Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a mysterious situation where internal storage is rapidly filling up, and the standard analyzer shows that the lion’s share is occupied by the “Other” section, which is puzzling, since the user may not install new applications or download heavy files, but the free space disappears. The problem lies in the specifics of the MIUI shell and HyperOS, which accumulate temporary files, messenger cache and system logs, not always correctly displaying them in standard categories.
The Other section is not a virus or a malfunction, but a collection of data that the system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos or installed applications, including remnants of remote programs, cache of streaming services, offline navigators and social network databases. Cleaning this section requires caution, since careless actions can lead to the loss of important settings or even disrupt the operating system.
In this article, we will discuss safe and effective ways to free up space. You will learn how to use Xiaomi’s built-in tools, third-party utilities and manual methods through the file manager. The main rule is to act consistently and understand which files can be deleted painlessly and which ones can not be touched categorically.
Anatomy of the "Other" section on MIUI and HyperOS
Before we start taking drastic measures, we need to understand the nature of the space we occupy. The Android system that MIUI runs on top of has a complex file structure. When you use a browser, watch a YouTube video, or text Telegram, apps save temporary data to speed up work. Over time, this data grows to gigabytes, but in the file manager it is often marked as "Unknown" or "Other".
The most important feature is the so-called “orphaned” files, which are leftovers from applications you have already deleted, or logs of errors that the system collects for debugging, and in some cases, data about downloads that have been interrupted or do not have the correct extension is included.
Memory filling analysis shows that most of the time, it's messengers and social media that inflate the volume, and they cache every image and video they see so that when you reopen the chat, the content loads instantly. It looks like the magic of speed to the user, but for the smartphone, it's hundreds of megabytes of garbage that is not formally part of the application.
⚠️ Warning: Never delete files from system folders manually unless you are 100% sure of their purpose.Deleting critical libraries can lead to a cyclical smartphone reboot (bootloop).
Using Xiaomi's built-in cleaner
The safest and first step for any Redmi or Poco owner is to use the regular Security app, which, unlike its third-party counterparts, has deep system access rights and knows which cached data can be deleted without affecting the interface.
To run deep cleaning, open the Security app and select Cleanup. After the initial scan, click Clean up, then go to Deep Cleanup. This is where the system offers to analyze large files, rarely used applications, and most importantly, the cache of individual programs. MIUI's algorithm can safely delete temporary files without touching your personal correspondence or saving in games.
But the automatic analyzer doesn't always see everything. In the Storage Analysis section, you can see in detail which apps consume the most space. Often, it turns out that the Other is generated by the cache of one or two heavy apps, like TikTok or Instagram, in which case it's more effective to clear the cache of that particular app through settings than to delete everything in a row.
It's important to note that the built-in cleaner sometimes works conservatively, and it can leave files that you don't know are coming from, so if the volume of The Other has decreased slightly after it's been running, you'll need to connect more advanced tools or manually clean them.
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Run the built-in cleanup regularly, at least once a week, and this will prevent the accumulation of huge amounts of small temporary files that add up to gigabytes.
Manual cleaning through the file manager
For more advanced users who want to get the most out of it, manual cleaning through standard Explorer is available, and this method allows you to visually see what is taking up space and make an informed decision. Open the File Manager app and go to internal storage.
First of all, look at the Download folder. Often users forget about downloaded app installers (.apk), documents or archives that are no longer needed. Also worth checking the DCIM ->.thumbnails folder. This is a hidden folder that stores thumbnails of your photos and videos. Over time, it can grow to several gigabytes. Its contents can be safely deleted - thumbnails will be created again the next time you open the gallery.
Another source of garbage is the Android folder, which contains data and obb subfolders. This is where the app data is stored. Be very careful: removing the obb folder for the game will reset it to its original settings or require re-uploading resources. However, inside the folders of specific applications (for example, which have com.facebook.katana or com.twitter.android in their name) often lie temporary files that can be deleted if you understand what the application is.
To find duplicates and large forgotten files, use size sorting. Xiaomi's file manager has a "Sort by Size" feature that instantly shows the heaviest objects, which can be forgotten video files that have been moved to strange directories, or database backups.
| Folder/Directory | What does it contain? | Can I remove it? | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCIM/.thumbnails | Photo and video miniatures | Yes, it's safe. | Slow loading of the gallery on the first launch |
| Download | Downloaded files from the browser | Selectively | Loss of necessary documents or installers |
| Android/data | Application data | Just the cache. | Resetting application settings, losing progress |
| MIUI/debug_log | System logs for debugging | Yes. | Minimal, takes up a lot of space. |
⚠️ Note: When manually cleaning your Android folder, never delete the folder structure itself, only the files inside. Deleting the entire folder can lead to errors in the relevant applications.
