Many Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners face an annoying problem: After installing apps or watching videos in online cinemas, free space on the drive disappears rapidly. If you look at the storage settings, you can find a mysterious section called “Other”, which can take from several gigabytes to tens of gigabytes. This category combines system files, application cache, remnants of remote programs and temporary data that the MIUI or HyperOS operating system cannot classify as standard media files.
The accumulation of such data not only steals precious space, but can also significantly slow down the device, causing interface lags and problems with running heavy games. Cleaning the Other section is not just a way to make room, but also a necessary preventive measure for the stability of the gadget. In this article, we will discuss proven and safe ways to get rid of digital garbage without damaging important user data.
Before we take drastic measures, it is important to understand the nature of these files. Often the culprits are messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp, which store thousands of thumbnails and temporary files, as well as streaming services. The Other section of MIUI often contains the cache of Google system services and (remainders) of remote applications that are not deleted automatically. Understanding this mechanism will help you manage your smartphone memory more effectively in the future.
Analysis of the contents of the “Other” section
The first step to solving the problem is detailed diagnostics. Standard Android tools don’t always show the full picture, so you need to use Xiaomi’s built-in analytics tools. Unlike pure Android, the MIUI shell has its own categorization algorithms, which sometimes mistakenly classify large database files or archives as an unknown type.
To start with, you can use the built-in Security app, which scans your device for hidden caches and temporary files that are in the Other section. Run a deep cleanup, but don't rush to delete everything, and carefully study which apps consume the most resources.
Note the following file categories that are most often hidden in this section:
- 📦 Social media cache: Telegram, Instagram and TikTok save the photos and videos they viewed to hidden folders that the system does not see as a gallery.
- 🎮 Game data: Cache of textures and sounds for heavy gaming can weigh several gigabytes and be classified as "Other».
- 📱 System Logs: Error Reporting Files that accumulate for months if no automatic cleanup is enabled.
Once you've done the analysis, you can make a plan of action, and if the messengers are the majority, the solution is one, if the system files are the other, and it's important not to ignore this step, because blind deletion can lead to the loss of important correspondence or application settings.
Cleaning the cache of applications and system data
The safest and most effective way to reduce the volume of the Other partition is to manually clear the cache of the most “heavy” applications, which does not delete your personal data, such as photos or contacts, but eliminates temporary files that the system no longer needs.
To do this, go to your device's settings menu. Find the App, then select All Apps. In the list that opens, sort programs by memory size. Usually, browsers, social networks, and video players are at the top.
Select the lead app and click on Clear (or Memory in older versions of MIUI) and you will have a choice between clearing the cache or clearing everything. First, choose Clear the cache. This action is safe and often allows you to free up 500 MB to 2 GB of space instantly.
☑️ Checklist for manual cleaning
If the Dركoe partition size has not decreased significantly after cleaning the cache, you can try a deeper cleaning, but you need to be careful here. Deleting all the application data will reset it to factory settings, which will require re-authorization.
⚠️ Before clearing all data messengers (WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram) be sure to back up chats in the cloud, otherwise you will lose the entire history of correspondence without the possibility of recovery.
Use of built-in conductor and hidden folders
The Android file system on Xiaomi smartphones has its own storage features, many applications create folders at the root of the internal drive or in hidden directories that the standard memory analyzer does not always correctly display.
Open the explorer and enable the display of hidden files in the settings (usually a three-dot icon or a slider on the menu). Your goal is to find folders with the names of remote applications or temporary directories such as.thumbnails (cache of gallery sketches) or folders with the names of strange services.
Pay special attention to the Android/data folder. It stores app data, including game cache and messenger media. Inside this directory, you can find folders with packet names, such as com.telegram.messenger. Deleting the contents of the cache subfolder inside these directories will safely free up space.
