How to Clean the Cloud in Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Phone

Owners of the popular Redmi Note 9 often face a cloud overflow notification. MIUI insists on buying extra space, but in many cases it is not urgently necessary. It is enough to properly audit the data to free up gigabytes of useful space. In this article, we will discuss how to effectively clean the cloud in the phone without losing important images and contacts.

The main reason for the lack of space lies in the automatic synchronization, which is enabled by default on all modern Xiaomi devices. Gallery, voice recorder, notes and even browser history can be copied for years to the manufacturer’s servers. Understanding which files occupy the leading positions will be the first step to optimize your digital profile.

The cleaning process requires care, as deleting files from the cloud can affect how they are stored in your smartphone. We will look at secure Mi Cloud storage management techniques that will allow you to maintain control over your personal information.

Analysis of cloud storage occupancy

Before we start to ruthlessly delete data, we need to get an accurate picture of what exactly takes up space. MIUI has built-in statistics tools that show the distribution of memory by category. Usually, the lion's share is taken by photos and videos taken on the main camera of the device.

To enter the management menu, go to Settings → Mi → Mi Cloud Account. Here you will see a color diagram where the photos are in blue, contacts are green and document files are yellow. By clicking on a specific sector, you can examine the content in detail and decide to delete.

Often users forget about old backups of messages or duplicate screenshots that are automatically sent to the cloud. File structure analysis reveals these heavyweights. If you rarely use a recorder, but it synchronizes recording hours, it can take hundreds of megabytes.

Notice the Remove section, which works like a shopping cart in the operating system. Files you deleted earlier can be stored there for up to 30 days, continuing to consume quotas. Cleaning this section is the fastest way to instantly reclaim free space.

Managing synchronization of photos and gallery

The largest partition of any cloud storage is media. On the Redmi Note 9, with its quality camera modules, a single minute video in 4K can weigh tens of megabytes. Managing gallery synchronization requires a customized approach to each folder.

In the cloud settings, select Gallery and view the album list, and you can turn off sync for Screenshots, WhatsApp Images, or Telegram folders if you don't plan on storing them forever, making room for the album while keeping your personal photos safe.

⚠️ Note: When you delete photos from the cloud through your sync settings, they may disappear from the device if the "Free space" option is enabled. Always check for a copy on your computer before mass cleaning.

There is a useful storage optimization feature that replaces the original photos with compressed previews in the phone’s memory, leaving the full versions only in the cloud. However, if your cloud is crowded, it is better to turn off the download of high-resolution video files. To do this, find the “Size of uploadable videos” setting in the gallery menu and select a restriction, for example, only Wi-Fi or exclude videos longer than 1 minute.

Also worth checking are albums created by third-party apps: Social networks and instant messengers often create folders that duplicate images already stored in the gallery, and manually sorting such albums will remove unnecessary visual debris.

Cleaning up backups of messages and settings

In addition to media files, Mi Cloud actively stores backups of system data. SMS-Messages, installed apps, desktop settings, and even icon layouts can grow over time, especially if you change themes frequently.

To manage this data, go to the Backup section of the cloud menu, where you can see the date of the last copy and its size. Old backups created a few years ago for previous phone models are often of no value and are subject to deletion.

Special attention should be paid to synchronizing the recorder and notes. If you use your phone to record lectures or meetings, audio files can take up gigabytes. In the list of synchronized items, find the Dictophone and look at the list of records. Long interviews that you have already completed, it is better to save to an external medium and remove from the cloud.

It's important to understand the difference between on-premises and cloud backups. Local backups are stored in your phone's memory and don't affect cloud quotas, but can be lost when your device breaks. Cloud backups are secure but paid or limited. The best option is to make full copies to your computer once a month, and only keep contacts and photos in the cloud.

Work with files and documents in Mi Drive

Mi Drive is a file manager like Google Drive or Dropbox, and many users don’t even realize that accidentally downloaded files from a browser or received documents can automatically enter this section. Checking this directory often brings surprises in the form of forgotten installations. APK-files or heavy presentations.

To clean this section, open the Files app on your desktop and go to the Cloud tab, where it's convenient to sort data by type: images, videos, audio, documents. Deleting unnecessary files here makes room instantly, since they are no longer duplicated on the device.

Pay special attention to the Downloads folder, which browsers often store cached pages or temporary files there, which are then synchronized, and cleaning this folder regularly is a good habit for maintaining order.

If you use your phone for work, versions of files created by autosaving office applications may accumulate in the cloud «final_v2» titled.

Disabling Automatic Data Downloading

To keep the overflow problem from returning in a month, you need to reconfigure the automatic processes. Xiaomi by default wants to keep everything you create, but you can limit this appetite. This will not only save space, but also reduce the consumption of mobile traffic.

In the sync menu for each data type (Gallery, Contacts, Calendar) there is a status switch. You can leave the sync on only for contacts, because they take up minimal space, but are critically important. For the gallery, you can set a limit: sync only when you connect to Wi-Fi.

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Use the “Do Not Sync” mode for folders with memes, screenshots of checks and temporary photos to avoid clogging the cloud archive.

It's also worth turning off sync for applications you don't use very often, for example, if you don't do business on a Calendar or use a built-in document scanner, their data doesn't have to be kept in the cloud, which will make it easier to structure your storage.

Check the settings for third-party apps that have access to Mi Cloud. Sometimes messengers or photo editors ask for permission to automatically upload the results of work.

Using the Web Version for Mass Cleaning

Managing files through the screen of a Redmi Note 9 smartphone is sometimes inconvenient, especially if you need to choose hundreds of photos to delete. The web version of the service at i.mi.com provides a wider functionality and user-friendly interface from the large screen of your computer.

Once you log in through your browser, you can access all the parts of the cloud, and you can group files, you can use filters by date and size, and it's the perfect way to do the cleanup, taking everything you need. 15-20 minute.

⚠️ Note: When working through the web interface, the changes take effect immediately. files deleted through the browser will disappear from all synchronized devices, including your phone.

The web version also makes it easy to download large amounts of data to your computer before you delete it, so you can create an archive of important documents or a photo archive from the past year, clean up the cloud and make sure that information is not lost, which is the most reliable strategic approach to memory management.

In addition, the web interface often displays more detailed usage statistics than the mobile app, so you can see exactly which app is downloading the most data and take appropriate action.

Alternative solutions and data transfer

If the space is running out after cleaning anyway, it's worth considering alternative storage options. Xiaomi provides 5GB for free, but for an active user, that may not be enough. Buying extra space is the easiest, but not always economical, way to go.

A smarter solution might be to migrate the photo archive to other services, such as Google Photos or Yandex.Disk, which offer different pricing terms, and in the phone settings, you can turn off sync with Mi Cloud for the gallery and enable it for another service.

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Combining storage services (hybrid strategy) allows you to distribute the load: contacts and settings in Mi Cloud, and heavy video and photos in Google Photos or on PC.

Also, remember the classic methods: regular photo reset to your computer or external hard drive. Flash drives are now inexpensive, and having a physical copy of data is the gold standard of digital security. Redmi Note 9 does not have a memory card slot, so external drives with a memory card. OTG-The cable will be a great addition.

Periodic cloud audits should become a habit, so take 10 minutes to check the storage once a quarter, and you forget about the space shortage problems, and a clean cloud is faster and allows you to be sure that the really important data is safe.