Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a situation where the device starts to run slower and notifications of space shortages appear more often, due to the accumulation of temporary files, remnants of deleted applications and messenger cache, which over time can take up tens of gigabytes. The Android operating system in the shells of MIUI and HyperOS has powerful built-in tools, but many users do not use them or do not use them effectively.
Competent cleaning of the system allows not only to free up valuable space for photos and videos, but also to significantly extend the battery life of the gadget. In this article, we will analyze all proven ways to remove system debris, from standard tools to advanced methods for experienced users. You will learn which folders can be deleted without risk to the system, and which can not be touched categorically.
Before you start radical measures like resetting, it is worth trying a comprehensive cleaning with regular means. Standard cleaning in most cases returns the smartphone to its former sharpness and responsiveness of the interface. We will consider an algorithm of actions that will help safely remove excess and optimize the work of your Xiaomi.
Use of the built-in Security application
The first and most affordable tool for any Xiaomi owner is the pre-installed Security app, which is deeply integrated into the system and has access to all the necessary memory parts. To start cleaning, you just open the application and click on the large green Cleanup button, and the system automatically scans the device for cache, residual files and advertising debris.
After the initial scan, the app will suggest that you delete the files you found, but for a deeper cleaning, you should go to the Cleanup section inside the app menu, where you can analyze in detail what exactly occupies the space, and users often find forgotten screenshots, large video files from messengers and temporary update files.
⚠️ Note: When using Deep Clean, carefully check the file list before deleting. Sometimes important documents or saved images from WhatsApp can fall into the junk category.
It is important to note that regular use of this tool helps keep the system on top. App cache accumulates very quickly, especially on social networks and browsers. The automatic cleaning feature, which can be activated in the application settings, will periodically free up space without your involvement.
Don't ignore the Big Files section, which is also available through this menu, which is where you often hide forgotten archives or downloaded movies that you've already watched, and removing such objects is the fastest way to get a few gigabytes of free space.
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Turn on Auto Clean in the Security settings so that the phone deletes temporary files when a certain memory occupancy threshold is reached.
Manual cleaning through the file manager
For those who prefer full control of the file system, a good solution is to use the standard Explorer or more advanced analogues like Total Commander. The manual method allows you to see the real structure of folders and delete exactly what you need.
Special attention should be paid to the Android folder, namely the data subdirectory. It stores application data, including game cache and media files Telegram or YouTube. You can delete the contents of this folder, but be prepared for the fact that some applications may reset their settings or require re-authorization.
- 🗑️ folder MIUI — It contains logs and error reports that can be safely deleted if you don’t send them to developers.
- 🗑️ Folder thumbnails – stores thumbnails of images, which with a large number of photos can take hundreds of megabytes.
- 🗑️ Temp folder is a classic temporary file storage, the contents of which are rarely needed after a reboot.
When manually cleaning, it is important to be careful not to delete system files with.apk extensions (unless they are installers),.xml or files without extension in the root directories. Android file system is sufficiently protected, but removing critical components can lead to unstable interface operation.
It is also recommended to check folders of specific applications, the names of which often coincide with the name of the developer or service. For example, the Tencent folder often grows to huge sizes due to the cache of a PUBG game or QQ. Analysis of the contents of such directories allows you to find and delete old files for resource updates.
☑️ Checklist for manual cleaning
Analysis of memory occupancy and work with cache
Understanding what is eating up memory is key to successful optimization. Modern versions of MIUI and HyperOS have a built-in storage analyzer that visualizes data, and it shows that it's media and application data that are the most important, not the system itself, that allows you to point the problem.
The app cache deserves special attention. It's temporary data that speeds up programs, but over time becomes redundant. You can clear the cache through Settings → Apps → All apps. If you choose a heavy app (like YouTube or Instagram), go to Memory and click Clear Cache. Don't confuse this button with the Clear Everything button, which will delete your logins and passwords.
| Type of data | Can be removed | Risks of removal | Recommended frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | Yes. | Longer loading at the next start-up | Every 1-2 weeks |
| Downloads (Download) | Yeah (selectively) | Deletion of necessary documents | Once a month |
| Folder.Trash (Gallery) | Yes. | Inability to recover the photo | If necessary, |
| Logs of the system | Yes. | No history of errors for diagnosis | Six months |
It's also worth checking the DCIM folder where your photos and videos are stored, often with bad duplicates or videos shot in high resolution by accident, and using cloud-based backup services will remove the originals from the device, leaving them available over the network.
Cleaning up garbage in messengers and social networks
Memory consumption on any smartphone has long been dominated by instant messengers: Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber store every photo and video you see in your device’s memory; without regular cleaning, these apps can take up 10, 20, or even 50 gigabytes of space; fortunately, they have built-in memory management tools.
Telegram needs to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. You can see the size of the cache and set up an automatic cleanup. You should set a timer for 3 days or a week, which will not delete the correspondence, but will remove the files from the phone's memory, leaving the ability to download them again if necessary.
WhatsApp requires a more manual approach. In chat settings, there's a "Store Data" option where you can see which conversations take up the most space, often group chats where you constantly send videos, and you can selectively delete files directly from this menu without deleting the correspondence itself.
⚠️ Note: Before clearing the messenger data, make sure that important documents and photos are stored in the cloud or on your computer.
Social media like Instagram and VK are also actively cacheing the feed. The VK app itself has a “Clear Cache” feature that securely deletes temporary files. For Instagram, there may not be such a button, so it’s sometimes easier to reinstall the app to reset all the accumulated “fat.”
Removal of unused applications and their residues
Often, there are apps on your smartphone that you've stopped using months ago, that not only take up space, but can also run in the background, waste resources, go through the installed list and ruthlessly delete everything you haven't used in the past month, and that includes games that have been passed and forgotten.
However, simply deleting through the desktop doesn't always remove all traces.Residual files can lie in the Android/obb or Android/data folder. If you delete the game but the folder with its name (often containing the developer's name, such as com.garena.game) remains, it can be manually deleted. This is safe, as long as you're sure the app is no longer needed.
To search for duplicates and heavy files in depth, you can use specialized tools such as Files by Google or Clean Master (with caution), which can find similar photos, screenshots and forgotten downloads that a standard Explorer may miss.
Don't forget about system applications that can't be removed in the normal way, and you can "disable" them in your application settings, and that will hide them from the menu and prevent them from updating or running in the background, which will also make life a little easier for the system.
What to do with Xiaomi system applications?
Additional methods and system maintenance
In addition to deleting files, you should pay attention to background processes, so you can see which applications consume the most power in the battery settings and limit their background activity, which will not free up memory directly, but will improve the overall performance of the device by making working with the file system faster.
Another effective method is to clean the Gallery basket, and the deleted photos don't disappear immediately, but instead move to the Deleted album, which is stored for 30 days, and by logging into this album and clicking "Clean it all," you will instantly free up the space that was considered occupied.
If nothing helps and the memory is filled again in a day, it may be a problem in a particular application that creates cyclic logs, or a file system failure, in which case a factory reset might help, but this is an extreme measure requiring a full data backup.
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Regular cleaning of the messenger cache and the Download folder solves 90% of memory problems on Xiaomi smartphones.
Digital hygiene is a habit that prolongs the life of a smartphone. Don't let the memory fill up, because you have to leave the operating system free at least to run. 10-15% This will ensure stable operation and no lags in the future.