How to Free Up Your Space in Mi Cloud on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide

Why Mi Cloud is Ending and What to Do About It

Xiaomi’s Mi Cloud cloud storage is a handy tool for synchronizing data between devices, but its free tariff is limited to only 5 GB. When you use your smartphone actively – taking high-resolution photos, creating backups or synchronizing notes – this volume is exhausted in a few months, the system begins to issue notifications about the lack of space, and new files cease to be uploaded to the cloud.

Complicating the problem, Xiaomi defaults to automatically syncing for many services: galleries, contacts, messages, and even voice recorders. Users often fail to notice how the cloud is filled with unnecessary data — duplicate photos, old backups or app cache. In this article, we will discuss 7 proven ways to free up space in the Mi Cloud, including hidden settings and little-known features.

It's important to understand that just removing files from the cloud is not enough: disabling unnecessary sync, optimizing existing data, and setting up automatic cleanup, and we'll look at both standard methods through the Mi Cloud app and advanced ones using ADB and third-party tools.

Method 1: Remove old backup copies

Backups are the main space eater in the Mi Cloud, which Xiaomi automatically creates when you connect to Wi-Fi, saving up to the latest 5 versions, and if you haven't cleaned the cloud in a while, you can store copies of devices you don't use anymore.

To remove unnecessary backups:

• 📱 Open the Settings app → Mi Account. → Mi Cloud.
• 🔄 Go to the Device Backup section.
• 🗑️ Click on the name of the device you want to remove and select Delete Backup.
• 🔍 Check the list of archived devices – there may be old smartphones or tablets.

Important! Deleting the backup doesn't affect the data on the device itself. It only clears the cloud. If you plan to reset your phone to factory settings, first create a fresh backup on your computer through the Mi PC Suite.

💡

Before removing the backup, check its date of creation. If the copy is older than 6 months, it most likely contains outdated data (for example, contacts you have already updated).

Method 2: Optimize the storage of photos and videos

Photos and videos in the original resolution take up to 80% of the space in the cloud. Xiaomi offers two ways to save money:

1. Download compression – files are automatically reduced to resolutions sufficient to view on the smartphone screen.
2. Delete from the device after download – the originals remain only in the cloud.

How to set up optimization:

• 📸 Open the gallery. → Mi Cloud → Synchronization settings.
• 🔧 Enable the option to Optimize storage (photos will be downloaded in compressed form).
• 🗑️ Activate Delete from the device after download if you want to free up your phone’s memory.
• 📊 In the Storage Management section, see which albums occupy the most space.

If you are a photographer and keep it safe RAW-Note: Mi Cloud does not automatically optimize files. Manually transfer such files to an external drive or to another cloud (for example, Google Photos with unlimited storage for compressed photos).

Method 3: Clearing cache and temporary files

Mi Cloud stores not only user data, but also app cache, sync logs and temporary files, which can be deleted without losing important information.

Cleaning instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Select Storage Management → Cash and Temporary Files.
3. Click Clean – this will free up from 100 MB to 1 GB of space.

If this item is not in your MIUI version, use an alternative method:

• 🔧 Install Files by Google from the Play Market.
• 🗃️ Go to the Cleanup section. → Cash app.
• 🔍 Find it in the Mi Cloud list and remove its cache.

⚠️ Attention! Don't confuse cache with app data. Clearing Mi Cloud data in phone settings (Settings) → Annexes → Mi Cloud → Warehouse → Clear the data) will lead to login from the account and loss of local synchronization settings.

Method 4: Disabling unnecessary synchronization

By default, Xiaomi syncs 12 types of data to the cloud, from contacts to calendar records, many of which are duplicated in other services (for example, contacts are already saved in Google Account), so they can be disabled.

How to manage synchronization:

• 🔄 Go to Settings. → Mi Account. → Mi Cloud → Synchronization.
• 📋 View the list of categories and disable unnecessary ones:

Turn off Note Sync (if you use Google Keep)

Disable Calendar (if synced with Google)

Turn off the recordings (if you do not use the recorder)

Disable Themes (they take up to 500 MB)

-->

Pay special attention to Backup, where you can turn off automatic backups over Wi-Fi if you make them manually. Also check the Gallery section: all folders are synchronized by default, including screenshots and downloads from instant messengers.

Hidden feature: MIUI 14+ has enabled selective folder synchronization in the gallery. Go to the Gallery → Mi Cloud → Sync settings → Select folders and mark only those that you really need to save in the cloud.

Method 5: Transfer data to another cloud

If you’ve run out of free 5GB but don’t want to pay for the expansion, transfer some of the data to alternative services:

• 📷 Photo and video: Google Photos (free up to 15 GB in high quality) or Yandex Drive (10 GB free).
• 📄 Documents: Dropbox or OneDrive (both give 5-15 GB when registering).
• 🔖 Notes and Contacts: Export to Google Account or Simplenote.

Instructions for transferring photos:

1. Download all photos from Mi Cloud to your computer via the web version.
2. Upload them to Google Photos (set up automatic sync in the app).
3. Remove the originals from Mi Cloud after checking the integrity of the files.

For contacts and notes, use export in.vcf and.txt formats, respectively. In Mi Cloud, these options are available in the web version in the Contacts and Notes sections.

⚠️ Attention! When moving data between clouds, check the date of creation of files. Some services (such as Google Photos) sort photos by download date, not by original shooting date. To avoid confusion, use programs like ExifTool to adjust metadata.

Method 6: Using ADB for deep cleaning

If standard methods did not help, and Mi Cloud still occupies a place unknown, use the ADB-It's a method that's suitable for advanced users.

Steps to clean through ADB:

1. 🖥️ Install Android SDK Platform-Tools on the computer.
2. 📱 Turn on Debugging. USB on the phone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times press the version → return to → For developers → Debugging by USB).
3. 🔌 Connect your phone to your PC and execute commands:

adb shell pm clear com.miui.cloudservice


adb shell pm clear com.xiaomi.cloud

These commands reset the Mi Cloud settings and clear the local cache.

• Reboot the phone.
• Go to Mi Cloud and check the vacant space.
• If necessary, re-configure the synchronization.

Warning: ADB may cause local sync settings to lose. Do not use this method unless you are sure of your actions. Models on MIUI 13+ may also need to unlock the bootloader.

💡

ADB-The cleanup only deletes the Mi Cloud service data, but it doesn't touch your files in the cloud, but after it is applied, you will have to re-enter your account and configure sync.

Method 7: Buying additional space or changing the tariff

If all of the above methods haven't solved the problem, consider expanding storage. Xiaomi offers flexible rates:

How to buy a place:

• 💳 Open the Mi Cloud → Storage management → Buy a place.
• 📊 Choose the right rate (annual subscription is more profitable for 20-30%).
• 🔄 After payment, the place will be added automatically (reboot may be required).

Alternative: If you use Mi Cloud only for backups, consider local storage on an external one. SSD or NAS. For example, Xiaomi Mi Hard Disk 1TB worth about 5,000 ₽ It allows you to store data without monthly payments.

FAQ: Frequent questions about vacating space in Mi Cloud