Xiaomi and Redmi device owners often face a situation where after a year or two of active use, the phone starts to run slower, and notifications of space shortages appear with alarming regularity. MIUI and its new version of HyperOS accumulate a huge number of temporary files, app cache and system logs that take up precious gigabytes. Understanding how to properly and safely free up space is the key to extending the life of your gadget without having to buy a new one.
Cleaning up storage isn't just about removing old photos, it's a complex system maintenance process. In this article, we'll look at built-in tools, hidden developer features, and manual techniques that will help get your device back up and running. You'll learn to distinguish important system files from junk that can be painlessly removed right now.
Before we start taking drastic measures, it's important to understand the structure of memory occupancy. A standard storage analyzer often shows only the tip of the iceberg, hiding the real space eaters in the folders of messengers and streaming services, and we'll look at where these files are hiding and how to find them.
Use of the built-in "Security" application
The first and most obvious tool that is already installed on your Redmi is the system application “Security”, which was developed by Xiaomi engineers specifically to optimize the operation of the MIUI shell.
However, it is worth noting that standard cleaning is often superficial: it removes browser cache and temporary system files, but rarely affects heavy remnants of deleted applications or cached videos from social networks. For basic maintenance, this is enough, but if there is a critical shortage of space, deeper methods will be required.
To start cleaning, open the Security app and click on the Cleanup button. The system will analyze the device and suggest removing the debris found. Don't rush to agree with everything at once - carefully review the list so that you don't accidentally delete saved passwords or authorization data in important applications.
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Standard cleaning through the Security app only removes 10-15% of possible debris, so it needs to be combined with manual cleaning of the app cache.
⚠️ Attention: The Security app often features the Acceleration feature, which closes the background processes, and should not be abused, as the constant forced shutdown of system services can, on the contrary, increase battery consumption when they are restarted.
Deep cleaning of app cache
The main consumers of free space in modern smartphones are social networks and instant messengers. Telegram, Viber, TikTok and Instagram tend to store every picture and video viewed in the local memory of the device. Over time, the cache of a messenger alone can reach 5-10 gigabytes, which is a significant part of the available volume.
To make room, you need to go to the settings of each heavy app separately. Go to the Settings menu → Apps → All apps. Find the program you want (like Telegram) in the list and select Memory. There you will see the Clear Cache button.
It is important not to confuse the "Clear Cache" and "Clear Everything" buttons (or "Erase Data"). The second button will completely delete the application along with your chats, login and settings, requiring re-authorization. Use only cache clearing if you want to save correspondence.
☑️ Checking messengers
Particular attention should be paid to the Chrome browser or MIUI Browser. If you are actively using the Internet, the cache of pages can take up hundreds of megabytes. Clearing the browsing data in the browser will not only free up space, but can also speed up the loading of pages, as old, incorrectly stored site data will be deleted.
Storage analysis and search for large files
Visual analysis of what is taking up space is often more effective than blind cleaning. MIUI has an in-built analyzer, but third-party utilities or file managers can show a more detailed picture, and you need to find files that you have forgotten about: old downloads, forgotten movies or duplicate photos.
Go to File Manager and select “Folder” or “Analyzer” and the system sorts files by type: videos, images, documents, APK installation packages. Often users find that half of the memory is occupied by installation files of applications that have been installed for a long time and are no longer needed.
The Download folder deserves special attention. Browsers and apps save everything you download from the Internet. Regular revision of this folder allows you to quickly free up from 500 MB to 2 GB of space. Delete old ones. PDF-Documents, pictures and game installers.
| Type of data | Where to find | Can I remove it? | Risk of data loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | Settings → Applications | Yes. | Low (Temporary Files Only) |
| Download folder | Conductor → Download | Yeah (selectively) | Medium (contents must be checked) |
| Files.thumbnails | DCMI → .thumbnails | Yes. | Low (the gallery will recreate them) |
| APK installers | The guide → APK | Yes. | No. |
Work with Gallery and Cloud Services
Photos and videos are the most voluminous content on any smartphone. With the rise of Xiaomi cameras, a single minute video in 4K can weigh more than 300 MB. Store thousands of such files in a phone’s memory makes no sense if you can transfer them to the cloud or to a computer.
Use Google Photos or Mi Cloud to automatically sync. Once you upload your originals to the cloud, use the Free Space feature (in Google Photos), which will delete local copies of already saved images, a safe way to leave your photos available for viewing but not taking up disk space.
It's also worth checking out the album "Recently Deleted." MIUI If you are sure that you did not accidentally delete the photo, clean this basket through the gallery menu.
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Turn on the “Clean Up Similar Photos” feature in the Xiaomi Gallery. Artificial intelligence will find duplicates and series of identical images, suggesting that only the best ones be left.
And notice the Screenshots folder, and we often take screenshots for one operation and forget about them, and in six months, there's a gigabyte of unnecessary information that can accumulate, and go through that folder and delete everything that's superfluous.
Delete hidden system files and logs
There are hidden directories that you can't see in a normal browsing experience, but they can grow to huge sizes, such as error logs, statistics reports, and temporary update files, accessed through a file manager with hidden files enabled.
Find the file. MIUI → debug_log. In this directory, the system stores debugging logs, and unless you're a developer and you're debugging a specific bug for the engineers, you don't need those files. You can delete them completely.
⚠️ Note: When working with a file system, never delete files from folders. Android/data or Android/obb manually, if you don't know exactly what they're responsible for, it can cause applications to malfunction or fail completely.
Another hidden folder is.thumbnails inside the DCIM directory, which stores thumbnails of your photos for quick display in the gallery, sometimes this cache "blowns up" and weighs more than the original photos themselves, and cleaning this folder will cause the phone to recreate thumbnails, which temporarily loads the processor, but frees up space.
To access hidden folders, open Explorer, click three dots in the corner, and select Settings → turn on the "Show Hidden Files" switch. Be careful: the system will alert you to the risks, confirm the action.
What to do if the.thumbnails folder is inflated again?
Memory map and data transfer
If your Redmi supports microSD card installation, it’s a great way to expand storage, and modern models allow you to use the card not only to store photos, but also as an extension of internal memory for installing applications.
When you install the card, the system will suggest you choose the format of use: Portable storage or Internal memory. The option of Internal memory allows you to transfer applications and their data to the card, freeing up the built-in drive. However, the speed may be lower than that of the built-in memory of the phone.
It is recommended to store media files (music, video, photo) on the card, and leave applications on the internal drive for maximum system speed. To do this, change the default saving path for the camera and voice recorder to the memory card in the storage settings.
Remember that memory cards tend to fail, and back up important data regularly from map to computer or to the cloud so that you don't suddenly lose information.