How to Clean the Cloud on Xiaomi Android: The Complete Guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a situation where built-in storage is overcrowded and notifications about the lack of space in the Mi Cloud service become permanent.The system automatically backs up the gallery, contacts and settings, which over time takes up a significant amount of volume, even if you have a free tariff of 5 GB. Understanding how to properly manage this space is critical for the stable operation of the device.

Many users mistakenly believe that simply removing photos from the phone gallery automatically frees up space in the cloud, but that's not always the case because of the sync feature: Deleting a file from the gallery when synced on will cause it to be deleted from the cloud as well, but old backups of settings or duplicates may remain. In this article, we'll take a look at all the nuances of cleaning, from manually deleting via the browser to managing sync in MIUI.

Incorrect cloud management can lead to loss of important contacts or system settings when changing devices, so before starting a mass cleanup, you need to clearly understand the difference between local storage and a remote server.

Analysis of the occupancy of the Mi Cloud storage

The first step before any cleaning should be to diagnose in detail what exactly takes up precious megabytes. In the Xiaomi ecosystem, cloud space is divided into several key categories: Gallery, Contacts, Messages, Recorder and System Backups. Often users do not even suspect that old SMS or conversation records may take up more space than photos.

For accurate statistics, the best way to use the web version of the service is to use it, because the information on the phone menu is often truncated. You will need to go to the official i.mi.com website and log in to your Mi Account. Here is a visualization of the memory distribution diagram, allowing you to instantly assess cleaning priorities.

• 📸 Gallery: usually takes up to 80% of the total space, including deleted albums.
• 💾 Backups: Hidden system and application settings data that are rarely checked.
• 📞 Contacts and calls: Call history can grow for years if not cleaned.
• 📝 Notes and recorder: audio recordings in high quality weigh surprisingly much.

⚠️ Warning: Before starting a large-scale deletion, make sure that the device is enabled with two-factor authorization, which will protect your account from unauthorized access while you manage data remotely.

Special attention should be paid to the "Deleted" section, which functions as a shopping cart. Files deleted by the user do not disappear instantly, but are stored there for up to 30 days, continuing to occupy space. If your goal is to immediately free gigabytes, cleaning this partition is a must.

Delete photos and videos via the web interface

The most effective way to clean up Xiaomi’s cloud is to use the browser on your computer or in full mode on your smartphone. The website interface allows you to select files in groups, sort them by dates and albums, which greatly speeds up the process compared to a mobile application.

Once you log in to the Gallery, you'll see all the synchronized images. For quick navigation, use the side menu, where media files are broken down by years and months. By highlighting entire months or albums, you can delete thousands of photos in a single operation using the basket button.

It's important to distinguish between normal deleting and cleaning of "Deleted." When you delete a photo, it moves to a special Trash folder inside the cloud, so to make room, you go to the gallery settings on the site, find "Deleted" and select "Clean All" option.

• 🗑️ Mass allocation: Press the Shift key on the keyboard to highlight the range of photos between two clicks.
• 📅 Sort by size: You can sort files on the site to find the heaviest videos in the first place.
• 🔄 Sync Check: Make sure your phone is connected to Wi-Fi so that changes show up on your device.

If you plan to remove all photos from the cloud, but leave them on your phone, you need to pre-disable the sync of the gallery in the settings of your smartphone. Otherwise, deleting in the cloud will cause the images to disappear from the device, as Mi Cloud works on the principle of mirroring.

Cleaning system backups and settings

Unlike photos, backups take up the “invisible” space. MIUI automatically creates backups of installed applications, Wi-Fi settings, alarm clocks and desktop icon locations. These data are accumulated, and older versions of backups may not be deleted automatically.

To manage this data, go to the Settings section at i.mi.com or through the phone menu along the Settings path → Mi Account → Cloud → Backup. Here you will see a list of devices that have copies made for. If you had an old phone that you already sold or lost, your backup can be safely deleted.

Removing backup is an irreversible process for data that is not stored elsewhere. If you decide to clear this section, you will lose the ability to quickly restore your smartphone settings after flashing or buying a new Xiaomi device.

Managing Contact and Message Synchronization

Contacts and SMS are data that weigh a little, but loss is most critical. However, if you haven't cleaned a phone book in years, there could be hundreds of duplicates or spam numbers that synced to the cloud. Android and MIUI have built-in tools to combine duplicates.

To clean contacts, the best way to do this is to use Google Contacts or the web version of i.mi.com, where you can filter contacts without names or with blank fields, and after cleaning the server, the changes will automatically pull up on your smartphone if sync is enabled.

Messages (SMS and MMS) can take up an amazing amount of space, especially if you receive confirmation codes and image promotional mailings. From the cloud menu, you can select the option selective sync (selective sync) or completely disable the backup of messages if they are not important to you.

• 📲 Duplicates: Use the “Combine” function in the Contacts app before synchronization.
• 📩 MMS: Remove old dialogues with heavy attachments, they weigh more text.
• 🔒 Security: Do not store it in the cloud SMS With codes from banks, this is a potential vulnerability.

⚠️ Warning: When you turn off contact synchronization, make sure that they are stored in memory SIM-cards or exported to.vcf. Otherwise, when you reset your phone, you may lose your entire phone book.

Cleaning through the settings of the Xiaomi smartphone

It’s not always easy to use a computer, and Xiaomi has provided cloud management right in the MIUI or HyperOS shell. Go to Settings → Mi Account → Cloud. This shows the current storage status and the list of applications using the cloud.

In this menu, you can pinpoint the sync for heavy applications, for example, if you don't use a voice recorder for cloud storage, just turn off the slider opposite it, which will prevent future downloads of records to the server.

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Use the Security app → Cleanup. There's a file in the cloud section that helps you find large files that are taking up space in Mi Drive.

And it also has a "Free Space" feature, which will analyze the gallery and suggest that you delete the photos that are already in the cloud, leaving them only there, and be careful: when you choose this option, you delete local copies, and you will always need the Internet to view the photos.

If you want to completely disconnect your phone from the cloud, there's a log-out button at the bottom of your account menu, but just logging out doesn't delete the data from the server, it just stops syncing. The data will remain dead weight, taking up space.

Alternatives and data transfer to other services

The 5GB of free space in Mi Cloud is quickly running out, and the company offers paid rates. However, many users prefer not to pay for the manufacturer's cloud, but to use alternatives. The most popular solution is a bundle of Google Photos and Google Drive.

To transfer data, you can use a computer as an intermediate link: download the archive from i.mi.com and download it to Google Drive or Yandex.Disk. There are also third-party client applications for Mi Cloud, but their use carries security risks, since you transfer the username and password to third parties.

Consider comparing popular cloud storage for Android users:

It takes time, but it gives you more freedom, you're not tied to one brand's ecosystem, you can switch your smartphone to any brand without losing data, and the key is not to keep all your eggs in one basket.

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Regularly checking the cloud (every 3-6 months) helps to avoid sudden sync stops and loss of important data at a critical moment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)