How to completely clean Xiaomi smartphone from garbage and unnecessary files: guide 2026

Your Xiaomi is slowing down and your memory is filled with obscure files? This is a classic symptom of "digital clutter" - a problem that every second smartphone owner faces after 6-12 months of use. Even flagship models like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra or Redmi Note 13 Pro+ are not immune to garbage accumulation: temporary application files, remnants of deleted programs, duplicate photos and cache system processes eat up gigabytes of memory.

Unlike computers that can install specialized deep cleaning software, Android smartphones require a comprehensive approach, not only to remove unnecessary files, but also to properly configure the system so that garbage does not accumulate again. This article presents unique cleaning techniques that you will not find in standard MIUI instructions, including hidden features and safe workarounds for models with MIUI 14/15.

Why Xiaomi is quickly clogged with garbage: 3 main reasons

Xiaomi’s smartphone performance depends not only on hardware, but also on how the system manages resources. Even on top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or Dimensity 9200+ processors, users face lags due to:

• 🗑️ Aggressive caching MIUI: It stores app data just in case, even if you haven't used it in a long time. For example, TikTok or Instagram cache can take up to a few hours. 2-3 GB.
• 📦 Remnants of Remote Applications: When uninstalling programs often leave folders in the /Android/data/ or /Android/obb/.
• 🔄 Previous PostPrevious Media Files: Xiaomi automatically creates thumbnails for photos (.thumbnail) and copies for cloud backup.

Interesting fact: MIUI 14 has a Deep Clean feature, but it only works with system debris and does not affect user files. And MIUI 15 (beta 2026) added analysis of the “digital footprint” of applications, now you can see which programs are active in the background and how much traffic they consume.

Preparation for cleaning: what to do before you start

Before you start deleting files, follow 3 mandatory steps to avoid losing important data:

1. Backup via Settings → Xiaomi Cloud → Backup. This is especially critical for owners of POCO F5 or Redmi K70, where automatic saving to the cloud is disabled by default.
2. Check the space in Settings → About Phone → Storage. If less than 10% of the total volume is free, the system starts to slow down.
3. Turn off background activity of unnecessary applications in Settings → Apps → Permissions → Auto Run.

⚠️ Note: if you use root rights or custom firmware (e.g. PixelExperience), standard cleaning methods may cause failures. TWRP wipe cache/dalvik manually.

Create a backup in MI Cloud

Check the vacant space (should be >10%)

Disable auto-run of unnecessary applications

Close all active programs

Connect the charger (if the battery level <30%)

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Method 1: Integrated cleaning of MIUI (for beginners)

The easiest method is to use the standard Cleanup tool, which is available on all Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 12 and later.

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Click on the Cleaning → Deep Cleaning.
3. Wait for the analysis to be completed (it may take 1-3 minutes).
4. Click Clean and confirm the action.

This method removes:

• 🧹 Application and system process cache
• 📂 Temporary download files (/Download/temp/)
• 🗃️ Empty folders and incorrect labels

🔹 Restriction: Built-in cleaning does not remove:

• 🚫 Duplicate photo/video
• 🚫 Residual files of remote applications
• 🚫 Cache of system updates (/cache/ota/)

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If the memory is less than 500MB free after cleaning, it means that the debris has accumulated in places that are not available to standard tools.

Method 2: Manually clean through file manager (advanced layer)

For users who are ready to dive into the structure of the file system, manual cleaning gives the best results.

1. Open Files → go to the Categories → Cash section.
2. Select all files (long press → tick at the top) and click Delete.
3. Go back to the root folder and follow the path: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/ Here, look for folders from long-deleted applications (e.g. com.tencent.ig for PUBG Mobile if the game is removed).
4. Delete the.thumbdata folders in DCIM and Pictures – these are thumbnails of photos that take up to 1 GB.

⚠️ Warning: Do not delete folders of existing applications (for example, com.whatsapp or com.xiaomi.gallery) - this will cause malfunctions in their work. → Annexes.

Method 3: Cleaning through ADB (for technical users)

If the standard methods didn't work and you don't want to get root rights, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which is a method that is suitable for cleaning the system cache without the risk of losing data.

1. Enable USB Debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times on the line with the version, then go back to Additional → For Developers).
2. Connect the phone to the PC and confirm the debugging permission.
3. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (Mac/Linux) and type: adb shell pm clear --user 0 com.miui.cleanmaster This command will reset the settings of a standard cleaner, which sometimes helps with hanging.
4. To clear the cache of all user applications: adb shell pm trim-caches -f 100

🔹 Advantage of the method: ADB It allows you to clear the cache of system applications (such as Mi Video or Mi Browser) that are not normally available for manual cleaning.

Method 4: Removing duplicate photos and videos

One of the biggest memory eaters is duplicate media files, which are produced when:

• 📸 Import photos from other devices (for example, through Xiaomi Share)
• 🔄 Automatic backup in Google Photos or Mi Cloud
• 🎥 Videotaping in mode HDR10+ (Additional files are created for processing)

To search for duplicates:

1. Use Files by Google (available in Play Market) to find identical and similar photos.
2. In manual mode, look for files with the same names in the folders: DCIM/Camera/DCIM/Screenshots/ Pictures/WeChat/ Pictures/Telegram/
3. For video, check the Movies/ folder – there are often unsuccessful take-ups after editing in CapCut or Mi Video Editor.

💡 Tip: Before removing duplicates, sort files by date (Files) → Categories → Images → Sorting → Most of the time, the originals are the earliest in the world.

Method 5: Optimizing MIUI to reduce waste

To prevent the garbage from accumulating again, set up the system correctly:

• ⚙️ Turn off automatic media download in messengers: 📱 WhatsApp: Settings → Warehouse → Autoboot media → Select "Only over Wi-Fi" or "Never". 💬 Telegram: Settings → Data and memory → Autoboot media → disconnect for mobile data.
• 🗑️ Set up automatic cleaning: Open Security → Cleanup → Settings (⚙️) → Autoclean. Turn on the option and set a schedule (e.g. every week at 3:00 a.m).
• 📁 Transfer rarely used files to the cloud: → Categories → Images highlight old photos → Share. → Mi Cloud. After downloading the originals can be removed from the phone (Option "Free space").

⚠️ Attention: If you are using SD-The card is an internal memory (Adoptable Storage function), do not transfer frequently used applications to it. This slows down the system due to the slow read/write speed of the memory cards.

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Regular cleaning of cache and duplicates can free up to 30% of memory, but the real performance gains are due to optimization of background processes and automatic media download.

Method 6: Reset to factory settings (last resort)

If all the previous methods didn't work, and the phone still brakes, it's a complete reset, and it will delete all the data, including:

• 📱 Installed applications and their data
• 📂 Media files (photos, videos, music)
• 🔧 System settings (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, accounts)

How to do the reset correctly:

1. Create a backup copy (see the section "Preparation").
2. Go to Settings → About Phone → Resetting → Erase all data.
3. Select to erase internal storage (if you need to clean and SD-map, mark the corresponding item).
4. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot (it will take 5-10 minutes).

🔹 Important: after a reset, do not restore data from the backup immediately - first check the phone's "clean" system. Often lags return due to the restoration of old settings or damaged files.

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Xiaomi models with MIUI 15 have the option “Easy reset” (Settings → About phone → Reset → Easy reset), which saves media files and some settings, removing only applications and cache.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi cleanup