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
The leaders in filling the Other section are traditionally Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and TikTok. These apps are designed to store all media content locally. Telegram, for example, has a built-in and very powerful cleaning tool. Go to Settings -> Data and memory -> Memory Use. There you can see the cache volume and clear it. Moreover, you can set the cache autodeletion there, for example, in 3 days or a week.
WhatsApp is similar, but storage management is in Data and Storage -> Storage Management. It's easy to see which chats are taking up the most space. Often it turns out that abandoned group correspondence has been accumulating videos for years that you don't need, and you can delete them selectively without touching text messages.
Social networks like VKontakte or Instagram (if installed via APK) also cache feeds. The app itself often doesn't have a "Clear Everything" button, so it's more effective for them to use system cleanup via Settings -> Apps -> [App Name] -> Storage -> Clear cache. It's important not to confuse it with the "Clean Everything" or "Erase Data" button, as this will throw you out of your account.
Why does the cache take up so much space?
Regularly reviewing the Autoupload Media settings in messengers will help prevent future problems: Turn off automatic video and photo downloads on mobile networks, leaving only Wi-Fi, or limit downloads altogether, which will save traffic and disk space.
Use of third-party snails for analysis
If Xiaomi's built-in tools don't seem informative enough, specialized analytics apps come to the rescue, and one of the best in its class is Files by Google or DiskUsage, which builds a visual memory card where each square is the size of a file or folder.
DiskUsage will immediately show you bloated directories, and it often turns out that you deleted a game a month ago, but the folder with its remnants (textures, music) weighs 2 GB and lies dead weight, and visualization helps you instantly identify anomalies that are lost in the file list among hundreds of other titles.
Another powerful tool is SD Maid (or its SE version), which is a professional butler for Android, and it can find corpses and system debris that a standard cleaner can't reach, and when using these utilities on MIUI and HyperOS, make sure to give them all the permissions you want, otherwise the scan will be superficial.
- 📊 DiskUsage – Best Visualization, Helps You Find Hidden Large Files.
- 🧹 Files by Google – Safely clean duplicates and low-quality photos.
- 🔍 SD Maid – deep cleaning of system debris and residues of remote programs.
⚠️ Warning: Avoid installing questionable accelerators and boosters from advertising, often the source of trash and intrusive notifications, occupying the space they are supposed to free up.
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Third-party analyzers like DiskUsage show the real structure of the file system, ignoring the grouping “Other”, imposed by the OS, which allows you to point-to-point delete the excess.
Radical methods and resetting settings
If none of the sparing methods worked, and the Other section continues to take up an absurd amount (e.g., 20-30 GB on an empty phone), there may have been a file system indexing error, in which case a radical but effective method helps - a complete factory reset. Before that, be sure to back up important data to the Mi Cloud cloud or to your computer.
To perform the reset, go to Settings -> About Phone -> Reset -> Erase all data. This process will delete everything, including the Other section, as the file system will be recreated, and once turned on, you will get a clean system, just like on the first day of purchase.
There is also an intermediate option – cleaning the section. MIUI/debug_log It's a menu that's engineered, but on modern versions of HyperOS, it's often closed or requires special permissions, so a complete reset remains the most reliable way to deal with software errors of garbage accumulation.
After reset, take your time to install all the applications at once, install them one at a time and keep track of the memory filling, which will help identify the “culprit” if the problem repeats with a particular application.
Prevention of memory overflow
To keep the Other problem from coming back, you need to develop a digital hygiene habit: check the Downloads folder regularly and delete the unnecessary ones; set up automatic cache cleaning in messengers, as described above; and it is also useful to run the built-in storage analyzer once a month.
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Google Photos or Yandex Drive can automatically upload media files to the cloud and delete them from the device, freeing up gigabytes of space. Xiaomi also works great synchronization with Mi Cloud, which optimizes gallery storage.
Remember that the memory is filled (more) 90%) It slows down the entire smartphone, because the system doesn't have enough space for temporary operations. 5-10 GB for comfortable work of Android.
- 📅 Weekly habit: check the pack "Downloads" and remove excess.
- ☁️ Cloud sync: Keep your photos in the cloud, not on your device.
- 🔄 Updates: Keep an eye out for system updates as Xiaomi regularly improves file system performance in patches.