Owners of Xiaomi smartphones, particularly the popular Redmi 8T, often face the unpleasant situation when the internal memory of the device suddenly runs out, and a detailed analysis of the storage reveals that the lion’s share of the occupied space falls on the mysterious category “Other”, which can grow to tens of gigabytes, significantly slowing down the MIUI operating system and limiting the ability to install new applications.
System debris is a natural process for the Android operating system, which occurs as a result of the active work of messengers, browsers and background services. App cache, temporary update files and error logs all over time form the same bulky partition that is difficult to remove by standard methods. Understanding the structure of this data is the first step to effectively clean the device.
In this guide, we will discuss in detail the safe and advanced methods of freeing up space on your Xiaomi Redmi 8T. We will look at both standard system tools and specialized utilities that will help you return gigabytes of free space without the risk of losing important personal photos or contacts.
The nature of the category “Other” in MIUI
The Other category is a collection of files that the system cannot uniquely classify as images, videos, music or documents. In the MIUI operating shell, this includes running application cache files, remnants of deleted programs, temporary installation files and system logs. Anomalous proliferation of this partition often indicates that an application is mismanaging its time data.
Special attention should be paid to instant messengers such as Telegram or WhatsApp, which store all received media files in their internal folders, which the system sometimes mistakenly refers to the category “Other”, rather than “Images” or “Video”, and streaming services and browsers actively use this space to buffer content, which allows you to load pages faster when you visit again, but takes up space.
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders manually through root-enabled file managers unless you are sure of their purpose.This can cause system disruption or a cyclical device reboot.
System updates also leave tails behind. Once a new version of MIUI is successfully installed, older installation packages can remain in memory. While modern versions of Android try to automatically clean up this garbage, on devices like Redmi 8T with relatively little internal memory (64 GB), this process may not always work efficiently.
Basic cleaning through the standard application "Safety"
The easiest and safest way to start the fight for space is to use a built-in tool from Xiaomi. The Security app has a Cleanup module that scans the device for obvious debris. To start the procedure, you need to open the application and click on the Cleanup button in the bottom menu or on the main widget screen.
Once the scan is complete, the system will prompt the removal of temporary files, application residues and advertising debris. However, the standard analyzer is often superficial and does not affect the deeper layers of the Other category. For deeper cleaning in the Security application, there is a separate garbage cleanup tool, which can be found in the Memory Management section.
☑️ Checklist of basic cleaning
It is important to regularly do this prevention to prevent critical memory filling. If after standard cleaning the volume of the category “Other” decreased slightly (for example, by 100-200 MB), then the main “eaters” of memory are hidden deeper and require more specific methods, which will be discussed later.
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Run a standard cleanup through the Security app at least once a week to prevent a large amount of temporary files from accumulating.
Storage analysis using Google's Files app
Xiaomi’s regular Explorer doesn’t always correctly display the memory structure. For detailed analysis, it’s recommended to install the official Files by Google app, which is available in the Google Play Market.This tool has a powerful analysis algorithm and is able to show which folders occupy the most space, even if they are hidden in the “Other” category.
Once installed, open the app and go to the Overview tab. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a color diagram of memory allocation. By clicking on the "Applications" or "Big Files" category, you can identify hidden heavy objects. Often, it turns out that a significant portion of the "Other" is made up of specific applications' cache files that can be safely cleaned.
| Type of data | Where to look in Files | Security of removal | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | Settings → Applications | Tall. | Applications can be loaded a little longer |
| Downloads (Downloads) | Category “Downloads” | Medium (check files) | Absent. |
| Logs of error | /data/log folder or analogue | Tall. | Positive (freeing up space) |
| Remnants of remote games | Android/obb folder or data | Tall. | Absent. |
Using a third-party analyzer allows you to visualize the problem.You can sort files by size and find forgotten videos or archives that were uploaded months ago. Google's file manager also has a "Clean Up" feature that works more aggressively and efficiently than the standard Xiaomi utility.
Deep cleaning of the cache of messengers and social networks
The main culprits of filling the category “Other” on Xiaomi Redmi 8T are most often messengers. Telegram, for example, by default caches all the photos and videos viewed so that they open instantly when re-watching even without the Internet. This cache can take from 5 to 20 GB, which is critical for a budget device.
To clean up, you have to go to the settings of the app itself. In Telegram, the path looks like this: Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use → Clear cache. Here you can set up automatic cleaning, for example, delete cached media files if they have not been used for 3 days, which is the optimal solution to save correspondence, but free up space.
WhatsApp is similar, but files are often shared, and it’s recommended that you use the built-in storage management feature: Settings → Data & Storage → Storage Management. Here you can select the chats with the heaviest attachments and delete specific videos or documents without deleting your correspondence history.
⚠️ Before clearing the messenger cache, make sure that important files (documents, original photos) are stored in cloud storage or sent to Favorites, as cleaning the cache can delete their local copies.
Social networks like VK or Instagram are also actively cacheing feeds, and these apps often have a "Clear Cache" option in their settings, and if they don't, the effective method is to reinstall the app completely, which is guaranteed to remove all the accumulated garbage, but requires re-authorization.
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Using ADB for advanced system cleaning
For users who are not afraid of technical manipulation, there is a powerful tool Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which allows you to remove system debris and cache that can not reach conventional applications, you will need a computer (Windows, macOS or Linux) and enabled debugging on USB on your smartphone.
To enable debugging, go to Settings → About the phone and 7 times quickly click on the build number (MIUI Then in the menu "Extended settings» → «For developers, activate the item “Debugging by USB». Connect the phone to the PC and enter a command in the command line to clean the cache:
adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999This command forcibly trims the cache of all applications to the lowest possible value, and you can also use the command to delete temporary files:
adb shell rm -rf /data/local/tmp/*Use of the ADB Incorrect deletion of system files can lead to unstable work of Redmi 8T. However, to clean it is the category “Other”, which often hides bloated logs and temporary files.Dalvik/ART, This method is one of the most effective.
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Use of the ADB-Trim-caches commands are the most efficient way to instantly free up gigabytes of space occupied by the cache of all applications at once, without having to clean each application separately.
Radical measures: Resetting settings to factory
If none of the above methods has significantly reduced the size of the Other category and it continues to grow, it is possible that the system has accumulated critical file system errors or corrupted system files, in which case the most effective solution will be a full reset (Factory Reset).
Before you do this, make sure to back up all your important data. Reset will delete everything: contacts, photos, apps and their data. To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data.
Once rebooted, you’ll get the device out of the box, and the Other category will be the smallest possible volume (usually 2-4 GB) required to run the system, a guaranteed way to get rid of any software debris that may have accumulated over the years of using the Xiaomi Redmi 8T.
⚠️ Warning: Resetting is irreversible. Make sure you remember the password from your Google account and Mi Account, as after reset, the system will require them to confirm ownership (protection) FRP).
Preventing memory overflow in the future
To prevent the problem from returning in a month, you need to change your smartphone usage habits. First of all, set up automatic cache cleaning in messengers, as described above. APK-file.
Use cloud services to store photos and videos. Set up automatic sync with Google Photos or Yandex.Disk with the function “Free space” will store the originals in the cloud, leaving only optimized copies on the device or completely deleting them locally.
Don't install apps from unverified sources. Third-party programs often contain ads and scripts that generate a huge amount of junk files in the background. Use only the official Google Play store and keep an eye out for the permissions that apps request.