Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the problem of lack of space, which is instantly filled with media content.Mi Cloud automatically creates backups, but sometimes these files need to be deleted completely to free up space or hide sensitive data. The cleaning process can seem confusing due to the peculiarities of synchronization between the device and the server.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available methods of removing images in detail: through the standard Gallery application, the web interface of the cloud service and system settings. You will learn how to avoid common errors when a deleted photo is restored, and understand the difference between deleting from a device and from cloud storage. Remember that removing the original from the cloud without turning off sync can lead to the erasure of the photo on the smartphone itself.
We're going to look at the nuances of working with "Recently Deleted," which often becomes a hidden storage space that takes up gigabytes. Understanding the logic of how the MIUI and HyperOS ecosystems work will allow you to effectively manage your digital library. Let's get started on freeing up your gadget's memory.
The principles of synchronization in the ecosystem Xiaomi
Before you take drastic steps to clean up your storage, you need to understand how cloud sync works. Unlike simply copying files, Mi Cloud mirrors your gallery on your company’s servers, meaning that changes made in one place can automatically apply to all connected devices unless you follow a certain sequence of steps.
The main purpose of this feature is to ensure data safety in case of loss or breakage of a smartphone. However, when the free space limit of 5 GB is exhausted, the system stops downloading new images, and the user has to find ways to free up space.
There are several scenarios where you need to delete, such as clearing sensitive data before selling a device, freeing up space for new filming, or simply putting order to a digital archive, and each approach will be slightly different, especially if you use multiple devices with a single Mi Account.
Special attention should be paid to the status of the connection to the network. If synchronization is active but the Internet is unstable, the deletion status may not be displayed correctly, so all manipulation of important data is best done with a stable Wi-Fi connection, to avoid dissynchronization of databases.
Delete photos through the Gallery app on your smartphone
The most obvious and quick way to clear space is to use the built-in Gallery app, which is a good way to remove photos from both your phone and the cloud at the same time, but there is a major risk: if you sync it, delete the file in the album will cause it to disappear everywhere.
To start, open the app and go to the Album tab. Find the folder All photos or a particular album that needs cleaning. You can delete the pictures one at a time, long tap highlighting them, or go to mass selection mode by clicking the corresponding button on the menu.
After selecting the images you don't need, click on the cart icon, the system will give you a warning that the photos will be deleted, if sync with Mi Cloud is active, you will see a notification that the changes will affect cloud storage, and confirm the action to start the cleanup process.
Remember, deleted files don't disappear instantly. They move to a special folder recently deleted, where they are stored for 30 days. While they are there, they continue to occupy space in the cloud storage Xiaomi, so to instantly free up space requires an additional step.
☑️ Algorithm of deleting through the Gallery
What happens when you remove with synchronization enabled?
File management via the web version of Mi Cloud
Deleting photos via a browser on a computer or other device is a safer method if you are afraid of accidentally erasing important pictures from your main smartphone.Mi Cloud’s web interface allows you to manage files directly on the server without affecting the phone’s local memory, provided you set up correctly.
To start, go to the official i.mi.com website and log in using your Mi Account. The web version may be different from the mobile version, but the logic remains the same. Select the Gallery or Photos section on the left menu. This will show all the pictures that have been uploaded to the cloud.
You can use a pinched Shift or Ctrl to highlight things in the mass, and then you can click the delete button. Unlike a mobile app, there are no delays associated with the phone's background, and you can see the results instantly.
It is important to note that changes made through the web interface may not immediately affect the phone if it is in flight or offline. Once the device connects to the Internet, it will receive a command to update the status of files and delete them from local memory if synchronization is enabled.
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Use the incognito mode in the browser to log into Mi Cloud if you are working on someone else's computer so that your account data is not stored in cache.
The web version is also convenient because it allows you to sort photos by dates and albums in more detail than is sometimes done in a mobile application. You can quickly find screenshots, videos or panoramas in the appropriate tabs and clear them selectively.
Cleaning the basket and album "Recently deleted"
Many users forget that standard deletion is just moving a file to a buffer zone. In an Android system with a MIUI shell or HyperOS, this zone is called "Recently deleted." Files are stored here for 30 days, then deleted automatically, but all the while they occupy a quota of 5 GB of your cloud.
To make room right now, you go to the Gallery app, go to the Album tab, and scroll to the bottom of the list, and you'll find a folder with the appropriate name, and there may be hundreds of randomly deleted images inside that are still hanging on your account.
Open this folder. You'll see the Clean button or select all the items. When you click on the cleanup, you'll confirm that the data is permanently deleted. After that, you can't recover the photos with standard means, so double check the contents of the shopping cart.
If you delete a photo through a web interface, a similar folder is in the Gallery menu, and the principle of operation is the same: files are there until the deadline or manual cleaning, and checking this folder regularly is a good habit for maintaining order in the storage.
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The files in the recently deleted folder take up space in the cloud just like normal photos, and without manually cleaning this folder, you can't get any space out.
Synchronization and preventing data loss
To manage deletion more flexibly, such as erasing photos from the cloud but leaving them on your phone (or vice versa), you need to set up sync settings correctly, which requires understanding how Xiaomi handles file version conflicts.
Go to Settings, click on the top plaque with your Mi Account, and select Mi Cloud. Next, go to Sync and find the Gallery. Here you can see the download status and manage individual albums.
If you turn off the sync slider for the Gallery, the new photos will stop flying to the cloud, and the old ones will stay dead, and removing them through the web interface will not affect the phone, which is the perfect scenario if you want to clean the cloud by saving the archive on the device.
However, if your goal is to free up space on your phone by leaving a photo in the cloud (Storage Optimization Mode), then the Gallery settings should tick the Optimize Storage box, in which the originals are stored in the cloud, and only reduced copies remain on the phone.
| Action. | Synchronization enabled | Sync's off. | Removal on the web |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deletion on the phone | Removed everywhere | Removable only on the phone | It doesn't. |
| Removal in the cloud | Removed everywhere | Removable only in the cloud | N/D |
| Recovery from the basket | Restored everywhere | Restored locally | Recovering into the cloud |
| Occupation of the seat | Common to all devices | Separate | Only cloudy. |
Customizing these settings allows you to create a hybrid storage scheme that is convenient for you, for example, you can synchronize only important work documents or photos of children, eliminating screenshots and images from messengers.
Common mistakes and ways to solve them
During the cleaning process, users often encounter situations where photos are “resurrected” or the space is not vacated. One of the common reasons is data caching. The Gallery app can display previews of deleted files, even though they are already physically erased from the disk.
To fix this, try clearing the app's cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Gallery → Memory → Clear the cache. Don't confuse it with Clear Data, as it can reset the album settings.
Another problem is the hung sync, so if the cloud load indicator is spinning endlessly, try switching the network type (from Wi-Fi to mobile Internet and back) or rebooting the device, sometimes helping to temporarily disconnect and re-enable the account in the settings.
⚠️ Attention: If you sell a phone, simply deleting a photo is not enough. Data can be recovered. Use the Factory Reset feature with internal storage formatting for complete security.
Also worth mentioning are third-party cleaning apps that often offer to “speed up” the phone, which can conflict with Xiaomi’s system gallery, leading to album display errors, and it’s better to use the system’s regular tools to manage media files.
If none of the methods works and space is not freed up, there may be a problem on the Mi Cloud server side, which may be a time when the service is not properly displaying the occupied volume, and you just have to wait a few hours or days until the servers update the statistics.
⚠️ Note: When you delete albums that are created automatically (such as Screenshots or WhatsApp Images), make sure you do not delete the source files from the messenger folders if you need them for correspondence.