .thumbnails | Cash miniatures of images | You can delete it, the system will create again. |
| MIUI/Gallery/cloud | Temporary synchronization files | Clean through cloud settings |
| Android/data | Cash of games and apps | Remove only specific game folders |
| Tencent/MicroMsg | Files from WeChat | Clean inside the app |
When manually deleting, it is important to understand the path structure: files saved from browsers are usually in the Download folder, and images from Instagram or Facebook are in the corresponding Android/media directories. Regularly checking these places helps keep the gallery clean.
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
Messengers are the main source of junk in the gallery. Every sticker you see, an open picture in the channel, or a short video is stored in the device’s memory. On Xiaomi smartphones, these files are often duplicated in the system gallery.
To clean up effectively, you can use the apps themselves. On Telegram, go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you can click Clear Cache and set up auto-delete media files after a certain time.
⚠️ Warning: Clearing the cache in messengers will remove downloaded media files from the device, but not from the chat. When you reopen the dialogue, they will download again unless autosave is disabled.
On WhatsApp, the situation is similar: Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. The app will show you the list of chats that take up the most space, and allow you to delete large video files selectively, which is more effective than blindly deleting everything in a row.
Why do photos come back after they are deleted?
Working with cloud services and synchronization
Using cloud storage is the best way to free up space on a physical drive. Xiaomi Cloud and Google Photos allow you to store original images on the Internet, leaving only compressed copies on the phone or deleting them altogether.
Google Photos’ “Free Space” feature automatically finds all the images that are already saved in the cloud and deletes their local copy. This is a safe operation, since access to photos remains over the Internet. Xiaomi owners also need synchronization with Mi Cloud, which works on a similar principle.
Configure automatic uploading of photos only via Wi-Fi so as not to waste mobile traffic, and it is also recommended to enable the function “Save space”, which replaces the originals on the device with optimized versions of high quality.
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Cloud sync is not a real-time backup in the absence of a network.Make sure the upload process is complete (cloud icon without arrows) before removing the originals from the phone.
Search and remove duplicates and similar photos
Over time, the gallery accumulates a series of almost identical shots taken in serial mode, or photos uploaded multiple times from different sources, manually searching for them long, but modern MIUI algorithms cope with this well.
In the Gallery app, go to the Guidelines or For You tab. Artificial intelligence often suggests removing similar images or combining faces. If automation fails, you can use third-party utilities from Google Play that specialize in finding duplicates.
When deleting duplicates, always leave the file with the highest resolution and the lowest compression level. Pay attention to the date of creation of the file: the original usually has an earlier time stamp than the copy made by the editor or messenger.
- 📸 Use the "Serial Shooting" mode wisely, immediately after the series selecting the best shots.
- 🗑️ Regularly check the “Recently Deleted” folder that stores files for 30 days.
- 📂 Sort photos by albums immediately after creation, so as not to lose them in the general tape.
- 🔄 Turn off auto-save statuses on WhatsApp if you don’t want to clog the gallery.