Xiaomi Redmi 5A became a real bestseller of its time, offering users an affordable price and decent performance. However, despite its popularity, the model has a modest amount of internal storage, which is often only 16 GB, of which the user is available about 10-11 GB. Over time, the system overgrows temporary files and applications take up more space, which leads to a critical slowdown of the device and the appearance of annoying notifications about the shortage of space.
Owners of low-ROM gadgets need regular maintenance, not just removing photos, but taking a comprehensive approach to file system management. In this article, we will look at all available methods for freeing up space, from regular MIUI tools to using third-party software and transferring data to external drives.
Ignoring storage overflow can cause the phone to stop accepting calls or updating critical applications. The 1GB threshold is considered critical for Android to run smoothly below that, and let's take a step-by-step look at how to get your device back to speed and space.
Analysis of occupied space with built-in MIUI tools
Before you delete files at random, you need to figure out what takes up precious gigabytes. The MIUI shell has a fairly advanced memory analyzer that allows you to visually evaluate the distribution of data. To access it, you need to go to the Settings menu, then select About phone and click on the Warehouse section, and here the system will show a detailed diagram, broken down into categories: applications, images, video, audio, etc.
Note the Apps section. It's often the case that messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp take up several gigabytes, even though they are minimal in the app store, because of the accumulated cache, auto-saved photos and chat videos. In the same menu, you can click on a particular app and see the "Clear Cache" or "Clear Everything" button, which will instantly free up space but require re-authorization on some services.
⚠️ Note: When you clean your application data through system settings, you may lose your correspondence history if you don't have a backup enabled in the cloud.
The system utility will also show the size of the Downloads folder, where all files from the browser and documents received through instant messengers fall by default, and users often forget about downloaded APK installers or viewed presentations that lie dead weight for years, taking up space.
Use of the "Conductor" and "Cleaning" application
Every Xiaomi Redmi 5A owner should have a standard Security app preinstalled in the factory, inside of which is a Cleanup utility that scans the device for temporary files, residual files from remote applications, and large files, and running this feature allows (at a single click) to remove hundreds of megabytes of garbage that is not visible when you browse folders.
Deeper work requires built-in Explorer, which allows you to sort files by type and size. Go to Files and select Size Sort, which will bring the heaviest objects to the screen, whether it's a forgotten 4K video or an archive of music. Deleting even a few of these files can do more than cleaning hundreds of small pictures.
- 📁 folder DCIM: It's where all the photos and videos from the camera are stored. Check the Screenshots folder inside it -- screenshots often take up a lot of space.
- 🗑️ folder MIUI: Inside the root directory MIUI -> gallery -> Cloud can store thumbnails of deleted photos that can be safely deleted.
- 📥 Download folder: Standard browser download storage, where installation files and PDF-document.
Don't forget to check the gallery cart. In modern versions of MIUI, deleted photos don't disappear forever, but move to the Deleted album, which is stored for 30 days, and to make room right now, you have to go to this album and select Clear Everything.
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Use the Deep Clean feature in the Security app once a week to automatically find duplicate photos and large files you may have forgotten about.
Working with garbage in popular messengers
The main memory eater on Redmi 5A are social networks and instant messengers. Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp have one thing in common: they store all received media files in the phone’s memory by default. Over time, the folders with the cache of these applications can grow to several gigabytes, which is a significant part of the available volume of 16 GB.
Telegram handles the situation in the most elegant way possible. Go to Settings -> Data and Memory -> Memory Use. There you will see a Cached Media slider. Set a limit of, say, 500MB or 1GB. The app will automatically delete old files when the cache exceeds this limit, but leave previews available. This is a smart cleanup that doesn't require your constant intervention.
WhatsApp is more complicated because it stores databases and media files in open folders. Inside the app, go to Settings -> Data and Storage -> Storage Management. Here you can see which chats take up the most space and delete media files selectively. It's also useful to turn off autosave to the gallery for all chats so that photos don't duplicate in the DCIM system folder.
| Annex | Cache location (pathway) | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Internal storage (hidden) | Limit the size of the cache in the settings |
| Android/media/com.whatsapp | Delete WhatsApp Video/Image folders | |
| Viber | Viber/Media | Disable auto-save to the gallery |
| Android/data/com.instagram.android | Clear the cache through the application settings |
Cleaning these folders regularly is the most effective way to keep your phone running, and don't be afraid to delete files from your Video folders inside your messenger directories if you've already viewed them or saved them to the cloud.
☑️ Weekly cleaning of messengers
Transfer data to a microSD memory card
Model Redmi 5A It is equipped with a hybrid slot that allows the use of the second SIM-MicroSD card or memory card: For owners of the 16GB version, installing a 32GB or 64GB card is the only way to comfortably use multimedia.
Once installed, the memory card will be offered as Portable Storage or Internal Storage, which older versions of Android could have completely transferred to the card, but in modern MIUIs, this feature is often limited, and it is recommended to use the card to store photos, videos and music, leaving internal memory for installing applications.
To transfer existing files, open Explorer, select files in internal memory, click Move and specify the path to SD-For photos, you'd better create a separate folder on the map, like this, Photo_Archive, Not to confuse them with new pictures.
⚠️ Warning: Do not try to transfer system folders or applications that do not support portability to a low-speed memory card.This can lead to phone freeze and data loss.
Also, in the camera settings, it is recommended to immediately change the default save path: go to the camera settings (cogs), find the option “Save in” or similar, and select your memory card. Now all new photos and videos will be immediately recorded on the external media, bypassing the crowded internal memory.
Removing system debris and Google Services cache
Google Play services are the heart of the Android ecosystem, but they are also prone to sprawl.The cache of Google Play Services and Google Play Market can take hundreds of megabytes. Clearing that data is secure and often solves problems with installing apps or syncing.
To do this, go to Settings -> Apps -> All Apps. Find Google Play Services. Click Memory and select Clear Cache. It is important not to confuse it with Clear Everything, as this can reset your sync settings and require you to log in again on some devices, although Redmi 5A usually runs smoothly.
A similar operation is worth doing with Google Photos if you use the Free Space feature, which finds copies of photos and videos that have already been successfully uploaded to the cloud and removes them locally, one of the safest ways to quickly get gigabytes of free space.
What's Dalvik Cache?
Hidden opportunities and advanced cleaning
For users who are ready for more drastic action, there is the possibility of using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to remove system debris that is not available by conventional methods. However, for Redmi 5A with its limited resources, the issue of removing preinstalled software that cannot be removed in a standard way is more relevant.
Many apps from Google and Xiaomi (e.g. Mi Video, Mi Music, Google Movies) can be removed or frozen, which will free up not only space, but also RAM, which requires you to turn on Developer Mode (7 times click on the version number in About Phone) and activate debugging via USB.
There's also a way to clean the Android/obb folder. This directory stores heavy game cache files. If you delete a game but the folder with its name is still there, you can remove it manually through the Explorer, and often after you delete games, these folders weigh 1-2 GB and just take up space.
- 🚀 Disabling animations: In the developer menu, reduce the scale of window animation to 0.5x. This won’t free up memory, but it will speed up the visual sense of the phone.
- 📉 Lite versions of applications: Replace heavy applications (Facebook, Messenger) with their Lite-like counterparts that occupy the Internet. 5-10 less space.
- 🔄 Resetting to factory settings: Radical but effective method.Be sure to back up important data before resetting.
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The combination of cloud storage, Lite versions of apps and regular cleaning of messenger cache allows you to comfortably use Redmi 5A even with minimal memory.