Hand-cleaning Xiaomi Redmi 7 from garbage: 7 proven ways

Even the most reliable smartphone eventually begins to “brake”: applications open for a long time, the system gives notifications about the lack of memory, and the battery goes down faster than usual. Xiaomi Redmi 7, despite modest by modern standards characteristics (Snapdragon 632 processor, 2-4 GB of RAM), can last for several years — if you take care of it. The main problem of the device is the accumulation of system debris that occupies precious space and slows down.

In this article, we will discuss how to manually clean Redmi 7 from unnecessary files without resorting to questionable “cleaners” from the Play Market. You will learn where to look for hidden cache folders, how to safely remove the remnants of deleted applications and why standard tools MIUI They don't always do it. They're all firmware-tested. MIUI 10–14 and do not require root rights.

Why Redmi 7 is getting littered faster than other smartphones

It’s not just about the small amount of internal memory (16-64 GB depending on the modification), Xiaomi Redmi 7 suffers from three key problems:

• 📱 Aggressive cache MIUI: The system creates duplicate temporary files to speed up the interface, but often forgets to delete them.
• 🗑️ Remains of applications: even after uninstallation, programs are left to the 30–50 MB of garbage in folders /data and /sdcard.
• 🔄 Background Processes: Xiaomi services (e.g. mipush or miui.analytics) constantly record logs that are never automatically cleared.

According to the laboratory tests XDA Developers, after a year of using Redmi 7 accumulates up to 1.2-1.8 GB of unnecessary files, even if the user regularly cleans the cache through the settings:

Another feature of Redmi 7 is memory fragmentation, because of the use of a cheap eMMC 5.1 (instead of the memory fragmentation). UFS) The file system eventually falls apart into small blocks, which further inhibits reading/write.

Preparing for manual cleaning: what to do before you start

Before you go into the system folders, follow three mandatory steps:

1. Back up important data (photos, contacts, messages) and use Settings. → System and device → Backup or third-party services like Google Drive.
2. Check the free space in the Settings → Memory: If less than 1 GB is left, cleaning can take up to 30-40 minutes due to slow system operation.
3. Turn off automatic synchronization in Settings → Accounts. → Mi Account to avoid conflicts when deleting files.

Also prepare:

• 🔌 Charger (process can drain battery by 15-20%).
• 🖥️ Computer with cable USB Type-C (required for deep cleaning).
• 📝 Notepad for records (to fix deleted folders).

Make a data backup|Check the vacant space|Disable Mi Account Synchronization|Charge the phone to 50%+|Prepare. USB-cable-->

⚠️ Note: Do not use file managers like this ES Explorer or Total Commander to delete system files. They often misidentify critical folders MIUI It's better to work through the built-in Explorer or the Mi File Manager.

Method 1: Clearing the cache of system and user applications

Cache is a temporary file that creates programs to speed things up, and over time, it accumulates and takes up gigabytes of memory. In Redmi 7, the cache is divided into three types:

• 📁 Cache of user applications (for example, Facebook, Instagram).
• 🛠️ System services cache (MIUI, Google Services).
• 🗃️ Dalvik cache (Android virtual machine files that control the speed of program launches).

To clean them without harming the system:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slip on the three points in the upper right corner and select Show System Processes.
3. Sort the list by cache size (click on the cache size in the cap).
4. For each cache-based application >50MB press Clear Cache.

For deep cleaning (including Dalvik cache), do:

1. Turn off the phone.


2. Press the power button + volume up until the Mi logo appears.




3. From the Recovery menu, select Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.




4. Confirm the action and restart.

⚠️ Warning: Do not confuse Wipe Cache with Wipe Data! The second option will erase all your data, including photos and apps.

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If the applications start running longer after cleaning the cache, it is normal, and the system will restore the necessary temporary files within 1-2 days.

Method 2: Remove Remnants of Remote Applications

When you delete a program through Settings or Play Market, it leaves behind:

• 📂 Folders with settings in /sdcard/Android/data.
• 🗄️ Cache files in /data/data (root-only).
• 🎮 Game files in /sdcard/Android/obb (can weigh up 1–2 GB!).

To find and remove this garbage:

1. Open Explorer (built-in or Mi File Manager)
2. Move to the /sdcard/Android Open the data and obb folders.
3. Delete folders with app names you have deleted long ago (e.g. com.facebook.katana for Facebook).
4. Check the folder. /sdcard/MIUI/backup/AllBackup — Here may be backup copies of long-deleted programs.

If you are not sure if you can delete the folder, use the service APK Mirror – Enter the name of the package (e.g. com.whatsapp) and check which application it belongs to.

Method 3: Cleaning folders with logs and dumps MIUI

Xiaomi is actively collecting data about the system, which helps engineers improve firmware, but it clogs up user memory. In Redmi 7, logs are stored in three main places:

To clean them up:

1. Connect your phone to your computer in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Open the Internal Drive folder and find the directories above.
3. Delete all files inside (except folders – you don’t need to touch them).
4. Reboot the phone.

