Xiaomi’s current Android smartphones create and store massive amounts of data every day. High-quality images, 4K videos, chat screenshots, and app backups quickly fill the available space. When the device’s internal memory is overflowing, the system automatically starts using cloud storage if it’s activated by default.
Sooner or later, every user is faced with a notification that the space in the Mi Cloud or Google Drive is over.This is a critical situation, as new photos stop syncing and important data can be lost when the device crashes. Xiaomi's secure free storage limit is just 5GB, which is filled in about 2-3 months of active camera use.
In this article, we will explore how to effectively free up space in the cloud without losing important files. We will look at the regular tools of the MIUI and HyperOS system, as well as third-party methods of data management. You will learn how to distinguish system debris from valuable documents and adjust synchronization parameters correctly.
Analysis of cloud occupancy
Before you start mindlessly deleting files, you need to conduct a careful audience of content. Android on Xiaomi smartphones has built-in tools that show what exactly takes up the most space. Often users do not even suspect that the bulk of the photo, but old backups of messengers or forgotten videos.
To start, you should go to your account settings. Open the Settings menu, search for the Mi Account section, and select Cloud. This displays a visual occupancy scale. When you click on a graph or category list, you will see a detailed breakdown of how many gigabytes of images, contacts, notes, and voice recorder data are occupied.
⚠️ Warning: Before mass deletion, make sure that sync is complete. If you delete a file in the cloud, it will disappear on all other devices that log in to that account.
Special attention should be paid to the Recycle Bin section: Deleted files do not disappear instantly, but are stored there for 30 days, continuing to occupy space. Cleaning the Recycle Bin is the first step to quickly freeing gigabytes. Also check whether synchronizing folders that you do not need, such as screenshots from apps or thumbnails from instant messengers, is included.
- 📊 Check the overall usage statistics in the account menu.
- 🗑️ Estimate the amount of files in the cloud basket.
- 📸 Identify the most “heavy” categories: usually video and original photos.
- 📱 Check which apps are uploading data to the cloud.
Understanding your data structure will help you plan your next steps, so if you have 90 percent video space, it makes sense to re-settle your recording quality settings or move the archive to an external hard drive, and the system analyzer will show not only the volume, but also the date of the last file change.
Delete photos and videos through the Gallery
The gallery app on Xiaomi smartphones is closely integrated with the Mi Cloud service. To clean up storage, it is most convenient to work directly from this application, since it allows you to see the synchronization status of each file.
Open the gallery and go to the Albums tab. Find the All Photos or Recents album. The top of the screen often displays a cloud icon. If it's blue or says "Downloaded," then a copy of the file is stored on the server. You can select specific heavy videos or series of shots, press the delete button and confirm the action.
There is a Clear Cloud feature that allows you to remove files already stored in your phone’s memory from the cloud, which is ideal for those who want to free up online space but leave files on their device, but beware: if the phone is lost, those files will be lost forever.
Size-sorting is possible to selectively remove large videos, and some versions of the MIUI shell allow file sorting by size, allowing you to quickly find and delete old videos that weigh 1-2 GB, instantly freeing up a significant portion of the quota.
- 🖼️ Use the selection mode for mass selection of pictures.
- 🎥 Sort media files by size to find the heaviest ones.
- 🔄 Use the Clean Cloud function for local storage.
- 📅 Delete old photo series by event dates.
Remember to check albums created by third-party apps.Screenshots, images from WhatsApp and Telegram can also sync if allowed in the settings.Cleaning these folders often yields an unexpectedly good result.
Set up synchronization and autoboot
To keep the overflow problem from returning every month, you need to configure the sync settings correctly. By default, the system tends to upload everything to the cloud in the highest quality, which is not always justified, changing these settings will allow you to control the flow of data.
Go to Settings → Mi → Cloud → Sync. Here you will see a list of all the services that transmit data to the server. Turn off those items that are not critical to you. For example, synchronizing a voice recorder or browser bookmarks takes up little space, but adds up to a load. For photos, you can choose the option “Only over Wi-Fi” to avoid spending mobile traffic.
What happens if you turn off the synchronization?
