How to Clean Another folder on Xiaomi Redmi 9C

Owners of Xiaomi Redmi 9C smartphones often face the unpleasant situation when the internal memory of the device suddenly overflows. Especially annoying is the appearance of a section called “Other” or “System” in the storage menu, which can take up tens of gigabytes. This section often contains the system cache, temporary files, remnants of remote applications and messenger data, which the system cannot classify correctly. If you do not know how to deal with it, the phone starts to work slower, and new photos and applications simply have nowhere to store.

The problem of bloating the Other is typical of the Android-based MIUI shell. Over time, log files, gallery photos and hidden data from social networks accumulate. Standard cleaning methods often fail to protect deep-hidden system files. In this article, we will examine proven ways to help you recover precious gigabytes of free space without losing important data.

Before we take any drastic measures, we need to understand the nature of junk files, and most often, communication apps like Telegram or WhatsApp are the culprits, which save the media they receive to the system folder, and streaming services and browsers that caching the content they see for faster loading, and understanding the source of the problem is the first step to successfully optimizing your smartphone memory.

Analysis of the occupied space through settings

The first thing you need to do is use the built-in diagnostic tools that Xiaomi provides, and it can pretty accurately determine which file types occupy the most space. Go to Settings → Memory and wait until the analysis is finished. Here you will see a color diagram where the Other section will be highlighted separately. By clicking on the different sectors of the diagram, you can get more detailed information about the content.

Users are often surprised to find that a significant portion of the Other is app data they haven't even used recently, and it's safe to remove the cache of individual programs in this menu. However, beware: cleaning up the data (not to be confused with cache) will cause the app to reset to factory settings, which could mean losing correspondence or saved passwords. Always check what you're going to delete.

The built-in analyzer will also show files downloaded from the Internet and large videos you might have forgotten about, and will suggest removing duplicate photos or screenshots taken months ago, a safe way to start the fight for free space without needing to install additional software.

If standard analysis shows that the bulk of the system files is not user data, it is worth moving to a deeper cleaning. In some cases, a simple reboot of the device helps, which causes the system to recalculate the file index and make room for temporary errors. But if the volume of the Other remains critically large, more serious measures will be required.

Use of the built-in “Cleanup” application

Each Redmi smartphone has a system tool called Security preinstalled, which includes a Cleanup feature. This is the first line of defense against junk files. Launch the app and press Clean. The scanner will find temporary files, remnants of deleted apps and advertising debris. Although this method rarely cleans the Other section itself completely, it is necessary to prepare the system for further action.

Inside the Security app, there's also Deep Clean, which scans memory more carefully, finding forgotten APK installation files, empty folders, and large files that you may have accidentally downloaded. Notice the App tab, where you can sort programs by the size of the memory they take up, and it often turns out that one application consumes several gigabytes, and its cache can be safely deleted.

It is important to note that the built-in tool does not always see files that are formally related to the system, but inflated due to errors in the operation of applications. For example, Telegram can store the cache in a special system directory, which the standard scanner marks as “Other”, so after working with the built-in utility, it is worth checking the settings of the “heavy” messengers separately.

⚠️ Note: When using Deep Clean, carefully check the boxes. Do not accidentally delete important documents or original photos if they are in shared download folders.

Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks

Messengers are always the leaders in filling the Other section. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and Instagram store every photo and video they see in the memory of the device. Over time, this dataset becomes huge. Unlike other files, this cache often hides in system partitions, increasing the volume of the Other. The best way to combat it is through built-in cleaning tools inside the applications themselves.

In Telegram, you need to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you will see the Cache slider and the Clear Cache button. It is also recommended to install automatic cleaning, for example, “3 days” or “1 week”, this will prevent the accumulation of garbage in the future. After this procedure, the “Other” partition in the phone settings can decrease by several gigabytes instantly.

For WhatsApp, the procedure is a little different. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. You can see which chats take up the most space and delete media selectively. Often users store unnecessary cards and videos from group chats for years, which only take up space. Deleting these files directly affects the size of the system partition.

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Enable Auto-Delete Media for all chats in your Telegram settings, which will automatically free up space when the cache exceeds the set limit, such as 1 GB.

