Manually Cleaning Internal Memory on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide to Freeing Up Place

Xiaomi’s internal memory is clogged faster than it seems. Even with regular removal of apps and photos, the system continues to “eat” gigabytes of unknown where, the reason lies in hidden cache, remnants of MIUI updates, duplicate files and specific features of firmware. Unlike automatic “cleaners”, manual cleaning allows you to spot-wipe unnecessary data without affecting important information.

This article will help you understand how to manually clean internal memory on Xiaomi without using third-party programs and the risk of damaging the system. MIUI, Hidden features (including working with.thumbnails folders, DCIM/.thumbnails We will focus on the Redmi Note models. 10/11/12, POCO X3/X4 mi 11/12, where the problem of memory shortage is especially acute due to the limited storage capacity in the basic versions.

Before you start, check the actual memory state: go to Settings → About Phone → Memory. If the graph shows employment of more than 80% with the minimum number of installed applications, your case requires deep cleaning. Importantly, all manipulations are performed without root rights, but some actions will require a connection to a PC.

1. Memory Occupation Analysis: What exactly takes place?

The first step is diagnostics. Without understanding which files are clogging up memory, cleaning will be inefficient. MIUI has a built-in analyzer, but it hides some of the system data. Here's how to get the whole picture:

Open Settings → Memory → Memory Analysis. The system will show the distribution by categories: "Apps", "Images", "Video", etc. However, it does not show:

• 📁 Cash updates. MIUI (can weigh up 2-3 GB after several updates)
• 🖼️.thumbnails folder with thumbnails (up to 1 GB on models with 128 GB of memory)
• 🗑️ Remnants of Remote Applications in /data/app-lib
• 📱 Logs of the system (/data/log) and error dumps

For detailed analysis, use a file manager (e.g., built-in Mi File Explorer or Solid Explorer) to enable the display of hidden files in the manager settings and check the following folders:

⚠️ Attention: Do not delete folders Android/obb and Android/media — It stores game and media data, and if it's cleaned, it'll crash the applications.

2. Cleaning the application cache and system

Cash is the main memory eater at Xiaomi, and it's divided into three types:

1. Application cache – temporary program files (up to 500 MB per application).
2. Dalvik cache – optimized files to speed up Android (up to 1 GB).
3. Cache of MIUI updates - the remains of firmware after updates (up to 3 GB).

To clean the standard cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select an app (such as Facebook or Telegram).
3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.

For mass cleaning, use Settings → Memory → Clean. Here the system will prompt you to delete:

• 🗑️ Unnecessary files APK (leftovers after application installation)
• 📁 Temporary download files
• 🎮 Cash games (if you do not play Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile)

Critical information: On Xiaomi models with MIUI 13+, after clearing the cache through the settings, the system automatically reassembles the Dalvik cache within 10-15 minutes, which can cause lags. Don't be alarmed - this is a normal process.

3. Removal of duplicates and unnecessary media files

Photos and videos take up 60 percent of the memory on most smartphones, and the problem is compounded by:

• 📸 Duplicates (created when editing in Google Photos or Gallery) MIUI)
• 🎥 Screenshots (daddy) Pictures/Screenshots weigh 2-3 GB)
• 📹 Videos from messengers (automatically saved in the WhatsApp/Media or Telegram/Telegram Video)

To search for duplicates:

1. Open the MIUI Gallery → Albums → Duplicates.
2. Click Remove duplicates (the system will leave the best quality file).

To disable automatic media saving from messengers:

• 📱 WhatsApp: Settings → chat → Visibility of media files → turn off.
• 💬 Telegram: Settings → Data and memory → Autoboot media → Choose "Never".

Remove duplicates in the MIUI Gallery|

Check Screenshots folder for old screenshots |

Disable auto-save media in messengers |

Transfer photos over 6 months to the cloud or PC-->

⚠️ Attention: Folder DCIM/.thumbnails can weigh up 1 GB, but it can't be deleted through a standard file manager. Use Solid Explorer with root rights or command ADB: adb shell rm -rf /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails After removal, the miniatures will be restored automatically when the gallery is opened next.

4. Work with system folders (without root)

Even without superuser rights, you can clear some of your system folders through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), a method that is suitable for power users and requires a PC connection.

