Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a mysterious situation: the storage is crowded, although the user has not downloaded gigabytes of movies or games. In the memory analyzer, the “Other” section can take up tens of gigabytes, causing slowdowns and inability to install updates. This problem is typical of the MIUI shell and HyperOS, which aggressively cache data for performance, but do not always effectively manage its deletion.
The Other section is a system category where the Android shell categorizes files that don’t fall into standard image, video, audio, or document folders, including app cache, temporary update files, remnants of deleted programs, error logs, and messenger data, and understanding the structure of this partition is the first step to successfully clean up without risking damage to the operating system.
In this article, we will break down safe and advanced methods of freeing up space.You will learn to distinguish important system files from digital garbage, use built-in cleaning tools, and apply manual techniques for deep cleaning. Xiaomi provides powerful tools, but they are often hidden from the average user, requiring a careful approach.
What is hidden in the “Other” section really?
Before we start radical action, we need to understand the nature of the space we occupy: the system classifies files heuristically, and sometimes media files fall into the Other if they are not recognized or are in a non-standard directory. The bulk of it is usually the application cache, which speeds up the launch of programs, but over time inflates to unimaginable sizes.
Special attention should be paid to messengers like Telegram and WhatsApp, which store the history of correspondence, photos and videos sent to their internal databases, which the system perceives as a single dataset of the application. Files in the folder.thumbnails often take up more space than the original photos, as they are previews for the gallery, and can hide offline maps of navigators and downloaded tracks of music services.
Another source of heavy partitions is logs and error reports. If a system crashes, Android can create a detailed report that will remain dead for months, and when you update your firmware, old versions (installation packages) are not always deleted automatically, taking up valuable gigabytes.
For clarity, let’s look at which data types most often form the scope of this section:
- 🗑️ Cache of system services: temporary files of Google Play, services MIUI.
- 💬 Media messengers: hidden databases Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp.
- 📦 Remnants of Remote Applications: Configuration Files and Libraries.
- 📸 Gallery miniatures: folder.thumbnails, which stores previews of all images.
⚠️ Note: Never delete files from Android system folders and MIUI manually through the file manager if you are not 100% sure of their purpose.This can lead to a cyclical smartphone reboot.
Basic cleaning with built-in MIUI and HyperOS
The battle for space should always start with regular tools. Xiaomi’s shell is equipped with an integrated optimizer that can safely delete some temporary files. However, standard cleaning is often superficial and does not affect the deep structures of the cache.
Go to the Security app and select the Cleanup section. After scanning, click on the Cleanup button, but don't stop there. At the bottom of the screen, there's often a "Bulk Cleanup" or similar item that offers a deeper scan. The system will analyze large files, duplicates and rarely used applications.
Special attention should be paid to the Deep Clean feature in the storage settings. Go to Settings → About Phone → Storage. Here the system will suggest clearing the application cache. It is important to understand that cleaning the cache through the settings of a particular application (Applications → All Applications → [Select App] → Memory → Clear Cache) is often more effective than mass cleaning, since you control the process.
Remember the shopping cart in the gallery and the explorer. Deleted files stay there for 30 days, continuing to take up space. In new versions of HyperOS, the cleaning algorithms have become smarter and can suggest removing similar photos or screenshots that you no longer need.
Manual deletion of cache through application settings
If automated methods fail, manual cleaning is the most effective way to deal with the sprawling cache of social networks and instant messengers, and statistics show that up to 80% of the “Other” section is occupied by data from popular communication applications.
Let's take a Telegram or TikTok algorithm, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find the app you want on the list. Don't click "Clear it all" because it will delete your authorization and correspondence. We only need "Cache"; in some cases, the cache can reach 5-10 GB.
What is the difference between cleaning cache and data?
