Owners of Xiaomi budget smartphones often face the problem of sudden overflow of internal memory, even if there are no unnecessary photos in the gallery. Especially relevant question for the Redmi 9C model, which has a modest amount of internal storage. The system begins to slow down, applications fly out, and notifications of space shortage appear at the most inopportune moment.
Most often, the culprit is the mysterious “Other” section, which can take up tens of gigabytes, which hides temporary files, messenger cache, remnants of remote programs and system logs, and understanding the nature of this data is the first step to freeing up useful space on your device.
Next, we will discuss in detail how to clean the system safely and efficiently, and learn how to find hidden files, manually clean the application cache, and use the built-in MIUI tools to optimize, and how to act consistently so that you don't delete important system files.
The Nature of the Other Section in the MIUI Shell
The Other section of the MIUI-based Android file system is a collection of data that includes files that the system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos, music or documents, such as APK installation packages, browser temporary files, or game data.
Special attention should be paid to messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp, which often store the videos and images they have viewed in their hidden folders, which the standard memory analyzer perceives as “Other”, which over time grows to a huge size.
It also stores system logs and error reports, and if you're actively using navigators or streaming services, the map cache and buffered video also settle in this section, and without regular cleaning, this leads to critical memory filling.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders through root-righted file managers without understanding their purpose. 9C cyclic-reset.
Understanding what exactly takes up space helps you choose the right cleaning method, sometimes just cleaning the cache of one heavy application to free up a few gigabytes.
Use of the built-in "Security" application
The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use Xiaomi’s standard tool, the Security app is deeply integrated into the system and knows which files can be deleted without risking stability.
In the main menu, select "Clean up" and the system will scan and suggest removing debris, large files and rarely used applications. Click "Clean up" to remove found objects. This is a basic level of service.
For a deeper analysis, go to the Memory section inside the app, and here you'll see a diagram of the space distribution, click on the Other category, and you'll see the list of files that take up the most space, often with old updates or logs.
And remember, Deep Clean, which allows you to find duplicate photos, empty folders, and source files after you delete programs, and it's a great way to get the most out of it without installing third-party software.
⚠️ Note: When using the deep cleaning function, carefully look at the file previews. The system may mistakenly mark important documents as garbage if they have a non-standard extension.
Using MIUI tools on a regular basis helps keep the system clean, but for older models like the Redmi 9C, this may not be enough if you’re an active Internet user.
Manual cleaning of the cache of messengers and social networks
Social media and instant messengers account for the lion’s share of the “Other” category, with apps like VK, Telegram and TikTok cacheing every video and image viewed, and standard cleaning through phone settings often does not affect the internal database of these programs.
To effectively clean Telegram, open the settings inside the app itself. Go to Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you will see the cache volume. Click Clear Cache. This is safe: your correspondence and photos will not be lost, they will be re-uploaded from the cloud if necessary.
Why is the cache growing so fast?
Cache is created to speed up applications, and instead of downloading a picture every time it's on the Internet, it takes it from your phone's memory. 9C With its limited volume, it quickly eats up all the space, turning into the ballast of the "Other" section. VK Youtube is the same, go to the app settings, find Cash or Storage and clean it up. Youtube also needs to check the Uploaded Videos section if you use Premium or downloaded videos for offline viewing. 📱 Open the settings of a particular application (not the phone, but the program). 🗑️ Find the item "Storage" or "Use of memory». ✅ Click on Clear Cache, but not Clear Data (unless you want to reset your account). 🔄 Repeat the procedure for all heavy apps: Instagram, TikTok, browsers. After this procedure, the volume of the "Other" section may decrease by a few hours. 2-5 GB. This is critical for Redmi’s performance. 9C, Because the memory is filled, it slows down the writing of new data. MIUI They don't show you a detailed picture, they'll come to the rescue with specialized analyzers, and they visualize the file system by showing which folders inflated the "Other" section, and one of the best is Files by Google or DiskUsage. DiskUsage scans memory and builds a map as rectangles, and the larger the rectangle, the more space a file or folder takes up. Android/data It's been made into a mess because of the cache of a game or browser, and be careful when you delete files through these programs, and only delete the contents of the Cache folders or obviously temporary files. Do not touch files with the.obb or.dex extension unless you are sure that they belong to remote games.Utilities name Main function Security Needs Root Files rights by Google Search for duplicates and debris High No DiskUsage Visual memory card Medium (requires attention) No SD Maid Deep System Waste Cleanup High Desirable Clean Master RAM and Memory Optimization Low (lots of advertising) No Use SD Maid allows you to find "Remains" (Corpses) files left after removing applications. 9C This is a common problem, because the system doesn't always remove all the tails correctly. Remember, installing too many cleaners will clog the system itself. Choose one reliable tool and use it once a week. Many applications create folders at the root of internal memory that are not visible during normal browsing unless the hidden file display mode is enabled. To see them, open the standard Explorer and click three dots in the corner, selecting the corresponding menu item. Pay attention to folders with the names of games or programs that have been deleted long ago. Also check the Download folder - there are often forgotten installers. APK And the documents that the system identifies as "Other" -- you can delete them. Android/obb. It's where the hard game cache files are stored. If you delete a game, but the folder with its name is still there, you can delete it manually. 1-2 GB space, it's also worth checking the folder. MIUI/debug_log. It collects the logs of the system debugging. If you're not a developer, you don't need those files. They can be removed, but they can be recreated after a reboot or crash. ⚠️ Before manually removing folders from the root of memory, make sure they don’t contain important data, such as saved passwords in text form or personal documents. Regular manual audit of the file system is the most reliable way to keep “Other” under control. It takes time, but it's better on devices with low memory. If none of the methods worked, and the Other partition continues to occupy an absurd volume (for example, 10 GB on 32 GB of memory), there may have been indexing errors in the file system, in which case a complete reset will help. Before the procedure, make sure to back up the data. Go to Settings → The phone. → Reset settings. Select "Erase all data». The phone will return to the "out of the box" state, and the "Other" partition will disappear as the file system will be formatted again. → The phone. → Resetting settings → Erase all data This is the only way to guarantee to remove system debris that has stuck to the system after many updates. MIUI. For Redmi. 9C It's also a good way to refresh the processor by removing the accumulated software noise. After a reset, don't rush to install all the applications at once. Install only the necessary ones and keep an eye on the growth of the "Other" partition, which will help you understand which program is the main "junk collector". Using cloud services for photos and documents will allow you to avoid clogging internal memory in the future. Set up automatic uploading of photos to Google Photos or Yandex.Disk and delete local copies. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) Can I remove the Android folder completely? No, you can't delete the Android folder itself, because it stores all the installed applications. You can only delete the contents of the cache subfolders or the remote game folder in obb. Why did the Other grow again after cleaning? That's OK. Apps are constantly creating new temporary files. If growth is happening too fast (gigabytes per day), check if the memory-leaked application is working in the background or if the messenger is loading endlessly. Does filling the Other partition affect the speed of Redmi 9C? Yes, directly. When the free memory is less than 10%, the system is constantly creating new temporary files, the Android system does not get enough space for the Nufacione to clean up? Root rights (Magisk) give access to system files, but on Redmi 9C this can lead to loss of warranty and problems with banking applications.