Owners of Xiaomi Redmi 7 smartphones often face the problem of a sudden shortage of free space when the system reports an overflow of the “Others” partition, which can take up tens of gigabytes, hiding temporary files, application cache, remnants of remote programs and system logs. Understanding the nature of this data is critical for normal operation of operating memory and device performance.
Cleaning this section requires a comprehensive approach, as standard tools don’t always show the full picture. In this article, we will discuss in detail the safe methods of freeing up space, using hidden MIUI functions and third-party utilities. You will learn to distinguish systemically important files from digital garbage that can be painlessly removed.
Don't ignore the storage occupancy, as it leads to interface brakes and the inability to install updates. Proper file system management will prolong the life of your gadget. Below are proven algorithms of actions that will help to return gigabytes of free space.
Analysis of the contents of the section Others
The Others section of MIUI is a collection of files that the system cannot automatically classify as photos, videos or music, including messenger cache, offline navigator maps, streaming service data and temporary browser files, often bloated by incorrect applications that do not clear their temporary data.
You have to start by visually evaluating what's taking up space, and the standard conductor might not give you the full information, so you should use the built-in analyzer, go to the storage settings and wait until the scan is finished, and try to highlight the largest categories.
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Use Analyst mode in the standard Security app to see the space distribution by file type in more detail than in the usual settings.
Notice the social media and messaging apps, which are the ones most often responsible for the sprawl of the Others folder, Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber all store media files in their internal directories, which the system perceives as an unknown data format.
- 📱 Social media and messenger cache that has been accumulating for months.
- 🗺️ Offline maps of navigation applications that take up gigabytes.
- 🎵 Temporary files of streaming services and online cinemas.
- 📦 Residual files of remote games and heavy applications.
Use of built-in cleaning tools
The first and safest step is to use the Xiaomi Redmi 7. MIUI It preinstalled a Security app that has a deep cleaning function that allows you to remove advertising debris, remnants of deleted applications and large files.
Launch the app and select Clean up. After the initial scan, click the Clean Up button and then scroll down to Deep Clean Up. Here, the system will suggest you delete files you haven't opened in a long time or duplicates. Be careful when selecting large files so you don't accidentally delete important documents.
⚠️ Note: When using the Deep Clean feature, carefully check the list of files in the folder DCIM Download so you don’t accidentally delete personal photos or uploaded documents.
It's also worth checking the settings of specific applications, many of which have their own memory management tools, such as Telegram, where you can set up automatic cache cleaning, and YouTube, where you can limit the size of the cache, which will prevent the "Darrouge" section from being re-inflated in the future.
☑️ Standard cleaning algorithm
Manual cleaning through the conductor
If the automatic tools fail, you will have to resort to manual cleaning. To do this, open the standard Explorer app on your Redmi 7. You will need permissions to access internal storage. Be careful: deleting system files can lead to unstable operation of the operating system.
First of all, look at the Android/data folder, which stores all the games and apps you installed, and if you delete the game but the folder with its name (e.g. com.gameloft.android) is still there, you can delete it, and check the Tencent folder if you use the company's products, or the messenger folder.
The way to check: Internal drive -> Android -> dataAnother hidden threat is the.thumbnails folder inside the DCIM directory, which stores thumbnails of your photos, and over time, this file can grow to several gigabytes, and it can be deleted, but it will be recreated the next time you open the gallery, so you have to repeat the procedure periodically.
What is a folder.thumbnails?
- 📂 folder Android/obb contains heavy game cache data.
- 📂 Directory MIUI/debug_log Stores system error reports.
- 📂 Backup folder can contain old backups if you haven’t deleted them.
Cleaning with computer and ADB
The most efficient way to free up space is to connect the Xiaomi Redmi 7 to your computer. Through the file manager interface on your PC, it's easier to see the folder structure and delete the really redundant one. Connect the phone with a cable and select file transfer mode (MTP).
For advanced users, a USB debugging and ADB method is available, which allows you to remove system debris that is not visible even in the conductor. However, this method requires caution. Before starting any manipulations, make sure that the phone has USB debugging enabled in the Developer Menu.
| File type | Location. | Can I remove it? | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | Android/data/[package]/cache | Yes. | Low (Resetting of application settings) |
| Logs of the system | MIUI/debug_log | Yes. | No. |
| Miniatures photo | DCIM/.thumbnails | Yes. | Low (galleries slowing) |
| System libraries | System, Vendor | No. | High (system scrap) |
Use the command line on your computer to search for large files. Adb shell ls -lsh /sdcard will help you sort content by size, which will quickly find the heavyweights hiding deep in the directories. Don't delete files whose purpose you don't know.
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Connecting to a PC gives you the most complete access to the file system, allowing you to see hidden folders that are not available through the phone interface.
Third-party applications for disk analysis
When built-in tools are powerless, Google Play tools come to the rescue, and apps like DiskUsage or Files by Google visualize the space in diagrams, which allows you to instantly identify which file or folder occupies the lion’s share of memory.
DiskUsage builds a memory card that is squared to the size of a file, and you click on a large sector and you can see the path to it, which is especially useful for finding forgotten video files or archives that have been stuck in obscure folders and inflated the Others section.
⚠️ Warning: Be extremely careful with access rights that some cleaners require.Do not give root rights to questionable apps as this could lead to personal data leakage.
Use them as a one-off diagnostic tool. Regular use of the built-in MIUI analyzer is usually enough to maintain order.
Prevention and configuration of messengers
The main source of garbage is messengers. On Telegram, go to the settings, select Data and Memory and then Memory Use, and you can set a cache limit (e.g. 500 MB) and set up autodelete media, which will prevent uncontrolled growth.
On WhatsApp, the situation is similar: Open settings, go to Data and Storage, and select Storage Management. The app will show the files that take up the most space and let you delete them selectively or completely. Regularly checking these settings is the best prevention.
Also, disable auto-save incoming media to the gallery. In chat settings, prevent saving photos and videos to the system gallery unless you need them to be duplicated in the phone's memory, which will significantly reduce the volume of the "Others" section.
- ✅ Set a cache limit in Telegram on 256-512 MB.
- ✅ Turn off auto-save media in the WhatsApp gallery.
- ✅ Regularly check the tab "Storage" in the settings of messengers.
Radical methods: Resetting and flashing
If nothing helps and the Others section continues to grow even after cleaning, there may be critical errors in the file system, in which case a full factory reset may help.
The reset will delete all user data and return the phone to the “out of the box” state, guaranteed to clear the “Others” section, as it will be recreated with zero volume. Go to Settings → About Phone → Reset and follow the instructions.
⚠️ WARNING: A full Wipe Data reset will permanently delete all photos, contacts and apps. Make sure you save everything important to the cloud or computer before starting the procedure.
In rare cases, flashing the device through the computer using the Mi Flash Tool helps, which will reinstall system files and fix memory markup errors. However, a simple reset is usually enough for Redmi 7, since the model does not receive new versions of Android.