How to Clean the Others section on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Every Xiaomi smartphone owner sooner or later faces an unpleasant situation: the space in the internal memory ends, and when a detailed analysis of the storage turns out that the lion’s share is occupied by the mysterious “Other” section. Android system, especially in the shell of MIUI or HyperOS, often classifies files that do not fall into the standard categories like photos, music or applications. These can be remnants of remote programs, messenger cache, system logs and temporary update files.

The accumulation of such digital “garbage” leads not only to a lack of space for new photos, but also to a noticeable decrease in the performance of the device. The smartphone begins to hang, open applications longer, and sometimes even refuses to install important system updates. Understanding how to clean the rest on Android Xiaomi, becomes a critical skill for comfortable use of the gadget.

In this article, we will discuss safe and effective methods of freeing up memory, which files can be deleted without risk to the system, and which should not be touched, we will look at built-in cleaning tools, working with file managers and more advanced methods for advanced users.

Anatomy of the “Other” section in Xiaomi’s storage

Before we take any action, we need to understand the nature of the extra gigabytes. The Others section is a kind of basket where the system drops everything it can't uniquely identify, and unlike the photos in the DCIM folder or the music in the Music folder, this data is often not clearly linked to a particular application in the settings interface.

Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber retain a huge number of temporary files, thumbnails and sent documents, which eventually cease to be necessary, but continue to take up space. Also here fall error logs, browser cache, residues after deleting games and temporary files. OTA-update.

It's important to note that not all content in this section is garbage, and some data is settings and application databases, which can result in a game progression reset or a loss of correspondence history, so the approach should be differentiated: we only delete what is not really needed.

⚠️ Warning: Always back up important data before deleting files from system folders. Mistakeful deletion of system libraries can lead to unstable work MIUI or complete loading failure.

Storage analysis is best done through the standard Security app, which is pre-installed on every Xiaomi device, and provides a primary idea of which file types take up the most space.

Use of the built-in "Security" application

The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use the system’s regular tools. Xiaomi has built powerful device maintenance functionality right into the Security app, which automatically scans the device for temporary files, advertising junk, and large files.

To start the cleanup procedure, open the application and select Cleanup. The system will analyze and suggest that you delete files that it considers safe to delete. However, the automatic analyzer does not always see everything that is hidden in the Other section, so manual verification is often required.

• 🧹 Click on the “Clean Up” button to delete temporary system and application cache files.
• 📁 Go to Deep Cleanup to find large and rarely used files.
• 🗑️ Check the Apps tab to find programs that take up a lot of space.

And you should pay special attention to the Apps section inside the cleaning tool, and you can see how much space each software is installed. It often turns out that a 50 MB application has a cache of 2-3 GB. Cleaning the cache of a particular application is the most efficient way to get back to space.

Remember to check the Recycle Bin section regularly in the gallery and file manager. Deleted files often stay there for 30 days, continuing to take up space. Their final deletion immediately frees up space in the Other section.

Manual cleaning through the file manager

Deeper cleaning requires manual file management, and the standard File Manager app allows you to see folder structure and delete unnecessary data, but be careful: manual deletion requires care.

First of all, check the messenger folders, and the path to them usually looks like Android/media/com.whatsapp or Android/data/org.telegram.messenger. Inside these directories are the Media or Cache folders, where the images and videos are stored.

Another place where a lot of junk accumulates is the Download folder, where browsers and apps often store installations. APK-Files, documents and pictures that users forget after a week, removing old app installers is a safe and useful practice.

It's also worth a look at the folder. MIUI -> debug_log. It can store debugging logs that are useful for developers to find bugs, but the average user doesn't need them. If you're not debugging the system, you can delete the contents of this folder.

When working with a file system, it is important to remember hidden folders that start with a dot, which often contain settings and cache, but sometimes there are remnants of remote games, and be careful when removing the content of such directories.

