Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a situation where the built-in storage is overflowing, and the system insistently offers to free up space due to backups. Mi Cloud cloud storage is set up to automatically synchronize the gallery by default, which creates the illusion of security, but quickly exhausts the free 5 gigabytes. The user can accidentally delete the picture on the device without realizing that the copy will remain on the server, or, conversely, lose access to the archive, clearing everything at once.
The process of managing the media library in the Android ecosystem has its own nuances, especially when it comes to the connection of local memory and remote server. Photos can be deleted in several steps, and it is important to understand the difference between erasing a file from a phone and disappearing from a cloud account. In this article, we will discuss all the ways of cleaning so that you can effectively manage your digital space without the risk of losing important data.
Incorrect synchronization configuration often leads to the fact that deleted on the device images are automatically restored from the network the next time you connect to Wi-Fi. That is why you need to clearly understand the structure of Xiaomi services. We will look at both manual methods of deleting through standard applications, and management through a web interface, which is often more convenient for mass processing of archives.
Principles of synchronization Mi Cloud
To manage files effectively, you need to understand the basic mechanism of the cloud: When the sync function is activated, your smartphone creates a digital copy of each new image and sends it to the company's servers, which ensures that data is stored when a gadget is lost or broken, but requires constant monitoring of the volume occupied.
It's important to distinguish between a local gallery and a cloud album, and if you take a photo, it pops up in your phone's memory, and then, if you have the Internet, Mi Cloud uploads it to its backup, and when you delete a file from your device, the system can suggest that you save it to the cloud if the original is already there, or delete it everywhere if you select the appropriate option.
There is a critical nuance that many users forget: Deleting a photo from the local Recent folder when synced does not always erase it from the server instantly. A file can go to cloud-only status by taking up space in your account but disappearing from your smartphone screen, creating a false sense of freeing up space on the device itself, while the storage limit continues to grow.
To manage these processes, the system provides a special service account Mi Account, without authorization in it backup functions are not available, synchronization status can be checked at any time by looking at the system settings, which displays the current amount of occupied space and the date of the last update.
Delete photos through the Gallery app
The most obvious and quick way to clear memory is to use the standard Gallery app, which is suitable for removing single images or small albums directly from the smartphone screen.
To start, open the app and go to the Albums section, where you'll see folders grouped by date or event, click the "Select" button (usually a tick icon or long-term press), then mark the unwanted images, and a toolbar will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Click on the cart icon. The system will give you a warning that the files will be moved. If sync is active, you can see two options: "Delete from the device" or "Delete everywhere." The first option will leave a copy in the cloud, the second will erase the file completely from the account.
☑️ Algorithm of deleting through the Gallery
And you should pay special attention to the folder "Recently deleted," and all the deleted files go there and are stored for 30 days, and it's an insurance policy against accidental loss, but it also takes up space in the cloud, and to make room for it, you have to clean this basket.
⚠️ Note: After cleaning the folder "Recently deleted" photo recovery standard means becomes impossible. Make sure that among the selected files are not those that you may need in the future.
If you want to delete a lot of photos at once, use the date allocation function. In the selection mode, you can pull your finger down to activate a quick timeline scrolling, and pinch the area with the desired period, which allows you to quickly cover thousands of images for mass sweep.
Managing Files via i.mi.com Web Interface
When it comes to global archive cleanup, the most convenient is to use a computer and a browser. The web version of i.mi.com’s cloud service provides a more user-friendly interface for working with large amounts of data, allowing you to use a keyboard and mouse to highlight.
Go to the official website and log in using your Mi Account. After you log in, select Gallery or Photos. This displays all images synced from your devices. The interface resembles a simplified version of cloud services from other vendors.
To mass delete, use key combinations. Select the first photo, then, pressing the Shift key, click on the last in the range, this will highlight the entire group. Alternatively, pressing the Ctrl key allows you to select individual files scattered. After highlighting, press the delete button in the top menu.
| Action. | Combination/Tool | The result |
|---|---|---|
| Allocation of range | Shift + click | All photos are selected between the first and last click. |
| Selective allocation | Ctrl + Click | Adds or removes the highlight from a particular photo |
| Singling out all | Ctrl + A | All photos are selected in the current folder |
| Cancelation of allotment | Esc | Remove all current discharges |
The web interface also allows you to create albums and move photos there before deleting, which is convenient for structuring the archive before cleaning, but it is worth remembering that changes made through the browser are instantly reflected on all connected devices when you have a network.
What to do if the web version is not loaded?
Cleaning through system and account settings
Deep synchronization control is carried out through the system settings of Android based on the MIUI shell or HyperOS. Here you can not only delete files, but also completely disable the download of certain types of data, preventing cloud overflow in the future.
Take the Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Gallery. In this menu, you will see a sync switch. If you turn it off, new photos will stop uploading to the network. Below is the Clear Data or Delete All Photos from the Cloud button, which allows you to erase all gallery-related content from your account at once.
Using the full cleanup feature requires special care, and the system will request confirmation of your actions several times, warning you of the irreversibility of the process, which is a powerful tool for those who decide to abandon the use of the Xiaomi cloud in favor of other services or local storage.
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Before completely clearing the cloud, manually copy important photos to your computer or external hard drive. Cloud services don’t always allow you to recover data after a massive manual cleaning through your account settings.
Also in this section you can see detailed statistics on the occupied space, if the main volume is occupied by photos, the system will suggest to optimize the storage by automatically suggesting to remove duplicates or blurred pictures, although this feature works more as a recommendation than an automatic action.
Related to the "Recently Deleted" folder
As mentioned, the shopping cart is an important security feature, but it can also cause space to be kept in check. The files in the recently deleted folder occupy your cloud storage quota just like the regular photos.
To find this folder, open the Gallery and go to the Albums tab. Scroll down to the bottom, and there's a system folder, and you'll have all the objects that have been deleted in the last 30 days, and you'll have a fixed storage period that's not subject to user change.
To force the space to be freed, log into this folder, click the menu (three dots or the "More" button) and select "Clear." Confirm the action. After that, the files will be irretrievably deleted from Xiaomi servers, and the space they occupy will return to the shared pool of available space.
There's a nuance to synchronizing your cart, so if you delete a photo on one device, it gets into a shared cloud bin, and cleaning the cart on any device (or through a web interface) will cause files to disappear everywhere, and this ensures consistency across all gadgets.
⚠️ Note: Cleaning the recently deleted folder on one device automatically deletes these files from all other devices associated with this Mi Account.
Disabling synchronization and preventing loading
If your goal is not just to delete current photos, but also to prevent them from being re-uploaded to the cloud, you need to change your sync settings. Often users delete files but forget to turn off automatic download, which causes the space to run out again.
Settings menu → Mi Account. → Mi Cloud, find the Gallery and deaktivirujte switch. The system will ask what to do with the photos you have already uploaded. Select the option to delete from the cloud if you want to clear the server, or leave it as is if you plan to use this data later.
It's also worth checking the settings of the Camera app. Some firmware versions have a separate "Download to the cloud when creating" item that can duplicate the system settings. Make sure all associated switches are in the "Off" position.
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Turning off gallery sync completely is the only guaranteed way to stop the cloud storage from automatically filling up with new images.
After the sync is turned off, it is recommended to restart the device, which will allow the system to correctly recalculate file indexes and update the status of cloud storage, and you can check the result a couple of minutes after activation by going to the accauenta settings.