Cache cleanup removes temporary files (pictures, previews) without affecting your private messages and logins. Data cleanup resets the application to the “just established” state, requiring reauthorization and configuration.> For messengers like WhatsApp and Telegram, it is better to use built-in memory management tools inside the applications themselves. These allow you to selectively delete files downloaded in chat rooms, sort them by type (video, gifs, documents) and date. This allows you to free up gigabytes without deleting the text history of correspondence. After cleaning the cache, it is sometimes better to use the built-in memory storage space without re-in indexing the system to re-recordate the application. 📱 Telegram: Settings → Data and memory → Use of memory → Clear the cache. 📸 TikTok/Instagram: Application settings → Free space → Clear the cache. 🌐 Chrome/Yandex: Settings → History → Clear History (select Images and Other Files»). 🛒 Marketplaces: Ozon, Wildberries, AliExpress also accumulate many images of goods. ADB For advanced users who are not afraid to work with the command line, there is a method of cleaning through the ADB (Android Debug Bridge. This way you can access system folders hidden from the normal file manager and delete really unnecessary logs and temporary files. First you need to activate the developer mode. Go to Settings → On the phone and press quickly 7 once by “Version” MIUI» / «Version. OS». Then in the advanced settings, turn on “Debugging by” USB». Connect your phone to your computer and install drivers ADB. This command runs the built-in Android storage optimization engine. you can also use the command to remove the cache of a particular application, knowing its batch name (for example, com.android.chrome): adb shell pm clear com.android.chrome Be extremely careful when typing commands. A syntax error or deleting a system package can cause an unstable device to work. This method is recommended only if you understand what you are doing and have a backup of important data. ⚠️ Note: When connecting through ADB You'll see a request for debugging permission on your phone screen, and make sure you connect to your personal computer, not a public terminal. Xiaomi's standard explorer doesn't always show the real picture of file distribution. For detailed analysis, it's recommended to use specialized analyzer applications such as Files by Google, DiskUsage or SX Explorer. They build a visual memory card to see the heaviest directories. DiskUsage displays memory in the form of rectangles, where the block size corresponds to the file or folder size. This allows you to instantly find hidden folders that have grown to giant sizes. Often users find that a forgotten folder with logs or to the most "heavy" directories. The DiskUs app displays the memory from the 12 files, but the new ones have limited access to the new ones from the 12 files, the new ones, but the new ones have limited to remember the new ones from the 12 cards.11 They may not show the contents of the folder. Android/data, This data may require the use of a built-in conductor or special permissions through settings. Android/data Security Files by Google Duplicate and Garbage Search Limited High DiskUsage Structure Visualization Partial Average Total Commander Universal File Manager Requires High Plugin SD Maid Deep Residue Cleanup Required Root/ADB High (for pros) 📊 Built-in cleaner Xiaomi:DiskUsage:Files by Google:Do not use Prevention and setting up automatic cleaning To the problem of overflow memory "Other" is not returned regularly, you need to configure automation. Xiaomi Security Settings Has a Task Planner». You can set up automatic garbage cleanup, for example, every 3 days or when you reach a memory fullness of more than 80%. In the Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber settings, find the Chats or Data Storage section and prevent automatic uploading of photos and videos. This will not only save memory, but also traffic. Check the Download folder regularly. Often installations get there. APK-files that are no longer needed after installing applications, or PDF-Habits of regular maintenance are key to keeping your Xiaomi running smoothly. Another important aspect is cloud services. Set up sync photos and videos with Google Photos or Mi Cloud with Free Space. This will remove the originals from the device, leaving them in the cloud, which will significantly offload internal storage. 💡Regular prevention takes 5 minutes a week, but eliminates the need to urgently clean your memory when the phone starts to brake.Frequently asked questions (FAQ) Can you delete the "Other" partition completely? You can't delete it completely, because it's a system category, but you can minimize it to a few hundred megabytes by clearing the cache and temporary files. An empty "Other" partition would mean the system would be down. Why does the memory fill up again after cleaning? That's normal system behavior. Applications create a new cache to speed up work. If the memory fills up too quickly (in a few hours), maybe one of the applications has a memory leak or an error and should be reinstalled. Is it safe to delete the folder.thumbnails? Yes, it's safe to delete the contents of the folder.thumbnails. The system will recreate it the next time you run the gallery. However, it will temporarily slow the scroll through photos until the thumbnails are recreated. Will resetting to factory settings help? resetting to factory settings (Settings) → The phone. → Setting resets are guaranteed to clear the Other section, returning the phone to its original state, but before that, make sure to back up all the important data, as it will be destroyed. Does overflowing memory "Other" affect the speed of work? Yes, when the space is running out, the system lacks the space for temporary operations and virtual memory, which leads to noticeable lags, long application runs and possible instability. MIUI.