How to completely clean the basket on the Xiaomi phone: instruction 2026

You deleted photos, videos or documents on your Xiaomi, but they still take up space in memory? The fact is that the MIUI operating system (like standard Android) does not erase files immediately — they end up in a basket where they are stored for 15 to 30 days, which saves from accidental deletion, but over time the basket inflates to gigabytes of unnecessary garbage.

In this article, we will analyze all ways to clean the basket on Xiaomi, Redmi and smartphones. POCO — From standard tools to hidden functions MIUI. We also learn how to permanently disable the cart if it interferes, and what to do if files after cleaning still take up space. MIUI 14–15.

What is a shopping cart on Xiaomi and where it is stored

The Recycle Bin in Xiaomi is a temporary storage for deleted files, similar to the Recycle Bin on Windows. It works in two places:

• 📁 Local basket MIUI — built-in shell function that stores files deleted through Files or Gallery. /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/RecycleBin.
• ☁️ Google Photos Recycle Bin – If you sync with Google, deleted photos/video are stored in the cloud for 60 days.

It's important to understand that the cart doesn't automatically clear when there's not enough memory -- it just stops accepting new files. For example, if there's 5GB of trash in the cart and you're trying to remove another 1GB, the system might give you an error, "Not enough space."

The basket is limited in size:

• 📱 On smartphones with 128 GB of memory – up to 10 GB.
• 📱 On devices with 256 GB and more – up to 15 GB.

When you exceed the limit, old files begin to be deleted automatically, starting with the oldest ones.

Method 1: Cleaning the basket through the Files app

The easiest method is to use the standard Files app (a blue folder icon) preinstalled on all Xiaomi smartphones and supports the basket.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Files app.
2. In the bottom menu, tap on the basket (dumpster icon).
3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Clean the basket.
4. Confirm the action by clicking Delete.

If the Clean Recycle Bin button is inactive, the Recycle Bin is empty.

• 📌 Select the required files with a long tap.
• 🗑️ Click on the basket icon at the bottom of the screen.
• 🔄 Confirm the final removal.

Check if there are any important files in the cart|Make a backup copy of the necessary data|Make sure your phone is at least 20 times charged%|Close all applications that work with files-->

⚠️ Note: Files deleted from the Recycle Bin through Files cannot be restored by standard means MIUI. If you accidentally erase something important, try programs like DiskDigger or Recuva (root rights required).

Method 2: Cleaning through the Gallery (for photos and videos)

If you delete photos or videos through the Gallery app, they end up in a separate shopping cart inside the app.

1. Open the gallery.
2. Slip on three horizontal lines (menu) in the upper left corner.
3. Pick the basket.
4. Press Control. → Clear it all up.

Features of the basket in the Gallery:

• 📷 Stores only media files (photos, videos, GIF).
• ⏳ Default storage period - 30 days (configurable).
• 🔄 Files from this basket can be restored back to the gallery with one tap.

⚠️ Note: If you use Google Photos with autosynchronization, deleted files through the gallery can be duplicated in the cloud basket. To completely erase them, clean the cart and in Google Photos (Basket section in the menu).

Method 3: Manual deletion through file manager (for experienced)

If standard methods don’t work (e.g., the Recycle Bin doesn’t open), you can manually delete files through any file manager with access to system folders (e.g., Solid Explorer or FX File Explorer).

Instructions:

1. Open the file manager and enable the display of hidden folders.
2. Go to /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/RecycleBin.
3. Select all files and folders inside (do not delete the RecycleBin folder itself!).
4. Click Delete and confirm.

🔹 What to do if there is no RecycleBin folder?

• 🔍 Maybe the basket is empty – check through the standard Files app.
• 📵 Some firmware folders are hidden – use Root Explorer (root rights required).
• 🔄 Restart your phone – sometimes a folder is created only after the first deletion of the file.

💡

If you often clean the basket manually, add /MIUI/RecycleBin to the bookmarks of the file manager – this will save time.

Method 4: Automatically clean the basket on schedule

MIUI has a hidden autocleaning feature that allows you to set up file deletion over a certain period of time, which is useful if you forget to manually clean the cart.

How to turn on:

1. Open the Settings → Storage.
2. Slip on the Cleanup.
3. Select Auto Cleaner → Cart.
4. Set a period (from 7 to 30 days) and turn on the switch.

Advantages of auto cleaning:

• ⏰ Don't need to bemember about manual cleaning.
• 📉 Prevents overflow of memory.
• 🔄 You can choose which types of files to clean (photos, videos, documents).

⚠️ Note: Autoclean does not work for files in the Google Photos Recycle Bin - it needs to be configured separately in the app. MIUI, Check your settings periodically.

Method 5: Clean up the Google Photo Recycle Bin (if synchronization is used)

If you use Google Photos, the media files deleted through it end up in a cloud bin that is not connected to the MIUI Recycle Bin, which can only be cleaned through the app itself:

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Slip on the profile avatar. → Basket.
3. Press Control (three dots) → Clear the basket.
4. Confirm removal.

Important nuances:

• ☁️ Files in the cloud bin are stored for 60 days (regardless of settings) MIUI).
• 🔄 If you deleted a file from your phone but it stayed in Google Photos, it still takes up space in the cloud (if you don’t clear the cart).
• 📱 To delete the file from all devices, clear the basket and MIUI, And Google Photos.

💡

If you use Google Photos, clean the shopping cart on your phone and in the cloud, otherwise files can be duplicated and take up memory twice.

What to do if the basket is not cleaned

Sometimes users find that the cart is not cleaned in the standard ways. Here are 5 reasons and solutions:

If nothing helps, try resetting the Files app settings**:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Files and select Warehouse.
3. Click Clear Data and Clear Cache.
4. Reboot the phone.

⚠️ Note: Resetting Files will delete all bookmarks and search history, but will not affect the files on the phone.

How to recover files from the Recycle Bin if they are not already deleted

If you accidentally delete important data, but the cart hasn't been cleaned yet, you can get it back, depending on which application the files were erased through:

1. Recovery through the "Files":

• 📁 Open the files. → Basket.
• 🔍 Find the right file and tap it.
• 🔄 Click Restore (Icon with a down arrow).

2. Restoration through the Gallery:

• 📷 Open the gallery. → Basket.
• 🖼️ Select a photo/video with a long tap.
• 🔙 Click Restore at the bottom of the screen.

3. Recovery from Google Photos:

• ☁️ Open Google Photos → Basket.
• 📸 Select files and tap Restore.
• 📲 Files will be returned to the main gallery and to the phone (if sync is enabled).

🔹 What to do if the basket is already cleaned?

If files have been deleted from the Recycle Bin, try recovery software:

• 🛠️ DiskDigger (works without root, but with limitations).
• 🔧 Recuva (requires the phone to connect to a PC).
• 📱 Dumpster (a shopping cart application that saves deleted files separately).

Chance of recovery

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning the cart on Xiaomi