Modern multimedia capabilities of smartphones require significant internal storage resources, and owners of the popular Redmi 9 Pro often face a shortage of free space. When RAM fills up, the device starts to run slower, applications fly out, and new updates stop loading. It is a natural operation process that requires periodic user intervention to maintain high performance gadget.
The MIUI operating system that you have on your smartphone has many built-in tools for managing files, but not all of them are obvious to the average user. Effective cleaning involves not just removing photos, but dealing with system debris, app cache and duplicate documents.
In this article, we will take a closer look at all the available ways to free up disk space on Xiaomi Redmi 9 Pro. You will learn how to find hidden files that take up gigabytes, and understand how to prevent fast memory filling in in the future without losing important data.
Analysis of storage occupancy through settings
Before you delete files, you need to know exactly what takes up the most space. Visual evaluation is often wrong, because some system processes can hide the real amount of data you are occupying. First, you need to look at the standard diagnostic tools provided by the MIUI shell.
Go to the Settings menu and select About Phone, which displays general information about the free space, but for detailed analysis, it is better to use a specialized section of memory management, in some versions of the firmware it is displayed in a separate Warehouse menu or available through the Security application.
The system automatically sorts data into categories, which allows you to quickly identify heavyweights. Usually, the most space is occupied by multimedia files and messenger cache. If you see that the category "Other" takes up a disproportionate amount of space, this is a signal for a deeper check.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete files from system folders unless you are sure of their purpose.This can lead to unstable operation of the Android operating system.
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Periodically check the “Other” section – there are often accumulated remnants of remote applications and temporary update files.
After the initial analysis, you'll see where you're going, and if you're looking at photos and videos, you might want to consider moving them to the cloud, and if you're packed with applications, you'll have to re-evaluate the software installed.
Use of the built-in “Cleanup” application
The fastest way to free up a few gigabytes is to use a standard tool from Xiaomi. Security is already preinstalled on each device and contains a powerful garbage cleanup module that scans the device for temporary files, remnants of remote programs and advertising cache.
Launch the application and press the Clean Up button. The scanner will analyze the file system and suggest that you delete files that are not necessary for the system to work. The process takes only a few seconds and is safe for user data.
Inside the tool, there's a Deep Clean section, where you can find large files, duplicate images, and rarely used apps, and Deep Clean is especially useful when standard cleaning is no longer a tangible result.
It is important to understand that automatic cleaning does not always remove the social media cache, as it is considered to be application data.
Working with cache and application data
Social media and instant messengers like Telegram, WhatsApp and Instagram have the ability to accumulate huge amounts of temporary data. Videos viewed, photos sent and stickers are stored in the phone’s memory even if you have already deleted them from chat, a major source of space shortage on modern smartphones.
To clean up, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Select the app you want (like YouTube) and go to Memory. There you will see two buttons: Clear cache and Clear everything. The first one deletes temporary files, the second one resets the app to factory settings (re-authorization will be required).
Some apps, like Telegram, have built-in memory management tools, and the messenger itself can set the automatic decache after a certain time, a critical setup for owners of devices with a small amount of internal memory.
⚠️ Note: When you completely clean the application data (“Clean Everything”), you will lose correspondence and settings if you do not back up in advance.
Why does cache weigh so much?
Cache contains thumbnails, temporary copies of videos and web pages. Over time, these files are not deleted automatically, but accumulate, occupying up to 30% of the total memory of the phone.> Regularly checking the cache volume allows you to keep the system in good shape. If the application takes several gigabytes, most likely, 90% of them are temporary files that can be safely deleted. Deleting duplicates and large files In the process of active use of the smartphone, copies of photos are often created. For example, when editing a picture or sending it through the messenger, the original and a compressed copy can be saved. Also, users often download files from large objects for the Internet, and forget that they use third-side files for the Internet analogues for the Internet. Sort files by size and remove unnecessary high-resolution videos that take up a lot of space. 100-200 These are often forgotten after viewing. You can use the Gallery to find duplicates» → «Albums» → «Similar. System. MIUI It can recognize identical images and suggest that you delete those that are superfluous, and it helps you clean up the photo archive and return a few hundred megabytes. Remember to check the Downloads folder. That's where everything you download from your browser gets into: the installation files. APK, PDF-Many of them are no longer needed after use, and optimizing multimedia libraries, photos and videos are the heaviest elements in the memory of any user. 9 Pro one minute video can weigh tens of megabytes. Store thousands of such files on the device is impractical and dangerous in the event of a breakdown. It is recommended to set up automatic sync with cloud services such as Google Photos or Yandex.Disk. Once you create a copy in the cloud, the “Free Space” function can be used to remove originals from the device, leaving them available online. If you don’t plan to print photos in large format or professionally process them, you can reduce the resolution of shooting or switch to a more efficient compression format in the settings (JPEG) 3-5 MB Sync with the cloud Video (1080p, 1 min) 60-100 MB Remove after watching Video (4K, 1 min) 300-400 MB Transfer to PC Music (MP3) 5–10 MB Streaming The use of streaming services instead of storing music and movies locally is a modern trend that significantly saves smartphone resources. It allows you to access millions of tracks without taking up a single byte of internal memory. Deleting unnecessary apps and games Mobile games today weigh a lot. Some popular projects can take up more than 5 GB of disk space along with additional resources. If you've played the game and you don't plan on returning to it, you'd better delete it completely. → Apps and sort the list by size. You'll be surprised to find games that haven't been used in six months but that keep taking up space. Also remove apps that you never use. Some programs have a lightweight version. For example, Facebook Lite or Google Go take up much less space and consume less resources, remaining functional for basic tasks. 💡Regularly auditing installed applications is the best way to prevent memory shortages. Remove what you don't use. Some Xiaomi system apps can be turned off if you don't need them. This won't remove them completely, but it will free up some space and prevent them from running in the background, which is also good for the battery. Smartphone Redmi 9 Pro is equipped with a slot for a memory card microSD. It is a great solution for storing photos, videos and music. By transferring media files to an external drive, you will free up internal memory for the system and applications. To transfer files, use the file manager. Select files in internal memory, click Move, and specify the path to SD-You can also set the camera to store new images immediately on the memory card. Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) is the perfect complement. They allow you to store documents and important files on the Internet, accessing them only when necessary, and this creates the effect of "infinite" memory. ⚠️ Attention: Memory cards have lower write speeds than internal memory, and it is not recommended to install heavy apps or games on them. By combining the use of external maps and cloud services, you can almost forget about the problem of space shortage. The key is to develop a habit of regularly "unloading" data from your phone. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) Is it safe to delete files from your Android folder? No, manually delete files from your Android system folder is not recommended. This can disrupt applications that store their data and cache there. Use regular cleaning tools or settings inside the applications themselves. Why does memory fill up again after cleaning? Most likely, background processes are active or messengers continue to download media files. Check the autoload settings in WhatsApp and Telegram, and also turn off auto-save in the gallery. Can you transfer all applications to a memory card? In modern versions of Android and other devices? MIUI the possibility of full transfer of applications to SD-The system leaves the main application files in internal memory for speed. DNS To do this, go to Settings. → Connection and sharing → Private DNS. Select "Disconnected" or "Automatically" to reset if you have connection problems. What if the system says "Memory is full" even though there are many places? This can be an indexing error. Try restarting the device. If the problem persists, check to see if the shopping cart in the gallery or Files app is full, as deleted files are still taking up space.