Modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones offer users powerful cameras that can create high-resolution images and the ability to record video in 4K. However, the quality of content directly affects the amount of space occupied, and the built-in 5 GB in Xiaomi Cloud ends surprisingly quickly. Many users face intrusive notifications about storage overflows, which blocks the creation of new backups and synchronization of important data between devices.
Solving the problem doesn’t always require immediate payment of the extended tariff, as it is often due to incorrect settings or accumulated digital garbage. Proper file management allows you to significantly extend the life of the free limit or optimize subscription costs. In this article, we will discuss detailed cleaning methods, automatic deletion settings and alternative ways to store your information.
Analysis of cloud storage occupancy
Before embarking on radical data removal measures, you need to determine exactly what consumes the bulk of your virtual drive. MIUI and HyperOS provide built-in memory-occupancy visualization tools that users often ignore. By going to your Mi Account settings, you can see a detailed breakdown by category: photos, contacts, notes, voice recorders and files.
Most often, the lion's share of space is occupied by media files, especially if you have full-resolution gallery sync enabled. Screenshots, serial shooting and short videos from messengers can be imperceptibly hundreds of megabytes. Also worth paying attention to the "Deleted" section, where files are stored for 30 days before final erasure, continuing to occupy space in the cloud.
⚠️ Before mass deletion, make sure that important files are saved to a physical medium or other cloud service, as data recovery after cleaning the shopping cart is impossible.
For a deeper analysis, you can use the web version of i.mi.com, where the interface allows you to sort files by size and download date, which helps you identify old backups of messages or duplicates of documents that have been downloaded repeatedly, and understanding the structure of the storage is the first step to effective memory management.
Cleaning the gallery and managing photo synchronization
The most effective way to make room quickly is to revisit the media library. Xiaomi Cloud by default aims to save every photo taken, including serial shooting and HDR frames. Open the Gallery app, go to the albums and pay attention to the Screenshots, WhatsApp Images and Camera folders. This is where visual debris most often accumulates.
Use the Smart Cleanup feature or the built-in optimization tool in the Security app to find similar images. MIUI AI algorithms can (recognize) blurry photos, duplicates and old screenshots, prompting them to be removed. However, be careful: automatic selection is not always accurate, so the final check is better done manually.
- 📸 Open the album "Recent" and remove the unsuccessful shots that do not carry value.
- 🗑️ Go to the album "Deleted" and click "Clean all" to instantly free up the occupied space.
- ⚙️ Disable synchronization for instant messenger folders (Telegram, Viber) if their content does not require a cloud backup.
It is important to adjust synchronization quality settings. Some firmware versions offer the Optimize Storage option, which uploads compressed versions of the photo to the cloud, leaving the originals on the device (or vice versa, depending on the settings), which allows you to store thousands of images without spending the entire 5 GB limit.
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Use the “Package Deletion” mode in the cloud web interface to delete photos by dates or albums much faster than using a smartphone.
Setup backup of messages and system data
Backups of SMS and call history are text data that take up a bit of space, but it can grow for years. If you've been using a smartphone for more than two years, the message archive can weigh several hundred megabytes. Go to the cloud settings and check the date of the last backup: if there are several with different dates, you can safely delete the old versions.
Special attention should be paid to backing up the desktop layout and system settings. With frequent flashing or replacement of devices, this data is useful, but for the average user, it is not critical after the initial setup, and disabling the synchronization of these parameters can save tens of megabytes of free space.
| Type of data | Approximate volume | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Photos and videos | High (GB) | Selectively synchronize |
| Contacts | Low (CB) | Leave it on. |
| SMS / Call log | Medium (MB) | Cleaning up old archives |
| Notes | Low/Mediocre | Delete blank notes |
To manage backups, follow the Settings → Mi Account → Cloud → Storage Management path. Here you will see a list of all the devices associated with your account. If you have an old phone that you no longer use, its backups can be removed completely, making room for the current device.
☑️ Check-up cloud storage
Working with a recorder, notes and documents
The Dictophone and Notes apps are often overlooked, although they may contain large files. The recorder records audio in high enough quality, and hourly recordings of lectures or meetings quickly eat up the available space. In the Notes app, users often save scans of documents and photos that are also synchronized with the cloud.
It's recommended that you regularly review the recorder's record list, many of which may be temporary and have become obsolete, that you export them to your computer or to your PC archive and then delete them from the cloud, and that you take notes, and that's the same thing: check the attachments and delete the ones you don't need anymore.
⚠️ Attention: Deleting a note or recording of a voice recorder in the application will cause them to be removed from the cloud the next time you sync.
If you use your smartphone to work, you can accumulate files from your Downloads folder or documents sent through Mi Drop. Check the Files section of cloud management. Often, you can find installations. APK-application files or heavy PDF-Documents that can be moved to an external storage device.
Use of the function "Storage optimization"
There’s a useful feature in Xiaomi’s ecosystem that allows you to store original photos and videos on your device and upload compressed copies to the cloud, especially for users with a small amount of internal smartphone memory, but it works in the opposite direction, saving space in the cloud.
To activate this feature, go to the gallery settings and find the item related to synchronization and quality. Choose the option that is preferred for you: either saving space on your phone (originals in the cloud) or saving space in the cloud (compressed copies).
How does compression work in Xiaomi Cloud?
It’s worth noting that optimizing can take time, especially if you’ve already uploaded several thousand photos, it’s in the background when you connect to your Wi-Fi and charger, and don’t interrupt the sync process to avoid file version conflicts.
Expanding Storage: Tariffs and Alternatives
If the cleanup didn’t produce the desired results and 5GB space is critically small for you, the only option is to expand the fare. Xiaomi offers multiple subscription tiers that include not only increasing cloud space, but additional perks like device search or advanced themes.
A comparison of the rates shows that switching to 50GB or 200GB is relatively inexpensive per month, especially if you share the cost with your family through Family Group, which allows you to share the total amount of memory between multiple accounts, which is more cost effective than paying each user separately.
- ☁️ 50 GB – optimal for a single user who stores photos and contacts.
- ☁️ 200GB – suitable for family use or active camera users.
- ☁️ 2 TB – professional level for video storage in 4K and full backups of the system.
Alternatively, you might consider using third-party services like Google Photos or Yandex Drive, setting them up to automatically download instead of or together with Mi Cloud. However, Xiaomi’s native cloud integration provides deeper synchronization of system settings that third-party apps cannot provide.
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The combination of manually cleaning the basket, disabling the synchronization of garbage folders and using compressed copies of the photo allows you to use the cloud for free for years.