Owners of budget and mid-budget smartphones often face a lack of free space to install new apps or save photos. Xiaomi Redmi 5, released in 2017, is equipped with a 16 or 32 GB drive, which is a rather modest indicator for modern standards. MIUI system over time acquires temporary files, messenger cache and residual data of remote programs, which leads to a slowdown of the device.
When internal storage is overflowing, the gadget starts to work unstable: the interface slows down, applications fly out, and new programs refuse to install. Memory cleaning in this case becomes not just a desirable procedure, but a necessity for normal operation of the device. In this article, we will discuss effective methods of freeing up space that will help return your Redmi 5 to its previous speed.
Analysis of vault occupancy
Before you start deleting files, you need to understand what takes up precious gigabytes. Android provides built-in tools for data visualization, but standard reports don't always show the full picture. It's important for the user to see the distribution of space between system files, user content and app cache.
To start with, you should use a standard explorer. Go to Settings → Memory to see a general diagram. This shows the main categories: apps, images, video, audio, etc. But more detailed information can be obtained through the built-in Security app, which is preinstalled on all Xiaomi smartphones.
Run the Security app and select Clean up. The system will scan and show the amount of junk files. Click on the folder icon or detail icon to see a list of files that can be safely deleted. Often there are temporary update files, remnants of deleted APK-file and image sketches.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete files in folders Android/data and Android/obb manually, if you are not sure of their purpose, this can lead to incorrect operation of games and applications that require additional resources to be downloaded.
The other section is a special focus, and often it hides gigabytes of garbage that the system cannot automatically classify, such as error logs, messenger databases, or streaming cache, and for deep analysis, third-party snails like DiskUsage, which build a memory card in the form of graphical blocks, are recommended.
Cleaning the cache and temporary files of the system
Cache accumulation is a natural process for the Android operating system. Apps save temporary data for faster downloads, but over time these files can reach several gigabytes. Regular cleaning of the cache allows you to free up a significant amount of space without losing personal data.
The easiest way is to use the Cleanup function in the Security app. However, for more thorough cleaning, you need to go to the settings of each heavy app separately. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, select the desired program (for example, YouTube or Chrome) and click Memory.
- 📱 Browser cache: often takes up more space than it seems due to saved thumbnails of sites.
- 🎵 Streaming Services: Music and Video Apps Keep Buffered Data.
- 🛍 App Stores: Google Play and GetApps Store Temporary Installer Files.
It's also worth checking the download folder. MIUI It has a separate Downloads section, where all the documents, pictures and installation files that you download from the Internet get into, and people often forget about them, and they lie dead for years. APK-Files after installing programs are a good habit for a Redmi 5 owner.
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Use the Deep Clean feature in the Security app once a week to find repetitive files, old backups, and rarely used apps.
Working with messengers: Telegram and WhatsApp
The most voracious apps on any smartphone, including the Xiaomi Redmi 5, are instant messengers. WhatsApp and Telegram by default store all the received media files in the memory of the device. If you are in dozens of groups and channels, in a year there can accumulate 10-20 GB of garbage.
Telegram handles the situation most elegantly with cloud storage. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory usage. Here you can see the amount of cache you're using. Press Clear cache. Don't worry, your photos and videos won't be lost, they'll just be deleted from your phone, but they'll stay on the server and download again when you browse. There's a recommendation to enable automatic cache cleanup in, for example, 3 days or a week.
WhatsApp is more complicated because the history of the correspondence is stored locally. Inside the application, go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Management. You will see a list of chats, sorted by place you occupy, you can select a specific dialog and delete all media files inside it, leaving the text correspondence intact.
| Annex | Where to look for a cleanup | Is it safe to remove? | Recommended frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Settings → Use of memory | Yeah, files in the cloud. | Once a month or a car |
| Settings → Data → Management | Just the media, not the texts. | Every 2-3 months | |
| Viber | More. → Settings → Memory. | Yes, cash and media. | As you fill up |
| Phone settings → Applications | Yeah, just cash. | Once a week. |
Don’t forget to disable auto-save media in the gallery. Both messengers have Save to Gallery or Media Visibility options in their settings. Disabling these features will prevent duplicate files from being available in the chat room, but won’t take up space in the DCIM system folder.
