How to completely clean the cart on the Xiaomi Redmi phone: all ways

Why Xiaomi Redmi Recycle Bin is Clogged and How to Fix It

Have you ever noticed that when you delete photos or files on Xiaomi Redmi, memory is not immediately released? It's all about the cart, a temporary storage facility where MIUI sends deleted data for up to 30 days, which is convenient if you accidentally erase something important, but over time, the basket inflates to a giant size, taking up precious gigabytes of internal memory.

For example, on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ with a 200 MP camera, the basket can eat up to 5-10 GB per month of active shooting. On budget models like the Redmi 10A with 32 GB of memory, this is generally critical — the system begins to slow down, applications fly out, and the notification “Memory is full” appears every 5 minutes. In this article, we will discuss how to find a basket on Xiaomi, clean it manually or turn it off altogether, and what to do if the files are “stuck” and not deleted.

Spoiler: MIUI has a cart that's deeper than pure Android, and it works differently. For example, Redmi with MIUI 14+ has three baskets: the Gallery, Files app, and the system (for some types of data) and we'll show you where to look for each and how to clean them in 2 minutes.

Method 1: Cleaning the basket through a standard gallery

The most obvious way is to use the built-in Xiaomi Gallery, which stores most of the deleted photos and videos, and the interface is intuitive even for beginners. The important thing is that if you use third-party galleries (like Google Photos), this method will not work, they have their own baskets.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (icon with colored squares).
• 🗑️ Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → pick the basket.
• ✅ Click Clear Everything at the bottom of the screen or highlight individual files with a long tap.
• 🔄 Confirm the action in the pop-up window.

If the Clear Everything button is inactive (grey), the basket is empty, but sometimes the Gallery is bugging and doesn't show the files, even though the memory is busy.

Check the permissions for Gallery in Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Permissions

Restart your phone (hold the power button for 10 seconds)

Update the Gallery via Play Market (if available)

Clear the Gallery cache in the application settings-->

On Redmi models with MIUI 13 and below, the basket in the Gallery could be hidden behind a swipe left on the app's home screen. In newer versions, this gesture has been removed, so look for it only through the menu.

Once a week.

Once a month

Only when memory ends

Never cleaned.-->

Method 2: Delete files through the Files app

The Files app** (Blue Folder Icon) is Xiaomi's Explorer, where you can see all deleted files, including documents, APKs and music. Here, the Recycle Bin works differently: it's not divided by content types, like in the Gallery, but it doesn't always show everything, like files deleted through Total Commander, it doesn't get in here.

How to clean:

1. Open the Files app** → go to the Recycle Bin tab (the bin icon at the bottom).

Note that MIUI 14 has a Smart Clean feature, which suggests that you delete old files from the bin when memory runs out, but it doesn't always work, so you'd better check it manually.

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If there is no clearing button in the Files Recycle Bin, try updating the app through the Play Market or resetting it to Settings → Apps → Files → Storage → Clear Data.

Method 3: Automatically clean the basket on schedule

If you're tired of manually cleaning your shopping cart, MIUI has a hidden automatic cleaning feature that works for both the Gallery and Files app, but it's turned on in different ways.

For the Gallery:

1. Open the gallery → three points → Settings.
2. Select the Cart → Auto Cleaning.
3. Set a period: 7 days, 15 days or 30 days.

For the Files app:**

1. Open Files → Three Dots → Settings.
2. Go to the basket. → Automatic cleaning.
3. Turn on the slider and select a period (from 1 to 30 days).

⚠️ Attention: Redmi with MIUI 12 and below, automatic cleaning of the basket in Files may not work due to a bug. In this case, update the firmware or manually clean.

If you choose the minimum time (1 day), the recycle bin will be cleared almost instantly, but you will lose the ability to recover accidentally deleted files. The optimal option is 7 days.

Method 4: Cleaning the Recovery Cart (for experienced)

This method is suitable if the shopping cart is “hangy” and is not cleaned by standard methods, for example, after a firmware failure or if you deleted system files through ADB.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up until the Mi logo appears.
3. From the Recovery menu, select Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
4. Confirm the action and restart the phone.

This method does not delete files from the recycle bin directly, but resets the system cache, which often helps to unlock the frozen processes. If the problem persists, try the following method.

Method 5: Third-party applications for deep cleaning

If the built-in MIUI tools don't work, you can use third-party utilities. They not only clean the cart, but also find junk files that the system can't see.

• 🧹 Files by Google – Shows Hidden Carts and Offers One-Tap Cleanup.
• 🗃️ CCleaner – Deletes temporary files, including residues from the shopping cart.
• 🔍 SD Maid – deep memory analysis with the search for “dead” files.

How to use (for example, Files by Google):

1. Install an app from the Play Market.
2. Open it and go to the Cleanup tab.
3. Remove from the basket (if there is such a item).
4. Confirm removal.

⚠️ Note: Some applications (such as Clean Master) may show false memory "issues" to sell the premium version!

On Redmi with MIUI 14 and later, third-party cleaners may not see the basket due to system limitations, in which case give the application permission to access the memory in the settings.

How to turn off the cart on Xiaomi Redmi forever

If you're sure you'll never recover deleted files, you can turn the Recycle Bin off completely, which will free up space and speed up the deletion of files (they'll erase immediately), minus the chance of returning something accidentally deleted becomes zero.

Instructions for the Gallery:

1. Open the gallery → three points → Settings.
2. Select the basket → turn off the slider Enable the basket.

For the Files app:**

1. Open Files → Three Dots → Settings.
2. Go to Recycle Bin → disable Save Deleted Files.

Once you turn off, all files that were already in the recycle bin will be deleted without recovery, and if you change your mind, turn the recycle bin back on, but it won't return the old files.

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Disabling the cart does not affect the operation of the phone, but increases the risk of data loss.We recommend first backing up important files to the cloud (for example, Google Drive or Mi Cloud).

Frequent problems and solutions

Even after cleaning the cart, Xiaomi Redmi users are faced with bugs, and here are the most common ways to fix them:

If none of these methods worked, check your phone for viruses (for example, through Malwarebytes) or reset to factory settings (Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset).

On Redmi models with MIUI 15 (2026), the Recycle Bin is smarter: it automatically removes duplicate photos and compressed files. But if you have older firmware, these features are not available – update via Settings → System Update.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions