Xiaomi’s “Other” in Memory: What It Is and How to Clean It Without Harming the System

Why Xiaomi Phone Has a “Other” Section and What It Hides

Have you ever looked into your Xiaomi storage settings and wondered where gigabytes of storage went? The Other section is one of the most mysterious categories in MIUI, which can take anywhere from 5 to 20 GB or more. These are not junk files in the usual sense, but a mixture of system caches, temporary application data, logs and fragmented files that the operating system cannot categorize as a specific category.

Unlike Android/Data or Downloaded Files, the content of Another doesn't show up in a standard file manager. The system hides those files so that the user doesn't accidentally delete critical data. However, over time, this partition grows, eating up precious space. Especially relevant is the problem for devices with 64 or 128 GB of memory, where every gigabyte is in the account.

In this article, we will look at what is included in the Other, which files can be deleted without risk to the system and which should not be touched, and you will learn about the hidden MIUI tools that help clean this section, and alternative methods for power users.

What is included in the “Other” section on Xiaomi: a complete analysis

MIUI categorizes as “Other” anything that can’t be classified as an Application, Media or Document, and these are the main components of this section:

• 📁 Cache of system applications – temporary files from Google Services, MIUI Launcher, Security and other built-in services are needed for fast operation, but often don't clear automatically.
• 📜 Logs and dumps are error reporting files (.log,.dmp) that are created when crashes occur.
• 🔄 Residual files – “tails” from deleted applications, updates or incorrectly completed downloads.
• 🗃️ Fragmented data – scraps of files that are left after cleaning the cache or resetting settings.
• 🔒 Secure system files are a part of data that cannot be accessed without root rights (e.g, /data/dalvik-cache).

Interestingly, MIUI 14 has changed the structure of "The Other" from MIUI 12, and now it's more likely to include files from /data/media/0/MIUI, which is the cache of the themes, wallpaper and animations, and this section may also hide:

• 🎵 Music tags – cache of streaming services (Spotify, Yandex Music).
• 📱 Backups – Automatic backups from Mi Cloud or Google Drive that were not synced.
• 🔍 Search indexes – databases for quick search in the file manager.

⚠️ Note: Do not confuse the "Other" partition with the System partition in the storage settings. The latter contains firmware files and you cannot manually delete them, this will lead to a device blink (complete inoperability).

Method 1: Clearing the cache of system applications (without root)

The safest method is to remove the cache of built-in MIUI services. This will not damage the system, but can free up to 3-5 GB.

How to do this:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Show System Processes.
3. Find apps with names: 🔹 MIUI Daemon (com.miui.daemon) 🔹 Security (com.miui.securitycenter) 🔹 Google Play Services (com.google.android.gms) 🔹 Android System WebView (com.google.android.webview)

Warehouse → Clear the cache

Clear the MIUI Daemon cache

Delete Security Data (Cache Only!)

Clean up Google Play Services

Check the cache of Android System WebView

Restart the phone after cleaning-->

Once the system is restarted, the cache will start filling again, but without the junk files, which works on all Xiaomi devices, including the Redmi Note 10/11/12, POCO X3/X4 and the flagship Mi 11/12/13.

⚠️ Warning: Don't click Clear data for system applications - this can reset security settings or disable important features (e.g., fingerprint scanner).

Method 2: Using a built-in MIUI cleaner

MIUI has its own memory optimization tool, Clearer, which can find and delete unnecessary files, including parts of the Other.

Instructions:

1. Launch the Security app (Security).
2. Go to the Cleaner tab.
3. Press Deep Clean and wait for the scan.
4. In the results, find the Other Files or System Garbage section.
5. Tick the unnecessary items and click Clean.

Note that the built-in cleaner doesn't show the full list of files from Other, it only deletes those that the system considers safe to clean. If the partition still takes up a lot of space after this procedure, move on to the following methods.

💡

After deep cleaning, restart the phone – this will help the system recalculate the occupied space and update the data in the Storage section.

Method 3: Manual cleaning through Files by Google (for power users)

Files by Google (formerly Files Go) can find files that MIUI classifies as “Other” and is free and works without root rights.

Step-by-step:

1. Install Files by Google from the Play Market.
2. Open the app and go to the Cleanup tab.
3. Select Other Apps or Cash Apps.
4. Scroll down the list and find files with tags: 🗑️.log,.tmp,.bak – logs and temporary files. 📦 com.miui.* – cache of system processes. 🔄 download_incomplete — file-square.

Delete

The advantage of this method is that you see specific files before you delete them, but be careful not to delete files with the.dex,.oat or.art extensions, which are associated with the operation of applications and the system.

Method 4: Resetting cache via Recovery (advanced method)

If previous methods didn’t work, you can try to reset the cache through Recovery Mode, which won’t delete your data, but will clear the system cache, which can take several gigabytes.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power + Volume buttons up until the Mi logo appears.
3. In the Recovery menu, select the language (if required).
4. Go to Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
5. Confirm the action and wait for the completion.
6. Reboot the device (Reboot → System)

This method is especially effective after major MIUI updates, where old firmware files remain in cache, but it does not clear user data from the Other section, only system temporary files.

⚠️ Warning: Do not confuse Wipe Cache with Wipe Data (Factory Reset) The second option will completely reset the phone to factory settings, deleting all your files!

Method 5: Complete memory re-markup (root only)

If you're ready for radical measures and you have root rights, you can re-mark internal memory, which will delete all fragmented data and recreate the partition table, which frees up to 10 to 15 GB, but requires technical skills and can lead to data loss if you make an error.

Instructions for experienced users:

1. Install TWRP Recovery and get root access (e.g. via Magisk).
2. Download the SD Maid utility (root version) or use ADB.
3. In SD Maid, go to SystemCleaner → Orphaned Files.
4. Scan and delete the “orphan” files found.
5. For re-marking, use the command in ADB: adb shell make_ext4fs /dev/block/mmcblk0pX (where X is the section number, specify in TWRP).

It is also useful to disable automatic diagnostics in the MIUI settings:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version.
2. Click 7 times on the MIUI version to activate Developer Mode.
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. Turn off Error Reporting and Automatic Diagnostics.

This will reduce the number of logs and dumps that take up space in the Other section.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi’s “Other” section