Cleaning Keyboard Memory on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

The keyboard on Xiaomi smartphones is one of the most used tools, but over time it starts to “brake”, hang or even give out incorrect prompts. The reason is most often due to overloaded cache, accumulated temporary files or conflicts with updates. If you notice that the keyboard slowly opens, does not save new words or takes up too much space in memory, it is time to do a general cleaning.

In this article, we will look at all possible ways to clean keyboard memory, from basic cache removal to complete resetting with the preservation of personal vocabulary. Particular attention will be paid to Gboard (standard keyboard from Google) and the branded Mi Keyboard, as they are most common on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices. You will also learn how to prevent re-clogging of memory and optimize the keyboard for maximum comfort.

Why does the keyboard take up so much memory?

At first glance, it may seem that the keyboard is a simple input tool that should not weigh more than a few megabytes, but in practice it accumulates a huge amount of data:

• 📝 Personal dictionary – all the words, slang, jargon and even typos you add that the keyboard remembers as “the right ones».
• 🔄 Cash Hint – Temporary files with frequently used phrases, emojis and stickers.
• 🌍 Language Packs – downloaded languages, layouts and regional settings (e.g. for English) UK and US These are different databases).
• 🎨 Themes and design – downloaded backgrounds, color schemes and key animations.
• 🔧 Logs and error reports – if the keyboard ever crashed, it could save memory dumps for diagnosis.

For example, Gboard, after a year of active use, can take anywhere from 100MB to 1GB — and that doesn't include system files, and the lion's share of that is cache and user data that can be safely cleaned.

Another common problem is data duplication, and if you tried different keyboards (like switching from Mi Keyboard to Gboard and back), their cache could stay in the system and continue to take up space, and in the next section we'll show you how to find and delete these "residues."

Method 1: Cleaning the keyboard cache through Android settings

The easiest and safest method is to clear the cache right from the settings menu, which won't delete your personal words or settings, but will free up space and eliminate the small lags.

Instructions for MIUI 12/13/14 (relevant to Xiaomi 11/12/13, Redmi Note 10/11/12, POCO F/X/M):

1. Open the Settings → Applications.
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Show All Apps (or All Apps).
3. In the search bar, type in the name of your keyboard: For Gboard, type in “Gboard” or “Google Keyboard.” For Mi Keyboard, type in “Mi Keyboard” or “Xiaomi Keyboard.”

Slip on the app that you found.

Storage and cache

Memory.

Clear the cache

If the Clear cache button is inactive or gray, the cache is already empty, in which case move on to the next method, which is to clean the data.

⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse Cache Clear and Clear Data!The former deletes only temporary files, and the latter resets all keyboard settings to factory ones, including your personal dictionary.

Method 2: Completely reset the keyboard settings (with the removal of the dictionary)

If the keyboard is not just slowing down, but it's not telling you words correctly, it's not remembering new ones, or it's constantly resetting, it's time to do a hard reset.

• 📚 All words and phrases you have added.
• ⚙️ Individual settings (keyboard size, themes, key sounds).
• 🌐 Regional language settings (you will have to re-select layouts).

To reset the keyboard:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → find your keyboard (as in Method 1).
2. Select Warehouse and Cache.
3. Click Clear Data (or Delete Data).
4. Confirm the action in the pop-up window.

Once you reset, the keyboard will go back to factory settings.

• Select the input languages.
• Set up auto-replacement and auto-correction.
• Add frequently used words (such as names, addresses, slang).

It's radical, but it's effective, and if you've had a problem with corrupted settings, resetting it will fix it, but before you do it, try the less destructive methods in the following sections.

Method 3: Removing Unnecessary Languages and Thems

Many users install multiple languages just in case, but rarely use them: each additional language takes up 5 to 50 MB of memory, and some themes can weigh up to 20 MB each, cleaning up this garbage will help make room without losing important data.

For Gboard:

1. Open any field to enter text (such as notes or a message).
2. Put the badge on. ⚙️ on the keyboard to open the settings.
3. Go to the languages → Language management.
4. Remove unnecessary languages by swiping them left or clicking on the basket.
5. Return to the main settings menu and select Themes → remove unused ones.

For Mi Keyboard:

1. Press the comma (,) on the keyboard → choose ⚙️ Settings.
2. Go to the languages and enter → remove the extra layouts.
3. In the Topics section, remove downloaded but not used designs.

Important: If you use rare languages (such as Ukrainian, Kazakh or Vietnamese), removing them may result in the loss of specialized characters and layouts. Before cleaning, make sure you can re-download the language if necessary.

Method 4: Cleaning through Safe Mode (if the keyboard is not responding)

There are times when the keyboard is so “hung” that it does not open even in the settings, in which case Safe Mode, a mode in which all third-party applications, including keyboards, are disabled, will help.

How to run Safe Mode on Xiaomi:

1. Press the power button before the turn off menu appears.
2. Hold your finger and hold it on the option to turn off (or reset).
3. Confirm the transition to Safe Mode (the inscription will appear at the bottom of the screen).

In Safe Mode:

1. Open the Settings → Applications.
2. Find your keyboard and clear its cache/data (as in Method 1 or 2).
3. Reset the phone to normal mode.

⚠️ Note: In Safe Mode, some functions MIUI Don't worry if you temporarily lose access to some apps after the reboot, which is normal and will automatically recover.

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If the keyboard still doesn’t work after cleaning, try installing an alternative (like SwiftKey or Fleksy) from Google Play.This will help temporarily resolve the problem until you restore the main one.

Method 5: Manually Delete Residual Files (for Power Users)

Sometimes, after deleting the keyboard, the files remain in the system folders and continue to occupy space, and to find and delete them, you will need a file manager with access to the root folders (for example, Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer).

The path to keyboard files:

• For Gboard: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.google.android.inputmethod.latin/
• For Mi Keyboard: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.miui.miuikeyboard/

What can be manually removed:

• 🗑️ Cache folder – temporary files.
• 📁 Files folder – downloaded themes and language packs (if not used).
• 📄 Files with.tmp or.bak extension – backups.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete lib folders or files with the.so extension - these are system libraries without which the keyboard will not work. /data/data/ — Root rights are needed to change them.

If you are not sure which file to delete, use standard cleaning methods (Methods 1-3).

How to prevent keyboard memory from clogging in the future

To avoid having to clean the keyboard regularly, follow these guidelines:

• 🔄 Clean the cache every 1-2 months. Just go to the settings of the application and press one button.
• 🚫 Don’t install dozens of themes. Leave 2-3 favorites and delete the rest.
• 🌐 Remove unused languages. One unused language. = Extra 20-50 MB in memory.
• 📲 Update the keyboard. Newer versions often optimize memory usage (but make sure the updates don't weigh too much).
• 🔒 Turn off syncing the dictionary with your Google account (if not necessary).This will reduce background activity on Gboard.

Also worth paying attention to alternative keyboards, which are initially optimized for memory savings:

• Fleksy – weighs ~10MB, minimalist design.
• Simple Keyboard is open source, without unnecessary features.
• AnySoftKeyboard supports plugins but does not overload the system.

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Regularly cleaning the cache and removing unnecessary languages/themes will save up to 500 MB of memory per year without loss of functionality.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning keyboard memory