How to Clean Cloud Albums on Xiaomi: Delete Photos from Mi Cloud without Loss

Xiaomi’s Mi Cloud cloud storage is a handy tool for automatically backing up photos and videos from your smartphone, but over time, it fills up with unnecessary snapshots: duplicates, screenshots, blurred frames or old photos that have long since lost their relevance. If you notice that the cloud is running out of memory and synchronizing new files has stopped, it’s time to clean up.

In this article, we will discuss all the ways to clean cloud albums on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices, from manual removal through the Gallery app to mass cleaning through the web version of Mi Cloud. Also, we will discuss how to avoid accidental deletion of important files and optimize storage to free up space without loss of quality.

Why are Xiaomi’s cloud albums filling up so fast?

The main reason is that all photos and videos are automatically uploaded to the Mi Cloud by default, and many users are unaware that their smartphone is sending to the cloud every day:

• 📸 Screenshots (including random and duplicates)
• 🎥 Video from messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber)
• 📁 Photo from the app cache (for example, from TikTok or Instagram)
• 🔄 Duplicates (the same photo on different albums)
• 🗑️ Deleted locally but stored in the cloud

Xiaomi also includes AutoReserve for all new photos by default, which means that even if you delete a picture from your phone, a copy of it will remain in the cloud and take up space. For example, under standard settings, a 15-minute video at 1080p resolution can weigh up to 1-2 GB, and dozens of such files accumulate per year.

Another space eater is instant messenger albums, which many users don't know is that Xiaomi automatically creates separate folders for media from WhatsApp, Telegram and other apps, files that are often duplicated and stored for years, even though they've lost value.

Method 1: Cleaning through the Gallery app on your smartphone

The easiest way to delete unwanted photos is to use the built-in Gallery app on your Xiaomi, which is suitable if you need to delete individual files or small groups of snaps.

Instructions:

1. Open the Gallery app (icon with multi-colored squares).
2. Go to the Album tab (bottom of the screen).
3. Scroll down to the Mi Cloud section and select the album you want (e.g. All photos or Screenshots).
4. Press and hold your finger in any photo to activate the selection mode.
5. Tick the unnecessary files and click on the basket icon (🗑️) top-right.
6. Confirm Deletion by selecting Delete from the Cloud (important: this will only delete files from Mi Cloud, but save them to your phone if they are there).

Only unnecessary files are selected |Verified that important photos are saved locally |Autosynchronization is disabled (if necessary) |Deletion is confirmed in the cloud, not just on the phone-->

Note that if you delete a photo from the cloud through the Gallery, it will remain on your phone (if there is a copy there).To delete files from both the device and the cloud at the same time, use the Delete Everywhere feature (will appear when you press the file long).

⚠️ Note: Files deleted from Mi Cloud are put in the Recycle Bin and stored for 30 days, and then they will be permanently erased. If you accidentally delete an important photo, restore it through the Recycle Bin section of the cloud web version.

Method 2: Mass cleaning through the web version of Mi Cloud

If the cloud is full of thousands of files, it's not easy to delete them one by one through your phone, so use the Mi Cloud web version on your computer, which allows you to sort files by date, size and type, and highlight several hundred images at once.

How to clean the cloud through the browser:

1. Go to i.mi.com and log in to your Xiaomi account.
2. Select the Gallery section in the left menu.
3. Use the filters in the top panel: 📅 By date – select old photos (for example, 2020-2022). 📏 By size – sort by the largest to remove the “heavy” videos. 📂 By albums – find folders Screenshots, WhatsApp Images, etc.

Check the unnecessary files (you can highlight everything on the page through a checkbox in the header).

Delete

The advantage of the web version is the ability to preview files in a large size, which reduces the risk of accidental deletion, and it is also convenient to look for duplicates: sort the photo by name or date and delete repeated pictures.

💡

To speed up the process, use the key combination: Ctrl + A (select everything on the page), Ctrl + click (select individual files).

