How to Free Up Your Internal Memory on Android Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Xiaomi’s internal memory (including the Redmi, POCO and Black Shark line) has a nasty twist: even with minimal usage, it gets clogged with garbage, cache and unnecessary files. MIUI actively reserves space for updates, temporary data and duplicate media files, leading to messages like “Not enough memory” or “Storage is almost full,” and standard cleaning tools often remove only the tip of the iceberg, leaving gigabytes of hidden junk.

In this article, 10 proven ways to free up memory on Xiaomi without root rights and loss of important data. We will analyze both the obvious methods (cleaning the cache, removing duplicates) and the hidden tricks: disabling MIUI backup, resetting unnecessary APKs after updates and working with system folders through ADB. All instructions are relevant for MIUI 12-14 on Android 11-14, but most methods can be used on older versions.

Special attention will be paid to unique Xiaomi "traps" for memory: for example, folder.miui with backups or hidden cache application com.miui.gallery, which can take up to 5-7 GB. SD-map (even if the system does not allow it) and which files can be deleted without risking the phone.

1. The analysis of occupied memory: what exactly eats the place?

Before you clean it, you need to understand what exactly is taking up memory. Xiaomi has built-in tools for this, but they often hide some of the data.

Open Settings → About Phone → Memory. Here you will see a diagram with categories:

System (includes firmware, kernel and preinstalled applications)

- Annexes (APK-user files)

Multimedia (photo, video, music)

- Files (documents, downloads, cache)

The most insidious section is that up to 30% of the garbage is hidden here!

However, the built-in analyzer does not show hidden folders and cache of system processes.

Files by Google (shows duplicates and large files)

SD Maid (analyzes cache, empty folders, remnants of remote applications)

DiskUsage (visualizes occupied space in the form of an interactive map)

Notice the folders:

/storage/emulated/0/Android/data – application data (game cache, instant messenger downloads) is stored here

/storage/emulated/0/MIUI – system backups and log files

/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails – photo and video thumbnails (can weigh up to 1-2 GB)

⚠️ Note: Do not manually delete folders with the names com.android. or com.xiaomi. MIUI. Use only system tools to clean them or ADB.

2. Cleaning the cache of applications and systems

Cache is the main memory eater at Xiaomi, and it's divided into three types:

1. cache of user applications (for example, Instagram, Telegram)

2. system applications cache (Galery, Music, Security)

3. Dalvik cache (Android virtual machine files, up to 1-3 GB)

To clear the cache without harming the application, follow the following steps:

• 📱 Clearing the cache of individual applications: Go to Settings → Annexes → App management, select the one you want (like YouTube or Galery) and click "Clear cache." For bulk cleaning, use the "Clean all" button in the "Storage" section".
• 🧹 Systemic cleaning through MIUI: Open the Security app" → "Cleanup" → "Deep Cleanup. You can delete the cache of system processes, temporary files and remnants of deleted files. APK.
• 🔧 Dalvik cache (requires developer rights): Activate Developer Settings (7 times click on "Version") MIUI" In Settings → About the phone, then go to Settings → Additionally. → For developers, select "Clean Dalvik cache." After this operation, the phone will restart!

Clear the messenger cache (Telegram, WhatsApp)

Remove cache of galleries and music

Conduct a deep cleaning in the application "Safety"

Clear Dalvik cache (if there is root or developer rights)

Restart the phone after cleaning-->

Xiaomi has a hidden cache cleaning function via ADB. Connect your phone to your PC, enable USB debugging and execute the command:

adb shell pm trim-caches 1000000000

This command compulsorily clears the cache of all applications, including system ones, and be careful that after it runs, some applications (such as games) may run slower on the first run.

3. Removal of duplicate photos, videos and documents

The Galery app on Xiaomi has a nasty feature: it creates duplicate media files when editing, cropping or saving from instant messengers, for example, one photo from Telegram can be stored in triplicate:

Original on DCIM/Telegram

Miniatures in DCIM/.thumbnails

- Edited version in Pictures/Edited

To find and remove duplicates:

• 🔍 Built-in search in MIUI: Open Galery, press three dots. → "The system will show similar photos, but often skips files from hidden folders.
• 📊 Third-party utilities: Files by Google or Duplicate Files Fixer scans all folders, including system folders, and they find duplicates with different names but the same content.
• 🗑️ Manual Cleanup: Go to Files → Categories → Images and sort by size. Often duplicates are the same weight, but different names (e.g., the same size, IMG_20230515_123456.jpg and IMG_20230515_123456_edit.jpg).

