How to Clean Xiaomi System: Optimization Guide

Modern Xiaomi smartphones running on the shell of MIUI or HyperOS, over time accumulate a significant amount of temporary files and system debris. This is an inevitable process of operation, which leads to slowdown of the interface, the appearance of friezes in applications and rapid battery discharge. Users often notice that a year or two after purchase, the device begins to work less responsive, although it used to fly.

Cleaning up your system on Xiaomi is not just about removing photos, but about eliminating hidden caches, residual files from deleted programs, and erroneous logs. In this article, we’ll look at how to safely and efficiently restore your gadget to its previous speed using built-in tools and trusted third-party utilities.

Memory Occupancy Analysis and Hidden Files Search

Before you start taking drastic measures, you need to understand what exactly occupies space in the memory of your device, and often users do not even realize that instant messengers or streaming services can take up tens of gigabytes.

Go to Settings → About Phone → Storage, where the system will analyze the data itself and show you the breakdown by category: apps, images, video, audio, etc. Pay attention to the Other section, which is often where the largest volumes of non-obvious garbage are hidden.

• 📱 Apps: Check out the list of the most “heavy” programs, often social networks or games.
• 📸 Media files: remove duplicate photos and videos that may have been left after synchronization.
• 📦 Downloads: Download folder is often clogged with installations APK-files that are no longer needed.

If you see that the memory is almost full (over 90%), the system may start to work unstable, in which case it is critical to free at least 3-5 GB of free space for normal virtual memory operation and caching processes.

Use of the built-in "Security" application

Every Xiaomi smartphone has a Security app installed out of the box, a powerful tool that should not be ignored, as it has deep access to system files and knows what can be deleted without risk to the OS.

Launch the app and click on the Clean Up button.The scanner will automatically find temporary files, cache and residues from remote apps.The process takes only a few seconds, but the result can be surprising - often freed up from 500MB to 2GB of space.

But don't just rely on automatic mode. There are sections in the cleaner menu for more in-depth work:

• 🧹 Deep Cleanup: Finds Big Files You May Have Forgotten and Duplicates.
• 📱 Cleaning applications: allows you to select specific programs to remove their cache.
• 🗑️ Removal APK: automatically finds application installation files.

⚠️ Note: When using Deep Clean, carefully monitor which files are marked for deletion. Sometimes the system may mark important documents or saved files from messengers as "large files».

Cleaning the app cache manually

Automatic cleaners don’t always handle the cache of popular apps like Telegram, TikTok, or YouTube, and they create huge amounts of temporary data that can swell to incredible sizes, requiring manual intervention to remove it.

You need to go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find a “heavy” app like Instagram. Go to it and select Memory. Here you will see two buttons: “Clean” and “Delete.” Click “Clean” to erase the cache.

This procedure is safe for your personal data: logins, passwords and correspondence are saved, only temporary files are deleted, which the app downloads again if necessary, and this is a great way to make room without losing progress in games or accounts.

Removing system debris through the developer menu and ADB

For advanced users who want to get the most out of their system, there is the option of clearing system logs and temporary files through USB debugging.This method requires a connection to a computer and an installed ADB (Android Debug Bridge) package.

First, you need to activate the developer mode. To do this, go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click on the MIUI version number 7 times. After that, a new option will appear in the menu “Additional” (or “Advanced Settings”), where you need to turn on “Debugging by USB”.

Connect your phone to your PC and execute a command to clear Dalwick's cache and system temporary files. This can help if the phone starts to work strangely after the system update.

adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999

This command forcibly removes the cache of all applications, even those that are normally protected from cleaning, and be careful that after this procedure, when the applications are first launched, they may run a little slower until they form a new cache.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-Incorrect commands can lead to deletion of system files or unstable operation of the OS. Use this method only if you understand what you are doing.

Comparison of cleaning methods: efficiency table

To make it easier for you to choose the right way to maintain your system, we have prepared a comparison table that will help you understand which method is best used in your situation.

As you can see from the table, the best way to do everyday use is to use a combination of a standard application and manually clean the cache of heavy programs, and ADB methods are best reserved for cases where other methods do not work.

Third-party cleaning applications: should I install?

There are thousands of cleaning apps in the Google Play marketplace, such as CCleaner, Clean Master or Files by Google. Should they be installed on Xiaomi? In most cases, this is not necessary, since the built-in MIUI/HyperOS tools work quite efficiently.

However, if you need specific functionality, such as searching for identical photos or a more detailed analysis of folder structure, third-party utilities can be useful. Files by Google is one of the few apps that is recommended for installation, as it does not contain intrusive advertising and works delicately.

Avoid installing “RAM accelerators” and aggressive cleaners that promise to increase the battery by 200%, often using resources and displaying ads, slowing down the system instead of speeding it up.

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Before installing any cleaner, check the permits they request. If a simple cleaner requires access to contacts and a microphone, that's an excuse to refuse to install it.

Cardinal measures: Reset to factory settings

If nothing works, the phone continues to slow down, glitch or heat up, and the last and most effective method is a complete system reset, which will return the device to a state of “shop-like” by deleting absolutely all data.

Before starting the procedure, be sure to back up all important data to the cloud service or computer. After resetting, it will be impossible to restore deleted files. Go to Settings → About Phone → Reset and select “Delete all data”.

It takes 5 to 15 minutes. The phone will reboot, and you'll have to reset the initial setup. This is the most radical, but also the most effective way to clean up Xiaomi's system of any software debris, viruses and bugs accumulated over the years.

⚠️ Warning: Make sure the battery is at least 50-60% interruption of the process due to discharge can cause damage to the bootloader and the need to flash through the computer.

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Complete reset is not a panacea, but a last resort, and use it only when software cleaning and removal of applications have ceased to work.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)