Cleaning Telegram on Xiaomi: how to free up memory and speed up work

Why Telegram on Xiaomi is starting to slow down and how to fix it

Telegram messenger on Xiaomi smartphones (be it Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 or flagship Xiaomi 14) over time turns into a real “eater” of memory. The reasons lie not only in the accumulated gigabytes of media files, but also in the peculiarities of MIUI – the Xiaomi proprietary shell. For example, the system aggressively caches application data, and Telegram by default downloads all incoming photos and videos in original quality. As a result, users face a slowdown of the messenger by 30-40% after 3-4 months of active use.

Compounding the problem, Xiaomi is limiting the background activity of apps through Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization. Telegram, which is deprived of the ability to synchronize data in the background, begins to “hang” when opening chats or downloading new messages. But the good news is that cleaning the messenger by 90% solves the problem without radical measures like reinstallation.

1. Clear Telegram cache via Android settings

The fastest way to free up a few gigabytes of memory is to delete the Telegram cache through system settings, which does not affect your messages or media files, but deletes temporary data that the messenger accumulates to speed up work (for example, thumbnails of photos or preloaded stickers).

Instructions for MIUI 14/13/12:

1. Open the smartphone settings.
2. Go to the Apps → Application management.
3. Find Telegram in the list (use search if there are many apps).
4. Slip it on the Warehouse.
5. Click Clear Cache (not to be confused with the Clear Data button – it will delete all your chats!).

On Xiaomi with MIUI 14, Telegram cache can weigh between 500 MB and 3 GB depending on activity. After cleaning, the messenger will load thumbnails a little longer, but this is temporary - after 1-2 days, the work is stabilized. If the Clear cache button is inactive, then the cache is empty or Telegram is running in the background (close it through the multitasking menu).

2. Deletion of media files: photos, videos and documents

The main culprit behind the memory overflow is media files that Telegram automatically downloads to the smartphone gallery. On Xiaomi, they are stored in the /storage/emulated/0/Telegram/Telegram Images/ (for photos) and /Telegram/Telegram Video/ (for video). Even if you delete files from the chat, they will remain in the device's memory!

How to Safely Clean Up Media:

• 📁 Through File Manager: Open Files (or Mi File Manager), find the Telegram folder and manually delete unnecessary files. Do not delete the entire folder - this will cause malfunction of the messenger.
• 🗑️ Through Telegram Settings: Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory usage: You can sort files by size and delete the heaviest ones (e.g., video in the video). 4K).
• 🔄 Autoclean: In the same menu, enable the option to Clean cache when exiting (available on Telegram Premium) or set a cache limit (e.g., 1GB).

There is a nuance on Xiaomi with MIUI: after deleting files through the manager, they can remain in the gallery as "ghost" thumbnails. To remove them, open the Gallery → Albums → Telegram, click Control → Clear the Recycle Bin.

3.Setting up the boot: how to prevent memory filling

By default, Telegram on Xiaomi downloads all incoming media files in their original quality, even if you're connected to the mobile Internet, which quickly eats away both memory and traffic, to change behavior:

1. Open Telegram and go to Settings → Data and memory.
2. In the Autoboot Media section, set up the rules for: Mobile Data – select Never or Only Photos. Wi-Fi – limit to Photos and Videos to 10MB. Roaming – always bet Never.

Keep it in the gallery.

On POCO and Redmi with a small storage capacity (32/64 GB), it is also recommended to disable Autoplay video in chat rooms, which will save up to 15% of battery power and prevent unnecessary videos from being accidentally downloaded.

4. Clearing the history of chats and messages

Messages, especially in large groups or channels, take up much more space than you think, for example, a 10,000-message chat can weigh up to 500MB with text, links and built-in previews alone, to clear up the story without losing important information:

• 🧹 Deletion by date: In any chat tap the name of the interlocutor → Clear history → Select a date range (e.g., messages older than 6 months).
• 🗑️ Mass removal: C Settings → Data and memory → Memory usage can sort chats by size and clean the most “heavy” ones».
• 🔍 Search and Delete: Use a chat search (a magnifier in the upper right corner) with a filter by file type (e.g. type:video) and delete unnecessary media.

Xiaomi has a hidden feature on MIUI: if you pinch your finger on a message and pull left/right, a context menu will appear with the option to Delete for All (if the message is recently sent) or Delete from Me. This is faster than opening the chat menu.

⚠️ Note: When you clear history in Secret Chats, messages are permanently deleted and cannot be restored, even if you backed up through Settings. → chat → Backup. Secret chats don't sync to the cloud!

5. Reset Telegram settings to factory

If Telegram continues to slow down after all the manipulations, it may be a problem in the profile settings or synchronization failure, in which case resetting to factory parameters without losing chats will help:

1. Open the Settings. → Additionally.
2. Choose Reset all settings.
3. Confirm action. It'll go back to default values: Checkout theme, notification settings, autoload settings, list of favorite stickers.

Chats, media files and contacts will remain intact.

1. Reset the autoboot (see Section 3).
2. Disable unnecessary notifications in Settings → Notifications.
3. Update Telegram to the latest version via Google Play or App Gallery (on Xiaomi without Google services).

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If Telegram still slows down after reset, check if the power saving mode for the messenger is turned on in Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization. Xiaomi by default limits the background activity of applications, which can cause delays when opening chats.

6. Advanced methods: ADB and manual cleaning

For experienced users who are willing to work with ADB (Android Debug Bridge, there's a way to deep-clean Telegram without deleting your account, and it deletes all the local data except chat rooms and resets the cache. USB-cable.

Instructions:

1. Turn on Developer Mode on Xiaomi: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (shap 7 times).
2. Activate USB Debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC and execute commands in ADB: adb shell pm clear org.telegram.messenger adb shell pm clear org.telegram.messenger.web

These commands will reset Telegram completely, but save your chats (they sync to the cloud the next time you log in).The method is useful if the messenger "gluts" after updating MIUI or changing the firmware.

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 11 Pro)+) After pm clear, you may lose your account’s connection to your device in Mi Account. Before the procedure, make sure you remember the password from Telegram and Mi Account to restore access!

Comparison of Telegram Cleanup Methods on Xiaomi

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The safest and most effective method for most users is a combination of cache cleaning (Section 1) + autoload settings (Section 3).This will free up to 3-5 GB of storage and prevent refilling.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up Telegram on Xiaomi