How to completely clean SMS on Xiaomi smartphone: all ways

Xiaomi smartphones based on MIUI HyperOS automatically saves thousands of dollars SMS-It's not just about memory, but it's about old messages that can contain sensitive information, like confirmation codes, bank card details, or personal correspondence, POCO Mi, most likely, the system accumulated gigabytes of unnecessary data.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can delete SMS on Xiaomi, from basic cleaning through a standard app to hidden features and third-party utilities. You’ll learn how to delete messages selectively or all at once, how to set up automatic erasure of old SMS, and what to do if messages are not deleted. And also explain why simply clicking “Delete” does not always free up memory and how to fix it.

Why you should regularly clean SMS on Xiaomi

Many users ignore the message cleanup as “light” data, but in practice, even text messages can take hundreds of megabytes, especially if you’re talking about:

• 📱 Multimedia communications (MMS) — Photos, video and audio in messages “weigh” tens of times more than normal text.
• 🔄 Service notifications – banks, social networks and services send hundreds of the same type of SMS with codes, advertising and alerts.
• 🗄️ Backups – Some applications (such as Mi Cloud) automatically archive messages by duplicating them in memory.
• 🔍 System logs — MIUI It can store metadata even after it is deleted.

According to Xiaomi, the average user accumulates about 3-5 GB unnecessary SMS for 2-3 years of using a smartphone:

• 📉 Performance drops – a crowded message base slows down the Messages app».
• 🔒 Data leakage risks – old SMS may store passwords, access codes or personal information.
• 📱 Backup issues – Mi Cloud may refuse to sync messages due to overflow.

⚠️ Note: If you sell or transfer a smartphone, it is not enough to simply delete SMS via the app. → The phone. → Reset settings), otherwise the data can be restored using special utilities.

Method 1: Delete messages through the standard Messages app

The easiest way is to use the built-in Messages app, which is pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones and supports both manual and batch removal. Here's how it works:

1. Open the Messages app** (an envelope icon).
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Settings.
3. Go to Message Management or Message Clearing (the title may vary depending on the version) MIUI/HyperOS).
4. Choose one of the options: 🧹 Delete all messages – erase all correspondence. 📅 Delete messages older than... – allows you to set a time range (for example, “over 30 days»). 🔍 Selective removal – tick off unnecessary dialogues or messages.

If you need to delete messages from a specific sender (such as spam from a bank or service), do the following:

1. Open the dialogue with the right contact.
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Remove.
3. Confirm the action – all messages from this sender will be erased.

Are there any important messages (codes, passwords, confirmations)?

Is the right dialog backup done in Mi Cloud or Google Drive?

Are all active chats closed (e.g., with a bank or support team)?

Have Spam and Archive folders been checked for important data?-->

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 10 Pro) POCO X3 Pro) after mass removal of the SMS, there may be a synchronization error with Mi Cloud. To avoid this, before cleaning, turn off synchronization in Settings → Accounts. → Mi Cloud → Synchronization of messages.

Method 2: Automatically clean old SMS

If you are too lazy to manually delete messages, MIUI And HyperOS allows you to set up automatic erasure of old SMS, which is useful if you get a lot of one-time codes or advertising messages:

1. Open the "Messages" app**.
2. Go to Settings. → Additionally. → Autocleaning messages.
3. Activate the Automatic Removal Switch.
4. Set parameters: 📅 Age of messages – for example, “over 30 days». 📩 Type of message - only SMS, only MMS or. 🔄 Exceptions – you can add contacts from which messages will not be deleted (for example, from a bank or close friends).

Once set up, the system will check and delete eligibility messages weekly, which runs in the background and does not require manual start-up.

Once a month|Six months|Only when memory ends|Never clean.|Other-->

If the automatic cleaning does not work, check:

• 🔄 Time synchronization is enabled (Settings) → Additionally. → Date and time → Without the correct date, the system will not be able to identify “old” messages.
• 📵 Are there any restrictions on background activity for the Messages app (Settings) → Annexes → Communications → Battery → No restrictions).

Method 3: Cleaning through Optimization and Security

V MIUI HyperOS has a built-in Optimization tool that can find and delete unnecessary data, including SMS:

• 🗑️ You don’t remember where the old messages are stored.
• 📱 You need to make room quickly without manual search.
• 🔍 You want to know how much memory SMS is taking up.

Instructions:

1. Open the Security app** (the shield icon).
2. Go to the Optimization or Cleanup section.
3. Press Deep Clean (may be called Full Clean).
4. Wait until the scan is completed and find the Message block or SMS/MMS.
5. Tick the unnecessary data and click Clear.

The advantage of this method is that the system shows the exact amount of memory occupied and offers to delete not only the messages themselves, but also the associated cache and temporary files. For example, on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, after such cleaning, you can free up to 1-1.5 GB places where SMS has not been deleted for a long time.

⚠️ Note: Don't confuse "Message Clearing" with "Cache Clearing."The Messages app's cache takes up little space (usually < 50 MB), And the text itself can weigh gigabytes, and removing the cache won't free up a lot of memory.

Method 4: Using a file manager for manual cleaning

If standard methods don't work, you can manually delete SMS files through the file manager, which is suitable for advanced users because it requires access to system folders. Importantly, improper actions can lead to data loss or malfunction of the Message application.

Instructions:

1. Open any file manager with access to root folders (such as Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer).
2. Cross the path: /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db This file contains a database of all your SMS and MMS.
3. Delete the file mmssms.db (pre-back it up by copying it elsewhere).
4. Reboot your smartphone. Once you restart, the system will create a new database file (empty).

Alternative path (for some versions of MIUI):

/data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

If you have root access, you can also clear the attachment folder. MMS:

/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/app_PartTable/

💡

Before deleting mmssms.db, export important messages to a text file. SMS Backup & Restore (available on Google Play).

⚠️ Note: Deleting files manually will result in the loss of all messages without recovery (unless backup was available) and this method is recommended only in extreme cases, for example, if SMS takes up critically much space and standard methods do not work.

Method 5: Third-party applications for SMS management

If Xiaomi’s built-in tools don’t suit you, you can use third-party apps that offer advanced features such as:

• 🔍 Keyword packet removal (for example, delete all SMS with the word “promo code»).
• 📊 Usage statistics – how many messages from each sender.
• 🔄 Automatic archiving of important SMS to the cloud.
• 🔒 Encrypting confidential communications.

The best apps for Xiaomi:

To use a third-party application by default:

1. Install the selected application from Google Play.
2. Go to Settings. → Annexes → Default messages.
3. Select a new app from the list.

💡

When using third-party apps, turn off automatic cleaning in the standard Messages app to avoid conflicts.

What to do if the SMS is not deleted

Sometimes messages don't want to be deleted either through the app or through settings, and here are the most common reasons and solutions:

If none of the methods worked, try resetting the Messages app settings**:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Messages → Storage.
2. Click Clear Data and Clear Cache.
3. Confirm the action – all messages and settings of the application will be erased.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning SMS on Xiaomi