If you turn off sync, new photos will only be stored in the phone's memory, and if the device is lost or broken, it will not be possible to restore them, since no copies will be created in the cloud.> The important thing is to adjust the load quality. Mi Cloud and Google Photos often offer a choice between Original and Save Space. The choice of saving option compresses images, making them less printable in large format, but allowing you to save in a larger format. 3-4 more pictures. ⚠️ Note: The quality settings change only for new files that are downloaded. The photos that are already uploaded in their original quality will remain the same until you delete them and re-upload them. If you have a Daily mode set, but your phone rarely connects to Wi-Fi, the download queue may grow. Switching to manual control or weekly sync will help avoid sudden overflows. 📡 Enable Wi-Fi-only downloads to save traffic. 📉 Select the “Saving Place” mode for your photo if the quality is not critical. 📵 Turn off synchronization of rarely used applications. ⏳ Set up a backup schedule. Regularly reviewing these settings ensures that cloud storage is used efficiently, and don't keep syncs for folders with temporary files or game cache on. Many Xiaomi users use the Google ecosystem in parallel. Google Photos is often turned on by default and can duplicate the functions of Mi Cloud, occupying space in both storages. In the Google Photos app, there is a function “Free space». It finds photos on the device that are already securely stored in the Google cloud, and deletes their local copy. This frees up the phone's memory, but does not affect the cloud quota. To clean up the Google cloud, you need to delete files directly from the application or through the web interface. If you decide to completely abandon one of the services, for example, from Mi Cloud in favor of Google, you need to make sure that the transfer process is completed. Just disabling the sync is not enough - you need to check that all the important archives are available from another device or computer. Alternative services, such as Yandex Drive or Dropbox, you can also configure on the autoload of these applications, and often forget about the location of the Internet. Service Free Compression Features Integration with MIUI Mi Cloud 5GB Original or Compression Native (system) Google Photo 15GB (general) High quality (compression) High (via Google One) Yandex Drive 10GB Disk Bezlimit for photo (compression) Through TeraBox 1TB Strong video compression Application Using multiple clouds simultaneously creates confusion. It is recommended to choose one main service for photos and one for documents so as not to spray attention and resources of the phone, the databases are stored in the old computer backups and the backups of the applications, but in the old ones are often deleted from the backups of the cloud. Find the Storage Management section, where you can see a list of all the devices that have ever been linked to your account, remove the backup of a sold or lost phone, instantly free up a few gigabytes, and check the messenger data. WhatsApp and Telegram can back up chats in the cloud, and if you have chats with a lot of media, their backup can weigh a lot, and it's better to clean up inside the messenger itself, delete large files, and then update the backup. The Apps section in the cloud stores a list of programs that were on the phone.Although they weigh a little, removing lists from older Xiaomi models (like the Redmi Note 8 or Mi). 9T) Helps keep the storage in order. 📱 Remove backups of lost or sold smartphones. 💬 Check the size of backups of WhatsApp and Telegram messengers. 🎙️ Clean the record archive if it synchronizes. 📋 Remove old lists of installed apps. Remember that deleting an app backup doesn’t remove the app itself from your current phone, but it does prevent you from recovering its data from the cloud in the event of a crash. Managing files through a smartphone screen is sometimes uncomfortable, especially if you need to select hundreds of photos or spread files into folders. The web version of Mi Cloud (i.mi.com) provides a more extensive functionality and user-friendly interface, similar to the conductor in the computer. ID The interface allows you to use the keyboard and mouse to quickly allocate files. You can press the Shift key to select the range or Ctrl to selectively delete. This greatly speeds up the process of ordering. The web interface also allows you to upload files back to your computer, so if the cloud is crowded but you don't want to delete anything, download the archives to your PC's hard drive and then delete them from the cloud. This is a classic method of archiving data. In addition, the web version provides a "Find Device" service that also takes up some data while storing geolocation. ⚠️ Warning: When working through a web browser, make sure you are on the official website. Entering account details on phishing sites will lead to identity theft. After a mass cleanup through the site, changes will instantly affect the phone if it is connected to the Internet. The synchronization will be in the background. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) Will the photo be deleted from the phone if I delete it from the cloud. If sync is enabled, deletion in the cloud will delete photos on your phone. To avoid this, use the Clean Cloud function in the gallery settings or pre-disable sync and make a local copy. How to increase space in Mi Cloud for free? The base limit of 5 GB cannot be increased for free. Xiaomi periodically offers temporary extensions or paid rates. The alternative is to register additional accounts or use other services. Why is the cloud filled even if I don't take photos? Perhaps screenshots, images from messengers or old videos that were not previously downloaded from the cloud, can you restore files from the storage for 30 days. Once the cart is cleaned, recovery becomes impossible without the help of special (and often paid) expertise or other copies. Does cleaning the cloud affect the phone? No, freeing up space in the cloud does not affect the speed of the smartphone. On the contrary, it can speed up the synchronization of important data and make room for new images, preventing system errors.