Smartphones of the Redmi line from Xiaomi are deservedly popular due to the excellent price-quality ratio, but owners of the Redmi 9 model often face a lack of free space. The built-in memory of the device is quickly filled with multimedia files, application cache and system logs, which leads to a noticeable slowdown in the MIUI interface. The user can observe long delays when opening programs or even sudden departures of running games.
Timely storage cleaning is a critical procedure to keep Android operating system stable. Ignoring disk overflow warnings can make it impossible to install security updates or receive new messages in messengers. In this detailed guide, we will break down all proven ways to free gigabytes on your device without losing important data.
Analysis of vault occupancy
Before you start deleting files, you need to know exactly what takes up the lion's share of the available volume. MIUI provides built-in tools for detailed analysis that allow you to see the distribution of space between applications, images and system files. Without this step, you risk deleting the necessary documents, leaving a heavy but useless cache.
To get started, open the standard Security app, which is preinstalled on each Xiaomi device. Select Cleanup from the menu, after which the system will automatically scan the device and issue a preliminary report. More detailed statistics can be found in the Settings section, then About Phone and Warehouse, where the employment chart is visualized.
Note the βOtherβ category, which often hides forgotten browser downloads or remnants of deleted programs. System data can also grow over time, taking up several gigabytes, especially if you actively use streaming services or navigators without first cleaning the maps.
β οΈ Before mass deleting files from folders with unfamiliar names, make sure they do not contain important configurations of the applications you installed to avoid a malfunction in their work.
The analysis shows that user media and social media are the most common, and the following is a table showing the typical space distribution on a medium-load device:
| Type of data | Approximate volume | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|
| Photos and videos | 10-20 GB | High (main storage) |
| Applications (WhatsApp, Telegram) | 5-15GB | Critical (media cache) |
| Games | 2-10GB | Average (depending on quantity) |
| System cache | 1-3 GB | Low (accumulating) |
Use of built-in optimizer
The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use the regular Cleanup tool, which is integrated deep into the MIUI shell and has access to system areas closed to third-party programs, and allows you to delete temporary files, installer package residues and advertising debris in just a few touches.
Launch the Safety app and press the large green Cleanup button. The system will prompt you to remove the debris found, which can range from a few megabytes to a gigabyte. Once the primary cleanup is complete, it is recommended to go to the Deep Cleanup section, where more subtle settings are available.
In deep clean mode, you'll be able to select specific file categories to delete, such as large files, rarely used apps or duplicate photos.Automatic cleanup can be set up for regular maintenance, but manual control for the first time will be more efficient.
Special attention should be paid to the section with similar photos, which helps to find serial shots and choose the best ones by removing blurred frames, which saves significant space without losing important moments.
β οΈ Attention: Deep cleaning function may suggest removing APK-installer files; make sure you didnβt plan to manually install these apps in the near future.
Regular use of the built-in optimizer helps keep the system on track, but it is not enough to achieve maximum results, and you will need to work manually with heavy applications.
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
WhatsApp, TelegramViber are the main devours of free memory on Xiaomi smartphones, and these apps store every photo, video, and voice message they receive into local storage, creating giant archives in months of active correspondence.
The most effective way to clean up is to use built-in memory management within the applications themselves. Telegram needs to go to Settings β Data and Memory β Memory Use and click Clear Cache. It is important that this action does not delete your correspondence, as it is stored on a cloud server, and the media files will be re-uploaded if necessary.
For WhatsApp, the procedure is a little more complicated: go to Settings β Data and Storage β Storage Management. Here you will see a list of chats sorted by volume, you can selectively remove heavy attachments from specific dialogs without deleting the history of the correspondence itself.
βοΈ Checking messengers
Remember that social networks like Instagram and TikTok also accumulate a huge amount of temporary data. In the settings of the Android application (Settings β Apps β All apps), you can find the Clear cache item, which will safely delete temporary data without leaving your account.
Manually cleaning folders in the file manager also yields results, but requires caution. Android/media and Android/data folders can contain application data, deleting which will cause resets of program settings.
Work with Gallery and Cloud Services
Media files make up most of user data, and optimizing them gives the most noticeable gain in free space.Redmiβs modern smartphone cameras take high-resolution shots, each of which can weigh between 3 and 10 megabytes, and 4K video recordings take up even more.
The first step is to revisit the Screenshots and Downloads folder, which often stores images that you only needed once, and use the Recycle Bin feature in the gallery to permanently delete files, freeing up space for good.
To store your photo archive, you can use cloud services like Google Photos or Xiaomi Cloud. Activate the Free Space feature in the Google Photos app, which will remove photos and videos that have already been safely stored in the cloud.