How to clean up storage on Xiaomi Redmi: from cache to system files

Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a situation where the device suddenly starts to run slower and notifications of space shortage appear at the most inopportune moment.Crowded storage is not just an inconvenience, it is a direct path to unstable operation of the MIUI or HyperOS operating system. When free space runs out, the phone cannot create the temporary files necessary to run applications, which leads to frequent departures and interface freezes.

There are many ways to get your gadget back up, from built-in tools to deep manual cleaning. System debris accumulates unnoticed, taking up gigabytes of valuable space. In this article, we will detail all the methods of freeing up memory so you can choose the most suitable for your model.

Don’t ignore the first signs of overflow, as this can shorten the life of flash memory.Proper maintenance of the file system prolongs the life of the device and makes it comfortable to use.

Use of the built-in "Security" application

The easiest and most secure method for every user is to use a standard system application. The MIUI and HyperOS shells have a powerful tool called Security, which combines the functions of an antivirus and a cliner, and you just start the application and click on a large green button that says "Clean up."

The system automatically scans the device for temporary files, remnants of deleted programs and advertising debris. Cleanup algorithms work aggressively enough to remove what is not exactly necessary for the system to work. However, be careful: sometimes important thumbnails of images or stored data of messengers get into the list of candidates for removal.

⚠️ Warning: Before confirming a mass cleanup, carefully review the list of files. Make sure that there are no important documents or recent photos that you did not save to the cloud.

Once the scan is complete, the app will suggest that you delete the files you find, which takes only a few seconds, but gives you a tangible result, freeing up from a few hundred megabytes to a couple of gigabytes of space, an ideal solution for regular maintenance, which is worth doing at least once a week.

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Run a standard cleanup through the Security app immediately after installing heavy games or a system update to remove temporary installation files.

Analysis and removal of large files and duplicates

Often, the bulk of the space is not occupied by system files, but by the user's personal content: videos, photos and forgotten downloads. The built-in storage analyzer allows you to visually assess what exactly consumes your memory. Go to the storage settings to see the data distribution diagram by category.

Special attention should be paid to the Downloads folder, where browsers and messengers store all received files, often.apk installation packages that have been installed for a long time, or heavy video files sent by friends, deleting such large files can instantly free up a significant amount of space.

It’s also worth checking for duplicates. Shooting or downloading apps often create copies of files when they crash or re-upload. Manually search for them for a long time, but modern Xiaomi galleries are able to find similar images automatically.

• 🗑️ Remove old screenshots and screen recordings that usually weigh a lot.
• 📂 Check the folder. DCIM/.thumbnails, where the miniatures of the gallery are stored (they can grow to gigabytes).
• 🎥 Find and remove long videos shot in high resolution 4K.
• 📥 Clean the gallery cart, as deleted photos are often stored there for another 30 days.

Cleaning the cache of applications and messengers

Social media and instant messengers like Telegram, WhatsApp, and Viber are the main devours of free memory, storing every photo, video, and voice message they see in cache to download them faster when they are reopened. Over time, this app cache can take up tens of gigabytes, although it is not formally important data.

To clean up, go to your phone's settings, select "Apps" and find the messenger you want. Inside the app menu, click "Storage." Here you'll see two buttons: "Clear Cache" and "Clear Everything." The first one is safe, it will only delete temporary files. The second one will delete all data, including correspondence, if it's not stored in the cloud, so use it with caution.

Telegram itself, for example, has a built-in auto-delete cache function: Go to the messenger settings, the Data and Memory section, then Memory Use, where you can set a cache size limit or set up an automatic cleanup, for example, every three days.

Removal of system debris and residual files

When you delete applications, you often have their tails left in the system — empty folders, configuration files, and error logs — that are not visible to the average user when you just browse folders, but take up space, and that are best found by specialized file managers like Files by Google or Xiaomi’s built-in Explorer.

Using file search, you can find.log,.tmp, or folders with names of remote games. Be careful when manually cleaning system directories. Delete only what you are sure of, or files with clear application names that are no longer on the phone.

And you also have to look at the Android/obb and Android/data folder, and it stores the caches of games and apps, and if you delete the game, but the folder called com.game.name is still there, and it weighs 2GB, you can remove it manually through the file manager.

⚠️ Warning: Never delete files from folders with system service names (e.g. com.android.systemui) even if they seem unnecessary.

Regularly checking these partitions helps keep the file system clean, especially after removing heavy games with high-quality graphics resources.

Transferring data to the cloud and external storage

If the cleanup doesn’t work, it’s time to rethink the way we store data. Redmi’s current smartphones support external drives via USB Type-C. By purchasing a USB drive with the appropriate connector, you can transfer your photo and video archive to it, freeing up internal memory.

The alternative is cloud storage, Google Photos, Yandex.Disk or Mi Cloud allow you to upload media files to the server, and Google Photos has a convenient “Free Space” feature that removes from the device those pictures that have already been successfully uploaded to the cloud.

Not only does cloud services save space, it also serves as a backup. If your phone is lost or broken, your data will remain safe. Set up automatic uploads of photos only via Wi-Fi so that you don't waste mobile traffic.

• ☁️ Set up synchronization of the gallery with Google Photos or Yandex.Disk.
• 💾 Use the “Free Space” function in the cloud application settings.
• 🔌 Connect. USB-flash drive for transferring archival videos and documents.
• 📲 Turn off autoloading video in messengers, leaving only a photo.

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Moving media files to the cloud is the only way to free up gigabytes of space without deleting important memories and documents.

Radical measures: resetting and formatting

When software methods fail and the system continues to signal overflows despite the absence of visible files, deeper intervention may be required. Sometimes the file system fragments or accumulates errors that are not removed by standard cleaning, in which case a complete reset helps.

Before performing this procedure, be sure to create a full backup of all important data, as in the process all information from the phone, including contacts, messages and applications, will be deleted.

To do the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Reset. Select “Erase All Data.” Once you reboot, you’ll get a clean system with as much free memory as possible. It’s also a great way to get rid of hidden viruses or miners.