Owners of Xiaomi’s flagship Mi 9 Pro smartphone often face a lack of free space, despite the initially large amount of built-in storage. The Android-based MIUI operating system is becoming increasingly used with temporary files, app cache and system logs that can take up gigabytes of valuable memory, leading to slowdowns in the interface, long downloads, and the inability to install new updates or shoot high-resolution video.
Effectively cleaning the drive requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond simply removing photos. You need to understand the structure of your device’s file system and know which folders you can safely touch and which you can not touch. In this article, we will discuss proven methods of optimizing disk space that will help restore your gadget to its former speed and responsiveness without losing important personal data.
Analysis of storage occupancy and search for large files
Before we start taking drastic measures, we need to do a detailed review of what exactly takes up space. Standard Android tools don't always give a complete picture, so it's better to use the built-in Cleanup tool or third-party analyzers. Often it turns out that the lion's share of the volume is not the system files, but forgotten downloads or messenger cache.
Go to the storage settings to see the visualization of the data distribution, the system will show the breakdown by category: applications, images, video, audio, etc. Pay attention to the "Other" section, which often hides heavy files of unknown origin.
- 📂 Open the Settings menu and find the About Phone item».
- 💾 Click on the “Storage” line for a detailed view.
- 🔍 Study the list of categories and determine the most extensive sections.
Special attention should be paid to the Download folder and downloads from social networks, many users store application installation files (.apk) that are not relevant for years, or saved documents, deleting such files is the fastest way to get several hundred megabytes of free space.
It is important to understand the difference between user data and system files, and if you see that the System takes up a disproportionate amount of space, it may be due to the accumulation of debugging logs or residual files after updating the firmware, in which case cleaning the system cache will help, but you need to be careful.
Use of the built-in Cleanup tool in MIUI
The MIUI shell features a powerful built-in maintenance utility called Clearer, which is designed specifically for the file structure of Xiaomi smartphones and is able to safely remove debris without affecting important system components, and it is recommended to run a check regularly, for example, once a week.
When you first run the app will scan and suggest that you delete temporary files, remnants of deleted applications and advertising debris. The algorithm is smart enough not to hurt your personal correspondence or saved passwords, but manual control will never hurt.
- 🧹 Find the Tools folder on your desktop and launch the Cleanup app».
- ⏳ Wait for the system analysis to be completed, which may take a few minutes.
- ✅ Click the “Clean” button to delete the unneeded files found.
In the advanced cleaner settings, you can choose a deep cleanup that will affect the cache of specific applications. Be careful: clearing the YouTube or Instagram cache will not delete your accounts, but will cause the applications to re-download previews and some data at the next launch, which can temporarily increase traffic consumption.
💡
Use the “Accelerate” function in the same cleaning menu to unload background processes from RAM, which also indirectly affect system performance.
⚠️ Warning: Do not use third-party "accelerators" from the Play Market with questionable reputations. MIUI It is quite enough, and aggressive third-party programs can, on the contrary, slow down the work, constantly restarting system processes.
Once the procedure is complete, the system will show you how much space has been vacated, and if you don't get the results, move on to more detailed methods of working with specific applications.
Cleaning up cache and data heavy applications
The most voracious in terms of disk space are traditionally social networks and instant messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and Instagram store every picture and video viewed in the memory of the phone. Over time, this data grows to tens of gigabytes, turning the smartphone into a store of other people’s content.
Telegram typically generates the most data because of its cloud-based nature. The app caches all the media files viewed for quick access. To make room, you don't have to delete the chats, just use the built-in memory management function inside the messenger itself.
- 📱 Open the app settings (such as Telegram or WhatsApp).
- 🗄 Go to the section "Data and memory" or "Storage».
- 🗑 Click “Clear Cache” or set up autodelete files.
For the Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro, cleaning the cache of system services such as Google Play Services is also relevant, and this can be done through the application management menu. Find the application you want in the list, click Memory and select Clear Cache. It is important not to confuse this with the “Erase Data” button, since the second option will delete all information, including authorization.
☑️ Checking messengers
Regularly cleaning the cache of these apps should become a habit.Some users set up automatic decache removal after 3 days or a week, which is the optimal balance between convenience and free space.
Gallery work: duplicates and deleted albums
Media files are the most space-consuming feature on any modern smartphone. Owners of the Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro, with its high-quality camera, often take high-resolution shots that weigh a lot, but the problem often lies not in the photos themselves, but in their organizations and hidden copies.
The MIUI system, when you delete a photo, doesn't erase it permanently, but instead moves it to a cart where it's stored for 30 days, which is a useful feature of protecting against accidental deletion, but if you've already checked the files, the contents of the cart are just dead cargo, taking up gigabytes.
- 🖼 Open the Gallery app and go to the Albums tab».
- 🗑 Find the Remove folder and clean it completely.
- 🔄 Check the “Similar” folder where duplicates of serial shooting may lie.
Also worth paying attention to is the Screenshots folder. We often take screenshots, save them, use them once, and forget. Over the years, the screenshot collection can weigh a lot. Go through them and remove the irrelevant ones.
How do I find hidden duplicates?
If you use cloud services like Google Photos or Xiaomi Cloud, set up the Free Space feature, which automatically removes photos and videos that are already securely stored in the cloud, leaving only thumbnails.
Delete residual files and work with the file manager
Even after deleting applications, folders with their settings, temporary files and logs are often left in the system. These tails can take up a significant amount of space.+.
In the Android file system, apps create folders with their names at the root of the internal drive, so if you delete a game or a program but the folder with its name is still there, you can delete it manually, but you have to be very careful about removing only what you're 100% sure of.
| Type of folder | Can I remove it? | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Android/data (Remote Games folders) | Yes, if the application is removed | Low. |
| MIUI/debug_log | Yes. | No. |
| DCIM/.thumbnails | Yes (recreated) | Temporary slowdown of the gallery |
| System or OS | No. | High (system failure) |
The.thumbnails folder inside DCIM, which stores thumbnails of all your photos for quick display in the gallery, can grow to several gigabytes over time. Deletion is safe: the system will just create a new one when you open the gallery, but it will take time.
💡
Manually cleaning the file manager gives a better result than automated tools, but requires carefulness and understanding of the structure of Android folders.
Remember to check the Bluetooth folder, which often automatically stores files from other devices, and may contain old videos or documents that you no longer need.
Resetting settings as a radical cleaning method
If none of the above methods has produced the desired result and the memory of the Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro is still full of “system garbage” that cannot be removed, the last effective option is a complete reset to factory settings.
Before you do this, it's critical to back up all your critical data, and resets will destroy everything: contacts, photos, apps, Wi-Fi settings and accounts, and you can't recover anything without a backup.
- ☁️ Backup with Mi Cloud or Google Drive.
- 📲 Copy important files to your computer or external drive.
- ⚙️ Go to Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings.
Once you select "Erase All Data," the phone will restart and start the cleanup process, which can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, and once turned on, you'll get a clean system without the excess software "junk" that has accumulated over the years of use.
⚠️ Warning: Make sure the battery is at least 50-60% interruption of the process by turning off the phone can cause damage to system partitions and inability to boot MIUI.
This method is often used before selling a device or when software errors become critical. For the Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro with its powerful hardware, such a reset often works wonders, returning the original speed.