First, turn on the USB debugging:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Click 7 times on the MIUI version to activate the developer mode.
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. Activate Debugging on USB.

Now connect your phone to your PC and execute the commands:

adb shell


pm clear com.miui.gallery #Cleaning up Gallery's cache




pm clear com.android.providers.media # Cleaning up media storage




rm -rf /data/local/tmp/* # Delete temporary files

For the POCO X3 Pro and Redmi Note 10 Pro models, clear the Google cache (unless you use Google Photos or Drive):

pm clear com.google.android.gms


pm clear com.google.android.gsf

5. Cleaning up the residues of remote applications

When you uninstall programs via Google Play or your MIUI settings, you often leave:

• 📂 Folders in /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/ (weigh up 500 MBT)
• 🗃️ Files in /data/app-lib/ (demand ADB root)
• 📄 Configuration files in /data/data/

To remove the residues:

1. Install SD Maid (available on Google Play).
2. Run the scan in the CorpseFinder section.
3. Remove all found "body" applications.

For manual cleaning through ADB:

adb shell


cd /data/app-lib/




ls # See the folder list




rm -rf com.example.deletedapp # Replace to the folder name of the remote application

⚠️ Attention: On Xiaomi with MIUI 14 when deleting folders /Android/data/ The file manager may have a "Folder is used" error. ADB Restart your phone before removing it.

6.Memory optimization for games and heavy applications

Games like Genshin Impact (15+GB), Call of Duty Mobile (5GB) or PUBG (3GB) take up not only memory space, but also create a huge cache.

For Genshin Impact:

• 🎮 Remove the cache through Settings → Annexes → Genshin Impact → Warehouse → Clear the cache.
• 📂 Transfer the data to SD-Card (if supported): Select Files in the game settings → Move it to SD.
• 🔄 Turn off the background download of updates in the game settings.

For Call of Duty Mobile:

• 🎯 Clear the cache through Settings → Data management → Clean all data (you will have to re-download resources).
• 📦 Reduce the graphics quality in the game settings to Medium – this will reduce the cache size from 2 GB to 800 MB.

💡

If the game starts to slow down after cleaning the cache, restart the phone.MIUI automatically optimizes performance for games within 5-10 minutes of launch.

7 Hidden MIUI functions for memory release

MIUI has built-in deep cleaning tools that are not visible in the basic settings. Here's how to activate them:

Deep Cleanup Mode:

1. Open Security. → Cleanup.
2. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
3. Choose Deep Cleanup.
4. Confirm the action (the system will delete up to 1.5 GB of unnecessary files).

Background cleaning:

• 🔄 Go to Settings. → Battery and productivity → Application management.
• 📉 Select Clean in the "Background Processes" section".
• 🔋 This will not only free up up to 300MB of memory, but also increase battery life.

System File Compression (available on MIUI 13+):

1. Activate the Developer Mode (as described above).
2. Go to For Developers → Memory compression.
3. Enable Aggressive Compression (releases up to 500MB, but may slightly reduce performance).

💡

Deep Cleanup mode in MIUI removes not only cache, but also temporary update files, system logs and error dumps. Use it no more than 1 time every 2 weeks so as not to disrupt the stability of the work.

8.Prevention: How to prevent memory clogging

To avoid cleaning up your memory every month, set up Xiaomi for automatic optimization:

• 🔄 Include Auto Cleanup in Security → Cleanup → Settings (set a schedule for weekly cleaning).
• 📥 Turn off auto-save media in instant messengers (as described in Section 3).
• 📷 Configure Google Photos to automatically upload photos to the cloud, then delete local copies.
• 🎮 For gamers: in Game Turbo settings, turn off background optimization for unnecessary games.

For models with 64 GB of memory (Redmi 9A, POCO M3):

• 📱 Install lighter versions of apps (Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite).
• 🎵 Store music in the cloud (Yandex Music, Spotify with cache up to 1 GB).
• 📺 Stream video instead of downloading (on YouTube Premium or Kinionk).

Check the Download folder regularly, where unnecessary APKs, PDFs and archives accumulate. Use Files by Google with Cleanup to automatically sort.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi memory cleanup