Xiaomi smartphones are known for their excellent price-performance ratio, but even powerful devices can slow down over time, often because of overflowing system memory. When storage is clogged with temporary files, app cache and residual debris, MIUI has difficulty writing new data, leading to lags and sudden shutdowns.
Many users mistakenly believe that it is enough to simply delete a few photos or applications to solve the problem, but the system partition requires a deeper approach. In this article, we will discuss proven methods of freeing up space that will help return your gadget to factory speed without the need to flash or contact a service center.
Analysis of occupied space through settings
Before you start taking any drastic measures, you need to know exactly what's taking up the lion's share of your device's resources. The MIUI shell has a powerful monitoring tool built in that allows you to explore the structure of the storage in detail. Go to Settings menu, then select About Phone and click on Warehouse.
The system will automatically analyze and present the data as a color diagram, and here you will see the distribution of space between applications, images, video, audio and system files, and the largest amount of data is 90% of the time the cache of messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp) and streaming services, and this is where you should start cleaning.
Note the "Other" section, which often hides forgotten downloads or remnants of deleted programs, and if this section takes up a disproportionate amount of space, use the built-in cleaning tool, which will be discussed below.
Use of the built-in "Security" application
Each Xiaomi smartphone has a Security system app preinstalled, which includes features for quick optimization, the first tool to run when space is scarce, and automatically scans the device for temporary files, junk advertising, and large unused files.
Launch the app and press Clean up. The system will suggest removing the data that is safe to delete. However, don't stop at the standard procedure. Scroll down to the Deep Cleanup section. Here you'll find more detailed settings.
- 🗑️ Files. APK: Application installation files that are no longer needed after installing the software.
- 📷 Screenshots and photos: often in the gallery accumulate thousands of unsuccessful frames and images from chat rooms.
- 📦 Remove applications: a list of rarely used programs that can be safely removed.
It is important to understand that the standard cleaning does not affect the cache of social networks in full. For instant messengers, it is better to use their internal settings, since the system tool can only delete a part of the temporary data, fearing damage to the program.
☑️ Daily Memory Hygiene
Manual cleaning of cache and application data
The most effective way to free up system memory is to manually manage application-specific data, and some programs, such as TikTok, Instagram, or browsers, can accumulate gigabytes of cached data over months of use.
To do this, go to Settings → Applications → All Apps. Select the heavy app from the list. In the menu that opens, look for the Memory or Storage button. Here you will see two options: Clear Cache and Clear Everything.
⚠️ Attention: Clicking the Clear Everything button will reset the application to a state immediately after installation, you will lose logins, saved passwords and settings inside the program. Use this feature only if you are ready to re-authorize.
Cleaning only the cache is a safe procedure, which deletes temporary files that the application creates to speed up the loading of content, and after this operation, the program can run a little slower on the first run until it re-forms the cache, but space in memory will be freed up instantly.
Why does the cache take up so much space?
Working with the Downloads folder and hidden garbage
The Download folder is the black hole in the memory of any Android smartphone, which automatically stores documents received in messengers, files from the browser and email attachments, and users often forget to check this section for years.
Open the standard File Manager Explorer or download a more advanced one, like Total Commander or Files by Google. Find Download. Sort files by size or date. You'll be surprised to find old game installers there, PDF-documents and saved images.
Also worth noting are hidden app folders, which are often found at the root of internal memory with social media names (e.g.,.Telegram,.Viber) and can be found inside the Images or Video folders, where all media content is copied from chat rooms.
- 📂 DCIM: Check Screenshots and Camera for duplicates.
- 💬 WhatsApp/Media: Inside the messenger folder are often hundreds of unnecessary “postcards” and statuses.
- 🌐 Browser: Browser folders may contain cached pages for offline access.
Comparison of cleaning methods: built-in tools against third-party
Users often argue about whether it is more effective: regular MIUI tools or third-party utilities like Clean Master or SD Maid. Let's discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach in the table below.
| Criteria | Embedded facilities (MIUI) | Third-party annexes |
|---|---|---|
| Security | High (systemic level) | Medium (risk of removing the desired) |
| Depth of cleaning | Surface (base cache) | Deep (residual files) |
| Impact on the battery | Minimum | Often require background work |
| Advertising | Present in the interface | Depends on the version (often a lot) |
Using third-party apps is only justified if you are an experienced user and understand what files can be deleted, otherwise a full-time cleaner is the safest choice for the average Xiaomi owner.
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For deep cleaning without installing excess software, connect your smartphone to your PC and use File Transfer mode to manually remove large, unnecessary archives and videos.
Optimizing storage through USB-debug ADB
For advanced users who want to get the most out of the system, there is a computer-based cleaning method using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) toolkit, which allows you to remove system debris that is not available to the average user without root rights.
First, you need to activate the developer mode. To do this, click on the version seven times. MIUI In the About menu, then in the advanced settings, turn on USB-You plug your phone into your PC and start the command line.
With the adb shell pm list packages command, you can list all packages, you need to remove system applications with extreme care, for example, you can remove unnecessary preinstalled services from Google or Xiaomi if you do not use them.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.example.bloatware⚠️ Removal of critical system components through ADB This can lead to a bootloop of the phone, only if you know the destination of the packet being removed.
This method doesn't so much clear the file space as it prevents it from being used by system processes and updates to unnecessary services, making the system more responsive.
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Regularly preventing overflows is more effective than a one-time emergency cleaning, and try not to fill up more than 85% of the storage.