How to completely clear the history on the Xiaomi phone: 7 proven ways

Why it’s important to clean up history on Xiaomi regularly

Xiaomi smartphones (including Redmi, POCO, and Black Shark models) collect a huge amount of data about your activity, call history, instant messenger messages, browser cache, application logs all take up space on the device and can become a privacy vulnerability, for example, even after deleting WhatsApp messages, copies of them can remain in MIUI backup files for up to 30 days.

According to a 2023 Kaspersky study, 68 percent of smartphone users never clear their browser history, and 42 percent don’t know how to delete their call log. Meanwhile, on Xiaomi devices with MIUI 14+, geolocation history persists even after resets, if you don’t turn off sync with Mi Account. This article will help you figure out how to remove all traces of activity without a trace, from basic methods to hidden firmware functions.

1. Clearing the history of calls and messages

To start with the obvious, call logs and SMS. In MIUI, this data is stored in the Phone and Messages app, but deletion through the interface doesn't always work completely, for example, when synchronized with a Google Account or Mi Cloud, copies can be saved to servers.

To delete the call history:

• 📱 Open the phone application → Click on three dots in the upper right corner → Call magazine
• 🗑️ Choose Delete. → Check the required records or click Select all
• ⚠️ Confirm the deletion (in) MIUI 14+ You will need to enter a password or fingerprint)

For SMS/MMS:

• 💬 Go to the messages. → Click on the avatar in the upper right corner → Settings
• 🔍 Choose Clear History → Specify the period (for example, the last month)
• 🔄 If messages are synced with Mi Cloud, turn off this option in Settings. → Accounts. → Mi Account → Synchronization

⚠️ Attention: When removing SMS through the standard application of the Messages in MIUI 13-14 The hidden file of mmssms.db is in the folder. /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/. Complete removal will require root rights or factory reset.

2. Delete browser history (Mi Browser, Chrome, Firefox)

Xiaomi browsers store not only your browsing history, but also cookies, cache and autocomplete data. In Mi Browser (the standard MIUI browser), the history can be saved even after manual cleaning due to integration with Mi Account.

Instructions for Mi Browser:

1. Open the browser → click on three points → Settings
2. Go to Privacy → Clear the data
3. Check the boxes: 🌐 Viewing history 🍪 Cookies and website data 🗃️ Cached images and files

Clean up

For Google Chrome:

• 🔍 Open Chrome. → three-point → History → Clear the data
• 🕒 Select a period (All the time for complete cleaning)
• ✅ Mark all data types and click Delete data

⚠️ Attention: B MIUI 14+ There is a hidden function Incognito mode with lock (included in Settings) → Special facilities → Incognito mode: If it is active, the history of the browser can be stored in encrypted form even after cleaning.

3. Clearing the history of applications and cache

Applications on Xiaomi leave traces of activity in several places: cache (temporary files), application data (settings, logs) and system logs (logs). For example, TikTok stores browsing history in the /Android/data/com.zhiliaoapp.musically/files/ folder, and Instagram in /Android/data/com.instagram.android/cache/.

How to clean:

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management
• 🔍 Select the desired application (for example, Facebook or Telegram)
• 🧹 Click Clear Cache and Clear Data (Warning: This Will Reset the App Settings!)
• 🗃️ For deep cleaning, use the settings → Memory. → Cleaning (Deep cleaning function in the MIUI)

To delete system logs (Developer Mode is required):

1. Activate Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers
3. Find the Logistics option and turn it off.
4. Delete log files through Settings → Memory → Files → Logs

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If the app is slow after cleaning the cache, restart the phone. MIUI automatically restores part of the cache the next time the app is launched.

4.Removing Google’s geolocation history and activity

Xiaomi is integrated with Google and Mi Location, which track your location even when you are not using maps.

• 📍 Google Timeline (Location History)
• 🗺️ Mi Location (Xiaomi Location Service)
• 🚗 Sensor data (accelerometer, gyroscope – used to determine activity)

To remove geolocation history:

1. For Google: Open Google Timeline in your browser Click on the gear icon → Delete Location History Select Period or Full Period

Mi Location

• Go to Settings → Location → Location History
• Turn off the option or click Clear History

6. Complete reset to factory settings

If you need to completely erase all data (for example, before selling a phone), do Hard Reset.

• 📱 All applications and their data
• 📞 Call log and SMS
• 📁 Photos, videos and music (if not for the SD-map)
• 🔑 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Accounts settings

How to make Hard Reset on Xiaomi:

1. Method 1 (via menu): Open Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset Select Erase All Data Enter Password (if any) and confirm

• Turn off the phone.
• Press Power + Volume Up Before the Mi Logo Appears
• Select Wipe Data → Wipe All Data (use volume buttons for navigation)

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 14+ And a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip (like the Xiaomi 13 Ultra) may need to re-assign the Mi Account to unlock after reset. If you forget your account details, the phone will turn into a brick"!

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Before resetting, be sure to untie the device from Mi Account in Settings → Accounts → Mi Account → Delete the account, otherwise after the reset, the phone will require the data of the previous owner to be entered.

7 How to Check That History Is Really Deleted

Even after cleaning, the data can remain in the system files. Here's how to check if it's not there:

For calls and SMS:

• 🔍 Use a file manager (e.g., Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer)
• 📂 Move to the /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/
• 🗃️ Check the files of mmssms.db and contacts2.db — They should be 0 KB in size.

For the browser:

• 🌐 Open the Settings. → Annexes → browser → Memory.
• 📊 Check the space occupied - after cleaning the cache should be <50 MB
• 🔎 Enter in the address bar chrome://history (Chrome: The page should be empty.

For geolocation:

• 📍 Go to Google Timeline – the map doesn’t show your movements
• 🗺️ B Settings → Location → Location history should be written No data

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For a deep check, use the DiskDigger app (requires root), which scans the memory at the file system level and finds deleted data that has not yet been overwritten.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up history on Xiaomi