How to Clean Xiaomi of Garbage by Hand: The Complete Guide

Xiaomi smartphones are famous for their availability and rich functionality of the shell MIUI or HyperOS, but over time, even a powerful device begins to work slower, due to the accumulation of temporary files, remnants of remote applications and aggressive advertising in system services. Many users immediately rush to install questionable “accelerators”, but often the problem is solved by competent manual cleaning.

Manual cleaning allows you to delete exactly the data that takes up space but is not needed for the system to work. Unlike automatic cleaners, you control the process and do not risk accidentally removing important logs or settings. In this article, we will discuss safe methods for freeing up memory and improving the performance of your Android device.

Before we start taking radical measures, we need to understand the nature of junk, which is not just the cache of images, but also empty folders from long-deleted games, error logs and hidden advertising. The system partition "Other" in the storage is often inflated precisely because the app cache is not working properly. Let's take a step-by-step algorithm of actions.

Analysis of storage occupancy through system tools

The first step is always to diagnose, and you don't have to guess what eats gigabytes when you have a built-in analyzer in the MIUI shell, and it doesn't just show you how many files you've taken, it specifies the types of data you're looking at, and it tells you whether you should delete a photo or whether the messaging is the problem.

To get started, you need to go to the settings menu. Find Settings → Memory (or About Phone → Memory in older versions). The system will scan and give you a color diagram. Pay attention to the Apps section, because they take up the lion's share of the space.

It's important to distinguish between device memory and RAM. Cleaning RAM through Task Manager is only temporary, because the system will fill it up again with the necessary processes. Our goal is physical memory (ROM), where files are stored. If the scale is more than 90% full, the phone will start to slow down noticeably.

The built-in analyzer often offers "Cleanup," but it's superficial. It only removes the obvious cache. To do deep cleaning, you have to go down into the folder structure manually, which we'll do in the next sections. Don't ignore the "Baskbasket" section in the gallery, which can be up to 30 days of deleted photos.

Cleaning cache and application data manually

Social networks and instant messengers generate the largest amount of garbage. Telegram, VK and YouTube store every image and video viewed in cache. Over time, the Telegram cache folder can grow to 5-10 GB, although this is not visible in chat rooms.

To clear a particular application, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Select the program you want (like YouTube) and click Storage. Here you will see two buttons: Clear cache and Clear everything (or Delete data).

• ⚙️ Permissions management: here you can also disable the application autorun, which will save resources.

Pay special attention to messengers. WhatsApp and Telegram are better equipped with built-in cleanups than system ones. Telegram itself has a setting called Data and Memory → Memory Use → Clear cache, which is more secure than completely cleaning up data through Android settings.

If you use Chrome or MI Browser, remember to clear history and downloads. Browsers cache web pages for quick downloads, but the old files are no longer relevant. In your browser settings, find History or Privacy and select Deletion for All the Time.

Working with file manager and hidden folders

Xiaomi's standard File Manager does more than just show folders. It can scan duplicates and large files. However, for real cleaning, you need to go to the root folder of internal memory. Click on the folder icon in the top corner or select "Internal Drive."

Here you will encounter many folders with Latin names. Be careful: deleting system folders can cause the interface to crash. Look for folders from remote applications. Often after deleting a game, its cache folder (usually in Android/data or obb directories) remains in place.

And you can see the DCIM folder, which is the.thumbnails folder inside it, and it's a cache of thumbnails of your photos. If you have thousands of photos, this file can weigh a few gigabytes. It can be safely deleted, and the system will create a new one when you open the gallery.

Also check the Download folder. Often installation files are downloaded there. APK, You don't need it anymore after you install it, or you open documents you opened a month ago. APK-Files can be easily deleted.

Removal of advertising and system debris MIUI

MIUI is known for its ad integration, and not only is advertising annoying, it also takes up space in the cache of system services, and to clean up Xiaomi’s trash, you need to turn off MSA (MIUI System Ads) service.

Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data. Search in the msa list and turn off the switchboard. The system will ask you to wait 10 seconds, then confirm cancellation. This action will stop collecting data for targeted advertising and clear the relevant caches.

Another source of garbage is the MIUI folder in the internal storage, which has a gallery folder (cloud albums if sync is enabled) and a miui (themes). If you don't use themes, the cache of themes can be deleted through the Themes app → Profile → Settings → Clear cache.

💡

To find the heaviest files, use the built-in Explorer search. Enter the.mp4 or.apk extension to instantly see all the videos and installers on the phone.

Using Developer Mode for Deep Cleaning

For advanced users, there is a way to clean through the developer menu, which allows you to manage running processes in more detail. To activate this mode, you need to 7 times click on "Version". MIUI" under the heading “On the telephone".

Once activated, the advanced settings will show "Developers"; look for "Applications" or "Working Services"; you can see which processes are currently hanging in memory and how much they are consuming; forcing unnecessary system processes to stop can temporarily free up RAM.

⚠️ Note: Do not change the interface zoom or animation settings on the developer menu unless you know what they are responsible for. Resetting the graphics accelerator settings can lead to incorrect display of fonts or buttons.

There's also a "Do Not Stay Activated" feature on this menu, which if you turn it on, it will destroy the app as soon as you leave it, which is a radical method that will make the phone run faster on very old models, but constantly rebooting apps will consume more battery.

Use this method with caution. For a regular garbage cleaner, the previous steps are sufficient. The developer mode is a tool for diagnosis, not daily maintenance.

Cleaning through computer and ADB (for advanced)

The most effective way to remove system debris that cannot be removed through the phone menu is by using the ADB command line (Android Debug Bridge), which requires connecting to a PC and enabling debugging over USB in the developer menu.

With help. ADB You can remove system applications that are not removed in the standard way (bloatware), for example, unnecessary services from Google or Xiaomi applications that you do not use. -k --user 0 name-pack.

adb shell pm list packages | grep miui

This command will list all packages containing "miui." If you find one that is unnecessary, you can delete it. However, be very careful: removing the system component com.android.systemui or com.miui.securitycenter can turn the phone into a "brick" or cause a cyclical reboot.

⚠️ Attention: Before use ADB Make sure to make a complete backup of the data, remove critical system packets through ADB does not have a "cancel" button and requires reflashing of the device for recovery.

For most users, cleaning through the file manager and settings is enough. Leave the ADB method in case the phone is really full of non-removable system debris and you are confident in your actions.

💡

Regular manual cleaning of messenger cache and deleting folders of remote games is more effective than any “accelerators”, which themselves are a source of garbage.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)