Social networks like Instagram or TikTok also aggressively cache content. These apps often don't have a "Clear Everything" button in their settings, so you have to go to the phone's settings: Apps → All Apps → [App Name] → Memory → Clear Cache. This is a secure operation that won't affect your logins and passwords, but will delete the temporary data that inflates the "Other" section.

Delete Thumbnails folder and hidden system files

One of the main reasons for the Other is the Thumbnails folder, which stores thumbnails of every photo and video ever found in your Redmi 9C gallery. Even if you delete the original photos, smaller copies of them can stay on the system for years, taking up gigabytes. You can find this folder through the file manager, but it is often hidden from the average user.

To get to hidden files, turn on the hidden elements in the file manager. This is usually done through the three-dot menu or the Explorer settings. You need to find the DCIM path →.thumbnails. The point at the beginning of the folder name makes it hidden. Inside, you can find files that are several gigabytes in size. They can be safely deleted, but the system will create this folder again when you open the gallery.

Also worth checking is the Android → data and Android → obb folder. This is where game and application data is stored. If you delete a game but it's still there, it will be listed as "Other." Manually delete folders with the names of remote applications. Be careful: deleting folders of active applications will lead to loss of their data or the need to download resources again.

Advanced cleaning through computer and ADB

If built-in methods don’t work, a computer and USB debugging come to the rescue. This method allows you to delete files that are hidden from the user even in the supervisor mode. First, you need to activate the developer mode on Redmi 9C. To do this, click 7 times in a row on the build number in the About Phone menu until the notification “You became a developer” appears.

Then, in the Developer menu, include "Debugging USB." Connect your phone to your computer with a cable. You'll need ADB. Once you install the drivers and set up the ADB on your PC, you can use commands to remove system debris. For example, the command to clean the batch installer's cache looks like this:

adb shell pm clear com.android.packageinstaller

You can also force the cache of the entire system to be cleared, although that would require a reboot. A safer method through the computer is simply to manually go through the file system of the phone, which is defined as an external drive. MIUI/debug_log, If they take up a lot of space, they're debugging logs that the average user doesn't need, but they're debugging logs. MIUI sometimes forgets to remove.

⚠️ Attention: Use of teams ADB Deleting system files you are not sure about can cause the phone or bootloop to function unstable (cyclical reboot).

This is considered the most effective method for fighting stubborn system files, and it allows you to see the real folder structure that standard conductors hide, but for the average user, this can seem difficult, so use it if other methods have exhausted themselves.

Cardinal measures: Reset to factory settings

When nothing helps and the Other section continues to grow, occupying a critical volume, the last argument is a complete reset.This action will return your Xiaomi Redmi 9C to the state it was in on the day of purchase. All data, including contacts, photos, apps and settings, will be irretrievably deleted. So be sure to make a full backup of important data to your computer or to the Mi Cloud before starting the procedure.

To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. The system will warn you of the consequences several times. Once confirmed, the phone will restart and the cleaning process will begin, which can take 10 to 30 minutes. Once turned on, you will get a clean system where the Other partition will occupy the smallest possible volume.

This is guaranteed to solve the problem, because it removes all the accumulated file system errors and tails from remote applications. However, this is a temporary solution: if you continue to actively use the same applications and do not clean the cache, in six months or a year, the situation may recur. Regular prevention is more important than one-time drastic measures.

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A full reset is a 100% guarantee of cleaning the Other partition, but takes time to restore settings and data from the backup.

Preventing memory overflow in the future

To keep the Other partition problem on Redmi 9C from coming back, it’s important to develop good habits: First, check the storage regularly (once a month) and clear the cache of heavy apps. Second, use cloud services to store photos and videos, removing them from the device after download, which will free up space and reduce the amount of thumbnails.

Also, try not to use live wallpaper and heavy widgets unless absolutely necessary. They not only land the battery, but also create a lot of temporary files. Watch out for MIUI updates: sometimes Xiaomi releases patches that fix memory leakage errors in certain versions of the firmware.

Compliance with these simple rules will allow your smartphone to run fast and consistently for a long time.Memory is a resource that requires management, especially on devices with limited built-in storage, like the 9C model. Control your applications and they won't control you.