Viber messenger on Xiaomi smartphones over time turns into a real “eater” of memory: accumulated chats, media files, cache and temporary data can take up gigabytes of space, slow down the application and even affect the overall performance of the phone.
Unlike WhatsApp or Telegram, Viber stores data more aggressively: automatic backups, thumbnails of images, voice messages, and even deleted files can remain in memory for years. At Xiaomi, the feature of the MIUI file system, where some of these applications are hidden from the user, complicates the situation. In this guide, we will analyze all the ways to clean Viber from basic to advanced, including working with system folders and MIUI settings.
Why Viber is taking up so much space on Xiaomi
On Xiaomi devices (especially on Redmi Note, POCO and budget Mi A models), the Viber can inflate to 5-10 GB — and that’s not the limit.
- 📁 Automatic Media Download: Viber uploads all photos, videos and stickers in original quality by default, even if you haven’t opened them.
- 🔄 Backups of chats: The app creates local backups once a week that are not automatically deleted.
- 🗑️ Cache and temporary files: thumbnails, previews, web browsing data and even fragments of deleted messages remain in memory.
- 🎵 Voice Messages: Unlike text chats, audio takes up 10 to 100 times more space (one message is 1 minute long). = ~1 MBB).
- 🔒 Hidden folders MIUI: The system creates duplicate files in /Android/data/com.viber.voip/, Not visible through the standard file manager.
For example, on Xiaomi Redmi 9 with 64 GB of memory, the user found that Viber took 12 GB of the 50 available – while the app itself displayed only 4 GB in the storage settings. The difference arose due to hidden files and cache, which were not taken into account in the statistics of the application.
⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 12–14 Some of Viber’s data can be stored in a secure partition /data/user/0/. Trying to remove them manually without root rights will cause the application to crash.
Preparation for cleaning: what to do in advance
Before you start deleting files, be sure to follow these steps to avoid losing important data:
- Back up your chats to the cloud or your computer. Go to Viber Settings → Account → Backup and select Create a copy.
- Export important media files (photos, videos, documents) to another storage, such as Google Photos or a memory card.
- Check the space available on your device: if less than 1 GB, the cleanup may not be correct. Free up space by removing unnecessary apps or files.
- Close Viber in the multitasking menu to avoid conflicts when deleting files.
If you use Xiaomi with root rights, install a file manager with root access support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer) to help remove hidden files that are not available with standard tools.
Method 1: Clear cache and data through Android settings
The easiest and safest method is to use the built-in MIUI tools, which are suitable for users without root rights and do not require technical skills.
Instructions:
- Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- In the search bar, enter Viber and select the app from the list.
- Go to the Warehouse section.
- Click Clear Cache (this will delete temporary files without affecting chats).
- For deep cleaning, click Clear Data, but note: this will delete all chats, settings and media files inside the app!
Once the cache is cleared, Viber can run slower on its first run (the app will have to re-upload profile and sticker data), which is normal and temporary.
Save a backup copy of chats|Exporting important media files|Close Viber in Multitasking|Check the free space on the device-->
⚠️ Note: On some Xiaomi models (e.g, POCO X3 or Redmi Note 10) after data clearing, Viber may request a re-authorization via SMS. Make sure you have access to the phone number linked to your account.
Method 2: Manually Delete Media Files and Chats
If you do not want to lose correspondence, but you need to free up space, delete unnecessary media files directly in the application:
How to do this:
- Open Viber and go to any chat room.
- Click on the name of the interlocutor at the top of the screen → Information about the chat.
- Select Media, Files and Links.
- Sort files by size (click on the filter icon) and remove the largest ones.
- For mass removal, click Select → Mark unnecessary files → Delete.
Pay particular attention to:
- 🎥 Video files (take up the most space).
- 🎵 Voice messages (even short ones can weigh megabytes).
- 📎 Documents (PDF, Excel, archives).
- 🖼️ Animated stickers and GIF (Their weight is often underestimated).
On the Xiaomi Mi 11, a user was able to free up 3.2GB, removing only videos from chat rooms over the past year, while texting remained intact.
💡
To find large files faster, use size sorting and delete the ones that weigh more than 10MB first. Most often these are high-resolution videos or long voice messages.
Method 3: Delete hidden Viber files through file manager
Even after cleaning the cache and deleting the media, Viber itself still has hidden folders on Xiaomi that are not visible through standard means.
Steps for MIUI 12-14:
- Install a file manager with hidden file support (e.g. FX File Explorer or Total Commander).
- Turn on the display of hidden folders in the manager settings.
- Go to /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.viber.voip/
- Delete the following folders (if any): cache – app cache. files – temporary files and downloads. app_webview — Backups – Local backups (if not required).
On some devices (such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro), the path may be different:
/storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.viber.voip/It stores media files that are not displayed in the gallery.
| folder | What it keeps. | Can I remove it? |
|---|---|---|
| cache | Temporary files, thumbnails, data for fast download | Yes, it's safe. |
| files | Downloaded media, documents, stickers | Yeah, but you'll lose your chat files. |
| databases | Databases of chats, contacts, settings | No (will cause Viber to crash) |
| backups | Local backups of chats | Yeah, if there's a cloud backup. |
⚠️ Note: Do not delete databases or files with the.db extension – this will lead to a complete loss of chats and require reinstallation of Viber with authorization again.
Method 4: Optimize Viber settings to save space
To Viber less “clog” Xiaomi memory in the future, configure the settings for downloading and storing data:
Recommended settings:
- Open Viber. → More (⋮) → Settings → Media.
- In the Automatic Media Download section, select: 📶 Wi-Fi only (to avoid downloading files on mobile network). 📥 Do not download automatically (the best option to save space).
Quality of loading
Average.
Original
Keep media in the gallery
Backup
Automatic copy creation
1 time per month
On Xiaomi POCO F3 after these settings, the user reduced the monthly memory gain from Viber from 500 MB to 80 MB – without loss of functionality.
What if Viber takes up a lot of space?
Method 5: Completely reset Viber with chats saved
If previous methods did not help, and the application is unstable, perform a “clean” reinstallation of Viber, saving correspondence:
Step-by-step:
- Backup: In Viber: Settings → Account → Backup → Create a copy (select Google Drive or Local). Wait until it is completed (can take up to 10 minutes on large amounts of data).
- Delete Viber: Go to Settings → Applications → Viber → Delete. Confirm the deletion (with it all local data will disappear).
- Clear residual files: With the file manager, delete folders: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.viber.voip/ /storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/com.viber.voip/
Reinstall Viber
- Download the latest version from Google Play or the official website.
- When you first start, select Restore from backup.
This will make room without affecting the correspondence.