How to Clean Memory on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide to Android Acceleration

Modern Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones have huge capabilities, but over time, owners notice that the device starts to work slower. This is an inevitable process associated with the accumulation of temporary files, app cache and system debris. When internal storage is filled by more than 90%, the Android operating system has difficulty writing new data, which leads to interface friezes and long downloads of programs.

In this article, we will discuss in detail how to effectively clean Android on Xiomi’s phone to free up precious gigabytes. You will learn to distinguish secure files from system ones, use built-in utilities and third-party tools correctly. Competent cleaning will not only restore the former frolic menu, but also prolong the life of the drive, preventing its wear from constantly overwriting.

Use of the built-in "Security" application

The first and most obvious step to free up space is to use a regular tool from the developers of MIUI and HyperOS. The Security app is deeply integrated into the system, so it has access to hidden cache sections that are often inaccessible to regular cleaners.Running the scan takes only a few seconds, but the result can be overwhelming, especially if you haven't done prevention in a long time.

In the process of analysis, the system detects not only temporary files, but also duplicates, large files and remnants of deleted applications. It is important that the algorithm works carefully, not deleting personal photos or documents without your knowledge. Once you complete the scan, you will see a "Clean" button, clicking on which will instantly free up space.

However, it is worth remembering that automatic cleaning does not always remove the cache of heavy messengers completely. Some data may remain in secure folders. Therefore, after a standard procedure, it is recommended to go to the storage settings manually for more detailed analysis.

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Start a built-in cleaning service once a week to prevent a critical mass of debris from accumulating, which can slow down the system.

Manual cleaning of cache and application data

The largest amount of memory on Xiaomi smartphones is usually occupied by social networks and messengers such as Telegram, WhatsApp and VK. These applications store every photo and video viewed in local memory. To free up space, you need to go to the settings, select the "Apps" item and sort the list by volume occupied.

Inside each heavy app, look for the Memory section, and you'll see two buttons here: Clear cache and Clear all data. The first option is secure, it deletes temporary files without affecting your correspondence, and the second option completely resets the app to post-installation status, deleting logins and history. Use it with caution.

For multimedia applications like YouTube or Spotify, cache clearing is particularly effective, cacheting video previews and album covers that can take up to hundreds of megabytes over time, and cleaning that data regularly helps keep the system on track without losing functionality.

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Annexes → All applications to access the full list.
• 🗑️ Click on “Clear Cache” for programs you use daily.
• ⚙️ Use the Clear Data feature only for rarely used applications.
• 📸 Don’t forget to check the gallery for high-resolution videos that take up the most space.

Analysis of storage through Explorer and settings

The built-in storage analyzer in the MIUI shell provides a visual diagram of the file distribution. Going down the Settings path → Phone → Storage, you will see which categories occupy the most space. Often it turns out that half of the memory is eaten by files from the Download folder or forgotten downloads from browsers.

Using the Explorer app, you can manually find and delete folders with the names of applications that have been deleted long ago. Android/data. Be careful: delete only those folders whose names you know and which the system does not need.

⚠️ Note: When manually cleaning through Explorer, never delete files with the.xml extension or folders with system process names, otherwise the phone may stop booting or lose network settings.

Pay special attention to Tencent folders (for WeChat users or games from this company) and Instagram, which can store thousands of thumbnails and avatars inside them, which are not visible in a regular gallery, but take up gigabytes.

Cleaning up garbage in messengers Telegram and WhatsApp

Messengers have become full-fledged media combines, and Xiaomi is no exception. Telegram and WhatsApp have their own built-in memory management tools that work more efficiently than system cleaners. Telegram needs to go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use and click Clear Cache.

The main advantage of setting up Telegram is that you can set an automatic cache deletion timer, so you can set a condition for the program to delete files that have not been opened for more than 3 days or weeks, which will save you from having to do it manually in the future.

On WhatsApp, the situation is similar, but it's important to check the Storage tab in the chat settings, where you can see which dialogs are the most spaced, and delete media selectively without deleting text messages, which allows you to save important contacts and information, getting rid of heavy videos.

Removal of duplicates and large files

Often, the phone has dozens of identical photos taken in serial mode, or copies of documents downloaded several times. It is difficult to find them manually, but modern Xiaomi algorithms allow you to quickly identify duplicates. The Gallery app often has a tool or recommendation feature, where the system itself suggests removing similar pictures.

Also worth paying attention to the folder Download. Browsers by default save there all downloaded. APK-file, PDF-Documents and pictures: Old app installers (.apk) become useless garbage after installing the software and are immediately removed.

To find really large files that you might have forgotten (like movies or archives), you can use size-sorting in Explorer. Files over 500MB are usually immediately noticeable, and transferring them to a computer or cloud storage will instantly free up a significant amount of memory.

Use of cloud services and memory cards

If the phone's internal memory is crowded, the logical solution is to transfer data to the outside world: Google Photos allows you to store unlimited images in the cloud for free (with some quality restrictions) or for a subscription. Once you download photos and videos, you can delete them from the device, freeing up gigabytes.

Xiaomi also has its own Mi Cloud, which syncs contacts, notes and photos, but the main memory extension tool remains a microSD card. In memory card-enabled models, you can transfer some applications and all media files to an external medium through the storage settings menu.

Using cloud storage like Yandex Disk or Google Drive to archive old documents is a great habit. Files you open less than once a month should be stored in the cloud, not on your phone's internal drive. This golden rule will help keep the system fast for years.

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Moving photos and videos to the cloud is the most efficient way to free up space without losing data, as media files take up to 80% of the user’s memory.

Radical measures: reset to factory settings

If none of these methods worked, and the phone continues to slow down, maybe there's a deep error in the system, or the fragmentation of the file system has become critical, in which case a complete factory reset helps, and it puts the phone back out of the box by deleting absolutely all the data.

Before you do this, make sure to back up all your important data, reset will delete contacts, messages, photos and installed apps, and once reset, the phone will work as fast as possible, as all the accumulated software debris will disappear.

To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. The process will take a few minutes, after which the phone will restart and require initial setup. It is a guaranteed way to “resurrect” the old device.

⚠️ Warning: Before resetting, make sure the battery is charged at least 50-60%. Interrupting the reset process due to battery discharge can damage the system partition and inability to turn on the phone.