How to Clean Xiaomi Phone: A Complete Cleanup Guide

Xiaomi’s smartphones are famous for their performance, but over time, even the most powerful devices start to work slower. It’s a natural process of accumulating temporary files, app cache and system debris that inevitably arise during operation. If your Android has started to slow down or your memory is full, you need to conduct a comprehensive cleaning.

In this article, we will explore not only standard cleaning methods, but also the hidden capabilities of the MIUI system that will help free up gigabytes of space, learn how to safely delete advertising files, clean the system partition and return the device to its previous speed without losing personal data.

You don't have to go straight to radical things like a complete reset, and often you solve the problem by working with the tools that are built in and understanding where the digital trash is hiding, and let's take all the steps of optimization in order.

Use of the built-in Security application

The first and most reliable cleaning tool is the regular Security app, which is preinstalled on every Xiaomi smartphone, designed specifically for the MIUI shell and has access to system partitions that third-party programs cannot reach.

To get started, open the app and select Cleanup. The system will automatically scan the device for temporary files, remnants of deleted applications and cache. The process takes only a few seconds, but the efficiency is high.

It's important to understand that automatic cleaning only removes secure files, but if you want to do a deep cleaning, you have to click the "Clean up garbage" button and wait for the process to be completed, and then the system will suggest that you delete large files or duplicates.

• 📱 Open the Security app on the home screen.
• 🗑️ Click on the large green "Clean" button to scan.
• ✅ Confirm the removal of the found debris by checking the list of files.
• 🔄 Repeat the procedure once a week to maintain speed.

⚠️ Warning: Before confirming deletion, always check the file list in the "Large Files" section so you don't accidentally erase important documents or personal videos.

The built-in tool also allows you to manage application permissions and check your device for viruses, making it a versatile harvester to keep your Android operating system healthy.

Manual cleaning of cache and application data

The bulk of the space is often social media and messaging data, and apps like Telegram, Viber, or Instagram store thousands of images and videos viewed in cache that is not always automatically deleted.

To clear the cache of a particular application, go to the Settings menu. → Annexes → All applications. Select the program you want from the list and find "Storage." Here you'll see two buttons: "Clear cache" and "Clear all data".

Using the Clear Cache function is safe and will not cause any login or correspondence to be lost, but the Clear All Data button will completely reset the app to the post-installing state, removing all your settings and authorizations.

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In the messenger Telegram, it is better to clean the cache through the settings of the application itself: Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use → Clear the cache. There you can configure autodeletion of media files.

The gallery and cloud services are worth a special attention, and often deleted photos continue to take up space in the folder "Recently deleted", releasing this section can instantly add several gigabytes of free memory.

Removal of system debris and advertising files

MIUI is known for its aggressive advertising policy, which involves creating hidden folders with advertising IDs, which may weigh a little, but the number of them is in the thousands, which burdens the file system.

To remove ads, you need to activate the developer mode and use special commands, or use the file manager. Find the MIUI folder at the root of internal memory, then go to the gallery and delete the.thumbnails folder.

It's also worth checking the folders created by the browsers. Android/data Temporary download files are often accumulated. Be careful when deleting files from this folder so that installed programs do not interfere with the work of the installed programs.

Regularly cleaning temporary browser files also helps to speed up the Internet: go to your browser settings (Chrome, Mi Browser) and select a history, then clear the site data and cached images.

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Deleting the.thumbnails folder is safe, but when you open the gallery next, the system will recreate the thumbnails, which can temporarily load the processor.

Cleaning memory with a computer

The most effective way to free up space is to transfer heavy media files to your computer. USB-cable and select file transfer mode MTP on the phone screen.

Once connected, you will have access to the file system as a normal removable drive, and it is recommended to back up photos and videos on your hard drive and then delete them from the device’s internal memory.

Using a computer also allows you to do a deep folder review, so you can sort files by size and find "forgotten" downloads that take up gigabytes of space, which is especially true for owners of models with 32 or 64 GB of memory.

• 💻 Connect the phone with a cable USB computer-to-computer.
• 📂 Open My Computer and Find a Xiaomi Device.
• 📁 Copy the folders. DCIM Download to the hard drive.
• ❌ Remove copied files from your phone’s memory.

Once the procedure is complete, be sure to safely extract the device from Windows or macOS to avoid damaging the file system.

Resetting settings as a radical method

If the software cleaning doesn’t work and the phone continues to slow down, the last resort is a complete factory reset, which completely cleans internal memory by removing all apps, accounts and files.

Before starting the procedure, be sure to back up important data in the Mi Cloud or Google Drive. After resetting, it will be impossible to restore deleted files without a backup.

To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Reset. Select “Erase All Data” and confirm the action. The phone will restart and begin the cleaning process, which can take up to 10-15 minutes.

⚠️ Warning: Make sure the battery is at least 50% battery power before starting reset. interruption of the process due to discharge may cause software to break down.

Once the reset is complete, you will get the device in a “out of the box” state, guaranteed to remove all system errors and accumulated debris over the years.

Prevention and useful advice

To avoid having to clean your phone all the time, you should follow simple digital hygiene rules: Don’t install questionable apps from unverified sources, as they often contain junk-generating ad modules.

Set up automatic cleaning in the Security app. In the utility settings, you can set a schedule where the phone will delete temporary files in the background.

Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Services like Google Photos let you store media in a compressed but high-quality format for free, freeing up space on your device.

Update your operating system regularly. Xiaomi engineers are constantly releasing patches that optimize memory and fix resource leaks in the background.