If the folder debug_log not cleared (the system recovers files), disable log collection:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone.


2. Tap 7 times on the MIUI version to activate Developer Mode.




3. Go back to Settings → Additional → For developers.




4. disable the option to keep a MIUI error log.

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Regular cleaning of folder /sdcard/MIUI/debug_log may increase the space available to 300–500 MB, especially if you frequently test beta versions of firmware.

Method 4: Optimize Download folder and downloads from browsers

folder /sdcard/Download — The real Redmi dumpster 7. They're accumulating here:

• 📄 Documents downloaded from the Internet (PDF, DOCX).
• 🎵 Audio files and melodies (often duplicated in the /sdcard/Ringtones).
• 📦 Archives (ZIP, RAR), which you have unpacked and forgotten to remove.
• 🖼️ Images from messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp create temporary copies here).

How to fix it up:

1. Open the Explorer and go to /sdcard/Download.
2. Sort files by date (Modified) and delete anything older than 6 months.
3. Check browser folders: /sdcard/Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download (Chrome). /sdcard/Android/data/org.mozilla.firefox/files/Download (Firefox).

Files by Google

Cleanup

Tip: Set up automatic download cleanup in Google Files:

1. Open Files by Google.


2. Go to Settings → Cleaning → Auto Cleaning.




3. Enable the option and select Download Files older than 30 days.

Method 5: Removing unnecessary APK and update

The standard Play Market doesn’t always remove correctly APK-Update files. They stay in the folder. /sdcard/Android/data/com.android.vending/cache and can borrow up to 1–2 GB is also stored in the system:

• 📦 Packet installer cache (/data/app/vmdl*.tmp).
• 🔄 Older versions of apps (MIUI save them for rollback).
• 🚫 Blocked. APK (If you have tried installing software from unknown sources).

To clean them up:

1. Install. APK Extractor from Play Market and check the list of installed APK.
2. Remove duplicates (for example, if you have two versions of WhatsApp, stable and beta).
3. Clear the Play Market Cache folder: Settings → Annexes → Google Play Store → Memory. → Clear the cache
4. To delete temporary installation files, use the command ADB: adb shell pm trim-caches 1G (Requires a PC connection and enabled Developer Mode).

⚠️ Note: Do not delete files with the.odex or.oat extension in the folder /data/app — These are optimized versions of system applications, and losing them will lead to a crash. MIUI.

Method 6: Cleaning the cache of Google Play Services and other services

Google Play Services is one of the main memory eaters in Redmi 7, which is responsible for synchronization, geolocation and push notifications, but its cache can grow to 500 MB.

• 📍 Google Maps (cache of maps and routes).
• 🎮 Google Play Games (Save and Game Data).
• 🔍 Google App (Cache of Search Requests and Voice Commands).

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications.
2. Find Google Play Services and click Memory → Clear the cache.
3. Repeat for Google Play Store, Google and Google Play Services.
4. To reset geolocation data, open Settings → Confidentiality → Permits → geodata → Location history and delete old records.

If Google Play Services starts consuming a lot of battery after cleaning up, do:

1. Open Settings → Accounts → Google.


2. delete your account (the data will be stored on Google servers).




3. Reboot your phone and add your account again.

Method 7: Memory defragmentation (for advanced users)

Because of the use of eMMC 5.1 in Redmi 7, the file system becomes fragmented over time, resulting in:

• ⏳ Slowing down the opening of apps (especially games).
• 🔋 Increased battery consumption (the system spends more energy reading disparate files).
• 📉 Decrease in the speed of writing / reading by 20-30%.

For defragmentation without root rights:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and copy all the important data to your computer.
2. Format internal memory through Settings → Memory. → Format.
3. Return the files by distributing them to folders (DCIM, Download etc.).

If you have root, use it. SD Maid:

1. Install SD Maid from the Play Market.


2. Provide root access.




3. Run CorpseFinder (search for deleted file residues).




4. execute SystemCleaner to optimize system folders.

⚠️ Note: Formatting internal memory will delete all data, including photos and apps. pre-make a full backup through Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset → Local backups.

Frequent Mistakes in Manual Cleaning and How to Avoid Them

Many Redmi 7 users make critical errors that lead to:

• 🔄 Bootloop looping after deleting system files.
• 📵 Poose. IMEI (file-touch /efs or /nvram).
• 🚫 Mi Account block (when deleting files) /data/system/miui).

How to avoid them:

Rule. №1: Never delete files unless you know their purpose. /data/dalvik-cache It seems like garbage, but cleaning it without restarting it will cause the system to crash.

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If the phone is running slower after cleaning, it's a temporary phenomenon, the system recovers the necessary files within 24 to 48 hours, and don't panic or reset your settings!

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions