How to Clean the Other section in Xiaomi memory: The Complete 2026 Guide

Why is Xiaomi’s Other section growing like a snowball?

Have you ever looked into your Xiaomi memory settings and found with horror that the mysterious “Other” section took up half of the internal storage? 10 GB, 20 GB, or even all 30 GB – and it’s not clear where they went. This phenomenon is familiar to every second owner of smartphones on MIUI, and the problem is relevant for both the flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra and the budget Redmi Note 12.

In fact, Other is not just garbage, but hidden system files that MIUI does not classify as standard categories (photos, videos, apps).

• 🗑️ System application cache (including Google Services and Mi Cloud duplicates)
• 📁 Residual files after deleting programs (incorrectly erased) APK, setting)
• 🔄 Logs and dumps (reports of errors that are MIUI malfunction)
• 📱 Update files (firmware residues that have not been deleted after installation)

Worst of all, the standard Cleanup feature in MIUI ignores most of these files, and if you've ever tried to manually delete something from the /data folder through a Explorer, you know that the system will simply recover what's lost the next time you reboot. So how is it safe to reduce the volume of the Other without losing data and without rooting rights?

Method 1: Deep Cleaning through “Safety” (without root)

The simplest method that works on MIUI 12-14 is to use the built-in Security app, which can find and remove system debris that is not visible in the standard cleaning menu.

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to the Cleanup section. → Deep cleaning.
3. Wait for the scan (may take 2-5 minutes).
4. Click Clean and confirm the action.

⚠️ Attention: If the volume of the Other has not decreased after cleaning, then the debris is hidden deeper, in which case only manual cleaning or resetting the cache through Recovery will help).

This method removes up to 3-7 GB of garbage, but does not touch critical system files. If you want to clean more, read on.

Method 2: Manual removal of the cache of system applications

Many MIUI applications (especially Mi Cloud, Mi Video, and Google Play Services) accumulate gigabytes of cache, which the system classifies as "Other" and can be manually removed:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Sort the list by size (click on the three dots in the upper right corner).
3. Select an app with a large cache (like Google Play Services or Mi Cloud).
4. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.

🔍 Which apps to clean first?

• 📱 Google Play Services (can take up to 2–5 GB)
• ☁️ Mi Cloud (stores duplicate backups)
• 🎥 Mi Video and Gallery (cash miniatures and previews)
• 📱 Android System WebView (accumulates web browsing data)

⚠️ Note: Do not clear the cache of Android System applications or MIUI System, this can cause interface failures, and don't delete data (Clean data), or the app will reset to factory settings.

💡

If the app starts to slow down after cleaning the cache, just restart the phone. The cache will recover automatically, but in an optimized form.

Method 3: Cleaning through Recovery Mode (for experienced)

If the first two methods didn't work, and the "Other" section is still tens of gigabytes long, it's time to move to tough measures.Cache cleaning through Recovery removes temporary system files that aren't available in normal mode, a method that works on all Xiaomi smartphones, including POCO and Black Shark.

📌 Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power + Volume buttons up until the Mi logo appears.
3. In the Recovery menu, select the language (if required).
4. Go to Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
5. Confirm the action and wait for the completion.
6. Restart the phone (Reboot).

📊 What does it mean?

⚠️ Warning: Do not confuse Wipe Cache with Wipe Data! The second option will completely reset the phone to factory settings, deleting all your data. Also, do not use this method more than 1 time every 2-3 months - this can disrupt the stability of the system.

Method 4: Removing unnecessary themes and wallpaper

Few people know, but MIUI stores all downloaded themes, wallpapers and fonts in the Other section, even if you deleted them from the gallery long ago.These files can take up to 5-10 GB, especially if you often experiment with the design.

🔧 How to cleanse:

1. Open the Themes app (Themes).
2. Go to My subjects. → Loaded.
3. Remove all unnecessary themes (click and hold → Delete).
4. Then go to Wallpaper and remove the uploaded background images.

💡 Where else are unnecessary files hidden?

• 🎨 folder MIUI/Theme internal memory (can be cleaned through a conductor)
• 📱 folder Android/data/com.miui.player (music player cache)
• 📁 folder DCIM/.thumbnails (photo and video miniatures)

If you've never used custom themes, but the Other section is still big, check the MIUI/Theme folder for files with the.mtz extension.

Method 5: Disconnecting unnecessary system processes

MIUI is known for running a lot of background processes that constantly write data to the Other section, such as Mi Cloud backing up every few hours, and Mi Analytics sending usage logs, which can reduce garbage growth by 30 to 50 percent.

🛠️ What can be turned off without risk:

• ☁️ Autosynchronization of Mi Cloud (Settings) → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → Synchronization → disable unnecessary items)

⚠️ Warning: Disabling Mi Cloud will stop automatic backup of contacts and notes. If critical, leave sync on, but reduce the frequency of reservations to 1 time per week.

Method 6: Dalvik and ART cache reset (for advanced)

If you're willing to take risks to free up an extra 1 to 3 GB, you can reset the Dalvik cache and ART, which are temporary files that Android creates to speed up applications. Cleaning them won't delete your data, but it can slightly slow down the first program download after rebooting.

🔧 Instructions (required) ADB):

1. Enable USB Debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times) → Additional settings → Developer settings.
2. Connect the phone to the PC and open the command line (cmd).
3. Enter the commands adb shell su rm -r /data/dalvik-cache/* rm -r /data/app-lib/*
4. Reboot the phone.

⚠️ Attention: This method requires root rights or an unlocked bootloader, without which commands will not work, and after cleaning the first 5-10 minutes of the phone, you can experience a slowdown, which is normal, since the system restores the cache.

💡

Cleaning Dalvik cache gives you a temporary increase in free space, but does not solve the problem forever. For a permanent effect, combine this method with others (for example, turning off unnecessary processes).

Method 7: Complete reset (last resort)

If none of the methods worked, and the Other section still takes up an unnecessarily large amount of space, the last option is a complete reset, which is a radical solution, but it is guaranteed to clear all hidden files, including:

• 🗃️ Residual data of remote applications
• 📜 System logs and dumps
• 🔄 Incorrectly installed updates
• 📁 Fragmented files that are not deleted by standard methods

🔄 How to Reset Your Phone Without Losing Your Important Data:

1. Back up via Mi Cloud or Google Drive (contacts, photos, messages).
2. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset → Reset settings.
3. Choose to erase all data and confirm.
4. After reset, restore the data from the backup (but don’t restore system settings!).

⚠️ Warning: After reset, do not restore backup system settings, this will return all the debris you tried to remove).

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi’s “Other” section