How to clean the image and video on Xiaomi: free up memory competently

Modern Xiaomi smartphones are famous for their excellent cameras that can shoot in high resolution, but this inevitably leads to a rapid filling of internal memory. When the storage is full, the device begins to work slower, and applications can close on their own. Users often face a situation when they need to take a new picture or record a video, but the system reports a lack of space.

Cleaning a gallery of excess visual debris may seem simple, but there are hidden nuances in the shell of MIUI and HyperOS. Incorrectly deleting files can lead to the loss of important data if you do not know where it is stored and how the clipboard works. In this guide, we will discuss all effective ways to clean up images and videos on Xiaomi without losing valuable points.

We're going to look at built-in cleaning tools, cloud services, and manual file management through a manager. A smart approach to running a media library will not only free up gigabytes of space, but also speed up your smartphone. Let's figure out what steps to take first.

Use of built-in cleaning in the Gallery

The easiest and safest way to clean up the mess is to use the regular features of the Gallery app. In new versions of the Xiaomi shell, AI algorithms automatically analyze content and suggest removing similar pictures or screenshots.

Here you will find the recent folder, where temporary files from instant messengers often accumulate. Automatic sorting allows you to quickly select groups of similar photos taken in serial mode. The system highlights the best shots, and the rest offers to delete, which significantly saves user time.

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Use the Photo Compression feature in the Xiaomi Gallery settings to reduce the size of images without any visible loss of quality if you need to make room for file transfers urgently.

Special attention should be paid to the section “Screenshots”, users often forget how much space is occupied by saved images of the interface, manually checking this folder allows you to delete hundreds of unnecessary files that no longer carry information load.

• 📸 Open the Gallery and go to the Albums section to access structured folders.
• 🗑️ Click on the basket icon in the upper right corner to see the system's cleanup suggestions.
• 📂 Check the folder “Other albums”, where downloads from browsers and social networks are often hidden.

Cleaning through the “Safety” app

The standard Security app on Xiaomi smartphones has powerful memory tools that scan the device not only for viruses, but also for app cache and residual files, and when you run the scan, you get a detailed report of what's taking up space.

In the Cleanup section, the system will suggest removing temporary files that are no longer needed for the programs to run. However, be careful: sometimes the cache contains data to quickly load frequently visited pages or saved thumbnails. Deep cleaning may require re-uploading this data, which consumes traffic.

⚠️ Note: Before using the Deep Clean feature, make sure that the list does not include any important documents or saved offline pages that you plan to use anytime soon.

There is also a tool available in this section to find large files, which is especially useful if you’ve shot videos in 4K or 8K resolution. The file manager inside the security application allows you to sort content by size and remove the heaviest objects.

Working with Recycle Bin and Deleted Files

Many users forget that when you delete a photo or video from a Xiaomi phone, it doesn't disappear completely immediately, but it moves to a special Recycle Bin folder that stores it for 30 days, and it's designed to protect against accidental data loss, but if you want to make room, you have to manually clean that folder.

You can find the cart in the Gallery app in the Albums tab by scrolling to the bottom of the list. It also stores deleted files from the Mi Cloud if synchronization is enabled. Complete removal from the cart must be done regularly to free up space.

If you delete a file from the recycle bin, it will no longer be possible to restore it with standard means, so before the final cleanup, it is recommended to review the contents again, double check will protect you from losing family archives or important working documents.

• 🕒 Files in the Recycle Bin take up space on the device until final deletion.
• 🔄 Sync with Mi Cloud can restore deleted photos if you do not disable this option.
• ⚡ Mass discharge allows you to clean the basket with one tap, but requires caution.

Managing cloud storage Mi Cloud

Xiaomi’s ecosystem offers cloud storage integration, which can be a great memory supporter. The “Device Clean” feature in the Mi Cloud settings allows you to remove original photos and videos from your phone, leaving compressed copies in the cloud, ideal for those with little internal memory.

However, it is worth considering that free space in the cloud is not enough (usually 5 GB), and you will have to pay for the expansion of space. Storage optimization works automatically: when you take a new photo, it is uploaded to the cloud, and the local copy is replaced by a thumbnail.

Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Gallery → Synchronization with the cloud

It's important to understand the difference between deleting from the cloud and from your device. If you delete a photo from the cloud through your browser, it will disappear from your phone when you sync it on. Local deleting through gallery settings is safer if you just want to free up space on your smartphone.

Finding and removing duplicate images

Over time, the gallery accumulates duplicates: the same photo saved from WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram at the same time. Manually search for them for a long time, so it is better to use specialized tools or system functions. MIUI has a built-in analyzer that groups similar images.

Third-party applications like Files by Google or Duplicate Files Fixer can do a deeper analysis by comparing checksums of files, which can even find copies that have been slightly edited or renamed, and search algorithms can significantly speed up the process of ordering.

When you delete duplicates, it's important to keep up with the fact that sometimes different versions of a file may contain different meta information or be in different quality, and visual checks before mass deletion of groups of similar files are a mandatory rule.

Cleaning the cache of social networks and messengers

Social media and instant messengers are the main memory eaters on today's smartphone. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and TikTok store all the images and videos you've viewed in cache. Even if you haven't saved them to the gallery, they take up space in the app's hidden folders.

Each app has a Data and Storage section in its settings where you can manage media autoloads. Turning off mobile video autoloads is the first step to saving money. Clearing the cache through Android settings deletes temporary files without affecting correspondence.

Telegram has a built-in Memory Use feature that allows you to clear the period cache (e.g., “over 1 week”).This is the safest way, since it does not delete important account data. Regularly cleaning the messenger cache can free up up to 10-15 GB of space.

Manual Deletion through File Explorer

For advanced users, a manual cleaning method is available through the standard Files Explorer. Going to the Internal Drive → DCIM → Camera, you can find the originals of all the photos and videos you've taken. There are often.thumbnails folders that can grow to huge sizes.

Removing the thumbnail folder is safe: the system will recreate it the next time you open the gallery, but it will temporarily load the processor. Hidden folders (starting from a dot) often contain logs and temporary data that can be deleted.

When manually deleting, it is important not to touch system folders like Android/data or MIUI unless you know exactly what they are responsible for. An error can cause applications to malfunction. The file manager allows you to sort files by date, size and type, which makes navigation easier.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete files with the.nomedia extension unless you want your hidden folders to suddenly appear in the shared gallery feed.

After manual cleaning, it is recommended to restart the device, which will allow the system to reset the indexes of media files and correctly display the remaining free space. Defragmentation of the file system on Android occurs automatically when you restart.

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Comprehensive approach: a combination of cloud synchronization, regular cleaning of messenger cache and deleting duplicates gives the maximum result in freeing up memory.

So keeping your Xiaomi gallery clean is easy if you do it regularly. Use a combination of automatic tools and manual controls. Free memory is key to keeping your smartphone running fast and keeping the lags off when shooting new content.