Xiaomi’s “Memory is Different”: What It Is and How to Clean Up Without Risking Your Phone

Have you ever looked into your Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO storage settings and seen the mysterious “Memory is Different” section that takes up gigabytes of space? This gray area in your smartphone’s memory doesn’t have a clear description, but can eat up to 10-15 GB on devices with 64/128 GB of storage. Unlike obvious categories like “Photos” or “Apps,” it hides system caches, temporary MIUI files, remnants of deleted programs, and even artifacts from updates.

The problem is that standard cleaning methods (via Settings → Storage) often do not address this section. Moreover, on some Xiaomi models (for example, Redmi Note 10 Pro or POCO X3 Pro), “Memory other” can take up to 20% of the total storage capacity due to the peculiarities of the F2FS file system. In this article, we will discuss what is stored in this section, how to clean it safely – and why you should not delete everything in a row.

What is “Memory Another” on Xiaomi and why it grows

The Other section (or "Other" in the English version of MIUI) is a container for files that the system cannot categorize as standard.

• 📁 Cache of system applications (e.g. com.miui.home or com.android.systemui) that is not cleared through normal settings.
• 🔄 Remains of updates MIUI, including firmware backups (.zip files in the folder) /cache).
• 🗑️ Temporary files from applications that have not been properly deleted (for example, after resetting to factory settings).
• 📦 File system artifacts: fragmented data that remains after file overwriting (especially relevant for eMMC memory devices).
• 🔒 Protected data from applications with administrator rights (e.g. Mi Cloud or Google Play Services).

On devices with MIUI 12/13/14, the Other section often swells for two reasons:

1. Aggressive caching – The system stores data to speed up work, but does not always delete it.
2. File system errors – after an incorrect shutdown or update failure, “broken” files are formed that the system cannot classify.

For example, after upgrading the Redmi Note 11 from MIUI 13 to MIUI 14, users often see a 3-5 GB gain in the Other — these are the remnants of the old firmware that were not automatically deleted.

Method 1: Cleaning through built-in MIUI tools

Before you resort to radical measures, try standard methods. MIUI has hidden tools that are not visible on the first settings screen.

Open Settings → Storage and follow the following steps:

1. Slip on the “Other” section – the system will show a detailed list of files.
2. Click “Clean” (if the button is active). On some devices (POCO F3, Xiaomi 12T), this option may not be available.
3. Go back to the main storage menu and select "Clean" (the broom icon in the upper right corner).

• 🧹 «Unnecessary files – deletes app cache and temporary data.
• 📂 «Large files – shows files size >100 MB that can be manually removed.
• 🔍 «Deep Cleanup – scans the system for remnants of deleted programs.

On devices with MIUI 14, a smart cleanup feature has been introduced, which automatically deletes unnecessary files once a week to enable it:

1. Go to Settings. → Warehouse → Three points (⋮) → Cleaning settings.
2. Activate the Auto Clean switch.

💡

If the Clean button in the Other section is inactive, try restarting your phone – sometimes this will unlock hidden files to delete.

Method 2: Manual cleaning through system folders

If the built-in tools don't work, you'll have to go into the system folders. Be careful: Deleting the wrong files can cause your phone to crash. Use File Manager (built into MIUI) or Solid Explorer (root, if any).

Main folders where unnecessary files are accumulated:

Cleaning instructions:

1. Open File Manager and enable the display of hidden files (in settings).
2. Go to /storage/emulated/0 and delete the contents of the following directories (if they are not empty):

/cache

adb shell su -c "rm -rf /cache/*"

Make sure important files are saved in the cloud |Do not delete folders with the name of active applications | Skip folders with the extension.nomedia |Reboot your phone after cleaning-->

⚠️ Attention: Do not delete folders /data/data or /system — This will cause a system breakdown and require a phone flashing, and avoid deleting files with the.odex or.apk extension in the system directories.

Method 3: Using ADB for deep cleaning

If manual cleaning didn’t work and root rights didn’t work, you can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a method that allows you to remove hidden caches without risking damage to the system.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB-driver.
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on the phone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI — Tap 7 times, then go back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers → Debugging by USB).
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and run the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux).
2. Enter a command to check the connection:

adb devices

1. If the device is detected, clean the cache of all applications:

adb shell pm trim-caches -1

1. To delete temporary update files:

adb shell rm -rf /data/local/tmp/*

1. Reboot the phone:

adb reboot

This method is particularly effective for devices on MIUI 12.5+, where standard cleaning often ignores the system cache. For example, on Xiaomi 11T Pro, up to 2-3 GB of memory is released after these commands are executed.

Method 4: Resetting cache via Recovery Mode

If Memory Other takes up more than 5GB and isn’t cleared by other means, cache resetting via Recovery mode will help.This method doesn’t affect user data, but deletes all temporary system files.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up until the Mi logo appears.
3. In the Recovery menu, select the language (if you have a choice) then:

Confirm the action and wait for the completion.

Reboot

On some models (Redmi 9A, POCO M3), up to 1-2 GB of memory is freed after this procedure.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 13/14 Recovery cache reset can result in a long first download (up to a maximum of two hours). 10 Do not interrupt the process, even if the screen remains black for a long time.

Method 5: Remove the remnants of MIUI updates

One of the main “eaters” of Other memory is the firmware residues that the system saves for rollback. On Xiaomi devices, they are stored in the /cache folder and can take up to 3-4 GB.

To remove them:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and use ADB (as in Method 3).
2. Follow the command to view /cache content:

adb shell ls -la /cache

1. Delete files with.zip extension or names like update.zip, miui_version:

A PC will still be required for deep cleaning.