Method 3: Automatic cleaning with the Smart Cleaning function

Xiaomi offers a built-in Smart Cleaning tool that analyzes the cloud and suggests removing unnecessary files.This feature is available in the Mi Cloud mobile app and helps save time.

How to turn on automatic cleaning:

1. Open the Mi Cloud app on your phone.
2. Go to the Gallery section → Management (badge) ⚙️).
3. Choose Smart Cleaning.
4. Wait for the analysis (may take a few minutes).
5. The system will be asked to remove: 📁 Duplicate photos 🗑️ Blurred or dark images 📱 Screenshots over 6 months old 🎬 Low-resolution video

Clean up

Smart Cleaning isn’t perfect — it can skip some duplicates or suggest removing valuable photos. So check your file list carefully before confirming, and note that it doesn’t delete files from instant messenger folders (like WhatsApp) and you’ll have to manually clean them.

💡

Smart cleaning is good for quick cleaning, but it doesn't replace a complete cloud audit. Use it as a complement to manual sorting.

Method 4: Disable autoloading of unnecessary files

To prevent the Mi Cloud from getting filled with garbage in the future, set up the autoload rules. By default, Xiaomi sends all new photos and videos to the cloud, including screenshots and files from messengers. This can be changed.

How to limit autosynchronization:

1. Open the phone settings.
2. Go to Accounts and Synchronization → Mi Cloud.
3. Select the Gallery → Synchronization settings.
4. Turn off the options: 📸 Autouploading screenshots 🎬 Autoload video (or limit to a size, for example, up to 50 MB) 📁 Synchronization of messenger folders

Download only over Wi-Fi

We also recommend setting a limit on the size of downloaded files. For example, if you are photographing mostly at 1080p, it does not make sense to upload 4K video to the cloud, which weighs 3-4 times more. To do this, in the Mi Cloud settings, select Limit the download size and set the value of 50-100 MB.

⚠️ Note: If you turn off autoboot completely, no new photos will be backed up in the cloud, which means that if you lose or reset your phone, you may lose all the pictures you took after you turned off sync. We recommend manually uploading important photos to Favorites or Google Photos as an additional backup.

Method 5: Transfer your photo to another cloud or PC

If you don't want to delete photos forever, but you need to make room in the Mi Cloud, move them to another storage, for example, Google Photos offers 15 GB for free, and Yandex Drive offers up to 10 GB. You can also copy files to your computer or external hard drive.

How to transfer photos from Mi Cloud to Google Photos:

1. Download all the photos you need from Mi Cloud to your phone: Open Gallery → Cloud Mi. Select files → Click Download (arrow icon down).

Google Photo

Play Market

Google Photo

Photo settings

Backup

Backup and synchronization

Original

High.

Wait until the download is complete (may take a few hours).

Mi Cloud

Alternatively, copy the photo to the PC:

• 🖥️ Connect your phone to your computer through USB (Select the File Transfer Mode).
• 📂 Open the folder. DCIM or Pictures on the phone.
• 📤 Copy the necessary files to the hard disk.
• 🗑️ Remove them from Mi Cloud via web version.

What if the cloud is full and important photos remain?

If the free space in Mi Cloud is over, but you can’t delete any files, there are a few options:

1. Buying an extra seat: 💳 50GB — ~100–150 ₽/month. 💳 200GB — ~300–400 ₽/Prices are relevant for Russia for 2026. You can pay through Mi Cloud → Storage management.
2. Optimize storage: 📉 Press the photo down to 1080p (Google Photos or Lightroom). 🎞️ Delete the video, leaving only a frame preview (use applications like Video to Photo).
3. Use alternative clouds: ☁️ Google Photos (15GB free). ☁️ Yandex Disk (10GB free). ☁️ Mail.ru Cloud (8 GB free).

Important: If you decide to buy space in Mi Cloud, remember that your subscription is automatically renewed. Turn off autorenewal in your account settings if you don't plan to use it all the time.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up Xiaomi cloud albums