The structure of typical folders for cleaning is as follows:
| The way to the folder | Description of the contents | Security of removal |
|---|---|---|
| /MIUI/Gallery/cloud/cache | Cash of the Xiaomi Cloud Gallery | Safe. |
| /Android/data/com.whatsapp/cache | Temporary WhatsApp files | Safe (you will only lose cache) |
| /DCIM/.thumbnails | Miniatures of photos in the gallery | Safe (recreated) |
| /tencent/MicroMsg | WeChat Data (if used) | Just cache, not databases. |
What to do if the folder is not deleted?
After manually cleaning the folders, it is recommended to restart the device so that the system re-indexes the files and correctly displays the vacant place in the statistics.
Cleaning through connection to a computer (ADB and manual mode)
When Xiaomi’s built-in tools are powerless in the face of the sprawling “Other,” a personal computer connection comes to the rescue, a technique that allows you to see the file system “from the inside” and remove what is hidden from the eyes of the mobile OS.
Connect your smartphone to your PC through USB-In the notification on the phone screen, select the file transfer mode (MTP). On your computer, open "My Computer," find your device, and go to internal storage, where you can manually delete large files downloaded from the Internet or remnants of old updates.
For advanced users, a USB debugging method and ADB console commands are available. This requires the developer mode to be enabled: go to Settings → About Phone and 7 times click on the build number. Then in Advanced Settings → For developers, activate Debugging over USB.
Using ADB, you can execute a command to clear the cache of all applications at once, which is often impossible to do through the interface:
adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999This command forcibly trims the application cache, freeing up space, and you can also use the adb shell rm -rf command to delete specific system logs, but this requires caution.
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Use the free Android Debug Bridge program on your PC or graphical shells like ADB AppControl to securely manage files without manually entering complex commands.
Remember that working with the file system through a PC gives you full access rights. Error in the folder name or deletion of the system file can lead to unstable HyperOS.
⚠️ Warning: Never delete folders with the names of system services Google (com.google.android.gms) or Xiaomi (com.miui.securitycenter) unless you are 100% sure of their content).
Resetting settings and radical methods
If none of the above methods helped reduce the size of the Other partition and it continues to grow for no apparent reason, it is possible that the file system has an indexing error or a critical amount of system debris has accumulated, in which case the only effective solution is a complete reset.
Before you do this, make sure to back up all your important data to your Mi Cloud, Google Drive, or external drive, and reset will delete everything: contacts, photos, apps, and their settings.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Reset. Select Erase All Data. The device will reboot and start the cleanup process, which can take 10 to 30 minutes. Once turned on, you will get a clean system where the Other partition will be minimal.
There is also a less radical but effective method, called Recovery Mode, to do this:
- 🔄 Turn off the smartphone completely.
- 🔘 Press the Volume Up and Power buttons simultaneously before the Mi logo appears.
- 🧹 In the Recovery menu (manage volume buttons, select power button) select Wipe Data → Wipe All Data.
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Full reset is the only way to guarantee that you will remove file table system errors that inflate the Other section to unexplained sizes.
After a reset, don't rush to restore all applications from the backup at once. Install only the necessary programs and watch the memory for a few days. Often the problem lies in one particular application that you installed earlier.
Prevention and automation of cleaning
To prevent the problem of overflowing the “Other” section from returning in a month, you need to introduce a habit of regular maintenance of the smartphone. Xiaomi’s modern shells allow you to automate many processes, but manual check once a week will not be superfluous.
Set up automatic cleaning in the Security app. Go to Cleanup → Settings (cogs) and turn on Auto Cleanup. The system will delete temporary files when the memory is more than 90% full.
You should also review your messaging settings. Telegram, for example, can set up automatic deletion of media cache. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use and set a Save Media timer for 3 days or a week, which will prevent gigabytes of video from being accumulated.
Regularity of service directly affects the life of the drive. Overflowing memory causes the controller to work in a constant write and overwrite mode, which can reduce the resource of flash memory.
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Enable sync with Google Photos or Mi Cloud with the "Free Space" option, which will remove the originals from the device, leaving them in the cloud, and significantly offload the partition with user data.