How to Clean a Xiaomi Redmi Phone to Stop Braking: The Complete 2026 Guide

Your Xiaomi Redmi is hanging, slowly opening apps, or suddenly rebooting? The reason most often lies not in the "aging" of iron, but in a clogged system. Even the new models of the Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 after 6-12 months of use can turn into "Tor-mozi" due to accumulated digital garbage. In this article, 7 working cleaning methods that will return your smartphone to its former agility without resorting to a radical reset.

We'll take a look at not only the standard methods like cache cleaning, but also the hidden MIUI settings that Xiaomi doesn't advertise, how to free up to 30% of memory without deleting important files, what system processes can be safely turned off, and why even a 6/128 GB configuration can suffocate from 10 GB of free space. All instructions are tested on Redmi 9, Note 10 Pro, POCO F4 and are relevant for MIUI 14/15.

1.Diagnosis: Why is your Redmi slowing down

Before you clean, you need to understand the source of the brakes, and 80 percent of the time, it's the fault of:

• 📱 Overflowing memory: Less than 10% of the free space on the internal drive leads to “suspends” due to fragmentation of data.
• 🗑️ Cache and app garbage: Facebook or TikTok can take up to 5GB of unnecessary temporary files.
• 🔄 Background processes: MIUI aggressively retains up to 30+ Apps, even if you don’t use them.
• 🦠 Viruses or “optimizers”: Many programs like Clean Master cause lags themselves.

To pinpoint the problem precisely:

1. Open Settings → About Phone → System Status and check the CPU/memory boot.
2. Run Safety → Speed → Diagnostics (built-in MIUI tool).
3. Install DevCheck from Play Market for detailed iron analysis.

Critical point: if in Settings → Memory you see that system applications (for example, com.miui.analytics) take up more than 1 GB, this is a sign of a failure in the MIUI. In this case, only a reset or firmware will help.

2. Cleaning of cache and garbage without programs

Start with the safest method, hand cleaning, and MIUI has built-in tools that many users ignore:

Step 1. Clean the application cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slip on the three dots in the upper right corner → Sort by size.
3. Select apps with a cache >500MB (usually YouTube, Chrome, Instagram) → Clear the cache.

Step 2: Delete unnecessary files:

• 📁 Open the files. → Categories → Multimedia and remove duplicate photos/video (use the built-in tool Search for duplicates).
• 🎵 In the Audio section, find and remove downloads from instant messengers (Chapter folders, WhatsApp).
• 📄 Check the Download folder in Documents – unnecessary ones often accumulate here. PDF and APK.

Hidden life hack: MIUI has a secret folder with logs to clean it up:

Settings → About phone → MIUI version (shap 5 times in a row)


→ Developer menu will open → Return to Settings → Additional → Logs and reports → Clear

⚠️ Warning: Do not clear the cache of system applications like com.android.systemui or com.miui.home!

3. Optimization of autoboot and background processes

MIUI is known for aggressively keeping apps in memory even when they're not needed, and that's one of the main reasons for the brakes. Here's how to fix it:

Shutdown of autoboot:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Autoboot.
2. Turn off auto-run for all applications except for instant messengers and system services (Google Play Services, Mi Cloud).
3. For particularly voracious applications (such as AliExpress), select Limit Background Activity.

Set up the performance mode:

• 🚀 Turn on the settings. → Battery and performance → Performance mode → High performance (reduces background processes).
• ⚡ Turn off Adaptive Brightness and Auto-Update Apps in the background.
• 🔋 B Settings → Battery. → Battery usage check which applications are consuming >5% charge in the background, and limit them.

For advanced users: If you’re willing to sacrifice some features for speed, turn off:

Settings → Notifications → Notification Panel → Disable “Weather” and “MIUI Recommendations”

💡

If notifications from messengers stopped coming after shutting down the autoboot, add them to the exceptions in the Settings → Notifications → Priority Notifications section

4.Deep cleaning: system cache reset and Dalvik

If standard methods don't work, it's time to move to "heavy artillery." Cache resetting the system deletes temporary files that can only properly clear the rights of the superuser. This is secure and doesn't affect user data.

Method 1. Through Recovery Mode (without root):

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up until the Mi logo appears.
3. Choose a language → Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
4. Confirm the action and restart.

Method 2. Through ADB (for experienced):

If you have a PC, you can clear the Dalvik cache (Android Virtual Machine), which gives you an additional boost in speed:

adb shell


su




rm -r /data/dalvik-cache/*




reboot

⚠️ Warning: After cleaning Dalvik, the first turn on of the phone will take 5-10 It's okay to have a minute.

These methods are especially effective if your Redmi started to slow down after the MIUI update.For example, many Redmi Note 9 Pro users complained about lags after switching to MIUI 14 - cache reset solves the problem 90% of the time.

5. Cleaning system applications (without root)

MIUI installs dozens of pre-installed applications that cannot be removed by standard methods, but can be turned off by freeing up to 1-2 GB of memory and reducing background load.

List of safe applications to disable:

How to turn it off:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the desired application by name from the table.
3. Tap to Disable (do not "Delete Updates!").
4. Confirm the action. The app will disappear from the menu and stop working.

Important: Don't turn it off:

• 🚫 com.android.settings (Settings)
• 🚫 com.miui.home (Luncher)
• 🚫 com.google.android.gsf (Google Services)

Disabling them will cause the phone to fail!

6.Memory optimization: what to do if less than 10% is free

If your Redmi has less than 5-10GB of free space, the system starts to "choke." Here are 3 ways to free up space without losing important data:

Method 1. Transfer of applications to SD-map:

• 📱 Suitable for models with support for MicroSD (Redmi 9, Note 10, POCO X3 etc.).
• 🔄 B Settings → Applications select the application → Warehouse → Change. → SD-map.
• ⚠️ Not all applications support portability (especially system applications).

Method 2: Cleaning "Other" files:

B Settings → Memory often hangs a section Other size 5-15 It's GB:

• 🗃️ Cash updates (/cache)
• 📦 Temporary installer files (/data/app-lib)
• 🔍 Logs of the system (/data/log)

To clean them up:

Settings → Memory → Others → Clean

If there is no button, use Files by Google from the Play Market (Clean up section).

Method 3: Compression of media files:

Google Files can compress photos and videos without any visible loss of quality.

1. Open Files → Clean up → Free up the place.
2. Choose to compress images or compress video.
3. Confirm the action - saving up to 40% of space!

💡

If you're less than 3GB free, even cleaning up might not help, and in that case, the only radical way is to transfer data to your PC and completely reset your phone.

7. Radical measures: reset to factory settings

If nothing works, it's a complete reset, and it's a last resort, but it's guaranteed to bring back the factory speed.

• 📲 Make a backup copy through Settings → Additionally. → Backup.
• 🔐 Write down logins/passwords from accounts (they will disappear!).
• 📁 Copy photos on your PC or cloud (Google Photos, Mi Cloud).

How to reset:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Choose to erase all data.
3. Enter your password (if any) and confirm.
4. Wait for the reboot (it will take 5-15 minutes).

What to do after the discharge:

• ⚡ Do not restore the backup completely – select only contacts and SMS.
• 📥 Install applications gradually (not all at once!).
• 🔄 Turn off auto-update apps in the Play Market.

⚠️ Note: on some models (Redmi Note 8 Pro, POCO F1) post-discharge IMEI. To avoid this, check before resetting. IMEI Use the code *#06# and save it.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions