Owners of the Redmi Note 9 Pro series often face the unfortunate situation of the system reporting a lack of space, and when you try to analyze the storage, it turns out that the lion's share is occupied by an invisible block, which is marked as "Other" in the MIUI interface, this category can grow to 10, 20 and even 30 gigabytes, turning a fast gadget into a slow device that constantly requires attention.
Why is this happening and where exactly is your memory gone? Android and Xiaomi's shell classify files that are not standard media (photos, videos, music) or apps into this category. This includes messenger cache, remnants of remote programs, system logs and temporary update files. Another is a delicate process that requires understanding the structure of the file system so as not to delete the extra.
In this detailed guide, we’ll break down all the proven ways to free up space on your Redmi Note 9 Pro. We won’t rely on questionable accelerator programs, but instead look at the full-time tools and proven methods that are guaranteed to return you precious gigabytes.
What's Hiding in the Other Category on the Redmi Note 9 Pro
Before we take any action, we need to understand the nature of the mysterious partition, and the Other category is a kind of black box of the MIUI file manager, where the system puts everything it couldn't identify, and most often, messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp become the main memory eater.
These applications store cache of viewed images, videos and documents into hidden folders that the standard analyzer does not see as media files, but as system debris, and can accumulate location data, application error logs and temporary files left over from failed installations or updates.
⚠️ Attention: Blindly deleting files through your computer indiscriminately can result in the loss of important settings or correspondence. Always check the contents of folders before cleaning!
Another reason for this category may be streaming services and browsers, which cache content for fast downloads, but often forget to delete it. On the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro with its screen solution, cache can take up a significant amount of volume, as thumbnails and previews are preserved in high quality.
💡
Use the built-in storage analyzer in the settings to see a rough breakdown by application, even if they are hidden in the Other category.
Basic cleaning through the standard Security application
The easiest and safest way to start the fight for free space is to use the built-in tool from Xiaomi.Security app is already preinstalled on the Redmi Note 9 Pro and has access to system partitions that are not available for third-party programs.
To start the procedure, go to the menu and select Security. In the window that opens, click on the Cleanup icon. The system will quickly analyze and prompt you to remove obvious debris. However, this is not enough to work with the Other category.
You have to go to Clean up (a flashlight icon) and scroll down to Deep Cleanup or Storage Analysis, where the algorithm works more carefully. It scans large files, duplicates and remnants of deleted applications. Deep cleaning allows you to safely delete files larger than 100 MB, which are often hidden in the Other section.
- 🧹 Run a standard cleanup to delete temporary system files.
- 📂 Go to the “Big Files” section and sort them by size.
- 🗑️ Check the Unknown Files folder carefully before deleting it.
- ⚙️ Use the “Cache Clearance” function for all installed applications.
So after manually cleaning, check the settings of the most “heavy” programs, such as social networks.
☑️ Basic cleaning MIUI
Analysis of storage and work with messengers
As practice shows, up to 80% of the volume of the folder “Other” on the Redmi Note 9 Pro is occupied by data messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and Instagram store the history of media files in their closed databases. The standard gallery does not see them, but they occupy a huge place.
To clean up effectively, you need to go inside each messenger. In Telegram, for example, you should go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. You can see how much space the cache takes up and clean it with a single button. This action will not delete your correspondence, but will cause the application to download images again if necessary.
On WhatsApp, the situation is similar. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage. The system will show a detailed breakdown by chat, often it turns out that in common groups there are hundreds of megabytes of unnecessary videos and GIFs, which inflate the category “Other”.
| Annex | The path to cleanup | Security of data | Average cache volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Settings → Data and memory | Safe (messages remain) | 2-5GB |
| Settings → Storage | Safe (media removed) | 1-4 GB | |
| Viber | More. → Settings → Memory. | Safe. | 500MB - 2GB |
| Phone settings → Applications | Requires entry again | 500MB - 1.5GB |
After clearing the messenger cache, the category “Other” is usually reduced by several gigabytes instantly, and if this did not happen, it is possible that the folders were left “orphaned” files from long-deleted accounts.
Why is the messenger cache growing so fast?
Using Files by Google for in-depth analysis
If standard MIUI tools don't work, Google's official Files by Google app will come to the rescue, which is often pre-installed on your smartphone, but if it's not, it's recommended to download from the Play Market, which is one of the best tools for detecting hidden files.
Launch the app and go to the Cleanup tab. Google's algorithm works differently than Xiaomi's and can find files that other analyzers ignore. Pay special attention to the Hidden Files and Large Files sections.
Clear Now will prompt you to delete temporary application files, and unlike system cleaning, you can see in more detail which application created the file, allowing you to spot the debris from specific programs without affecting important system processes.
- 📥 Download Files by Google if the app is not on your device.
- 🔍 Use a file type search to find hidden videos or archives.
- 🗑️ Delete files larger than 50 MB, the origin of which is sure.
- 📊 Regularly check the “Free Place” tab to monitor the dynamics.
The uniqueness of this method is that it can detect forgotten downloads in the Download folder, which formally belong to the category “Other”, as they have a non-standard extension or do not have metadata.
Manual cleaning through the file manager
For advanced users who want to get the most out of it, manual cleaning is available, a method that requires caution, but allows you to get to the very depths of the Redmi Note 9 Pro file system. You will need a standard Explorer or a more functional Mi Explorer.
Go to the root folder of internal memory, we're interested in the directories of Android/data and Android/obb. This is where the application data is stored. Be careful: deleting folders of system applications can lead to instability. Look for folders with the names of remote games or programs.
It's also worth checking the folder. MIUI/Gallery/Cloud and MIUI/debug_log. The first can be left with thumbnails of deleted photos, and the second – debugging logs, which sometimes grow to gigabytes if the developer mode is turned on.
⚠️ Warning: Never delete folders with system, vendor, boot, or files with the.apk extension unless you know exactly what they are responsible for.
Another hidden area is the.thumbnails folder inside the DCIM directory. It can be hidden (starts with a dot.) It stores gallery thumbnails. If you delete thousands of photos, this folder can weigh a lot. It can be cleaned, but the gallery will open longer the next time you run.
💡
Manual cleaning is the best, but requires knowledge of the structure of Android. Always back up important data before removing system folders.
Radical measures: Resetting and reflashing
If none of the methods helped reduce the size of the Other folder and it continues to grow, it may be that the system has crashed the file table or accumulated a critical amount of system debris that is not removed by regular means.
The first step is a full Hard Reset. Before you do that, make sure to back up all contacts, photos and documents to your computer or the cloud. Go to Settings → About Phone → Reset → Erase all data. This will bring the phone back to factory status, guaranteed to clear the Other section.
Even if the reset didn’t help (which is extremely rare and indicates physical memory degradation or firmware bugs), only the firmware remains: Installing clean global firmware via MIUI bootloader or Recovery Mode will overwrite all system partitions, eliminating any software errors of memory metering.
- 💾 Make a full backup of the data before resetting.
- 🔋 Charge your phone to at least 60% before the procedure begins.
- 📲 Use the original cable to connect to your PC when flashing.
- ⏳ Do not interrupt the reset process, even if it seems to be hanging.
After returning to factory settings, the Other category usually takes up the minimum possible volume (about 2-4 GB), which is the norm for Android.