Clearing the cache and data messengers

Messengers are the main memory eaters on a modern smartphone. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, and others accumulate gigabytes of media files. Unlike many other applications, they store the history of correspondence and media locally, on a device that quickly fills the Other section.

The most effective way to clean Telegram is to use the built-in cache cleanup function. Go to Settings -> Data and memory -> Memory Use. Here you can not only clear the cache, but also set up automatic deletion of media files, for example, store photos for only 3 days and video for 1 day.

• 💬 On WhatsApp, go to Settings -> Data and storage -> Storage management.
• 📹 Sort files by size and remove large videos that are no longer needed.
• 🚫 Disable auto-save media in the gallery so as not to duplicate files in the system.

It is important to distinguish between cache cleaning and data cleaning. Cache cleaning is secure and only deletes temporary files. Data cleaning (or deleting an application) will erase the entire history of correspondence and logins if no backup was made.

WhatsApp also has a Google Drive backup feature, which means that before any cleaning, make sure your correspondence is saved to the cloud, which will allow you to recover important contacts and messages in case of an error.

Delete residual files after deleting applications

When you delete an Android app, it doesn't always remove all files. Residual files can stay in memory for months, taking up space in the "Other" section, which is especially true for heavy games and graphics editors.

To find these files, use the file manager and go to the root folder of internal memory. Look for folders with names of remote applications or developers. For example, if you removed a game from Gameloft, the Gameloft folder may still lie at the root and weigh several gigabytes.

Also check the Android/obb folder. It stores the game data cache. If you delete the game, the corresponding folder in obb often remains, and can be safely deleted, freeing up a significant amount of memory.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete folders with system names or Google service names (e.g. com.google.android.gms) even if you are not actively using them.

To find these tails, it is convenient to use specialized analysis applications such as DiskUsage or Storage Analyzer, which visualize the memory in the form of a diagram, where you can immediately see which folder takes up the most space, even if it is hidden deep in the system.

Developer Mode and ADB (for Advanced)

If standard methods have not worked and the "Other" section is still bloated, you can resort to more radical measures using a computer. ADB (Android Debug Bridge allows you to remove system debris that is not available through a regular file manager.

To do this, you need to turn on Developer Mode. Go to Settings -> About Phone and quickly press 7 times on the MIUI Version (or OS Version). Then activate Debugging over USB in advanced settings.

adb shell pm clear com.android.browser

This command, for example, cleans the browser data completely. With ADB, you can upload a full list of files and find the ones that occupy the most space using sort commands. However, this method requires caution: one wrong command can make the phone unusable.

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Use the adb shell dumpsys meminfo command to see which applications consume the most RAM right now, which will help you find the "gluttonous" processes.

Another method in this approach is to reset the phone to factory settings, which is guaranteed to clear the "Other" section, as the phone goes back out of the box. But before you do that, make sure to do a full backup of all the data.

Prevention: How to avoid overcrowding in the future

Once cleaned successfully, it is important to introduce habits that will prevent the Others from swelling back into giant sizes. Regular maintenance of the device takes less time than dealing with the consequences.

Set up automatic cleanup in the Security app. Xiaomi has a “Speed Up” feature that can be triggered on schedule or when you lock the screen, and it’s also helpful to turn off auto-save statuses on WhatsApp and Instagram Stories if you don’t plan to save them.

• 📅 Check the “Downloads” folder once a week and delete the extra one.
• ☁️ Use cloud storage (Google Photos, Yandex.Disk) for backup media.
• 🚫 Do not install applications from unknown sources without checking.

Watch for system updates. Xiaomi regularly releases patches that optimize the file system and fix errors, leading to memory leaks. The current version of the software is the key to stable operation.

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Regular manual check of messenger folders and downloads is more effective at preventing memory overflow than rare full system resets.

Use of the SD-The cards can also help if your smartphone supports memory expansion, and transferring photos, videos and music to the map will free up the internal storage where the Others section is based».

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)