Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face intrusive notifications about the lack of space in the Mi Cloud. The free 5GB volume, which is provided by default, is only enough for basic synchronization of contacts and notes, but modern cameras create huge files, quickly filling the available space. When the limit is exhausted, no backups are created, and new photos are not uploaded to the gallery, which causes panic among users who fear losing important data.
There are several ways to solve the problem, from the banal deletion of unnecessary files to the use of system optimization tools. In this article, we will discuss all the current methods to free the Xiaomi cloud without losing important archives, you will learn where heavy videos hide, how the Clean Device function works, and whether to switch to paid tariffs to expand the limits.
Before we start taking radical measures, we need to understand the structure of the storage. Mi Cloud is not just a photo folder, it's a comprehensive system that synchronizes the voice recorder, notes, desktop settings and application data. Illiterate cleaning can lead to you deleting files from your phone thinking you're only cleaning the server, or vice versa, leaving digital garbage that takes up gigabytes.
Analysis of the occupancy of the Mi Cloud storage
The first step to freeing up space is to make a detailed diagnosis of what is taking up precious gigabytes. Often users wonder where free megabytes have disappeared, unaware that old 4K videos or forgotten voice recorder backups take up to 90% of the volume. MIUI provides a convenient tool for visualizing this data, but you can get to it in different ways.
The most accurate information is provided by the web interface of the service, available from any browser. Unlike the mobile application, the desktop version shows more detailed statistics by file types. You need to go to the official i.mi.com website and log in to your Mi Account. At the bottom of the screen or in the settings menu (cog icon) will display a full bandwidth with a breakdown by category: Gallery, Contacts, Notes, Recorder and Backups of devices.
If you only have a smartphone on hand, open Settings, select your Mi Account at the top of the list, and go to the Cloud section. Here you will see a general scale of usage. Clicking on it, the system will offer a detailed report. Pay attention to the Backups section, as old system backups from previous phones can hang for years, taking up space.
⚠️ Before mass deletion of files, make sure that important data is stored on an external hard drive or other cloud service. Deletion of files from Mi Cloud with synchronization enabled will cause them to disappear on the device itself.
Analysis shows that mediafilters are the most common. High-resolution videos can weigh 200-500MB each. If you have gallery sync enabled, each video is instantly copied to the cloud. It's also worth checking the Deleted section, as deleted files can be stored there for up to 30 days, continuing to occupy a quota.
Gallery cleaning and synchronization management
The most effective way to free up Xiaomi's cloud is to work with the media library, which is photos and videos that make up the lion's share of traffic, and modern versions of MIUI and HyperOS have smart algorithms that allow you to control sync selectively without deleting files completely.
Go to the Gallery app and go to the Cloud tab (or click on the cloud icon at the top) and see all the photos that have already been uploaded to the server. The system allows you to delete items directly from the cloud. However, if sync is active, deletion will affect the phone. To avoid this, use the Free Space feature.
In the gallery settings (Settings → Cloud Sync), find “Clean Local Photos” which leaves thumbnails in your phone’s memory to view, and stores the originals in high resolution only in the cloud. But if your goal is to free the cloud, you need to do the opposite: remove heavy originals from the cloud, leave them compressed versions or delete them altogether.
- 📸 Deleting serial shooting: Often, entire series of photos taken in Burst mode are uploaded to the cloud. Check out Serial Shooting and delete the extra footage, leaving only the best ones.
- 🎥 Sorted by size: In the web version of the cloud, you can sort files by size. 4K It can release a few gigabytes instantly.
- 🗑️ Recycle Bin: Do not forget to go to the "Deleted" section after deleting files (Albums) → Deleted) and clean it. Files are stored there for 30 days and continue to consume your quota.
You should also pay attention to the download quality settings. From the gallery sync menu, you can select the option “Save space” in which optimized versions of the photo will be uploaded to the cloud, which significantly reduces the amount of occupied space without critical loss of quality for viewing on the smartphone screen.
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Use the Hidden Albums feature in the gallery. Photos placed in a hidden album on your phone are not synced with the cloud by default, which helps save space for really important shots.
Deletion of backup copies and application data
Beyond photos, a significant portion of the storage is occupied by system backups and application data, and many users don’t know that when replacing a phone, old backups aren’t automatically deleted, but accumulate, creating a “dead load” that takes up space needed for current data.
To manage backups, go to Settings → Mi Account → Cloud → Backup. Here you will see a list of all the devices ever tied to your account. If you see a phone you no longer use (like the Redmi Note 8 you sold two years ago), feel free to delete its backup.
