How to Clean Memory on Xiaomi Smartphone: A Complete 2026 Guide

Your Xiaomi (or Redmi/POCO) has slowed down, apps are crashing with an error of “Not enough memory” and the system insists on freeing up space? The problem is familiar to most owners of smartphones on MIUI — even with 128 GB of internal memory, the device can “suffocate” from garbage, not only your photos and videos, but also hidden system files, app cache, duplicates and “tails” from long-deleted programs.

In this article, we will discuss the current ways to clean up memory on Xiaomi in 2026, including little-known MIUI features that work even without root rights. We will understand how to delete unnecessary files manually, set up automatic cleaning, and what to do if memory is clogged with invisible debris.

1. Diagnosis: Why does memory end?

Before you clean up your memory, you need to understand what it's doing. Xiaomi has built-in tools for that, but they often hide some of the data. Here's how to get the whole picture:

Go to Settings → Phone → Memory. Here you will see a diagram of the allocation of memory into categories: System, Applications, Media Files, Cash and Other. Note the "Other" item, which is often where gigabytes of unnecessary files are hidden that MIUI does not classify.

• 📱 System files: They take 10-15 GB and are usually not deleted without root).
• 🎵 Media: photos, videos, music, often duplicated in the cloud (Google Photos, Mi Cloud).
• 🗑️ Application cache: Temporary files that should be cleaned automatically but often remain “leaning dead weight".
• 🔍 "Other": there may be log files, memory dumps after crashes, remnants of remote applications.

If the “Other” section is more than 5 GB, this is a cause for concern, most likely, the system has not correctly deleted temporary files or there are accumulated log files from MIUI (they can weigh up to 1-2 GB!).

2. Built-in cleaning MIUI: can be removed without risk

MIUI has a built-in memory cleaner, but many users neglect it as ineffective, and in fact, if you set the settings right, it will remove up to 3 to 7 GB of garbage in one pass.

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to the Cleanup tab (or Optimize in newer versions of MIUI).
3. Press Deep Clean and wait for analysis.
4. In the results, remove the boxes from the points: 🚫 "Magazines and dumps – if you are not sure they are not needed for debugging. 🚫 "Files. APK" — If you install applications manually.

Clean up

Once cleaned, restart the phone is a must-do step, as some temporary files are locked by the system before restarting.

Delete the remaining files APK download|Reboot the phone|Check the free space in the settings→Memory.|Disable automatic download of updates (if the location is critical)-->

⚠️ Note: Do not clear the Application Data section for system utilities (such as Mi Account or Google Services) and this may result in sync errors and loss of access to your Xiaomi account.

3.Manual cleaning: folders that can be safely removed

MIUI creates many hidden folders with temporary files that are not always deleted automatically, and can be found through any file manager (e.g., embedded Files or Solid Explorer).

To access these folders, you may need to enable the display of hidden files in the file manager settings. If you use Google Files, this item is on the menu. ⋮ → Settings → Show hidden files.

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Before removing folders from Android/data, check if the app is installed. If the app is there and the folder weighs a lot, clear its cache through Settings → Apps.

4.Cache cleaning applications: what can be removed without consequences

App cache is a temporary file that should speed up programs, but often becomes garbage. For example, YouTube can store gigabytes of video for offline viewing, and Telegram can cache media files from chat rooms.

Method 1: Through the MIUI settings

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Choose an app (such as Chrome or Facebook).
3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.

Method 2: Mass cleaning (requires ADB)

If there are many applications, you can clear the cache of all programs directly through ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

1. Turn on Developer Mode (7 times click on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone).
2. Activate Debugging by USB in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect the phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell pm trim-caches 1G (where 1G is a cache limit of 1GB for each application).

6. Optimization of system files: compression and data transfer

If you don't have enough memory after cleaning up, you can try compressing system files or transferring some of the data to a memory card. Here are the working methods for Xiaomi:

System File Compression (requires MIUI 12+)

Newer versions of MIUI have a feature called "Memory Compression" that reduces the size of system files without losing data.

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Memory.
2. Press on. ⋮ (three-point) → Memory compression.
3. Confirm the action and wait until it is completed (may take 5-10 minutes).

This method frees up 1-3 GB by optimizing the storage structure.

Transfer of applications to SD-map

If you have a memory card, you can transfer some applications to it:

1. Put it in. SD-map (preferably class) UHS-I or U3 speed).
2. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
3. Select the app and click Storage → Change. → SD-map.

Note that not all applications support portability, and once the map is removed, they will stop working.

⚠️ Attention: Don't put it on SD-map system applications or those that use widgets (e.g. Google Widget or Mi Fit) This can cause interface failures.

Radical methods: resetting and flashing

If there's no way that this works, and there's less than 1 GB of memory left, you'll have to take drastic measures.

Soft reset (without data loss)

This method resets the system settings, but saves your files and applications:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Reset All Settings (not to be confused with Remove All Data!).
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

After the reset, the system cache, temporary files and settings will be cleared, but your photos, videos and apps will remain in place.

Hard reset (full cleaning)

If the phone is severely inhibited or infected with viruses, only a complete reset to the factory settings will help.

• 🔄 Make a backup copy through Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset.
• 📱 Save contacts in your Google Account or on SIM-map.
• 📁 Transfer photos and videos to PC or cloud.

For discharge:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Delete all data (reset to factory).
3. Enter your password (if required) and confirm.

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A complete reset is the only way to remove viruses that are registered in the system files. Once reset, the phone will be like new, but all data will be erased without recovery (unless there was a backup).

8 How to Prevent Memory Clogging in the Future

To avoid having to clean up every week, set up Xiaomi for automatic memory management:

• 🤖 Turn off automatic update download: Settings → The phone. → Updating the system → ⋮ → Settings → Automatic booting (turn off).
• 📥 Limit cache for individual apps: In Chrome: Settings → Confidentiality → Clean the cache when exiting (turn on).
• ☁️ Set up cloud backup: Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → Backup (select what to sync).
• 🗑️ Enable automatic cleaning: In the Security app → Cleanup → ⚙️ → Autocleaning (set a schedule).

It's also useful to check the Download folder once a month and delete unnecessary files, and many users forget that they're saving documents from email, messengers, and a browser.

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Regular cache cleaning and photo duplicate removal can free up to 5-10 GB of memory per month without losing important data.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi memory cleanup