How to Completely Clear History on Xiaomi Mi 9: A Step-by-Step Guide

Xiaomi Mi 9 stores a lot of data about your activity, from visited web pages to call lists and SMS. Over time, this information takes up space in memory, slows down the device and can become a threat to privacy.

In this article, you will find detailed instructions for deleting history in standard MIUI applications, as well as ways to deep clean through hidden settings. We will look not only at obvious methods (such as cleaning the browser cache), but also at lesser-known tricks such as resetting application usage statistics or deleting system logs. All methods are tested on MIUI firmware 12, 13 and 14 and adapted to Mi 9 features (codenamed Cepheus).

⚠️ Important: Some methods (e.g., discharge through ADB) require an unlocked bootloader and may result in a loss of warranty.

1. Clearing the history of the browser (Mi Browser, Chrome, Firefox)

The standard Mi Browser browser on Xiaomi Mi 9 collects data about visited pages, search queries and downloaded files. Even if you use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, their cache and cookies inflate over time to hundreds of megabytes. Clearing the history not only frees up space, but also speeds up the loading of pages.

To delete data in Mi Browser:

• 📱 Open your browser and tap the icon "..."** (three dots) in the lower right corner.
• 🗑️ Select Settings → Confidentiality → Clear the data.
• ⏳ Tick “History”, “Cash”, “Cookies” and click Clear.

In Google Chrome, the path is a little different:

1. Open the menu (three dots) → History → Clear the data.
2. Select the time range ("All Time"**) and mark all data types.
3. Confirm the cleanup button Delete data.

⚠️ Note: If you are syncing with a Google account, your browser history may be stored on the company’s servers even after local cleaning. To delete it completely, log into My Google account and manually clear the activity.

2. Delete call history and SMS

Call logs and messages store sensitive information: contact numbers, conversation times, text messages. On the Mi 9, this data can be deleted selectively or completely - including backups that MIUI creates automatically.

To clear the call history:

• 📞 Open the Phone app** and go to the Journal tab.

To erase the SMS:

• 💬 Go to "Messages»** → Choose a dialogue.
• 🗑️ Click on the contact avatar → Delete chat (or Delete selected messages).

🔍 Hidden function: MIUI retain SMS file /data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db To ensure that you erase your messages, restart your phone after cleaning.

3. Clean Up App History and Google Activity

The Xiaomi Mi 9 not only tracks browser activity, but also app usage history, Google App searches, and location data, and this information syncs with your Mi Account and Google Account, so it needs to be cleaned in several places.

To delete the application history in MIUI:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slap the icon «⚙»** (gear) → Resetting of use statistics.

To clean up Google Activity (if you use Google services):

• 🌐 Open myactivity.google.com in your browser.
• 🔍 Use filters by date and type of activity (e.g. Search, YouTube, etc»).

⚠️ Note: If the phone is enabled with the function "Backup" MIUI»**, Application usage data can be recovered after the next backup. To avoid this, disable reservations in Settings → Xiaomi account → MIUI Cloud → Backup.

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To speed up the cleanup, use the Guest mode** in MIUI: it automatically erases all temporary data after leaving the profile. Activates in Settings → System → Additional → Multiplayer mode.

4. Deep Cleanup: Cache, Logistics and Temporary Files

In addition to the visible history, the Mi 9 accumulates gigabytes of hidden data: application cache, system logs (.log files), image thumbnails (.thumbnail) and memory dumps, which are not visible in a standard file manager, but take up to 3-5 GB of memory.

Cleaning methods:

• 🧹 Built-in utility MIUI: Go to Settings. → Memory. → Cleanup → press Deep Clean. This will remove the cache of all applications.
• 📁 Manual cleaning (requires a file manager with root): Delete folders /data/log and /cache (It contains the logs of the system. /data/data/com.android.providers.media/ — Here are the miniatures.
• 🤖 Through ADB (for advanced: adb shell pm clear com.miui.cleanmaster # Resetting adb shell rm cleaning utility -rf /data/local/tmp/* # Deletion of temporary files

📊 Effectiveness of methods:

Critical! Deleting files in /data or /system folders without root permissions can cause a system to crash. If you're not sure what you're doing, use only the built-in MIUI tools.

5.Reset statistics and hidden MIUI settings

MIUI keeps track of not only overt activity, but also hidden statistics: screen time, mobile data usage, Wi-Fi connection history, which are not visible in the basic settings, but can be reset.

How to reset the statistics:

• 📊 Screen usage time: Settings → Screen time. → ⚙ → Reset the data.
• 📶 Mobile Traffic Statistics: Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Using traffic → Drop it.
• 🔄 Wi-Fi history: Settings → Wi-Fi → ⚙ → Additionally. → Clear the history of networks.

🔍 Hidden function: To reset all settings MIUI before the factory (without deleting the application data), use the code:

##7780##

This code will perform a soft reset by clearing only system settings (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, screen brightness, etc.).

⚠️ Attention: Hard reset (Settings) → The phone. → Resetting) will delete all data, including photos and apps.Be sure to back up through Settings before doing so → Xiaomi account → MIUI Cloud.

6. Cleaning automation: scheduler and third-party utilities

Manually clearing history is tedious, especially if you do it regularly. Fortunately, on the Xiaomi Mi 9, you can set up automatic data deletion using built-in tools or third-party apps.

Methods of automation:

• ⏰ Cleanup planner MIUI: Go to Settings. → Memory. → Cleanup → ⚙. Enable the Auto Clean option** and set a schedule (e.g. once a week).

Tasker + ADB:

pm clear com.miui.cleanmaster

Third-party annexes:

• SD Maid – cleans cache and debris (root required).
• CCleaner – deletes browser history and temporary files.
• AppOps – manages permissions and application logs.

📌 Recommendation: If you often clear history, disable the sync of the browser and Google Activity in your account settings, this will prevent the reappearance of deleted data after synchronization.

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Auto-cleaning through the MIUI scheduler is the safest way, but it doesn't affect Google data or call history. To clean it completely, combine several methods.

7. checklist before sale or transfer of telephone

If you are going to sell or give away the Xiaomi Mi 9, it is not enough to simply delete the history - you must guarantee to erase all personal data.

⚠️ A critical mistake many users made: After resetting your phone, don't log in to your Mi Account, it will link the device back to your profile.

🔍 How to check if the data has been deleted:

• After the reset, turn on your phone and check the DCIM, Downloads, and WhatsApp folders – they should be empty.
• Make sure that in the settings → Xiaomi account does not have your account.
• Try calling the phone - the call log should be empty.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up history on Xiaomi Mi 9