How to effectively clean the memory on Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus

Owners of the popular Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus smartphone (also known as the Redmi Note 5 in some regions) often face the problem of lack of free space. Despite the once advanced characteristics, over time, the Android operating system acquires temporary files, which leads to slowdown of the interface and the inability to install new programs. Understanding how to properly manage internal storage becomes critical to extend the life of the device.

The main reason for memory overflow is not only in installed applications, but also in the accumulated cache of social networks, messengers and browsers. The MIUI system installed on board offers its own monitoring tools, but manual cleaning often gives a deeper and more tangible result. In this article, we will discuss proven methods for releasing gigabytes without losing important data.

Optimization requires careful attention, because rash deletion of system files can lead to unstable work of the gadget. We will consider the standard cleaning tools, work with multimedia files and radical but effective methods of resetting. Proper maintenance of the file system will allow your smartphone to work faster, as if it just out of the box.

Analysis of storage occupancy through settings

Before you start deleting data, you need to determine exactly what is taking up space. The built-in MIUI analyzer provides detailed information about the allocation of resources. To access this data, go to the Settings menu and select Storage (or Memory in older versions of the shell).

Here you'll see a color diagram that shows categories in different shades: apps, images, video, audio and system files. Often, it turns out that the lion's share of space is occupied by folders of messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp, which store media files that have been viewed for years. Data visualization helps quickly identify the main memory eaters.

Note the "Different" or "Other" section, which often hides the remnants of deleted applications or system update files. If the volume of this category is disproportionately large, it is worth doing a deeper clean through the file manager.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete files from Android system folders, MIUI Or System, if you're not 100% sure about their content, it could cause the interface to crash.

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Use the built-in Cleanup tool in the Security app for quick analysis, but always check the file list before final deletion.

Use of the built-in Security application

The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use a developer tool preinstalled. The Security app has a green icon with a shield and contains a Cleanup module, which automatically scans the device for temporary files, installation residues and advertising debris.

After running the scan, the system will prompt you to delete files that do not affect the OS's stable operation. However, the automatic algorithm is not always ideal: it can miss large attachments in email clients or the cache of streaming services. Therefore, after automatic cleaning, it is recommended to go to the Deep Cleaning section inside the application.

In deep cleaning mode, you can selectively remove thumbnails of photos, empty folders and old APK installation packages. This is especially true for the Redmi 5 Plus, which is often used to download content from the Internet. Regular use of this tool helps keep the system on track.

• 🧹 Remove the cache of applications that you rarely use, but which have grown in size.
• 📦 Search and delete old.apk installation files left over after software updates.
• 🗑️ Clean the gallery cart as deleted photos often stay there for another 30 days.

Manual cleaning through the file manager

For users who want to get the most out of it, standard Explorer is an indispensable tool. By going through Internal Shared Drive, you'll have access to the entire file structure, and you'll need to pay special attention to Download and DCIM, which are the most common places where digital junk accumulates.

Download often contains documents you needed six months ago or game installers, DCIM can contain videos that were shot in high resolution by mistake, and file size sorting allows you to quickly find heavyweights and decide whether to delete or move them.

Social media folders, for example, can store gigabytes of video and voice messages viewed in Tencent/MicroMsg directory (for WeChat) or Android/media/org.telegram.messenger, and clearing these directories through a file manager often frees up more space than standard methods.

Managing applications and their cache

Apps are not just an installation file, but an ever-growing database. Social media, news aggregators and browsers store vast amounts of temporary information to quickly load content. On Redmi 5 Plus, with its limited storage capacity, this becomes a bottleneck.

To make room, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Sort the list by size of space occupied. When you select a heavy app (like Instagram or YouTube), click Clear cache. It is important not to confuse this with the Clean All or Delete button, as the first option will reset your logins and settings inside the app.

For some system applications that cannot be removed, the Remove Updates feature is available, which returns the program to the factory version, freeing up space occupied by new, often heavier versions of MIUI components.

If you use alternative versions of apps (Lite versions), they take up significantly less space. Replacing Facebook's main client with Facebook Lite can save up to 100 MB of permanent memory and reduce the load on RAM.

⚠️ Note: Clearing the data (not to be confused with cache) completely resets the application to its original state. You will lose correspondence, game saves and authorization if they are not synchronized with the server.

Transfer data to memory card and cloud

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus features a hybrid slot that allows you to use a microSD card. This is the most efficient way to expand storage for multimedia content. You can transfer all photos, videos and music to an external medium, freeing up internal memory for the system to work.

Use the file manager to transfer files. Select the folders you want in your internal memory, select Copy or Cut, then go to the memory card (usually denoted as SD Card) and select Insert. After successfully transferring in the camera settings, specify saving new photos immediately to the map.

An alternative to a physical map is cloud storage, such as Google Photos or Yandex.Disk. By setting up automatic synchronization with subsequent removal of local copies, you can store terabytes of data on the Internet. The "Free space" function in Google Photos makes this process automatic.

Some users are trying to migrate the apps themselves to a memory card. In modern versions of Android, this feature is limited to application developers. Even if portability is possible, the speed of the program can be reduced due to the slower speed of reading the memory card compared to the internal flash module.

• 📸 Set the camera to save the photo immediately on SD-map in the settings of the Camera application.
• ☁️ Use the “Smart Storage” feature in Google Photos to autodelete synchronized images.
• 💾 Format a memory card as an internal storage only if it is high-speed (Class) 10/U3).

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The memory card is ideal for storing photos, videos and music, but installing apps on it can slow them down and is not supported by many programs.

Radical measures: Resetting to factory settings

If none of the methods worked and the memory is filled up instantly, it could be that the system has accumulated critical errors or corrupted system files, in which case the only correct solution is a complete reset, which will return the Redmi 5 Plus to the state of “out of the box”.

Before starting the procedure, be sure to create a full backup of all important data, as in the process everything will be deleted: contacts, SMS, photos and installed applications. For a backup, use your Mi Cloud account, Google Account or manual copying to your computer.

To perform the reset, go to Settings → Advanced Settings → Restore and Reset → Reset. The system will warn you of the consequences. Once confirmed, the phone will restart and the cleaning process will begin, which can take 5 to 15 minutes.

Once turned on, the device will require initial setup, so don't rush to install all the applications at once, you'd better install them as needed, controlling what permissions they request and how much space they take up, and this will help keep the system clean in the future.

⚠️ Warning: Make sure the battery level is at least 50-60% interruption of the process due to discharge may result in the inability to boot the system (bootloop).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)