How to Clean the Other folder on Xiaomi Redmi 9: A Complete Guide to Safe Techniques

Why does the “Other” folder on Xiaomi Redmi 9 take up so much space?

Have you ever gone into your Redmi 9’s storage settings and found the mysterious Other folder to take up 5, 10, or even 15GB of precious memory? It’s not a system bug — that’s how MIUI classifies files that don’t fall into the standard categories (Photos, Videos, Audio, Documents), and everything from the app cache to the remnants of deleted programs and temporary update files gets into that folder.

The problem is that the system doesn’t offer a Clean button for this category. Many users try to manually delete files through the file manager, but risk disrupting Android or losing important data. In this article, we’ll discuss 5 safe ways to reduce the size of the Other folder on Redmi 9 (including Redmi 9A, 9C, 9T models) without risk to the system.

Before we start cleaning, it's important to understand what's in that folder, and in our experience, it's the folder that accumulates most of the time.

• 🎮 Game saving (sometimes hundreds of megabytes)

Fun fact: On Redmi 9, the factory-operated firmware folder, The Other, can be inflated by MIUI 12/13, which actively caches data to speed up work, but the good news is that up to 70 percent of the contents of this folder can be deleted without consequences if you act carefully.

Method 1: Cleaning the application cache through settings

The easiest and safest method is to remove the cache of installed programs. Cache are temporary files that applications create for quick operation (for example, uploaded pictures to Instagram or cached videos to TikTok), which can be safely cleaned, as they will recover the next time you use the application.

How to do this:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slip on the three dots in the top right corner and select "Sort by size."
3. Click on the application with a large cache (usually it is social networks, instant messengers, games).
4. Select "Storage» → «Clear the cache».

To speed up the process, you can use batch cleaning:

1. Go to Settings. → Warehouse.
2. Slip on the "Cache Data" and confirm the cleanup.

This method allows you to free up from 500 MB to 2-3 GB (depending on the activity of the phone), but it does not affect the system cache and residual files - they need other methods.

✅ Messenger cache (Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber)

✅ Social media cache (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)

✅ Cash games (PUBG, Genshin Impact, Call of Duty)

✅ Browser cache (Chrome, Mi Browser)

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Method 2: Delete residual files through the file manager

When you delete an app through Google Play or settings, there are often “tails” left – folders with data in the app. /Android/obb/ or /Android/data/. These files may be taken from 100 Up to a few gigabytes, especially if you install and delete games frequently.

To find and remove them:

1. Open the standard File Manager (or install Solid Explorer from the Play Market).
2. Go to the Inner Memory → Android.
3. Open the obb and data folders, and you’ll see folders with names of remote applications (e.g., com.tencent.ig for PUBG Mobile).
4. Delete the folders of the programs that you have long since deleted.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete folders of existing applications, this will cause malfunctions in their work, and do not touch files with the extension.odex or.vdex, they are critical to the system.

If you’re not sure which folder to delete, use Files by Google – it automatically finds unwanted residual files and suggests clearing them.

Method 3: Clearing temporary MIUI update files

Xiaomi regularly releases updates for MIUI, and each time a new package is downloaded, temporary files are created, and even after installing the update, these files often remain in memory under the guise of the “Other” folder, which can be safely deleted, since they are no longer needed by the system.

Where to look:

• 📁 folder /cache (hidden, visible only through the Root or ADB)
• 📁 folder /download/rom (Here are the downloaded firmwares)
• 📁 folder /MIUI/backup/AllBackup (backups before updating)

How to clean:

1. Open the File Manager and enable the display of hidden files (in the manager settings).
2. Go to Internal Memory → download → rom and delete files with the.zip extension (these are old firmware).
3. If you have access to Root, clear the /cache folder (but be careful – don’t delete the current session files!).

⚠️ Note: If you delete files from the folder /MIUI/backup/AllBackup, You will lose the opportunity to roll back to the previous firmware version. MIUI stable.

After cleaning, restart the phone – this will help the system recalculate the occupied space and update the data in the Storage section.

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If you update your firmware frequently, install the MIUI bootloader app – it lets you delete old service packs automatically after installation.

Method 4: Using the built-in "Cleaning" utility

MIUI has a built-in memory optimization tool called Cleanup, which analyzes the system and suggests removing unnecessary files, including some of the contents of the Other folder, which is less effective than manual cleaning, but completely safe.

How to start:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to the "Cleaning" tab.
3. Slip "Deep Clean" and wait for the analysis.
4. Select “Unnecessary Files” and “Residual Files”, then click “Clean”.

What exactly does this utility remove:

The downside of this is that it doesn't clean the system cache and some service files, and you'll have to combine it with other methods to clean it completely.

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The built-in cleaning utility in MIUI is safe, but only removes surface debris. Use it with manual methods for deep cleaning.

Method 5: Reset to factory settings (extreme case)

If the Other folder takes up more than 10GB and previous methods didn't work, the radical way is to completely reset the phone, which will delete all user data, but return the phone to a "clean" state, like after buying.

How to reset:

1. Back up important data (photos, contacts, messages) through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset.
2. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
3. Select “Erase all data” and confirm the action.
4. After restarting, set your phone as new.

⚠️ Note: Reset will delete all data, including:

• 📸 Photos and videos (unless saved in Google Photos or on PC)
• 📱 Applications and their settings
• 🔑 Passwords from Wi-Fi and accounts
• 💬 Messages in messengers (if cloud redundancy is not enabled)

This method is guaranteed to clear the Other folder, but you should only use it as a last resort. After the reset, install only the necessary applications and watch the cache so that the problem does not return.

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Before resetting, write down the phone’s IMEI (type *#06# in the dialer) – this will help restore access to your Xiaomi account if you have problems with authorization.

How to prevent the “Other” folder from being refilled

Cleaning up memory is good, but it's even better to keep it from clogging. Here are some tips on how to keep the Other folder under control on Redmi 9:

• 🔄 Clean the cache regularly (once every 1-2 weeks) through Settings → Warehouse → Cache data.
• 🚫 Remove unnecessary apps completely, not just "freeze" them.Use Uninstaller from Play Market to delete with residual files.
• 📥 Turn off automatic download of updates for games (on Google Play, set “Update only over Wi-Fi” or “Do not automatically update»).
• 📂 Use cloud storage (Google Photos, Mi Cloud) to automatically upload photos and videos – this will reduce the load on internal memory.
• 🛡️ Install antivirus with a cleanup function (like Avast Cleanup or CCleaner), but don’t trust them blindly – check what they remove.

Also worth keeping an eye out for MIUI updates – newer firmware versions optimize memory management, such as MIUI 14’s automatic cache cleaner when space is scarce.

If you're actively playing mobile games, look at the Android/obb folder -- some games (like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile) download gigabytes of data. After you delete the game, these files remain! Check this folder regularly.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the folder “Other” on Xiaomi Redmi 9