How to Clean WhatsApp Backup on Xiaomi

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a shortage of internal memory, and one of the main reasons for this is the WhatsApp messenger. The application by default saves all media files and backs up dialogues that can take up gigabytes of free space over time, especially for models with a small amount of internal storage, where every megabyte is in the account.

The process of clearing backups is not as obvious as simply deleting messages, as data can be stored both locally in the device’s memory and in Google Drive cloud storage. Mistakes can lead to the irretrievable loss of important correspondence, so you need to clearly understand the difference between deleting chat history and cleaning archived backup files.

In this article, we will take a look at all available methods for freeing up space on your Redmi or Poco, learn how to manage the size of cloud copies, how to find and delete hidden local files through the file manager, and what settings will help prevent memory overflow in the future.

Managing backups in Google Drive

The main way to save your email history for most Android users is through Google Drive, which is where WhatsApp automatically uploads message archives, and this is the amount of data that is often ignored when trying to make room on your phone. It's important to understand that removing an app from your phone doesn't always clear a copy in the cloud.

To manage this data, you need to go to the settings of the storage itself, and you can do this not only through the browser on your computer, but also directly from your Xiaomi smartphone. Open the Google Drive app or go to the settings of your Google account through the Settings → Google system menu.

⚠️ Attention: Deleting the backup in Google Drive will make it impossible to restore your correspondence history when you reinstall the messenger or change your device.

In the storage management interface, you'll find a backup section that shows the weight of all the app data you've saved, search in the WhatsApp list and select the delete option, and then the vacated space will return to your total Google account limit.

It is worth noting that the changes may not take effect immediately; Google servers take some time to recalculate the amount of workload, and if you do not see any changes after deleting, try restarting the device or waiting a few hours.

Cleaning Local Backup Files

Even if you use cloud storage, WhatsApp creates local copies by default on the internal smartphone drive. On Xiaomi devices with a MIUI shell or HyperOS, these files are often hidden in system folders and are not visible when you normally browse the gallery.

To find them, open the standard Explorer or Files app. You need to take a path that in modern Android versions looks like Android → media → com.whatsapp → WhatsApp → Databases. In older versions of firmware, the path may be simpler: WhatsApp → Databases at the root of internal memory.

In this folder, you will find files with names like msgstore.db.crypt14 (current database) and files with dates, such as msgstore-2023-10-05.1.db.crypt14. These are old backups that can be safely deleted if you do not plan to revert to the state of correspondence on a specific date.

Deleting these files will not affect the current correspondence you see in right now. you will only clear the archived recovery points. However, if you delete the msgstore.db.crypt file without a date, then the next launch WhatsApp may try to recover data from the cloud or report the lack of a local database.

Automatic Deletion and Copy Frequency

To prevent the memory overflow from recurring, it is advisable to change the settings for the frequency of backups. WhatsApp can create them daily by default, which, when used actively, leads to a rapid increase in the amount of occupied space.

Go to the messenger settings, select the Chats section, and then the Chat Backup option, and you can change the frequency from Daily to Weekly or Monthly, which will significantly reduce the load on your Xiaomi disk space.

Also available on this menu is the important exclusion option, which allows you to set up text-only copying, eliminating the videos that take up the most space, by unchecking the "Including Video" box before starting the backup process.

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Turn off mobile data transmission for backup, which will prevent unexpected traffic consumption if you forget to connect to Wi-Fi.

Another effective method is to use the Storage Management feature inside the app itself. WhatsApp allows you to see which chats take up the most space and delete large files selectively without deleting the entire correspondence history.

Using the “Security” app on Xiaomi

Xiaomi smartphone owners are lucky to have a powerful built-in cleaning tool, the Security app, which can find large files, duplicates and cache of applications, including WhatsApp data.

Run the Security app and select Clean up. The system will analyze the memory and suggest removing the Garbage. Be careful: a standard cleaning may not affect the chat database, but it will do a great job with the cache of images and temporary files.

For a deeper cleanup, use the Deep Cleanup function or go to the application management section inside the utility. Search in the WhatsApp list and click Clear Data. Here, it is important not to confuse the buttons: Clear Cache is safe, and Clear All Data will delete the messenger and all correspondence.

Using MIUI tools is preferable to installing third-party cleaners, which often contain ads and may not work correctly on new versions of Android.

Radical methods: resetting and reinstallation

If memory is critically busy and standard methods don’t free up enough space, you can resort to a complete reinstallation of the application, the most effective way to remove all the accumulated “garbage” that may have formed over the years of use.

Before starting the procedure, make sure to create a fresh backup in Google Drive. Then uninstall the WhatsApp app completely. After re-installing and confirming the phone number, the messenger will prompt you to restore the history from the cloud.

⚠️ Note: When you recover from the cloud, all media files will be downloaded back to your phone. To avoid this, immediately after installation, turn off autoload media in WhatsApp settings before starting the recovery process.

There is a nuance with local files, and if WhatsApp finds a local file in the Databases folder when reinstalling it, it can restore data from it by ignitioning the cloud, so it is recommended that you manually clean the database folder before reinstall, as described in the second section.

Once installed, the application size will be minimal, and any files left over from remote people or groups you left years ago will disappear forever, giving the application a new phone effect.

Preventing memory overflow in the future

To avoid revisiting the issue of cleaning regularly, you should implement several useful habits of using the messenger on Xiaomi, the main of which is to control the automatic saving of media. In the Chat settings, turn off the option “Media Visibility” so that photos and videos do not duplicate in the phone gallery.

Check the Storage and Data section inside WhatsApp regularly, once a month, and the app will show you the memory graphs by day and chat. Deleting the three or four heaviest group chats can free up more space than cleaning the system cache.

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Regularly manually checking the Storage section inside WhatsApp is more effective than any automatic cleaners, as it allows you to evaluate the context of files before deleting.

Also consider using Chat Archivation for rarely used dialogs. While it doesn’t remove files from the device completely, it helps structure data and find debris sources faster when needed.

Using cloud services to store rare files (sending them to your favorites and then deleting them from your phone) also helps keep most of the storage free. Xiaomi often provides 5GB in its Mi Cloud, which can be integrated for backup photos.

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