How to completely clean the basket on the Xiaomi smartphone: instructions for all models

The shopping cart on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones is a temporary storage for deleted files that helps avoid permanent data loss. However, over time, it fills with unnecessary photos, videos and documents, taking up precious space in the device's memory, and if you notice that the phone has become slower or gives a notification of a memory shortage, the first thing to check is the basket.

In this article, we will discuss all the ways to clean the cart on Xiaomi, including hidden MIUI features that are not obvious to most users. You will learn how to delete files forever, how to set up automatic cleaning, and also what to do if the cart suddenly disappeared from the interface.

The instructions are suitable for all current models, from the Xiaomi 13T Pro to the budget Redmi Note 12 and POCO X5. If you have an older version of MIUI (below 12), some menu items may be slightly different - we will mention this too.

1. Where is the basket on Xiaomi and how to open it

Unlike computers where the basket is visible on the desktop, on Xiaomi smartphones, its location depends on the type of files.

• 📷 Photo and video (galleries)
• 📄 Documents and downloads (file manager)
• 🎵 Audio files (musical applications)

The largest basket is in the standard Mi Gallery app, to open it:

1. Launch the Gallery app (an icon with multi-colored squares).
2. Slip on three horizontal lines (☰) lower-right.
3. Select Recycle Bin (or recently deleted in older versions of MIUI).

For a file manager, the path is different:

1. Open the Files app (yellow folder icon).
2. Go to the Category tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down and select the basket.

If you don't find the recycle bin in the file manager, check the settings: it may be disabled, and we'll talk about that in the next section.

2.Why the basket may not be displayed and how to return it

Sometimes users find that the shopping cart disappears from the menu, and the reasons can be different:

• 🔧 Function disabled in settings MIUI.
• 🗑️ The basket is empty (in some versions of the firmware, an empty basket is not shown).
• 📱 Uses a third-party file manager (such as Google Files) that has its own shopping cart.
• 🔄 After updating MIUI slipped.

To return the basket to the Gallery:

1. Open the gallery. → ☰ → Settings.
2. Find the Recycle Bin (or Remove in older versions).
3. Activate the Save Deleted Files switch.
4. Set a storage period (by default - 30 days).

For Files:

1. Open the app. → ☰ → Settings.
2. Go to General. → Basket.
3. Turn on the option to show the basket.

💡

If the cart still doesn't appear after turning on, try restarting the phone. Sometimes MIUI needs to restart to apply the changes.

If you're using Google Files or another manager, the shopping cart might be in its settings. For example, in Google Files, the path is: Clean up → Recycle Bin.

3. How to Clean the Recycle Bin on Xiaomi: 5 Working Ways

Now, the main thing is to clean the cart completely, and the methods vary in speed and depth of removal, and choose the one that suits your purpose.

Method 1: Standard cleaning through the gallery

The easiest method that is suitable for most users:

1. Open the gallery. → Basket.
2. Slip on the Control (or edit in older versions).
3. Select all files (check in the upper right corner) or select specific ones.
4. Press Delete. → OK to confirm.

Method 2: Completely clean through the file manager

This method removes all files from the Recycle Bin at once, including documents and downloads:

1. Open the Files → Recycle Bin.
2. Press three points (⋮) top-right.
3. Choose Clear the basket.
4. Confirm the action.

Method 3: Automatic cleaning on schedule

To avoid manually cleaning the cart, set up auto-removal:

1. In the Gallery or Files, go to the basket settings.
2. Choose Auto Cleanup.
3. Set the period: 7, 15 or 30 days.
4. Activate the function.

Check the contents of the basket for important files | Backup the necessary data | Close all applications that work with files | Connect the phone to charge (for long-term cleaning)

-->

Method 4: Cleaning through storage settings

If the cart doesn't open, try this workaround:

1. Go to Settings. → Memory.
2. Slip on the cleanup (or clear the place).
3. Select the Recycle Bin in the list of unnecessary files.
4. Press Clear.

