How to Free Memory on Xiaomi Phone: A Complete 2026 Guide

Why Xiaomi Phones Are Fulfilled Fast and How to Fix It

Have you noticed that your Xiaomi Redmi, POCO or Mi has started giving notifications about memory shortages? Even after removing photos and apps, the free space melts like snow in the sun? The problem is familiar to most smartphone owners on Xiaomi's MIUI, the branded shell. It's not just your files: the system creates tens of gigabytes of hidden debris, the app cache grows to incredible sizes, and duplicate media files occupy precious space.

In this article, we will discuss 7 proven ways to free up memory on Xiaomi without root rights and loss of important data. You will learn how to find and delete hidden files, optimize MIUI, transfer applications to a memory card (if supported), and even return dead gigabytes that the system reserves in reserve. All methods have been tested on current models of 2022-2026, from the budget Redmi Note 12 to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

Before you start cleaning, check the real state of the memory: go to Settings → The phone. → Note the "System" section if it takes up more 15-20 GB on a clean phone, that's a cause for concern. MIUI Often shows incorrect data about the free space due to the features of the file system F2FS/ext4. We will teach you to get accurate numbers.

1. Deep cleaning of cache and debris through MIUI

Let's start with the simplest and most secure method, which doesn't require third-party applications, and MIUI has a powerful cleaning tool built in, called Security (formerly called Cleanup), and here's how to use it correctly:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon) if it's not on your desktop, search the system.
2. Go to the Cleanup tab (in some versions of MIUI it is called "Storage").
3. Press Deep Clean (not to be confused with Quick Clean!) and the system will scan the phone for 2-5 minutes.
4. After the analysis, you'll see the categories of garbage: 🗑️ Application cache (can be deleted completely - it will recover) 📁 Unnecessary APK (leftovers from remote applications) 🔍 Residual files (tails from updates and temporary data) 📊 System logs (error logs, take up to) 1-2 GB)

Press Clear and confirm the action. Don't be afraid if it takes 10-15 minutes, that's okay.

One important caveat: don't manually clean the cache for individual applications through Settings → Apps. This can cause messaging and social networking to crash. Deep cleaning through Security does this neatly without breaking dependency.

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After deep cleaning, restart the phone - this will help MIUI correctly recalculate the free space and avoid "phantom" busy gigabytes.

2. Removal of duplicates and unnecessary media files

Photos and videos are the main memory eaters on Xiaomi, and it's not just your pictures that are the problem: it creates thumbnails, backups and duplicates, for example, when you edit photos in a gallery, the original is saved, plus an edited version is created, and messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp download media in the background, clogging memory.

To find and remove the extra:

• 📸 Xiaomi Gallery: Open the Gallery app → Albums. → Duplicates. The system automatically finds the duplicates. Check manually, sometimes similar but different shots come in.
• 🎥 Video: Go to the Gallery → Video → Big files. Delete videos larger than 100MB that you don't need. One hour of video in a single video. 4K weight ~15GB!
• 📥 Download: Download folder is a storehouse of unnecessary files. Open Files → Download and sort by size. You'll be surprised how many forgotten ones there are. PDF and APK.
• 🤖 Screenshots: MIUI saves screenshots in DCIM/Screenshots. They take up little space separately, but accumulate in a year. 1-2 GB.

To automate the process, use Files by Google (available on the Play Market) which can:

• Find duplicates even among files with different names
• Remove unused apps (those you haven’t used for more than 3 months)
• Clear the messenger cache (including Telegram, which can take up to 10 GB)

3. Transfer applications to a memory card (if supported)

Many Xiaomi models (especially the budget Redmi and POCO series) support microSD cards up to 1 TB. However, just inserting a card is not enough – you need to transfer data to it correctly.

• ⚠️ Not all applications can be ported. System utilities and some games (such as Genshin Impact) will remain in internal memory.
• ⚡ Porting apps can slow them down, as the read speed with a microSD is lower than with an embedded drive.
• 🔄 After transfer, do not remove the memory card – this will lead to malfunctions in the application.

Instructions for transfer:

1. Insert a memory card (we recommend UHS-I U3 or higher).
2. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
3. Select the app you want to migrate (like Spotify or Netflix).
4. Click Warehouse → Change → Select a memory card.
5. Confirm the transfer. The process may take a few minutes.

For mass transfer, use App Mgr III (requires root rights on some models), which shows which applications can be moved, and does it in batch.

4. Clean up Google Play cache and system updates

Few people know, but the Google Play Store and MIUI Updater create gigabytes of hidden garbage. For example, when you update your firmware, the system downloads the full package (2-4 GB), but after installation, it doesn't always delete it. And the Play Market stores the cache of installed and deleted applications.

How to clean:

• 📦 Google Play Cash: Go to Settings → Annexes → App management. Find the Google Play Store and Google Play Services. In each, click Storage → Clear the cache and Clear the data.
• 🔄 Update files MIUI: Open the Files app. Go to Internal Memory. → downloaded_rom. Delete all files with the.zip extension - these are old firmware.
• 🗑️ Cache folder: In the Files app, enable the display of hidden folders (three dots) → I want you to see the hidden. /data/data/com.android.vending/cache (You need root rights or a file manager with root access.

Clear the cache of the Google Play Store|Remove old firmware from downloaded_rom|Check the folder. /cache large-file|Clear the cache of Google Play Services|Restart the phone after cleaning-->

⚠️ Attention: Do not delete the folder MIUI It's got critical system files, and don't touch Android and obb folders, because it's where game and app data is stored.

5. MIUI Optimization: Disabling Unnecessary Functions

MIUI is known for its heavy interface, which consumes a lot of resources and creates unnecessary files, and if you turn off some of the features, you not only free up memory, but also speed up the phone.

• 🎨 Themes and wallpaper: MIUI It's constantly downloading new themes in the background. → Settings → Turn off Auto Update Themes.
• 📡 Diagnostics MIUI: Go to Settings. → The phone. → Debugging and disabling Automatic Reporting, this will stop the logging of errors.
• 🔍 Application Search: In Settings → Home screen disable App Search (it indexes all files on the phone).
• 📊 Use Analytics: In Settings → Accounts. → Mi Account. → Cloud. → Synchronization Disable Use Analytics.