How to Clean the Other folder on Xiaomi Smartphone: The Complete Guide 2026

Xiaomi’s Other folder is one of the most mysterious categories for users, it can take anywhere from 500MB to 10+GB, but it doesn’t display specific files in a standard Explorer. Many people mistakenly think it’s system data that you can’t touch, but it actually accumulates app cache, deleted file residues, MIUI log files, and even update snippets. If your Redmi, POCO, or Mi constantly shows “Memory is full,” and in the “Other” section, this article will help you figure out what you can do without risk.

We tested all the methods on MIUI 14/13/12 (including global and Chinese versions) and identified 5 proven methods, from standard tools to hidden features for power users. Importantly, some files in the Other folder are critical to MIUI operation — deleting them can cause camera, instant messengers or even a full reboot of the phone, so every step we took was accompanied by warnings and recovery recommendations.

Why does the “Other” folder take up so much space?

The Other folder is a collection box for files that the system cannot categorize as standard: Photos, Videos, Audio, or Documents.

• 🗑️ Application cache – temporary files that programs create to speed up work (for example, thumbnails in a gallery or instant messenger data).
• 📄 Log files MIUI — Error logs, crash reports, and analytics data (particularly a lot of them accumulate after updates).
• 🔄 Residual files – “tails” from deleted applications or incorrectly erased data (for example, after cleaning chats in Telegram or WhatsApp).
• 📱 System Updates – downloaded but not installed packages MIUI or security patches.
• 🎮 Game data – saves, textures and cache (e.g. Genshin Impact or PUBG Mobile can leave gigabytes here).

On Xiaomi with MIUI 12 and newer, the Other folder is often inflated due to the Smart Cleanup feature, which does not always correctly remove garbage. For example, after upgrading to MIUI 14, many Redmi Note 11 and POCO X4 Pro users complained about the sudden increase of the Other by 3-5 GB - these were undeleted files of old firmware.

⚠️ Warning: If the Other folder is less than 1 GB, don't touch it. It's normal for the system to run. Cleanups can slow down the interface or cause applications to crash.

Method 1: Standard Cleaning through “Safety”

The safest method is to use the built-in Cleanup tool in the Security app, which deletes cache, temporary files and some logs without affecting critical data.

How to do this:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to the Cleanup section (or Acceleration → Deep Cleanup).
3. Click on “Scan” and wait until it is completed.
4. Select “Junk Files” and “App Cache,” then “Clean.”

This method will remove up to 1-2 GB of garbage, but will not affect deep system files.

⚠️ Warning: Do not clear the Downloads section through Security - there may be important files (such as documents or archives.

Method 2: Manual cleaning through the "Storage"

If the standard cleaning didn't work, try manually analyzing the contents of the "Other" folder.

1. Go to Settings. → Warehouse.
2. Slip on “Other” – the system will show the distribution by category.
3. Check the “Cash”, “Downloads” and “Other Files” sections.

You can manually remove:

• 📁 Cache of individual applications (for example, YouTube, TikTok or Google Play Services can take 500 MB-1 GB).
• 📥 Old downloads (APK-files, archives, images).
• 📝 Log files (folder) /sdcard/MIUI/debug_log — It can be completely cleaned).

To remove the cache of a particular application:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Choose the app you want (like Facebook or Instagram).
3. Press "Storage» → «Clear the cache».

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If the Other section has a lot of space in the Other category, check the /sdcard/Android/obb folder, which stores game data (like Call of Duty Mobile or Free Fire) and can be deleted, but you will have to download the games again.

Method 3: Removing system logs and dumps

MIUI actively maintains error logs and memory dumps, which can take up to 3-5 GB. These files are only needed by developers, so they can be safely deleted.

How to find and delete logs:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and turn on “Debugging by USB” (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version – tap 7 times, then go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers).
2. Use a conductor on a PC (for example, Total Commander or ES Conductor) and go to the folders: /sdcard/MIUI/debug_log /sdcard/log /sdcard/bluetooth/logs /sdcard/alarm
3. Delete all files in these folders (they have.log,.txt, or.dmp extensions).

If you have root access, you can delete logs through Root Explorer:

• 📂 Move to the /data/log and /data/anr.
• 🗑️ Delete all files (this is crash tracing and error reports).

⚠️ Note: Do not delete files in folders /data/data or /system — This can cause system failure.

Method 4: Cleaning through ADB (for power users)

If previous methods didn’t help and the “Other” folder still takes 5+ GB, we can use it. ADB-This is a method that is suitable for users who are willing to work with the command line.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB Tools.
• 📱 Xiaomi smartphone with enabled “Debugging by” USB».
• 🔌 Cable USB (preferably original).

Instructions:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command line (or Terminal on Mac/Linux).
2. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices (the name of your device should appear).
3. Remove the cache of all applications: adb shell pm trim-caches -f 100
4. Clear the folder with temporary files: adb shell rm -rf /sdcard/*.tmp
5. Remove the old ones. APK-Files (remainders of updates): adb shell rm -rf /sdcard/Download/*.apk

To completely clean the MIUI cache (including system data) use:

adb shell su -c "rm -rf /data/cache"

Note: This command requires root rights.

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ADB-Cleaning removes files that are standard tools MIUI But the wrong commands can cause the system to crash -- only use the verified instructions.

Method 5: Reset to factory settings (extreme case)

If the Other folder takes up 10+GB and other methods have not worked, the last resort is a factory reset, which will delete all data, including apps, photos and settings, but return the phone to a “clean” state.

How to reset:

1. Create a backup of important data (photos, contacts, messages).
2. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
3. Select “Erase all data”.
4. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

After discharge:

• 📱 Install only the necessary applications.
• 🚫 Do not restore data from backup MIUI — It can contain garbage.
• 🔄 Clean the cache regularly (once every 1-2 weeks).

⚠️ Note: On some models (Redmi Note 10 Pro, POCO F3) After the reset, it can hang on the logo MI. In this case, you need to reflash the phone via Fastboot.

How to prevent the growth of the “Other” folder in the future

To folder “Other” does not take up gigabytes of memory, follow the simple rules:

• 🗓️ Cleaning regularly – use “Safety” once a week.
• 🚫 Do not store unnecessary files – delete them. APK, archives and old downloads.
• 🔄 Update. MIUI — In new versions optimized work with cache.
• 🎮 Limit the cache of games - in the application settings (PUBG, Genshin Impact: Turn off data caching».
• 📱 Use cloud services – transfer photos and videos to Google Photos or Mi Cloud.

For automatic cleaning, install Files by Google, which finds and removes garbage better than the standard MIUI conductor.

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If you install custom firmware or mods frequently, the Other folder will grow faster. Use TWRP to clean Dalvik Cache after each system change.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the folder “Other” on Xiaomi