Owners of the popular Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 T smartphone often face an annoying problem: the device’s memory is filling up rapidly, and the lion’s share of this space is occupied by a mysterious section known as “Others.” This sector can grow to tens of gigabytes, blocking the installation of updates and new applications, as well as slowing down the MIUI operating system. Understanding the nature of this data is the first step to freeing up precious space on your internal drive.
Android and MIUI are designed to automatically collect everything that can’t be classified as photos, music, videos or installed apps, including temporary files, remnants of remote programs, messenger cache and system logs, and if you don’t do regular audits, the file system may not work properly, and the phone itself will slow down even when performing simple tasks.
In this article, we will discuss in detail the safe and effective methods of cleaning the Others section specifically for the Redmi Note 8 T. We will not use questionable cleaner applications, which often only aggravate the situation, but we will use proven system tools and manual methods. You will learn to find hidden debris and remove it without risking losing important personal data or disrupting the operating system.
What is hidden in the Others section
Before we start to ruthlessly delete data, we need to understand exactly what is stored in this hidden folder. The Others section on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 T is a kind of digital dump where the system dumps everything that is not clear. First of all, it is the cache of applications. Social networks like Telegram and WhatsApp accumulate gigabytes of viewed images and videos that are not formally part of the chat, but take up space.
The second part is system logs and error reports. Android keeps a detailed record of all actions, and if the application crashed or there was a system error, this moment is recorded in a text file. Over time, these files become thousands, and they can weigh several gigabytes, and also get residual files after removing games or heavy programs that developers forgot to remove when uninstallation.
⚠️ Blindly deleting system files from the Other folder can lead to unstable work MIUI. Always check the path to the file before destroying it so that critical system components are not damaged.
The third category is offline map data, downloaded design themes, and fonts that the system doesn't always correctly display in the relevant memory sections, and understanding the structure of that data allows you to act point-by-point, and instead of deleting everything in a row, you can target-but clear exactly what takes up the most space while preserving the functionality of your smartphone.
Cleaning through the built-in Security app
The easiest and safest way to start dealing with overcrowded memory is to use the standard Security app preinstalled in the MIUI shell. It has deep access to the system and can safely delete temporary files without affecting your personal photos or contacts.
Once scanned, the system will prompt you to remove the obvious debris. However, to work with the Others section, you need to click on the Deep Clean button (or similar, depending on the firmware version), where the algorithm will analyze large files, rarely used applications and, most importantly, the social media cache, you can selectively delete videos from Telegram or old files from WhatsApp without deleting the correspondence itself.
☑️ Checking before cleaning
It's important to note that a standard cleaner doesn't always see all the hidden logs, so once it's running, the volume of the Others partition can decrease slightly. This is normal, because some of the data is locked for standard access without root rights. However, regular use of this tool prevents the accumulation of surface debris and keeps the system on track.
Manual removal through the conductor
For more advanced users who want to gain full control of the Redmi Note 8 T file system, manual cleaning through built-in Explorer is a good way to do it, because you'll be working with files directly. Go to the root folder of the internal drive and look at folders with application names, such as Android, MIUI, Tencent.
Special attention should be paid to the Android/data folder. This is where most apps cached data is stored. Inside, you will find folders with packet names, such as com.whatsapp or com.google.android.youtube. By deleting the contents of the cache subfolder inside these directories, you free up space that the system mistakenly refers to as the Others section.
It's also worth checking the folder. MIUI/debug_log. Some firmware versions reset debugging logs, which can grow to huge sizes, and if you're not a developer and you're not debugging applications, you don't need those files. Their removal is safe and often frees up several gigabytes of space, instantly reducing the size of the category.
Hidden folders in Android 11+
Clearing Telegram and WhatsApp cache
Messengers are the main culprits behind the inflated “Others” section on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 T. Telegram, in particular, stores all media feed in a local cache to download it faster when you re-watch. Standard cleaning through the phone’s settings often doesn’t see this data as garbage. You need to go directly to the settings of the app itself.
