Xiaomi is slowing down and laying down? 7 ways to clean your phone without losing data

Your Xiaomi is slowing down, apps are slowing down and animations are twitching? This is a problem for smartphones after 1-2 years of use - even flagship models like the Xiaomi 13 Ultra or POCO F5 are not immune to slowdowns. The reason usually lies not in the "weak hardware", but in a clogged system: accumulated cache, background debris, fragmented memory and outdated data eat resources.

In this article, 7 working methods for cleaning Xiaomi without resetting to factory settings (and without losing photos, contacts or messages).We will break down both standard MIUI tools and hidden features for power users. And you will learn why cleaning through Settings → Memory is often useless and how to properly remove system debris to make the phone fly like new.

1.Diagnostics: Why Xiaomi is slowing down?

Before you clean, you need to understand the source of the brakes, and 80 percent of the time, one of three things is to blame:

• 🗑️ Overcrowded storage – less than 10% of the free space on internal memory leads to lags due to file fragmentation.
• 🧹 Cache – temporary application files (especially messengers and social networks) can take up to 5-10 GB.
• 👻 Background processes – autoloading unnecessary services (e.g. com.miui.analytics or com.xiaomi.midrop) eats up RAM.

To check the current state:

1. Open Settings → About Phone → The MIUI version and tap 7 times on the “Kerole” line – this will turn on the developer mode.
2. Go back to Settings → More → For developers and find Process Statistics.
3. Look at the CPU and RAM usage schedule – if the CPU load exceeds 50% in idle and free memory is less than 1 GB, it’s time to clean.

Pay attention to the temperature of the processor – if the phone is warming without a load (above 45 ° C), this may indicate trottling (automatic performance loss due to overheating), in which case cleaning will only help temporarily – you need a diagnosis of the battery or thermal paste.

2.Cache cleaning: the right way (not through "Memory")

Most users try to clear the cache through Settings → Memory → Clean, but this method only removes surface debris.

Remove the cache of individual applications|Clear the cache of system services|Delete temporary files MIUI|Reboot the phone-->

Step 1. Cache of user applications

Open Settings → Applications → Application Management and sort the list by size.

• 📱 Messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp) – cache of media files can weigh 3-5 GB.
• 🎮 Games (Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile) – cache of textures and updates.
• 🌍 Maps (Google Maps, Yandex.Maps) – offline maps and route history.

Click on the app → Storage → Clear cache. Don’t click Clear data – it will delete accounts and settings!

Step 2: System cache (requires developer rights)

Enable debugging over USB in the developer settings, connect the phone to the PC and execute the command:

adb shell pm trim-caches 1G

This command compulsorily clears the cache of all applications, including system ones. Alternatively, use MIUI Optimization (available in Xiaomi EU ROM).

⚠️ Attention: If after cleaning the cache Xiaomi began to brake even more - this is a sign of damaged files of the system.

3.Removal of junk files: hidden folders and application residues

Even after the apps are removed, Xiaomi still has its tails — folders with settings, logs, and temporary files — that take up space and can conflict with new programs.

Where to look for garbage:

To remove, use a root access explorer (such as FX File Explorer) or connect your phone to your PC in MTP mode. Don’t delete Android/data/ folders manually – this will cause applications to crash!

💡

Before deleting folders, back up important data, such as saving the DCIM/Camera folder on your PC — sometimes when cleaning the system, photos may disappear from the gallery (though they will physically remain on the disk).

Automated cleaning

If you don't want to go through folders manually, install SD Maid (requires root) or Files by Google.

• 🗃️ Empty folders
• 📄 Duplicate files
• 🔍 Remains after uninstallation
• 📊 Large files (>100MB)

4. Optimization of autoboot and background processes

One of the main reasons for the brakes is that you automatically start unnecessary services when you turn on your phone, and in MIUI, this is controlled by:

1. Settings → Applications → Application Management → Autorun
2. Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Management → Applications Selection

What applications can be disabled:

• 📊 Miui Analytics (com.miui.analytics) – collects usage data.
• 📡 Mi Drop (com.xiaomi.midrop) – Wi-Fi Direct file transfer service.
• 🎵 Mi Music (com.miui.player) – if you don’t use a standard player.
• 📰 Mi Browser (com.android.browser) – if you use Chrome or Firefox.