Method 5: Forced cleaning through ADB (for advanced)

If the cart is frozen or not cleaned by standard methods, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires a connection to the PC and the developer mode is turned on.

Instructions:

1. Connect your phone to your computer and enable debugging via USB.
2. Open the command line (Windows) or the terminal (Mac/Linux).
3. Enter the command: adb shell pm clear com.android.gallery3d (to clean the gallery basket) or adb shell pm clear com.mi.android.globalFileexplorer (for the file manager).

⚠️ Note: pm clear will reset all application settings, including saved albums and tags. Use this method only if other methods have failed.

4.How to recover files from the Recycle Bin after cleaning

If you accidentally cleared your cart or deleted important files, don't despair.You have 3 ways to recover, but you need to act quickly - the longer the time has passed, the less chance you have.

Method 1: Recovery through MIUI backup

If you have automatic backup enabled in Mi Cloud:

1. Go to Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Select Data Recovery.
3. Find a backup with the desired date (before cleaning the cart).
4. Select files for recovery and confirm the action.

Method 2: Using Third-Party Applications

Popular Recovery Utilities:

• 🔍 DiskDigger – scans internal memory for file residues.
• 📁 Recuva (requires root rights for deep scanning).
• 🔄 EaseUS MobiSaver – Supports Photo and Video Recovery.

⚠️ Warning: Do not install recovery software on the same disk where files are lost. This reduces the chances of success.

Method 3: Contacting a Service Center

If files are critically important (such as family photos or work documents), and self-recovery did not help, contact the authorized Xiaomi service center. Specialists can extract data using professional equipment, but this is a paid service (from 1500 to 5000 rubles depending on the complexity).

Before the service visit:

• Do not write new files to your phone.
• Don't do the setting reset.
• Check if they work with your Xiaomi model.

5. How to set up a basket to save memory

To prevent the basket from clogging the memory, set it correctly:

To change these parameters:

1. For the gallery: Gallery → Settings → Basket.
2. For File Manager: Files → Settings → General → Recycle Bin.

💡

The optimal balance is to store files in the basket for no longer than 15 days and a limit of 1 GB. So you save space, but you will have time to recover important data if necessary.

6. Frequent mistakes and how to avoid them

When working with the shopping cart on Xiaomi, users often make the same mistakes, and here are the most common ones and how to prevent them:

• 🚫 Cleaning the cart without checking the contents. Always review the files before final deletion — MIUI Sometimes puts in the basket screenshots and duplicates that are difficult to distinguish from the originals.
• 🔄 Ignoring auto-cleaning: If you don’t set up automatic removal, the cart can grow to 5-10GB, which is critical for phones with 64GB of storage.
• 📱 Using third-party cleaners, applications like Clean Master or CCleaner often delete files from the trash without recovery. MIUI.
• 🔌 Clean the cart during synchronization, if you are backing up to Mi Cloud at this point, the files may not be able to load and will be lost.

Another common problem is that the basket doesn't get cleaned.

• 📛 Insufficient rights: Restart your phone or check if restrictions are set through Settings → Annexes → Permits.
• 🗃️ Damaged files: If there's broken data in the bin, the system can freeze. Try to delete the files one at a time.
• 🔄 Mistake. MIUI: Update the firmware through Settings → Updating the system.

7.Alternative ways to free up memory on Xiaomi

If even after cleaning the basket memory is not enough, use these methods:

• 🧹 Cleaning the app cache: Go to Settings → Annexes → App management. Select an app (like Facebook or Instagram).Tap Clear cache.
• 🗑️ Removal of unnecessary APK: In the file manager go to Categories → Installed files. Delete old files. APK-Packages (they remain after installing applications).
• ☁️ Transfer files to the cloud: In the gallery highlight photos → More. → Download to Mi Cloud. After downloading, delete the originals from your phone.

Search for large files

1. In Files, select Categories → Large Files.
2. Remove unnecessary videos or archives.

⚠️ Note: Do not use the Deep Cleaning function in MIUI — They often delete data from applications (such as saves in games) that are difficult to recover.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions