How to properly clean the phone Xiaomi Redmi: 7 proven ways

Your Xiaomi Redmi is slowing down, quickly discharged or emitting “Not enough memory” errors? This is not because of the “aging” of iron, but because of the accumulated digital garbage. Deep cleaning of a smartphone is not just removing several applications, but a complex procedure that will return the device to factory-level performance. In this article, we will discuss 7 professional methods, including hidden MIUI functions that even experienced users do not use.

Redmi phones (Note, A, K and numerical lines) are characterized by aggressive MIUI caching. On the one hand, it speeds up the re-launch of applications, on the other hand, after 6-12 months of use, the cache inflates to 5-15 GB, and temporary files take up 30% of internal memory, while the standard Cleanup feature in the settings removes only 10-15% of garbage. Our methods will allow you to free up to 40% of memory without deleting personal files.

1.Pre-diagnosis: What exactly is slowing your Redmi

Before you start cleaning, identify bottlenecks on your smartphone. MIUI 14/15 has a built-in tool called Security → System Analysis.

• 📱 CPU Congestion – what processes eat the processor (norm: up to 20% in idleness)
• 🗑️ Garbage files – temporary data, cache, remnants of deleted applications
• 🔋 Background activity – applications that work hidden (messengers, trackers)
• 📊 Memory state – storage fragmentation (critical for eMMC models)

Pay special attention to the item "Shopping" - Chinese services (com.xiaomi.midrop, com.miui.analytics) are often sitting here, which cannot be turned off by standard means, their activities can eat up to 1 GB of RAM even when the phone is idle.

For deep diagnosis, use third-party utilities:

⚠️ Note: If DevCheck shows that the battery wear has exceeded 50%, Deep cleaning won't help, we need to replace the battery. 30-50% After cleaning, turn on the Battery mode. → Ultra-savings in MIUI.

2. Clean the system cache without data loss (method for MIUI 12-15)

System cache (/cache) — These are temporary files that MIUI It's designed to speed things up. It's inflated over time. 1-3 GB, but the standard cleaning doesn't touch it, so it's safe to remove it:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press Volume Up + Power before the Mi logo appears.
3. From the Recovery menu, select Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache.
4. Confirm the action and restart.

This method does not delete your photos, posts or apps, but resets:

• 🔄 Cache system updates
• 📱 Temporary data MIUI-service
• 🗑️ Remains of the remote APK

Charge your phone at least 50% | Backup important files | Remember account passwords (re-enter may be required after cleaning) | Disable two-factor authentication in messengers for 10 minutes-->

For the Redmi Note 10/11/12 with UFS 2.2, this method increases speed by up to 25% by defragmenting the system partition. On older eMMC models (Redmi 8/9), the effect is less noticeable, but still cleans up to 800 MB of debris.

⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse Wipe Cache with Wipe Data! The second option will completely reset the phone to factory settings. If you accidentally chose the wrong option, immediately remove the battery (if removable) or press the power for 20 seconds for emergency shutdown.

3. Disposal of hidden debris through ADB (for advanced)

Even after standard cleaning, the following remain in the system:

• 📁 Remote application folders in /data/data
• 🗃️ Logs of system errors (/data/log)
• 🔍 Xiaomi Analytics Files (/data/system/dropbox)

The following instructions are required for the removal of the ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

1. Turn on Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times to activate the developer mode).
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the commands:

adb shell


su




rm -rf /data/log/*




rm -rf /data/system/dropbox/*




rm -rf /data/local/tmp/*




exit




exit

These commands delete:

• 📜 Error Logs (releases) 200-500 MB)
• 📊 Analytics data (up to 1 GB on old firmware)
• 🗑️ Temporary update files (up to 300 MB)

💡

If the su command is not working, then your Redmi has turned off root access, in which case use an alternative method: enter the adb shell pm trim-caches 1000000, this will force the cache of all applications.

4.Optamping: What can be turned off without risk

MIUI aggressively adds apps to the startup, even those you don't need. For example, the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ defaults to boot:

• 🎵 com.miui.player (Music)
• 📺 com.miui.videoplayer (Videoplayer)
• 📊 com.miui.analytics (Xiaomi Analytics)
• 🔄 com.xiaomi.midrop (File Transfer)

To disable unnecessary services:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Autostart Management.
2. Sort the list by "Shoot-up."
3. Turn everything off except: 📱 System Services (Android System, Google Play Services) 🔒 Messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp – if you need notifications) 📞 Phone services (com.android.phone)

On models with MIUI 14+, some Chinese services are hidden. To see them, type in the settings:

*.analytics


*.midrop




*.yellowpage

5. Deep storage cleanup: delete duplicates and unnecessary files

Even if you regularly clean the gallery, you will still remember:

• 📸 Miniature photos (folder.thumbnails, up to 1 GB)
• 🎥 Video cache (Movie and Video folders at the root of memory)
• 📄 Duplicate documents (especially after updates) MIUI)

For their removal:

1. Install Files by Google from the Play Market.
2. Run the analysis in the "Cleaning" section.
3. Delete: 🗑️ Large files (size) >100MB) 📁 Empty folders (remain after uninstallation of applications) 🔍 Duplicates (especially in folders) DCIM and downloads)

For Redmi models with 128 GB of memory and less, we also recommend:

• 🎵 Transfer music to the memory card (if you have a slot)
• 📷 Disable automatic downloading of photos in messengers
• 📥 Delete APK-files after installation (download folder)

💡

On eMMC phones (Redmi 8/9/Note 8/9), regular storage cleaning increases memory life by 20-30%. For UFS 2.1/2.2 (Redmi Note 10+), the effect is less noticeable, but still useful.

6.Reset to factory settings: when it really needs to

If you're still slowing down after all the manipulations, you're left with a hard reset, which is a last resort, but it's guaranteed to return the device to its factory speed.

Backup via Mi Cloud or Google Drive|Write it down. IMEI (dial *#06#)|Get out. SIM and SD-card (if any)|Charge your phone to 100%-->

Instructions for MIUI 13-15:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select "Erase all data."
3. Enter the password from Mi Account (if tied).
4. Confirm the action.

After discharge:

• 🔄 Do not restore data from the backup right away – check the speed of the clean system first.
• 📱 Install applications gradually (by 3-5 day) to avoid overloading.
• 🔋 Charge the phone to 100% and calibrate the battery (discharge to 0% and charge without interruptions).

⚠️ Note: On Redmi models with MediaTek (Helio) G88/G95) post-discharge IMEI. If this happens, restore it through Engineer Mode (code ##3646633##).

7.Optimization after cleaning: how to keep the speed for a long time

To ensure that the cleaning effect lasts longer:

• 📵 Turn off automatic app updates in the Play Market.
• 🔄 Once a week, clean the cache through Settings. → Warehouse → Cleanup.
• 📴 Install Greenify to Freeze Background Processes.
• 🔋 Use the original charger (low-quality RAM accelerate battery wear).

For Redmi with 4/6 GB of RAM, we also recommend:

• 🎮 Disable the animation interface: adb shell settings put global window_animation_scale 0 adb shell settings put global transition_animation_scale 0 adb shell settings put global animator_duration_scale 0
• 📱 Enable Easy Mode in Battery Settings.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up Xiaomi Redmi