Many Redmi and Poco smartphone users face the uncomfortable situation of overcrowded storage and a system constantly reminding them of a lack of space. Most often, the problem lies in the Xiaomi Cloud service, which syncs thousands of photos, contacts and screenshots by default. This is convenient for backups, but quickly eats up the free 5 gigabytes allocated by the manufacturer.
Cleaning up cloud storage isn't just about deleting files, it's about managing synchronization between your device and the server. If you just click the delete button, you risk losing important data that's never been saved anywhere else. In this article, we'll look at how to safely free up space in your Mi Account and how to turn off automatic downloading of junk files.
Before you take any drastic action, you need to understand the structure of your storage. Xiaomi Cloud is divided into several logical blocks: Gallery, Contacts, Recorder, Notes and System Backups. Each consumes resources differently, and the cleaning approach for them will be different. Ignoring these nuances can lead to the phone again requesting a cleanup in a couple of days.
Analysis of storage occupancy through the web interface
The most reliable way to assess the scale of the disaster is to log in to your account via a browser on your computer or in full-site mode on your smartphone. The mobile app often hides details that are visible in the full web version. Go to i.mi.com and log in using your Mi Account.
In the web interface, you'll see detailed statistics on the occupied space, and it's not just the total volume, it's the breakdown by file type, and you can see what's eating up your limit, which is likely to be thousands of small screenshots or long, high-resolution videos, and the visual scale will help you quickly identify the largest consumer.
⚠️ Note: Deleting files via i.mi.com’s web interface syncs instantly with all connected devices.If you delete a photo here, it will disappear from your phone’s gallery if sync is enabled.
For easy navigation, use date or size sorting. The web interface allows you to select files in groups, which greatly speeds up the process. However, be careful with the "Share All" feature, as it can cover files for the entire period of your account use, not just for the current month.
Cleaning Gallery and Synchronization Management
Xiaomi Cloud has traditionally been dominated by photos and videos, and to clean this section, you don't have to delete everything. In the gallery settings on your smartphone, you can find "Clean the Cloud" that suggests you delete only files that are already in your phone's memory, or vice versa, remove from the cloud what is deleted from your device.
It's important to distinguish between "delete from the device" and "delete from the cloud." If your goal is to make space in Xiaomi Cloud to unlock sync, you need to go to the cloud settings via the phone menu. The path usually looks like: Settings → Mi Account → Cloud → Gallery.
You can use smart sorting here, and it will suggest you delete duplicates, blurry images, or old screenshots, and it's a safe method that doesn't require you to manually check every file, and you should also look at the recently deleted folder, which often stores files for another 30 days, and keeps taking up space.
- 🗑️ Go to the album “Recently deleted” and clean it completely so that the files are permanently lost from the server.
- 📸 Turn off sync for folders with memes, document screenshots and temporary images from instant messengers.
- 🎥 Check the section "Video" separately - one minute video in the 4K It can weigh more than a thousand ordinary photos.
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Turn on Storage Optimization in the Gallery settings, which replaces the original photos in the cloud with compressed copies if the originals are already saved on the device, saving up to 90% of space.
Remember that the albums in the gallery can be duplicated. Check to see if the same images from different system folders are synced. Sometimes users don't notice that the Screenshots folder and the Screenshots folder are different directories for the system, and both are uploaded to the cloud.
Deletion of backup copies and application data
The second most important user of space is system and application data backups. Xiaomi Cloud automatically creates backups of settings, a list of Installed apps, and even the content of some programs. Often these files weigh a little, but their accumulated mass from old, already sold or lost phones can reach gigabytes.
To manage backups, go to Settings → Mi Account → Cloud → Storage Management. Here you will see a list of all devices ever linked to your account. Deleting a backup of an old smartphone is the fastest way to free up space. This action will not affect your current phone data.
If you have allowed WhatsApp or Viber to back up through Xiaomi services, check their size. Often, they store media files that are long-standing, but no longer valuable, but take up space.
| Type of data | Average size | Frequency of update | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos and videos | High (GB) | Constantly. | Cleaning manually or disconnecting |
| Contacts | Low (CB) | When changing | Not to remove, critically important |
| Backup copy of the system | Medium (MB) | Reset/update | Remove old versions |
| Notes and Recorder | Medium (MB) | As we use it, | Check for debris |
☑️ Checking before removing backups
There's also a hidden Recycle Bin folder for remote backups, and once you delete a file from the cloud, it can stay in the buffer for a while, and to make room, you need to find and clear that buffer in the storage management settings.
Working with contacts, notes and dictaphone
Although contacts and notes take up little space, their chaotic storage can cause problems when synchronized. SIM-Maps or social networks can slow down syncs. i.mi.com has a built-in tool to combine duplicates.
The recorder is the silent killer of free space. Many users forget that the recorder's recordings are also synchronized. Long lectures or interviews saved in low quality can take up hundreds of megabytes invisibly. Check the audio file list and delete the unnecessary.
⚠️ Warning: Before mass-cleaning notes, export important text files to.txt or copy them to a third-party application, such as Google Keep or Notion. Recover deleted notes from the Xiaomi cloud is extremely difficult.
Contact Recovery is a good option for contacts, which allows you to roll back your contact list to 30 days, which is useful if you accidentally delete the numbers you want to use in the cleaning process, but remember that this is a temporary measure, not a storage method.
If you use notes with attached images or audio recordings, they can be large, check the contents of notes before you delete them, and often they store photos of documents that are long irrelevant, but continue to hang dead in the cloud.
Disabling Automatic Synchronization and Optimization
Once cleaned, it is important to set up the system so that the problem does not recur in a month. Xiaomi Cloud aims to sync everything that gets into standard folders. Your task is to limit this appetite. Turn off sync for folders that do not require backup on Xiaomi servers.
For example, messenger cache folders, temporary browser files, or Download folder often contain garbage. In cloud settings, uncheck these boxes. Leave sync only on critical data: Contacts, SMS (if necessary) and Gallery (with restrictions).
Hidden folder.thumbnails
Alternative storage options are also worth considering: Photos can be automatically transferred to Google Photos or Yandex.Disk, which often offer more flexible rates or infinite storage in compressed quality.
Regularly, at least once a quarter, check the status of the storage facility. This will take a couple of minutes, but save you from suddenly stopping sync at an important moment, and the system will tell you if the limit is close to exhaustion again.
Solving problems with overcrowded storage
There are times when you delete files, but the occupancy indicator is not updated. This is server-side caching, in which case a full reboot of the device and re-entering the account helps, and you can also try to clear the cache of the Xiaomi Services application through the application menu.
If the cloud is 100% full, but the files are physically deleted, it may be a problem with the "hangover" sync processes. Try temporarily shutting down the Internet, turning off sync in the settings, then turning on the Internet and activating sync again, which will start the process of recalculating the free space.
- 🔄 Perform a full smartphone reboot after mass file cleanup.
- 📡 Check the Internet connection – if the signal is weak, the status of the cloud may not be updated.
- 🔑 Log out of Mi Account and log in again to update access tokens and storage data.
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If after all the manipulations the space is not free, it is possible that the files are in the basket or archive, which should be cleaned separately through the web version of the site.
In a pinch, if nothing works, you can use the full cloud reset feature, which is in deep account settings, and this action will break the connection between the phone and the cloud, and then you can set the sync again by selecting only the necessary points.