How to Clean the Other folder on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide to Safe Techniques

Why is Xiaomi’s “Other” folder growing to incredible size?

If you've ever looked into your Xiaomi storage through Settings → Phone → Memory, you've probably noticed a mysterious "Other" category that can take anywhere from 5 to 30 GB — and sometimes more. Unlike photos or apps, there are no obvious files that you can just delete. So what's underneath that tag?

In fact, the Other is a hoard of system caches, logs, temporary MIUI files, remnants of deleted applications and even update fragments. Xiaomi does not disclose the full makeup of this folder, but its growth is often due to:

• 📱 Keshem MIUI — The shell creates duplicate files to speed up work (for example, thumbnails for the gallery or widget data).
• 🔄 Remains of updates – after installing firmware, old versions of packages can remain in memory.
• 🗑️ System process logs are debugging files that accumulate over the years (especially if debugging is enabled). USB).
• 🧹 Stock Apps: Even if you don’t use Mi Video or Mi Music, they leave behind temporary files.

The main problem is that MIUI doesn't provide built-in tools for deep cleaning of this folder. The standard Cleanup feature in the settings removes only the tip of the iceberg, leaving the main debris intact. In this article, we will analyze 5 proven ways, including hidden settings and third-party utilities, that will help to free up space without harming the system.

Method 1: Built-in MIUI Cleanup – What Does It Really Remove?

The first and most obvious method is to use the standard tool Safety → Cleanup. But many users complain that after this procedure, the Other folder decreases by only 100-500 MB.

The fact is that MIUI by default cleans only:

• 🗑️ Application cache (temporary files that can be restored on the next run).
• 📁 Remains of the remote APK (If you install software outside the Play Market).
• 📊 Some system error logs (but not all!).

To expand the capabilities of built-in cleaning:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slip on the three points in the upper right corner and select Show System Processes.
3. Find apps like MiuiDaemon, SecurityCenter, or DownloadProvider, which often take hundreds of megabytes to cache.
4. Click Clear Cache and Clear Data (but be careful – this may reset some settings!).

⚠️ Note: Do not clean up system applications called com.android. or com.miui. unless you are sure of their purpose.

Clean the cache of the gallery (Mi Gallery)

Delete Mi Video data (if you are not using it)

Clear Download Manager cache

Delete the temporary Mi Browser files-->

Method 2: Hidden MIUI settings for power users

MIUI hides a few useful features that are not displayed in the standard interface, one of which is the developer mode, which allows you to manually manage some system processes.

To activate it:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Tap 7 times on the MIUI version (you will be notified “You became a developer”).
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. Find the option to “Do Not Save Actions” (or Limit background processes) and set a limit on 2-3 processes, which will reduce the number of temporary files created by background tasks.

Another hidden tool — MIUI Optimization (optimization) MIUI). To turn it on:

Settings → Special features → Improve performance → Enable “MIUI Optimization”

This feature automatically deletes unnecessary files when battery power is low or memory is scarce, but it doesn’t work on all models (e.g., Redmi Note 10 Pro or POCO X3 Pro may not).

Method 3: Using ADB for deep cleaning (for advanced)

If you're willing to go beyond standard methods, Android Debug Bridge (ADB) will allow you to delete files that MIUI normally blocks, which requires you to connect your phone to a PC, but it gives you the best results.

What you'll need:

• 💻 Computer with installed ADB-driver.
• 📱 Included Debugging by USB on the phone (Settings) → For developers).
• 🔌 Cable USB (preferably original).

Steps for cleaning:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command line (Windows) or terminal (Mac/Linux).
2. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices should appear the name of your device.
3. Give the superuser permissions (unlocked bootloader required!): adb shell su
4. Delete the cache of system applications (example for Mi Gallery): pm clear com.miui.gallery
5. Clear the folder with the logs (caution - this can delete the data for debugging): rm -rf /data/log/*

⚠️ Attention: Rm teams -rf If you don't specify the right path, you can erase critical system files. Always double-check the path and backup through adb backup before cleaning.

💡

Before using ADB, back up your application via adb backup -apk -obb -shared -all -f backup.ab. This will save all applications and their data in case of a crash.

Method 4: Third-party applications – which ones really work?

There are hundreds of cleaners in the Play Market, but most of them are either useless or dangerous. We tested 15 apps and selected the 3 best-performing folders for cleaning the Other folder on Xiaomi:

1. SD Maid (paid version): able to find and delete: 🗃️ Remnants of Remote Applications (Folders) /data/data/). 📂 Empty folders and duplicate files. 🔍 System Logs (/data/log/, /data/anr/). Full access requires root, but even without it cleans ~1–2 GB.
2. Files by Google (free): A simple tool from Google that finds: 📁 Large files (>100 MB) in the “Other” folder». 🗑️ Unused. APK Minus doesn't see deep system files. MIUI.
3. Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools (for PC): An advanced utility that ADB remove: 🚫 Bloatware (pre-installed Xiaomi apps). 🗑️ Kesh. MIUI Optimization and Security Center.

It requires a connection to a PC, but cleans up to 3-5 GB of garbage.

⚠️ Note: Apps like Clean Master or CCleaner not only don’t clean the Other folder, but they can slow down the phone by creating background processes.

💡

SD Maid is the only application that finds and removes MIUI logs (/data/log/bootstat, /data/anr/) that are up to 1 GB.

Method 5: Reset to factory settings – when is it justified?

If the Other folder has grown to 10+GB and previous methods have not worked, the latest option is hard reset.This is a radical step, but it is guaranteed to remove all debris, including:

• 🔄 Remains of old firmware in /cache and /data/dalvik-cache.
• 📱 Settings MIUI, Which could have been damaged and created unnecessary files.
• 🗑️ All temporary application data (including system data).

How to do the reset correctly:

1. Create a backup through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset.
2. Transfer important files to your PC or cloud (photos, documents).
3. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
4. Choose Delete all data and confirm.

After discharge:

• 🔋 Do not restore data from backup MIUI — It may contain the same garbage.
• 📱 Install applications selectively (don’t restore everything immediately with Google Account).
• 🛠️ Turn off automatic optimization MIUI In Settings → Battery → Optimization.

How to prevent the “Other” folder from being refilled?

Cleaning is a half-measure, so that the folder doesn't grow back, follow these rules.

• 📵 Turn off automatic download of updates for stock applications (Settings) → Annexes → Auto-update).
• 🚫 Remove or freeze unnecessary system applications ADB: pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.videoplayer (replace com.miui.videoplayer with an unnecessary application package).
• 📊 Limit background activity for social networks and instant messengers (Settings) → Battery → Optimizing the battery).
• 🔄 Clean the cache regularly through Settings → Warehouse → Clean (sufficient 1 time in 2 weeks).

It's also useful to track which apps are most actively clogging memory.

1. Install DiskUsage Analyzer from Play Market.
2. Provide root access (if any).
3. See which folders in /data/data/ take up the most space.

💡

If you install/delete applications frequently, use App Cloner to create a sandbox to prevent temporary files from clogging the main system.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the folder “Other” on Xiaomi