Transferring data to an SD memory card
The Redmi 5 features a hybrid slot that allows the microSD card to be used, the most efficient way to expand the available space for photos, videos and music, but porting the apps themselves to the map in modern versions of Android and MIUI is often limited or impossible without root rights.
First of all, you need to move media files. Open the Explorer application, select internal memory and find folders. DCIM (Photos from the camera, Pictures (screenshots, images from social networks), Download, Music and Video. Select these folders or their contents, click More → Move and select yours. SD-map.
☑️ Transfer of files to SD-map
Some applications allow you to choose the way to save data in your settings, for example, in Yandex.Music or offline maps Navitel you can specify the path to the data. SD-This will free up the internal memory of heavy files.
⚠️ Note: When transferring files to a memory card, use only high-quality Class 10 cards or UHS-I. Cheap cards can run slowly, which will cause your phone to freeze when trying to open a photo or video.
There is a function of "Memory Expansion" when SD-The card is formatted as part of the internal memory. 5 Android 7/8 It's possible, but it's not always stable. If the card fails, the applications that are installed on it will stop working. So it's safer to store only the media on the map and leave the applications in internal storage.
Removal of duplicates and hidden debris
When you use a smartphone, you create many copies of files, for example, when you send a photo in a messenger, a copy of the image is saved in the application folder, and the original is in the gallery. Also, after editing the photos, often the source is left. It is difficult to find and delete them manually, so you better use specialized tools.
Files by Google or the built-in memory analyzer will help you find duplicates. Run a scan and carefully review the proposed files for removal. Often the system finds the same videos that have been uploaded several times, or screenshots that are no longer relevant.
- 🗑.thumbnails folder: hidden folder in the DCIM, It's a miniature-store, and cleaning it up speeds up the gallery.
- 📦 Remnants of Remote Games: Folders with Remote Program Names at the Root of Internal Memory.
- 📄 Temporary Editor Files: Temp folders from Video Editors and Photo Processors.
Tencent's folder (if WeChat or games are installed) and Android/media are special. Inside, you can have gigabytes of promotional videos and cache. Be careful: delete only the contents of the Cache or Temp folders, without touching the main databases, if you do not want to lose progress in games.
What is a.thumbnails folder and can it be deleted?
Resetting to factory settings as an extreme measure
If none of the above methods helped free up enough space, or if the system is unstable due to file fragmentation, the radical method remains - a complete reset. Hard Reset will return Redmi 5 to the state of a new device, completely clearing the internal memory of user data.
Before starting the procedure, it is critical to back up: use your Google account or Mi Cloud to save contacts, SMS and settings; photos and documents should be manually copied to a computer or cloud drive; after reset, data can not be restored.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Reset. Select Erase All Data. The phone will request an unlock password and confirmation. The process will take 5 to 15 minutes, after which the device will turn on as new.
⚠️ Warning: Make sure the battery is at least 50% battery power before reset. interruption of the process during the formatting phase may cause damage to the system partition and the need to flash through the computer.
After reset, take your time to install all the applications at once. Set up your phone, check the amount of free memory and install only the necessary software. This will keep the system clean for longer. Often after a complete reset, Redmi 5 owners notice a significant increase in performance.
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A complete reset is not just a cleanup of the place, it is the elimination of software errors and conflicts that have accumulated over the years of using a smartphone.
Prevention of memory overflow
To prevent memory loss on Xiaomi Redmi 5 from returning in a month, you need to develop useful habits: Regular maintenance of the device takes several minutes, but saves hours of nerves in the future, watch what applications you install, and do not store unnecessary files.
Use cloud storage. Services like Google Photos allow you to store unlimited photos in compressed quality for free (or in full for a subscription), set up automatic sync and Free Space feature, which removes photos from your phone that have already been uploaded to the cloud.
It is also recommended to disable auto-update apps over the mobile network, leaving this feature only for Wi-Fi. Larger updates can temporarily take up space and create fragmented files if the download is interrupted. In Google Play settings, select Settings → App Auto-update → Wi-Fi only.