In Telegram, go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you will see the exact size of the cache. Press Clear Cache. Don't worry, your photos and videos won't disappear from the cloud, they'll just be deleted from the device and rebooted if necessary. This is the most efficient way to instantly free up 5-10 GB of space.
For WhatsApp, the procedure is a little different. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Storage. The app will show you the details of the chats. You can choose the particular dialog that weighs the most and delete the media within it. Often users forget about the groups where hundreds of videos are sent daily, which occupy the lion's share of memory.
💡
Set up an automatic cache cleanup in Telegram: set the option “Storage media” on 3 day 1 It's gonna stop you from doing it_future_swelling of the section Others.
Once the messenger cache is cleared, it is recommended to restart the device, which will allow the MIUI system to re-index files and correctly display the updated free space in the storage statistics, and if this is not done, the numbers in the settings can temporarily diverge from reality.
Use of debugging mode over USB
If standard methods don't work, you can use a more technical method, USB debugging, which allows you to delete system logs that are not available to the average user. First, you need to activate the developer mode: go to Settings → About Phone and quickly press 7 times on the MIUI version.
After activating the developer menu, go to Advanced Settings → For developers and turn on the USB Debugging Toggle. Connect the phone to your computer. On your PC, you need to install ADB drivers. You can enter a command through the command line to clean the logs:
adb logcat -cThis command clears the log buffer in real time. However, to delete accumulated log files, it is better to use a root-access file manager or specialized scripts if you have the appropriate skills. For the average user, it is safer to limit yourself to cleaning through the developer menu on the phone itself: find Reset debugging settings or similar, which can help reset some temporary system accumulations.
⚠️ Attention: Including debugging by USB Opens up advanced access to the system. Do not connect your phone to unverified computers or change settings that you do not know the value of to avoid security vulnerabilities.
Using this method is advisable when the phone is behaving strangely, the interface is bugging, and you suspect the cause is overcrowded system logs.For the Redmi Note 8 T, it can also be useful before selling the device or a major firmware update.
Storage analysis and removal of large files
Often, forgotten downloads, duplicate photos, or heavy documents are included in the Others section, and it is convenient to use the built-in storage analyzer to find them. Go to Settings → Memory (or through the Security app).
Click on Files or Documents. Sort the list by size. You might find that you downloaded a 4K movie you watched a long time ago, or an archive of work that you don't need anymore, and removing those heavyweights is the fastest way to get gigabytes of free space back.
Remember to check the Download folder. Browsers and instant messengers often save everything there automatically. Files with the.apk extension can also be deleted after installing programs, they are no longer needed and only take up space in the category of other files.
| Type of data | Where to find | Security of removal | Approximate weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash Telegram. | Application settings | Safe (restored) | 1-10 GB |
| System Logs | MIUI/debug_log | Safe. | 0.5-2 GB |
| Remnants of remote games | Android/data | Safe. | 1-5 GB |
| Downloaded APKs | Download folder | Safe. | 100MB - 1GB |
💡
Regularly checking the Download folder and messenger cache allows you to keep the Others section under control without the need to reset settings.
Radical measures: Resetting to factory settings
If none of the above methods helped significantly reduce the size of the Others partition and it continues to grow, occupying more than 50% of the memory, it is possible that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 T file system has experienced critical indexing errors, in which case the most effective solution would be a complete reset to factory settings.
This procedure will completely remove all data from the phone, including contacts, photos and apps, returning the device to the “shop-like” state. The “Others” section will disappear completely, as the file system will be formatted again. Before you start, be sure to back up important data in the Mi Cloud or on your computer.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase Everything. The process will take about 10-15 minutes. Once turned on, you will get a clean system with a minimum number of system files. This is a guaranteed way to solve the problem if it is caused by a software failure or deep contamination of the system tables.
⚠️ Warning: Full reset is irreversible.Make sure you remember the password from your Mi Account and Google account, otherwise the phone may be locked after the reset due to theft protection.
After reset, take your time to install all the apps at once. Watch the memory behavior for a couple of days. If the Others section starts to grow rapidly again, the problem may lie in the particular application you install, or in the malfunction of the smartphone flash drive itself.