How to Clean the Other in Xiaomi Redmi Phone Memory

The situation when the free space on the smartphone runs out and the storage mysteriously grows the "Other" section is familiar to every owner of Xiaomi Redmi. You try to install an important update or take pictures, but the system reports a lack of resources. It is not just a temporary failure, but the result of the accumulation of cache, residual files of remote applications and system logs that can lie idle for years.

Owners of MIUI devices often find that standard cleaning tools don’t always handle the deep layers of the file system. The Others section is a kind of black box where the Android operating system dumps everything that can’t be uniquely classified as photos, music or videos. Understanding the structure of this data is the first step to freeing up gigabytes of usable space.

In this article, we will discuss not only safe methods of manual cleaning, but also touch on more advanced techniques of working with the file system. Xiaomi Redmi has a powerful toolkit that, when used correctly, allows you to return the device to factory speed without having to buy a new phone or do a full reset.

Anatomy of the "Other" section in MIUI

Before you mindlessly delete files, you need to figure out what exactly takes up space. The Other section of the MIUI interface often includes messenger cache, temporary browser files, streaming service data and, most importantly, hidden media folders. The system does not always correctly scan attachments to Telegram or WhatsApp, referring them to unidentified data.

Application logs and error reports play a special role, where if an application is unstable, it can generate text files that can grow to hundreds of megabytes, as well as offline map data and downloaded playlists from music services.

• 📂 Cache of messengers: Temporary copies of photos and videos sent in chat rooms.
• 📝 System Logs: OS and application logs required for debugging but useless in the home.
• 📦 Remnants of Remote Programs: Folders with Game Settings or Utilities You Have Deleted Long Ago.

⚠️ Warning: Before starting a large-scale cleaning, be sure to back up important data. Deleting system files from the Others section can lead to unstable interface operation. MIUI.

Content analysis shows that the lion’s share of the “junk” is generated by active Internet use. If you often watch high-resolution videos through a browser or use a navigator without first downloading maps, the volume of “Other” will grow exponentially.

Xiaomi’s regular cleaning tools

The first frontier of defense is the built-in Security app, which is pre-installed on all Xiaomi Redmis and provides basic functionality for deleting temporary files, but many users run it superficially without noticing hidden options.

For deep cleaning, you have to go to the Cleanup section and wait for the analysis to be completed, and then the system will suggest removing the obvious debris, but the magic lies in the Cleanup section -> Deep Cleanup (or the similar name in your version of MIUI), which is where large files are hidden that the system has deemed suspicious or rarely used.

It is important to understand the difference between cache and application data. Cache cleaning is secure and only deletes temporary files, speeding up work. Data cleaning returns the application to a post-install state, removing your logins, correspondence and settings.

• 🚀 Acceleration: Closes background processes, freeing up RAM (RAM).
• 🗑️ Removal APK: Finds application installation files that are no longer needed after installation.
• 📸 Photo analysis: Helps find blurry or similar photos taking up space.

⚠️ Note: The "Acceleration" function in MIUI It often just restarts processes. Don't rely on it as the primary way to clean up permanent storage (ROM).

Manual cleaning through the conductor

If the automation doesn't work, you have to take matters into your own hands. The File Manager on Xiaomi Redmi allows you to see the real folder structure. We're interested in directories that are often ignored by scanners.

First of all, look at the Android/data folder, which stores the caches of games and heavy apps, sometimes when you delete a game, its tails stay here, taking up gigabytes, and it's worth checking the root directory for folders with the names of remote programs.

Way to check: Internal memory → Android → data → com.name.applications

Another hidden source of debris is the MIUI/gallery/cloud folder or thumbnails, which can store thumbnails of deleted photos or video sketches that the system has forgotten to delete, and remove them safely, and recreate them if necessary.

When you're working with files manually, you can use size sorting, which allows you to instantly identify heavyweights, and it often turns out that a forgotten movie in the download folder or a document archive takes up more space than all the system files combined.

Analysis of storage by third-party utilities

Xiaomi's regular tools are good, but sometimes a more detailed look is required. Analyzer apps like DiskUsage or Files by Google build a visual memory card, showing which files are inflating the "Other" section.

These slits can detect hidden files with the.tmp or.log extension that hide deep in the system directories, and visualization helps you understand that, for example, a folder with a card cache takes up 5 GB, even though you use navigation once a month.

With third-party software, be aware of access rights. In modern versions of Android, access to the Android/data folder is limited, and some programs may not see content without special permissions or an ADB connection.

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Use the Files by Google app to find duplicate files and rarely used apps – this is a built-in feature that is often overlooked.

Specificity of cleaning messengers

Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber are the main culprits behind the growth of the Others section, which stores every photo and video you receive in your device’s memory, even if you’ve already viewed it and forgotten it. At Xiaomi Redmi, the paths to this data are standard, but the volume can be enormous.

Telegram has a built-in Memory Use feature. Going to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use, you can see how much space the cache takes up, you can set up autodelete the cache, for example, in 3 days or a week, which is a critical setting to free up space.

• 💬 WhatsApp: Deletes Media Files via “Storage Management” in Chat Settings.
• ✈️ Telegram: Allows you to delete cache selectively (photos, videos, files) without losing correspondence.
• 📞 Viber: Has a separate folder at the root of memory that is often forgotten to clean.

⚠️ Note: When cleaning messengers through the file manager, be careful. Deleting the folder with the database (usually files.db) will lead to a complete loss of correspondence history.

It is recommended to check the Documents tab in messengers regularly, often heavy files that were sent once, but continue to lie dead, occupying valuable megabytes in the Other section.

Radical methods and discharge

If nothing helps, the “other” section continues to grow, 20-30 GB, maybe there's a file system error or a spreadsheet corruption, and in this case, a full reset (Wipe Data) helps, and that's going to bring the phone back to factory status.

Before the Hard Reset procedure, be sure to save all contacts, photos and documents to the Mi Cloud or computer cloud service.The process completely erases internal memory, including the Other section, eliminating any software errors of garbage accumulation.

Also worth considering is the possibility of flashing the device: a clean MIUI installation (or a global version, if Chinese) ensures that there is no system debris accumulated over the years of use, but it requires the skills and unlocking of the bootloader.

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Full reset is the only way to ensure that you can remove “unremovable” system debris if the file system is damaged.

After a reset, take your time to restore all applications from the backup at once. Install them gradually, observing the behavior of memory. Often, one particular application causes a memory leak, creating an endless stream of temporary files.

Overflow prevention

To prevent the problem from returning in a month, change your usage habits of Xiaomi Redmi.Rebooting your phone regularly (every 3-4 days) helps the system correctly complete background processes and clear temporary buffers.

Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Sync with Google Photos or Yandex.Disk with Free Space will automatically delete from the device those pictures that are already saved in the cloud.

• 🔄 Regularity: Check the Downloads folder once a week».
• ☁️ Cloud: Move your photo archives to the cloud, leaving only the current ones on your phone.
• 🚫 Autoboot: Disable Media Autoboot in Messengers for Group Chats.

Keep an eye on system updates MIUI. In new versions of firmware, developers often optimize the work of the file system and improve the algorithms for working with the cache, which directly affects the volume of the "Other" partition».