How to Delete “Other” Files on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a mysterious situation: the internal memory is full, although photos and applications are few. Analysis of storage shows that the lion’s share of space is occupied by the “Other” section. This system partition can grow to tens of gigabytes, turning the device into a clumsy gadget. In Android, especially in the shell of MIUI or the new HyperOS, this partition serves as a temporary storage for cache, residual files of remote programs and buffered data of messengers.

The system automatically manages this data, but over time, the self-cleaning mechanism fails. Instead of removing the unnecessary, Android continues to accumulate error logs, image thumbnails and temporary installers. The user sees that the free space is melting away before his eyes, and standard cleaning methods often prove powerless against entrenched files. Understanding the nature of the origin of this data is the first step to freeing up space.

In this article, we will look at not only standard cleaning methods, but also advanced ways to work with the file system. You will learn which folders can be touched without risk to the system and which are better not to touch. We will look at working with ADB, resetting and specific features of the Xiaomi cleaner.

What is hidden in the “Other” section

The Other section is a kind of file system black box, and it gets everything that the operating system can't uniquely classify as apps, images, videos, or audio files, most often an app cache that hasn't been labeled by the developer as being cleaned by standard means, and messengers like Telegram and WhatsApp are actively using that section to store temporarily downloaded media files.

Another cause of inflating is remnants from remote programs. When uninstalling applications often leave behind folders with settings and logs, and can store offline map data, downloaded music tracks of streaming services and temporary browser files. MIUI sometimes mistakenly writes large update files to this section that have already been installed but not deleted.

• 📁 Social network and instant messenger cache (Telegram, Instagram, TikTok).
• 📁 Residual files after deleting games and heavy apps.
• 📁 Temporary System and Application Update Files.
• 📁 Error logs and system usage reports.

⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to delete files from the Other section through root-righted file managers unless you know the exact purpose of each file).

Standard cleaning methods through settings

The safest way to start fighting for gigabytes is to use built-in tools. Xiaomi provides a powerful cleaner that can find a significant amount of garbage. However, standard quick cleaning often doesn't affect deep cache. You need to go to advanced storage settings for detailed analysis.

Go to Settings → Memory. Here, the system will show you a diagram of the space allocation. By clicking on the Apps category, you can sort them by the size of the memory you take up. Often, it turns out that one particular service, such as a browser or a navigator, took up 10-15 GB in the Other section, in which case the solution is to clear the data of a particular application.

To do this, select the app, click on Memory, and select Clear Cache. If that doesn't work, you can try Clear Everything, but it will reset the app to a state immediately after installation (fly out of accounts). It's also worth checking the Downloads folder, which often includes APK installation files that are no longer needed.

This is normal Android behavior, and you shouldn't be afraid if the Other partition volume grows a little bit again after a while, which is a working cache.

Cleaning up messaging messaging and social media

The main culprits of memory overflow are most often messengers. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and social networks store every photo and video viewed in a cache, which the system refers to the “Other” section. Standard cleaning through the phone’s settings often does not see the folder structure of these applications, so you need to clean them from the inside.

In Telegram, for example, the built-in cleanup mechanism works perfectly. Go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you can autodelete media files (for example, store video only for 3 days) and click on the Clear Cache button. This action is safe: your correspondence and contacts will remain in place, only temporarily downloaded files will be deleted.

For WhatsApp, the procedure is similar, but requires more attention. In chat settings, select “Store Data.” The app will show you a list of chats that take up the most space. You can selectively delete media files from specific dialogues. This allows you to save important documents, but remove “cards” and unnecessary videos from common groups.

• 🗑️ Telegram: Settings → Data and memory → Clear the cache.
• 🗑️ WhatsApp: Settings → Data and storage → Storage management.
• 🗑️ YouTube: Settings → General. → Clear history and cache.
• 🗑️ TikTok/Instagram: It is better to reinstall the application for complete cache cleaning.

⚠️ Note: When you clean your messenger data through your Android settings (not inside the app), you may lose secret chats or local backups.

Working with Android folder and system garbage

A more advanced method involves manually checking the file system. The Other section often hides its volumes in the Android/data and Android/obb folder. It stores game and application data. Deleting the game folder will make room for the game, but the game will have to be downloaded again. Deleting the remote application folders is safe.

Use a file manager like Xiaomi's Explorer or the more advanced Total Commander. Go to the root directory of internal memory. Look for folders with names of remote applications. MIUI/debug_log — here can accumulate debugging logs, which take gigabytes, if debugging is enabled USB.

Another hidden threat is the.thumbnails folder in the DCIM section, which is the gallery thumbnail cache. If you deleted thousands of photos but the space didn't vacate, maybe this cache has bloated, and it can be safely deleted, the system will recreate it the next time you open the gallery, but the process can take time.

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Tip: Before you delete the contents of your Android/data folder, copy it to your computer. If you delete an application, you can return the files back.

Using ADB for deep cleaning

If standard methods do not help, help comes. ADB (Android Debug Bridge is a developer tool that allows you to manage a file system from a computer, and it can remove a system cache that is not available to the average user, USB-cable and on-debugging USB smartphone.

First, activate Developer Mode. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly press 7 times on MIUI Version (or OS Version). Then, in the advanced settings, turn on “Debugging on USB.” Connect your phone to your computer and open the command prompt in the ADB folder.

To clean the cache, enter the command:

adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999

This command forcibly trims the cache of all applications to a specified size (in bytes), and you can use the command to clear the cache of a particular application if you know its batch name, a powerful tool that often frees up several gigabytes of “invisible” space.

• 💻 Requires a connection to the PC and install drivers ADB.
• 💻 Allows you to delete system cache that is not available through the interface.
• 💻 It is safer than getting a Root license, but requires care.
• 💻 Effective against the “bloated” section “Other».

⚠️ Be careful when putting commands into ADB. Team rm. -rf If the wrong way can delete system files and cause the device to fail, use only verified commands to clean the cache.

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Using ADB is "heavy artillery." If the built-in cleaner doesn't see debris, ADB often lets you remove the very hidden gigabytes listed in the "Other" section.

Radical measures: Resetting and formatting

When nothing works and the Other partition takes up half the memory, the final argument is a complete factory reset, guaranteed to remove all the debris, file system errors, and leftovers from years of use, but that would require a full backup of the data.

Before reset, be sure to create a backup to the Mi Cloud or Google Drive cloud service, and copy important photos and documents to your computer. Once reset, the phone will be as new and the Other section will be minimal. During the initial setup, do not restore all applications at once - you better put them selectively.

Sometimes the problem is not the software, but the file system. If the place is quickly over again after the reset, there may be memory wear or a file system error, in which case you may need to flash the device through the Mi Flash Tool with full cleaning, which will remake the memory partitions.