Some applications, such as voice recorders or notes, can store audio files and large text documents in the cloud, check the Dictophone and Notes sections in the web interface, often containing long recordings of lectures or meetings made a year ago that are no longer of value.
| Type of data | Average size | Recommendation | Priority for cleaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4K video (1 min) | ~300MB | Move it to PC | High-pitched |
| Backup of the system | ~5-10 GB | Remove the old ones | High-pitched |
| Photo (JPEG) | ~3-5 MB | compress or remove | Medium. |
| Contacts/SMS | < 10 MB | Leave it. | Low. |
Cleaning old backups is the fastest way to get a few gigabytes of free space. However, before you delete, make sure that all important data is stored locally or copied elsewhere on your current device. Backup is insurance, and you only need to delete the latest version with complete confidence.
☑️ Verification of backup copies
Use of the “Clean the Device” function and optimization
There's a built-in tool in the Xiaomi ecosystem that's specifically designed to solve the crowded cloud problem, called Free up space, which is to move original photos and videos to the cloud and then delete them from the phone's memory, but in the context of freeing up space in the cloud itself, we need to understand the logic of how synchronization works.
If your goal is to free up space in the cloud to resume sync, you first need to temporarily disable gallery sync. Then delete unnecessary heavy files directly through the i.mi.com web interface. After that, by enabling sync on the phone, the system may try to reboot the remote one. So the correct algorithm of actions looks different.
The correct algorithm for freeing up space in the cloud:
- Turn off Wi-Fi and mobile internet on your phone (so that changes don’t sync instantly).
- Go to the cloud and delete the extra files.
- Delete the same files on your phone in the gallery (they are already deleted in the cloud, but may be in cache).
- Clean the cart on the cloud site.
There is also automatic optimization. In the Security → Cleanup section, the system can suggest removing duplicate photos. While this primarily frees up the phone's memory, removing duplicates prevents them from being re-uploaded to the cloud in the future if sync is enabled.
⚠️ Attention: Optimize Storage in photo settings often works one way — it compresses the photo on the phone, leaving the original in the cloud. This does not free up space in the cloud, but rather requires it.
What if the place is not vacated after removal?
Working with other types of data: Recorder, Notes, Browser
Users often ignore system applications, believing that they weigh little, but the recorder can store hours of audio recordings in high quality, and the Mi Browser browser or the standard Xiaomi browser can synchronize cache and history, taking up megabytes by megabytes.
Check the Dictophone section in the cloud..m4a or.mp3 audio files recorded in interview or lecture mode can weigh 50-100 MB each, and if you have old records that you have transcribed or lost relevance, deleting them will give a tangible result.
Notes are another hidden consumer of space. If you use rich-text formatting, add images, screenshots, or voice attachments to notes, a single note can be as large as tens of megabytes. A thousand of these notes turn into gigabytes of data. Go through the note list and delete old shopping lists or temporary ideas.
- 🎙️ Recorder: Sort records by date and size. Old lectures often take up more space than modern photos.
- 📝 Notes: Check the attachments in the notes. Often, screenshots that are duplicated in the gallery automatically get there.
- 🌐 Browser: In the cloud settings, you can disable tab and history synchronization if you don’t need it, which will slightly reduce the amount of data used.
Also worth mentioning is desktop synchronization. MIUI can save icons and widgets. If you change themes or launchers often, old configurations can accumulate. In the web interface, in the Settings section (desktop icon), you can delete old versions of the screen layout.
Paid tariffs and alternative solutions
If the cleanup didn’t work and 5GB is not enough for you, then the question is about expanding storage. Xiaomi offers a flexible subscription system Mi Cloud+.This may be advisable if you are deeply integrated into the brand ecosystem and you need seamless synchronization between your phone, tablet and laptop.
However, there are alternatives. You can use third-party cloud services like Google Photos, Yandex.Disk or Dropbox by migrating archives there. In the Xiaomi Gallery settings, you can turn off sync with Mi Cloud for certain albums and configure sync with Google Photos only for selected folders, leaving Mi Cloud for system settings and contacts.
Switching to a 50GB or 200GB tariff is relatively inexpensive and solves the problem for months to come. But if you don't want to pay, regular digital hygiene is the only way out: delete videos immediately after watching them if they're not important, and use compressed formats to store archives.
⚠️ Note: When you switch to a paid rate, remember that after you end your subscription and default during the grace period, your files may become unavailable for download, although they will not be deleted immediately.
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Cleaning your cart regularly and removing old backups of devices you no longer use frees up to 70% of your cloud space without losing any data.