Xiaomi garbage cleanup: 7 proven ways to get back the speed

Your Xiaomi has slowed down, discharged quickly or issued errors "Not enough memory"? The reason for 90% of cases is accumulated system debris: remnants of deleted applications, cache, temporary files and duplicates. Even new models like the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ or POCO F6 after 3-6 months of use begin to "suffocate" from digital junk.

In this article, we’ll cover the practical cleaning techniques that work on all MIUI 12-14 devices (including Xiaomi 14 Ultra and the budget Redmi A2). We’ll look at both the standard system tools and hidden features that are not mentioned even in the official instructions. No “magic programs” are just proven ways that won’t hurt the phone.

1. Built-in utility "Cleaning" - the first step

Starting with MIUI 10, Xiaomi's firmware has a regular garbage removal tool.It removes app cache, residues APK-But most users use it inefficiently.

How to properly start a deep cleaning:

• 📱 Open the Security app (shield icon)
• 🧹 Select the Cleanup section → Deep cleaning
• ⚙️ Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and turn on Show details
• 🗑️ Manually tick all categories: Application Cache, File Remains, Error Logs

And the important thing is, if you clean it up and it slows down, that's OK. 10-15 minute speed will return.

2. Manual cleaning of the app cache

The built-in utility doesn’t remove everything, for example, some system applications (com.miui.gallery, com.android.providers.media) can take up to 1-2 GB and not get automatically cleaned.

How to clean by hand:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management
2. Sort the list by size (click on three dots → Sort → By size)
3. Open each application from the top-10 and press Clear cache
4. For system applications (such as Gallery or Music) click Storage → Clear data only if you are ready to lose settings

The cache of the Google Play Services app (com.google.android.gms) can take up to 300-500MB, but cleaning it will lead to re-authorization across all Google services.

3. Removal of duplicates and unnecessary files

Photos, screenshots and downloads are often duplicated or unclaimed, and MIUI has a hidden feature to find such files:

Instructions:

• 📁 Open the Files app (Folder icon)
• 🔍 Go to the Category tab → Duplicate
• 🗃️ The system will automatically find duplicate files – select unnecessary and delete
• 📥 Check the download folder - outdated ones often accumulate here. APK documents

For advanced users: use them. ADB-Search for files older than 6 months:

adb shell find /sdcard/ -type f -mtime +180 -exec ls -lh {} \;

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Before mass deletion of photos, enable the display of hidden files in Settings → Additional → Show hidden files. Sometimes important data (such as backups) are stored in folders with a point at the beginning (.backup,.thumbnails).

4. Cleaning of system logs and dumps

Android constantly creates error logs (/data/anr/, /data/tombstones/) that can take up to 1 GB. In MIUI, they can not be deleted by standard means, but there is a workaround:

Method 1 (without root):

• 📱 Connect your phone to your PC and enable debugging. USB (Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times press → Additionally. → For developers)
• 🖥️ On the computer, open the command line and enter:

adb shell pm trim-caches 1000G


adb shell rm -rf /data/anr/*




adb shell rm -rf /data/tombstones/*

Method 2 (with root): Use Root Explorer or FX File Explorer to manually delete /data/log/ and /data/system/dropbox/ folders.

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Deleting logs does not affect the operation of the phone, but can complicate the diagnosis of problems when contacting the service center.

5. Optimization of autoloading and background activity

Many applications (Facebook, AliExpress, games) are launched at the start of the system and run in the background, consuming memory.

Step-by-step:

• ⚙️ Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management
• 🔄 Select the application → Auto-start → Turn it off.
• 📵 For aggressive optimization: Battery → Optimizing the battery → Select All Apps and Disable Unnecessary Apps

For models with MIUI 14, a hidden setting is available:

##4636## → Battery use → Menu (three dots) → Background optimization

Exceptions: Do not disable autoplay for Google Play Services, Mi Cloud and system processes (com.xiaomi.*) This can disrupt push notifications and syncs.

6. reset partition cache (without data loss)

If the phone is slowing down a lot but you don’t want to do a full reset, use partition cache clearing.This deletes temporary system files without deleting your data.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up before the Mi logo appears
3. In the Recovery menu, select Wipe cache partition (use volume buttons for navigation, power for selection).
4. Confirm the action and restart the phone (Reboot system now)

This procedure is safe, but on some models (such as the POCO X5 Pro) it can reset your Wi-Fi network settings.

Backup of important files

Write down passwords from Wi-Fi

Charge your phone at least 50%

Make sure there are no important unsaved data on your phone-->

7. Advanced methods (for experienced users)

If the standard methods didn’t help, try these techniques:

To execute commands through ADB, use:

adb shell su -c "team"

⚠️ Attention: On models with UFS 3.1 (Xiaomi 13T, Redmi K60) Frequent fstrim operations can reduce memory life. Use no more than 1 time per month.

Frequent questions