How to completely clean the cart on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO phones: all the ways

The Xiaomi smartphone basket is a temporary storage for deleted files that many users forget to check, and over time, it fills with unnecessary photos, videos and documents, taking up precious space in the device’s memory. If you notice that your Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 suddenly lacks free space, the first thing you should look at is this.

Unlike computer operating systems, where the basket is visible on the desktop, on Android (and especially in the MIUI shell), its location is not always obvious. Moreover, some files can remain in the basket for years if the user does not manually clean it. In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to clean the basket, from standard MIUI tools to hidden functions and third-party applications.

Where is the basket on Xiaomi and how to open it

Depending on the smartphone model and the MIUI version, the path to the cart may differ. On most modern devices (Xiaomi 13T, Redmi Note 11 Pro+, POCO F5), the basket is integrated into the standard Files app (or File Manager in English firmware).

• 📁 Open the Files app (the folder icon on the desktop).
• 🔍 In the bottom menu, tap on the "Basket" section (or Trash).
• 📊 If there is no section, check the top menu (three dots) → "Settings" → "Show the basket".
• ⚙️ On some devices, the shopping cart is hidden: go to Settings → Warehouse → Basket.

If you use MIUI 14 or later, the recycle bin can be split into two parts: one for local files, the other for cloud files (if you have Mi Cloud connected), in which case you will have to clean both partitions separately.

Standard cleaning of the basket through "Files"

The easiest way to free up space is to manually delete files from the bin.

1. Open the Files app and go to the Recycle Bin section.
2. Click on the "Select" icon (usually in the upper right corner).
3. Check the unneeded files or tap "Select all".
4. Click on Delete permanently (or Delete permanently).

Important: Some files (such as screenshots or downloads from messengers) may not get into the Recycle Bin automatically. To check this, go to Settings → Storage → Recycle Bin → Recycle Bin Settings and make sure that the option “Automatically move deleted files to the Recycle Bin” is enabled.

Check the vault space | Backup important files | Connect to Wi-Fi (if you plan to clean the cloud) | Close all applications that use files

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Automatic cleaning of the basket: setting up MIUI

MIUI allows you to set up automatic deletion of files from the recycle bin after a certain period of time, which is convenient if you don't want to manually monitor the contents of the recycle bin.

1. Go to Settings → Storage → Recycle Bin.
2. Select "Car Cleaner."
3. Set the storage period: from 1 day to 30 days.
4. Confirm the change.

Note that if you choose the minimum time (1 day), files will be deleted almost immediately after entering the shopping cart, which can be inconvenient if you often recover accidentally deleted data, the optimal option is 7 or 14 days.

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If you frequently work with important documents, set a 30 day auto-clean period and manually delete unnecessary files once a month.

Cleaning the basket in the cloud Mi Cloud

If you use Mi Cloud for backup, deleted files can be duplicated in the cloud bin to clear it:

1. Open the “Mi Cloud” app (or go to Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud).
2. Go to the "Basket" section (in the lower menu).
3. Select files and click "Delete Forever".

Important: files in the cloud bin are stored separately from the local one and do not take up space on your phone, but are counted in your cloud storage quota (usually 5 GB free).

⚠️ Note: When you delete files from the cloud bin, they are irrevocably erased and cannot be recovered even through Xiaomi Support.

Why the cart is not cleaned and what to do

Sometimes users encounter a problem when files in the Recycle Bin are not deleted or it is not opened at all.

• 🔄 Files app failure: Restart your phone or clear the app cache (Settings) → Annexes → Files. → Warehouse → Clear the cache).
• 📱 Insufficient rights: If the basket is on SD-map, make sure the Files app has access to external storage.
• 🔒 Secure Files: Some system files (such as those from the Android folder) cannot be deleted without root rights.
• 🌐 Mi Cloud issues: If the cloud cart isn't cleared, check your internet connection or reinstall the Mi Cloud app.

If none of these methods worked, try using Safe Mode:

1. Press the power button before the off menu appears.
2. Press and hold the “Switch off” option before a request to switch to Safe Mode appears.
3. In safe mode, try cleaning the cart again.

How to recover files from Xiaomi shopping cart

If you accidentally delete important data, you can return it from the cart within the retention period.

1. Open the basket in the Files app.
2. Select the files you want (you can use a search by name).
3. Click on "Restore" (or Restore).
4. The files will be returned to the folder from which they were deleted.

If files have been deleted from the recycle bin or the storage period has expired, try specialized recovery programs such as:

• 🛠️ DiskDigger scans internal memory for deleted files.
• 🔍 Recuva (requires root rights for deep scanning).
• ☁️ Mi Cloud – if files are synced to the cloud.

⚠️ Warning: The more you use your phone after deleting files, the lower your chances of recovering them.New data overwrites old ones, so act quickly.

Third-party applications for basket management

If standard MIUI tools don’t suit you, you can use alternative file managers with advanced shopping cart functions:

When using third-party applications, pay attention to permissions: some file managers request access to contacts, SMS or geolocation, which is not always justified.

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The standard MIUI Recycle Bin is suitable for most tasks, but if you need additional features (like recovering files after being completely cleaned), third-party apps will be more useful.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning the cart on Xiaomi