Pay special attention to the folders:

DCIM/Screenshots – screenshots (can take up to 500MB)

Download – downloads from the browser (often here are outdated APKs and archives)

MIUI/Backup – System backups (can be deleted if you don’t plan to roll back)

⚠️ Attention: Do not delete the folder DCIM/Camera It can cause the Camera app to crash, instead, transfer the photo to your PC or cloud, and then clean the folder.

💡

Before you massively delete duplicates, turn on the hidden files in any file manager (e.g. Solid Explorer) so you’ll see folders like.thumbnails or.miui, which are usually hidden.

4. Application optimization: what can be removed without harm?

Xiaomi has a lot of apps that can’t be removed by standard means, but can be disabled or replaced with lighter versions, and here’s a list of the most voracious system APKs and what to do with them:

To remove system applications without root rights, use ADB:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB Debugging.
2. Open the command line and type: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.videoplayer (replace com.xiaomi.videoplayer with the desired application package).
3. Reboot the phone.

A list of Xiaomi system application packages can be found on XDA Developers or through the App Inspector app.

💡

Removing system applications via ADB does not require root rights, but rollback of changes is possible only through a full reset.

5. Transfer of applications to SD-The card (even if the system prohibits the)

Many Xiaomi models (especially the budget Redmi) do not support official portability of applications to the market. SD-But there are workarounds:

Method 1: Developer settings (for MIUI 12+)

1. Activate Developer Options (as described above).
2. Go to Settings → Additional → For developers → Forced to allow porting to SD.
3. Now in the application settings (Settings) → Annexes → Management) will be option "Move to the SD-map".

Method 2: ADB (works on all versions of MIUI)

Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command:

adb shell pm set-install-location 2

This command forces the system to install new applications on the SD-Default card: Restriction: Not all applications support external memory (especially games and instant messengers).

Method 3: Manual folder linking (requires root)

Use the FolderMount app or Link2SD, to transfer folders with application data (for example, game cache) to SD-This is a risky method, because if you don't set the apps right, they can stop working.

⚠️ Attention: SD-Class 10 or Class 10 cards or UHS-I They are suitable for porting applications, but even they are slower than internal memory. Do not carry system applications or those that require quick access (for example, launchers or widgets) to the map).

6. Cleaning Hidden Folders and MIUI Files

Xiaomi creates a lot of hidden folders that are not visible in a standard file manager, but can take up gigabytes.

• 🗃️.miui: system backups, log files, and temporary data, and you can delete everything except the backup folder (unless you need old backups).
• 📷 DCIM/.thumbnails — Photo and video thumbnails. You can clean them up (they will automatically recover).
• 🎵 MIUI/sound_recorder — Recordings from the recorder (often there are old files left here).
• 📱 Android/obb — Additional game data (e.g. Genshin Impact or Call of Duty graphics packages) only be deleted if the game itself has been deleted.
• 🔄 MIUI/Backup/AllBackup — Full backups of the system, unless you're planning to roll back to the old version. MIUI, They can be removed.

To see the hidden folders:

1. Use a root-enabled file manager (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Enable the display of hidden files in the manager settings.
3. Delete unnecessary folders, but do not touch: Android/data (app data), MIUI/extra (system fonts and themes) lost.dir (restored files after crashes)

7 Reset unnecessary APKs after MIUI updates

After each update, MIUI saves older versions of APK in case of rollbacks. These files take anywhere from 500 MB to 2 GB and are stored in the /data/app-lib folder (available only with root) or in /cache.

Method 1: Through Recovery (TWRP)

1. Reboot the phone to Recovery mode (clip Power + Volume up).
2. Choose Advanced → Wipe Dalvik Cache.
3. Then select the Wipe Cache Partition.
4. Reboot the phone.

Method 2: Through ADB

Connect your phone to your PC and do:

adb shell pm trim-caches 1000000000


adb shell rm -rf /cache/*

These commands will delete update cache and temporary files, and it is important that you do not use them more than once a month, as this can disrupt the system.

8. disable MIUI backup and cloud synchronization

By default, Xiaomi creates local and cloud backups that can take up to 3-5 GB.

• ☁️ Cloud reservations: Go to Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → Backup and disable the option. Remove old backups under "Manage backups".
• 💾 Local reservation: Open Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset → Local backup and delete all saved copies. Also check the folder. MIUI/Backup — There may be old backups here.
• 📲 Synchronization of contacts and notes: C Settings → Xiaomi account → Turn off unnecessary options (for example, synchronizing notes or calendar if you are not using them).

If you use Google Photos to back up your photos, check your quality settings:

- "High quality" (free but compressed to 16 MP)

Original Quality (placed in Google Drive)

Go to Google Photos → “Settings → Backup and Sync” and choose the best option.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi memory cleanup