Redmi Note smartphone owners often face a situation where notifications of crowded storage start to appear at the most inopportune moment.Mi Cloud is a handy tool for backing up contacts, messages and photos, but its 5GB limits end faster than it seems. When the place ends, synchronization of new data stops working, which can lead to the loss of important information when the device changes or breaks.
Solving the problem requires a comprehensive approach: it’s not enough to just delete a couple of old images. You need to understand the structure of the space, understand the difference between local files and their cloud copies, and adjust synchronization settings correctly. In this article, we will discuss all the available cleaning methods in detail so that your Xiaomi works quickly and without unnecessary warning.
Analysis of occupied space in Mi Account
The first step before any manipulation is diagnostics, and users often delete files on their phones in the belief that this will free up space in the cloud, but this is not always the case because of the way the synchronization works, and to understand the real picture, you need to go to your account settings and look at detailed statistics.
Click on the profile icon in the Security app or go to Settings → Mi Account. This shows a pie chart showing the distribution of data by category: gallery, voice recorder, notes and devices. This screen gives you an idea of what exactly is eating up your limit.
- 📸 Gallery – usually takes up to 80% of the total volume, including originals and reduced copies.
- 📝 Notes and Recorder – can grow imperceptibly if you have used voice input for a long time or recorded lectures.
- 📱 System backups – old backups of settings and application lists from previous phones.
- 🗑️ Recycle Bin – Deleted files often stay there for 30 days, continuing to take up space.
⚠️ Note: Deleting a file from the cloud via a web interface will automatically delete it from all synced devices unless the sync option for that folder is disabled.
It is important to distinguish between original and optimized versions. In some modes, Mi Cloud stores full versions of photos only in the cloud, leaving previews on the device. Understanding this mechanism will help you avoid situations when you lose access to quality images after cleaning.
Gallery management and photo synchronization
Photos are the main consumer of traffic and space. Redmi Note smartphones use a smart album system that can duplicate content. For example, screenshots, saved images from messengers and frames from video editors create many copies. First, open the Gallery app and navigate to the Albums tab, scrolling down to the Other Albums section.
This often hides WhatsApp Images, Screenshots or Thumbnail folders, which automatically go to the cloud. Turn off sync for secondary folders, leaving only the Camera. This can be done by clicking on three dots in the corner of the folder and selecting "Sync settings."
☑️ Checking the gallery before cleaning
Pay special attention to video files. They weigh significantly more photos and quickly exhaust the quota of 5 GB. If you have long videos that are not a pity to lose in the cloud, it is better to store them on the Internet. SD-Transfer the map to the computer and remove it from the cloud.
⚠️ Before mass deletion, make sure that important photos are already copied to an external hard drive or other media, as recovery from the cloud basket is only possible for a limited time.
Use the Cleanup feature in the album tab, and the system will prompt you to delete similar images, screenshots, and blurry photos, and it's a safe way to quickly free up a few hundred megabytes without the risk of removing something important.
Cleaning through the web interface i.mi.com
The mobile application is not always convenient for mass file sorting. The web version of cloud storage provides more functionality for managing the file system. Open the browser on your computer or in full-site mode on your smartphone and go to i.mi.com.
Log in using your Mi Account. The web interface allows you to select files in groups, sort them by date and size, which is critical when cleaning up large amounts of data. Navigation here is more accurate than in a mobile application.
| Section | Description of the contents | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| gallery | All photos and videos with synchronization | Delete video > 100 MB |
| Contacts | Backup copies of the telephone book | Don't touch, takes a little |
| Notes | Text files and dictaphone | Check old records. |
| Mi Drive | File Manager (analogue of Dropbox) | Clean completely if not used |
| Settings | Device management | Remove old devices |
The Mi Drive section often accumulates files downloaded from third-party apps or browsers. This is a normal file storage, and its contents are completely controlled by you.
Once files are deleted in the web interface, the changes will be applied instantly to all devices that have sync enabled, which is the fastest way to get the storage in order while you are at the computer.
Working with the basket and deleted files
Many users forget that when files are deleted in the Xiaomi ecosystem, they don't disappear immediately; they move to a cart where they store for 30 days. As long as the file is there, it continues to rank in your Mi Cloud quota.
To make room, you have to find and clear the cart. In the Gallery app, go to the Album tab and scroll to the bottom, and you'll find the recently deleted item, and you can select "Clean it all" inside.
- 🗑️ Gallery - a separate basket for photos and videos.
- 📄 Files - a basket for documents and downloads in the application Explorer.
- 📝 Notes – deleted text recordings are also stored for 30 days.
There's a nuance with synchronization: if you delete a file on one device, it will be deleted from the basket on everyone else, but if the sync was disabled at the time of deletion, the file can remain in the local shopping cart of the phone, but disappear from the cloud.
⚠️ Attention: Cleaning the cart is irreversible, and then it will be impossible to recover the data using standard system tools.
It is recommended to clean the basket regularly, for example once a month, and this disciplines and prevents the “garbage” from accumulating, taking up precious gigabytes.
Configuring the synchronization parameters
The most effective way to prevent overflows in the future is to set up correctly. Not all data needs to be stored in the cloud. Go to Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud and carefully review the list of applications that have access to sync.
Turn off sync for heavy and non-critical data. For example, synchronizing Wi-Fi passwords or browser history takes up minimal space, but syncing high-resolution video can quickly exhaust the limit.
Also check the settings for the Mi Drive app. If you don't use it as your primary file storage, it's best to disable autoloading files from download folders, which will prevent APK installation files and temporary caches from accidentally entering the cloud.
For users who are critical to keeping all photos in their original quality, it makes sense to consider a paid subscription, but for most users, leaving only contacts, SMS and important documents in the cloud, transferring media files to external media.
Alternative solutions and data transfer
If you're not going to be able to afford 5GB, you might want to consider alternatives. Xiaomi's ecosystem makes it easy to export data. You can use the Mi Mover app to transfer data to another phone or computer over Wi-Fi.
Consider using other cloud services for specific tasks, such as Google Photos (in space saving mode) or Yandex.Disk can take over storage of photo gallery by unloading the main Mi Account.
(function(d,s){d.getElementById("licnt06C4").src= "https://counter.yadro.ru/hit?t26.5;r"+escape(d.referrer)+ ((typeof(s)=="undefined")?"":";s"+s.width+"*"+s.height+"*"+ (s.colorDepth?s.colorDepth:s.pixelDepth))+";u"+escape(d.URL)+ ";h"+escape(d.title.substring(0,150))+";"+Math.random()})(document,screen)