How to Clean Xiaomi Phone From Unnecessary Files

Owners of Xiaomi smartphones sooner or later face the problem of crowded memory, which significantly slows down the device and causes discomfort when using. When RAM is clogged and the drive is full, the system begins to work unstable, applications fly out, and downloading takes longer than usual, which is why the question of how to clean the phone from unnecessary files of shaomi, becomes one of the most pressing for users who want to extend the life of their gadget.

MIUI and its state-of-the-art HyperOS shell have powerful built-in maintenance tools, but they don’t always cope with the deep debris accumulated over the years. In this article, we’ll take a look at all the cleaning techniques available, from standard tools to advanced techniques that will free up gigabytes of space. You’ll learn how to safely remove cache, duplicate photos and remnants of remote applications without harming the operating system.

Use of the built-in "Security" application

The first and most obvious tool that is already installed in your smartphone is the standard Security app, designed by Xiaomi engineers specifically to monitor the state of the system and includes a Cleanup feature that scans the device for temporary files, residual debris and large files, and launching this tool allows you to quickly delete data that the system no longer needs to work properly, freeing up space in seconds.

But it's important to understand that the automatic analyzer doesn't always delete everything that can be deleted, because it works with conservative algorithms to avoid damaging important user data. For more thorough verification, manually go to the Memory and Big Files sections, where the system will suggest sorting content by size, often containing forgotten video files, archives and installation packages that occupy a significant part of the storage.

It is important to do this regularly to keep your speed high, and if you use your smartphone actively, cleaning it weekly with a standard tool will be a good habit to prevent critical filling.

⚠️ Attention: The Security app often contains promotional offers and recommendations for installing other applications. Be careful when pressing buttons so that you do not accidentally install excess software.

Deep cleaning of the cache of applications and messengers

The main consumer of free space in modern smartphones are messengers such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber. These applications store all the photos, videos and documents you viewed in local memory, creating huge amounts of cached data that are often duplicated or no longer relevant. To clean up a Xiaomi phone from this garbage, it is not enough to simply remove the application, since when you re-install the download history can be restored from the backup or cloud.

The most effective way is to go to the settings of each particular application and find the Memory Use or Data and Storage section, where you will see a detailed breakdown by file type and you will be able to selectively delete media files from certain chats or channels, for example, Telegram can set up automatic cache cleanup if it exceeds a certain size, which will save you from having to do this manually.

For system applications and other programs, the path to cleaning is through the settings menu of the smartphone itself. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications, select the desired program and click the Clean button.

• 🗑️ Cache Clearing: Deletes temporary files, speeding up the application, but saving your logins and settings.
• 🧹 Cleaning all data: completely resets the application to a “post-installation” state, removing accounts and personal settings.
• 📂 File management: allows you to see which folders the application occupies on the disk.

⚠️ Note: When you select Clear all data, you will lose your app authorization and local settings. Use this feature only if you are sure you remember your login passwords.

Analysis and removal of large files and duplicates

Often users are unaware that a significant portion of memory is occupied by forgotten downloads, screenshots and duplicate photos. Android file system tends to save copies of images when editing or sending through different messengers, creating chaos in the gallery. To combat this, the MIUI shell has a built-in analyzer, but third-party file managers such as Files by Google or the standard Explorer can show a more detailed picture.

It is recommended to manually walk through the folders Download, DCIM And Pictures, and this is where the digital trash is most often accumulated: the old ones. PDF-documents, installations APK-Updated software files and blurred images: Deleting such files is safe and will not affect the system, but can free up several gigabytes of useful space.

And the special attention you need to pay attention to is the.thumbnails folder, which is in the hidden DCIM section, which stores thumbnails of your photos for quick display in the gallery, and over time, this folder can grow to several gigabytes. It can be safely cleaned, but remember that the next time you open the gallery, the system will regenerate the preview, which can temporarily load the processor.

Working with the “Other” folder and system garbage

One of the most mysterious categories in Xiaomi’s storage is the “Other” partition, which can take up to 20-30 GB of memory, which the system includes files that it cannot automatically determine: streaming cache, game data, temporary update files and remnants of remote programs.

This section often requires connecting your smartphone to your computer or using specialized disk space analysis applications, such as DiskUsage or Storage Analyzer, which visualize the storage as a map, allowing you to see which folder or application is hiding under the label “Other”, most often there is data from offline navigation maps or video services cache.

If you don’t want to install third-party software, you can try to clear the data through the developer menu or reset the recovery section cache, but this requires more care. In most cases, it is enough to find a specific application that ranks in the Other category and clear its data through the settings, as described in the previous section.

Removing duplicates and unnecessary applications

Over time, apps that you've stopped using accumulate on your smartphone, but they continue to hang in the list and sometimes update in the background. Having a dozen of them not only takes up space, but also consumes battery power and RAM. Regular audit of installed software is a mandatory procedure to maintain the cleanliness of the system.

MIUI has a handy app management tool that lets you sort them by frequency of use or size. Remove those programs you haven't used in the last 3-6 months. You should also look at the pre-installed apps (bloatware), which often come bundled with your phone. Many of them can be removed or at least disabled so they don't interfere.

A separate topic is duplicate contacts, photos and documents. When synchronized with multiple Google or Mi Cloud accounts, you can create copies of the same files. Using Contact Merger and manual gallery checks will help you get rid of unnecessary things. Some users store the same documents in different folders just in case, which is also inefficient.

💡

Tip: Before removing a large number of photos or applications, back up your important data to your computer or cloud storage to avoid accidental loss of information.

Using Developer Mode and ADB for Advanced

For power users who want to squeeze out as much space as possible and know what they’re doing, there’s a USB debugging and ADB (Android Debug Bridge) method that allows you to remove system applications and files that aren’t available to the average user, but require a computer connection and driver installation.

Before you start, you need to activate the developer mode by clicking on the build number several times in the About Phone section and enable debugging over USB. Once you connect to the PC, you can use commands to delete packets. For example, the command to remove the system application looks like this:

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.example.package

This method is extremely effective for removing ads and unnecessary Xiaomi services, but it carries risks. Incorrect removal of the system package can lead to unstable operation of the phone or "bootloop" (cyclical reboot). ADB It is highly recommended to review the documentation for the specific package you are about to remove.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB To remove system components can void warranty and disrupt critical phone functions such as camera or calls.

💡

Using ADB is a powerful deep cleaning tool, but it requires technical knowledge and carries risks. For most users, built-in MIUI tools are enough.