Many Xiaomi smartphone owners sooner or later face a slowdown, sudden app freezes or a lack of free space in memory. Cache memory is a hidden reserve of data that the system and applications use to quickly download frequently used files. Over time, this reserve grows to huge sizes, occupying gigabytes of usable space and overloading the processor with background tasks.
It is important for MIUI and HyperOS users to understand the difference between cleaning up garbage and completely resetting data. Unlike removing photos or documents, cleaning up cache is a safe procedure that does not affect your personal contacts, correspondence or account settings. Regular maintenance helps to extend battery life and ensure smooth interface performance even on the budget models of Redmi and POCO.
In this article, we will take a look at all the cleaning methods available, from built-in tools to advanced developer features. You will learn how to find the “heavy” applications that consume the most resources, and learn which folders can be deleted without risk to the system. Proper management of temporary files is the key to a long and stable operation of your gadget.
What is cache and why you should clean it on Xiaomi
Cache is a set of temporary files that are created by the Android operating system and installed applications to speed up access to data. When you launch a browser, social network or game, the system stores some of the downloaded information (images, scripts, logs) in a special memory area. When you start it again, the application reads data from there, rather than downloading it again from the network, which saves traffic and time.
But there's a downside to this mechanism: Cache files are often not deleted automatically after they're no longer relevant, but they accumulate, creating what's called "digital junk," and if the cache is corrupted or contains conflicting versions of the files, the application can start to malfunction, crash, or show a server connection error, and in such cases, cleaning the cache becomes the only way to restore the program to work without reinstalling it.
- 🚀 Speeds up the launch of heavy apps and games by removing conflicting temporary files.
- 💾 Frees up valuable internal storage that would otherwise be occupied by garbage.
- 🔋 Reduces the processor load, as the system does not need to index huge amounts of useless data.
It is worth noting that on Xiaomi smartphones with a MIUI shell, the process of garbage accumulation can occur faster due to aggressive optimization and a large number of pre-installed services.
Use of the built-in "Security" application
The easiest and safest way to delete temporary files is to use Xiaomi’s regular tool.Security is already installed on the default system and has deep access to system partitions, allowing it to find hidden debris that is not visible to a regular file manager.
To start the cleaning procedure, open the application menu and find the green shield icon. On the utility's home screen, you'll see the Cleaner button, which will trigger an automatic scan of the system. In a few seconds, the app will show the amount of debris found, which includes not only the cache, but also the remnants of deleted programs, advertising files and empty folders.
☑️ Checking before deep cleaning
After analysis, the system will suggest that you delete the files found. However, be careful: sometimes in the “junk” section, small files that you would like to save, such as draft documents or temporary game saves, may be lost.
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Run a deep clean through the three-point menu in the Security app – this will allow you to find forgotten large files in the Download and DCIM folder that are not related to the system cache, but take up a lot of space.
Manually cleaning the cache of individual applications
If a particular application is slow or takes up a suspiciously large amount of space, its cache can be cleared individually, a more point-based method that allows you to solve a problem with one particular service without affecting the rest. Most often, messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp), browsers (Chrome, Yandex) and social networks accumulate the most garbage.
To do this, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Find the program you want in the list that opens. Inside the app menu, you're interested in the Memory or Storage section, where you'll see two buttons: Clear and Delete. It's important not to confuse them: Clear Cache only deletes temporary files, and Clear Data resets the application to the post-installed state, removing logins and settings.
| Annex | Type of data in the cache | Recommended cleaning frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Photos, videos, voice messages | Once every 2 weeks |
| Google Chrome | Images of websites, cookies, scripts | Once a month |
| Cash tapes, storis, previews. | When braking the scrolling | |
| TikTok | Videos viewed, effects | Weekly |
Note that once the cache is cleared, the app can take a little longer to load on its first run, as it will have to re-download the necessary resources. This is normal system behavior. For instant messengers like Telegram, there is also a built-in setting for automatic decaching of media files, which is better activated immediately.
What to do if the “Clean” button is inactive?
Cleaning through Developer Mode and Engineering Menu
For advanced users who want full control of Android, there is a developer mode.This hidden settings section allows you to manage the cache more aggressively, including the function of forced stop all processes and clean temporary files at a deep level.
To activate this mode, go to Settings → About phone and quickly click 7 times on the field version of MIUI (or OS version). After the notification “You became a developer” in the settings menu will appear a new item Additional → For developers. There you can find the option “Do not remain active” or forced cleaning of processes, but be careful: inept use of these functions can lead to unstable interface.
⚠️ Warning: In Developer Mode (not recommended) change animation settings or background process limits if you don't understand their purpose.This can cause the phone to start constantly restarting apps, which will increase battery consumption.
Some firmware versions also offer a feature called “Memory Filling,” which artificially creates a load for testing, but it is not relevant to cleaning. It is better to use standard ADB (Android Debug Bridge) tools through your computer if you want to remove a system cache that is not available through the interface.
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Developer mode gives you extended rights, but for normal cache cleaning, standard storage settings are enough - do not go into deep system settings without the need.
Delete temporary files through Explorer
The Android file system is designed so that many applications create their own folders for cacheing data that are not always deleted by standard methods. Using the built-in File Manager app on Xiaomi, you can manually find and delete such accumulations.
Open the explorer and go to the root of internal memory. You're interested in folders called Android/data and Android/obb. Inside the data folder are app caches. For example, card cache or downloaded messenger files may lie in subfolders with packet names (for example, com.whatsapp), you can delete the contents of these folders, but only if you believe that this is garbage, and not important game saves.
Another garbage dump is the MIUI folder at the root of the memory, which can store error logs, topics you've already deleted, and other system temporary files, and also check the DCIM/.thumbnails folder, which stores thumbnails of your photos. If you have thousands of photos, this file can weigh several gigabytes. It can be safely deleted, the system will create a new one if necessary.
- 📂 Download folder is often filled with installers APK documents that are no longer needed.
- 🗑️ Trash folder or Recycle Bin in Gallery and Explorer – don’t forget to clean it after deleting files.
- 📱 Tencent folder (for users) QQ or some games) may contain gigabytes of advertising junk.
When manually cleaning through the conductor, it is important to observe selectivity. Deleting system files can lead to errors in the operation of the relevant applications. It is always better to move suspicious files to another folder first, check the operation of the phone, and only then delete them permanently.
Automation and Memory Maintenance
Modern Xiaomi smartphones allow you to automate the maintenance process. The Security app has a scheduler settings that can automatically clear the memory when you reach a certain filling threshold or schedule, which eliminates the need for the user to constantly monitor the state of the system.
In addition, in the battery settings (Settings → Battery → Settings), you can activate the “Close Applications After Locking” mode, which helps free up RAM, which indirectly affects the cache speed, as the system has to work less with data swaps.
⚠️ Warning: Do not install third-party Play Market “cleaner” apps (such as Clean Master and peers) that often contain ads, consume resources themselves, and may conflict with system optimization. MIUI, which is already built into the phone.
To maintain high performance, it is also recommended to regularly update apps through Google Play and the system itself. MIUI/HyperOS. Updates often include memory leak fixes and cache optimization. If the phone starts to brake after a system update, sometimes the recovery mode cache reset helps, but this is a procedure for experienced users.