Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the mysterious situation of internal storage overcrowded and standard folder analysis fails. Especially relevant question for the model Redmi Note 8T, which, despite good performance, has a limited amount of internal memory in the basic versions.
This folder is a collection of system files, application cache, residual data from remote programs and time logs. The accumulation of garbage in this section leads to slowdowns in the interface, long downloads of applications and the inability to install new updates. Understanding the structure of this storage is the first step to speeding up your device.
In this guide, we will look at proven safe cleaning practices that will help you get back gigabytes of free space.We will not use questionable cleaners, but we will use built-in system tools and proven manual methods available to every Android owner.
What is hidden in the Other section in fact
The Other section (sometimes labeled System or simply gray in the analyzer) is not a virus or a system bug, but a legitimate space reserved by the MIUI operating system to work properly, and it stores data that the system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos or documents.
The bulk of the cached data is from popular apps like Telegram, Viber, YouTube and browsers. When you watch videos or browse through social media feeds, media files are stored temporarily so that when you reopen them, they can be downloaded instantly, and over time, this temporary buffer grows to a giant size, taking up to 10-15 GB on the device.
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders manually through the file manager without understanding their purpose.Deleting critical libraries can result in a cyclical reboot or complete smartphone failure.
This section may also contain interrupted downloads, error logs, and backups automatically created by the system, sometimes with tails from remote games or programs that have not been properly uninstalled.
Basic cleaning through Xiaomi’s built-in tools
The safest and first method to try for a Redmi Note 8T owner is using the regular Security app, which is built into the MIUI shell and has access to system areas that are closed to regular file managers.
Run the Safety app on the home screen and select Cleanup. The system will scan and suggest removing obvious debris: advertising files, APK installer packages and thumbnails. However, this may not be enough to thoroughly clean the Other section.
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For a deeper cleaning in the Security app, click on the Garbage icon in the top corner to run a deep scan, which will take longer but find hidden caches.
Then you go to the storage settings. Go to Settings → About Phone → Storage. This is a memory visualization system. Click on "Other" or "System Data" if this option is available in your version of MIUI. Often the system itself will suggest clearing the cache of long-distant applications.
- 🗑️ Remove old local backups if you don’t need them.
- 📱 Clear the cache of the system application "Gallery", where the thumbnails of deleted photos are stored.
- 📄 Check the download folder for large archives you forgot to unpack.
- 🔄 Drop the cache. DNS Temporary files via the developer menu (if enabled).
This method allows you to safely free up 500 MB to 2 GB of space without risking system stability, but a radical solution to the problem will require more profound measures.
Analysis and cleaning of messengers: the main source of garbage
Statistics show that up to 80% of the space in the “Other” section on the Redmi Note 8T is occupied by instant messenger data. Telegram and WhatsApp are set to automatically save all received media files in the memory of the device, even if you have already viewed them.
In Telegram, you need to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you will see the exact size of the cache. Pressing the Clear Cache button will instantly free up gigabytes of space. Importantly, this will not remove your correspondence or photos from the cloud, they will remain available in the chat and will be re-loaded when viewed.
WhatsApp has a slightly more complicated procedure, because it stores files in a shared structure. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. The system sorts chats by volume. You can selectively remove heavy videos and documents from specific dialogues without deleting the correspondence itself.
Remember Viber and Facebook Messenger, which also have cache clearing options in their settings, and users often forget that voice messages and videos they send also rank in the Other section.
| Annex | Location of cleaning | Security of removal | Type of data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Settings → Use of memory | High (data in the cloud) | Cash media. |
| Settings → Data and Storage | Medium (requires a backup copy) | Photos, videos, databases. | |
| YouTube | Settings → General → Cash | Tall. | Temporary files |
| Chrome | Settings → Personal data | Medium (will be removed from accounts) | Cookie, cache sites. |
Regularly checking these settings once a month will keep the Other section within reasonable limits without the need for sophisticated tools.
Use of disk space analyzers
If standard MIUI tools don't give you details about what exactly bloated the Other section, specialized utilities will come to the rescue, and one of the most reliable and secure is Files by Google or DiskUsage.
DiskUsage scans the internal memory and displays the result as an interactive map. Each rectangle on the screen is a file or a folder. The larger the rectangle area, the more space it takes up, which allows you to visually find the culprit in seconds.
⚠️ Note: When using third-party analyzers, be careful with files that have the words system, config or android in the name. Only remove the content of user applications (photos, videos, social media cache).
You can use these programs to find forgotten folders, like you could download a movie in high resolution a month ago, watch it and forget to delete it, and for the system, it's just a set of bytes in the "Other" section, and for you, it's a 1.5GB free.
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Visual disk analyzers allow you to find hidden large files that don’t appear in the standard gallery or file manager.
It's also worth checking the Android/data folder. It's where apps store their work data. Sometimes the game you deleted leaves a gigabyte cache here. By manually deleting the contents of the folder with the name of the remote game, you clear that tail.
Radical methods: Resetting and flashing
When software cleaning doesn't work, and the Other section continues to grow, occupying a critical volume, the last resort is to completely reset the device to factory settings, and this method is guaranteed to remove all accumulated errors and debris.
Before starting the procedure, be sure to back up your important data to your computer or to the Google Drive/Mi Cloud cloud. Once reset, the phone will look like new, just out of the box.
☑️ Preparation for full discharge
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. The system will warn you to delete all information. Once you reboot, the Other section will be the minimum size necessary for the system to work.
The alternative is to flash the device through the computer using the Mi Flash Tool, a more complex process that requires unlocking the bootloader, which is recommended only for advanced users who want to install the latest version of MIUI.
Preventing memory overflow in the future
To prevent the “Other” partition problem on the Redmi Note 8T from returning in a month, it’s important to change your smartphone usage habits, and the main recommendation is not to store all media files solely in internal memory.
Use cloud services. Set up automatic synchronization of photos and videos in Google Photos with the “Free Space” feature, which removes from the device those pictures that have already been successfully uploaded to the cloud, leaving them available for viewing over the Internet.
The secret to quickly clearing the cache
It is also worth checking Downloads folder regularly, at least every two weeks, and browsers and instant messengers often save open documents and pictures that will never be needed again.
- 📅 Once a month, check your cache settings in Telegram and YouTube.
- ☁️ Transfer the photo archives to an external hard drive or computer.
- 🚫 Turn off auto-save media in WhatsApp and Viber settings.
- 🧹 Remove unused applications immediately without waiting for space shortages.
Compliance with these simple rules will allow your Xiaomi to work quickly and consistently throughout its life, avoiding critical filling of the system partition.