For full control, install Greenify (works without root on MIUI):

1. Add the appendices to the "sedation" list.
2. Activate Aggressive Doze (requires) ADB-team).
3. Set up automatic optimization when locking the screen.

After optimizing autoboot, check the free RAM: if more than 2 GB of RAM is available after the reboot (on 6-8 GB models), then the background processes no longer slow down the system.

5. Memory defragmentation and storage optimization

Over time, files on the internal drive fragment, which is when parts of a single file are scattered across different memory sectors, which slows down the reading of data, and the phone begins to "hang" when opening applications or gallery.

MIUI has a built-in defragmentation tool, but it only works on a clean system (no root rights).

1. Clean up the cache and junk files (see sections 2 and 3).
2. Go to Settings → Memory → Optimize.
3. Click Defragment (only appear if more than 20% of the memory is free).

If the built-in tool doesn’t help, use Fstrim via ADB:

adb shell fstrim -v /data

This command optimizes the /data partition, where user files and settings are stored. Importantly, close all applications before running and connect your phone to charge.

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 8 Pro with a MTK-Frequent defragmentation can speed up memory wear. Do this no more than 1 time every 3 months.

After defragmentation, check the read/write speed with AndroBench. Normal values for UFS 2.1/2.2:

• 📈 Consecutive reading: 500-800 MB/s
• 📊 Consecutive recording: 200-400 MB/s
• ⚡ Random reading (4K): 30-50 MB/s

6. Reset settings without data loss (Soft Reset)

If previous methods didn't work, but you don't want to lose photos and apps, try soft reset, which restores the system settings to factory settings, but saves:

• 📷 Photo and video in DCIM/
• 🎵 Music and downloads
• 📱 Installed applications (but reset their settings)

How to make Soft Reset:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Reset All Settings (Do not Delete All Data!).
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot (takes 5-10 minutes).

After discharge:

• 🔄 Configure Application Permissions again (especially for instant messengers and banking applications).
• 🔋 Turn off unnecessary services in Settings → Special facilities.
• 📶 Reconnect to Wi-Fi and mobile network.

💡

Soft Reset helps in 60% of cases when the brakes are caused by configuration conflicts or damaged configuration files. If the problem persists, a complete reset or flashing is required.

If the phone still brakes after a soft reset, check the battery status at Settings → Battery → Battery Status. A worn-out battery (capacity < 80%) can cause sudden performance drawdowns due to the power limitation of the processor.

7 Radical measures: complete resetting and flashing

If nothing has worked, there are two options:

1. Hard Reset – deletes ALL data, including photos and apps. Only do it if you have a backup!
2. Fastboot flashing is a clean MIUI installation with no garbage. It requires an unlocked bootloader.

How to make a Hard Reset:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up until the Mi logo appears.
3. From the Recovery menu, select Wipe Data → Wipe All Data.
4. Confirm the action and wait for the completion.

Fastboot Flashing (for experienced users):

• 🖥️ Download the Mi Flash Tool and the official firmware for your model from the Xiaomi website.
• 🔌 Connect your phone in Fastboot mode (clip the power supply) + Loudness down).
• 📥 In Mi Flash, select the downloaded.tgz file and click Flash.
• ⏳ Wait for completion (10-15 minute).

⚠️ Warning: Fastboot will reset IMEI on some models (Redmi) 7/8/9). Before the procedure, keep the original IMEI Adb shell service call iphonesubinfo 3.

After flashing:

• 📱 Do not restore data from backup MIUI — It can contain garbage.
• 🔄 Install applications selectively (one at a time) by checking performance.
• 🔒 Turn off automatic updates MIUI In Settings → The phone. → System Update – New versions often contain bugs.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi brakes