How to remove excess in the phone Xiaomi: complete memory cleanup without risk to data

Xiaomi smartphones are some of the most popular on the market due to the price-quality ratio, but even they eventually start to slow down. The main reason is the storage clog with unnecessary files, app cache and duplicate media. If your Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 is slower and there is less than 10% left, it’s time to clean up the entire memory.

Many users mistakenly believe that it is enough to simply delete a few photos or clean a shopping cart. In fact, garbage accumulates in dozens of places, from temporary MIUI files to the remnants of deleted applications. In this article, we will analyze all the methods of cleaning, from standard tools to hidden functions that are not written in the official instructions.

⚠️ Before mass deletion of files, check if your data is synced with Mi Cloud or Google Drive. Photos, contacts and notes can be permanently lost if deleted only from the device.

1. Standard cleaning through "Safety"

The easiest way to free up space is to use the built-in Security tool, which is available on all Xiaomi smartphones with a MIUI 12 shell and later.

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).

2. Go to the Cleaning → Deep Cleaning section.

3. wait for the analysis to be completed (may take 1-2 minutes).

4. Click Clear next to the Cash Applications, Unused Files and Residual Files categories.

✅ What's removed:

• 🗑️ Application cache (temporary data that can be recovered at the next run)
• 📁 Empty folders and files with zero size
• 🔄 Remains from remote programs (for example, folders) Android/obb play-off)
• 📥 Downloads older than 30 days (if not opened)

⚠️ Note: Do not manually clean the System cache section through Settings → Memory. It can cause malfunctions. MIUI, Especially on Xiaomi 13 Series models with dynamic memory.

2. Manual removal of large files and duplicates

Standard cleaning does not delete media files (photos, videos, music) and documents, to find and delete unnecessary data:

1. Go to Files (Mi File Manager app).

2.Select category Storage Analysis → Large files.

3. sort by size and remove:

- Video weight >500MB (especially screencasts and rolls from TikTok)

-.APK-file

Backups (.bak,.zip) from the MIUI/Backup folder

🔍 Search for duplicates:

• 📸 For photos, use the Gallery app: Albums → Duplicate
• 🎵 For music: Mi Music → Settings → File management → Duplicate
• 📄 For documents: install Files by Google (available in Play Market)

💡 Tip: Folder DCIM/.thumbnails frequently 1-3 GB with sketches of photos. It can be safely cleaned, and the sketches will be restored automatically.

Delete APK-files from the Download folder|Clear the folder.thumbnails in DCIM|Remove duplicate photos over 6 months old|Clear Telegram cache (>1GB)|Remove offline maps from Google Maps-->

3. Clearing the cache of individual applications

Some programs accumulate gigabytes of cache that is not deleted by standard means, such as:

Telegram can take up to 5 GB of sticker and media cache

Google Maps stores offline maps (up to 2 GB per region)

Instagram and TikTok cache videos in Android/media folder

📌 How to clean up:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management
2. Select an application (such as Telegram)
3. Click Warehouse → Clear the cache
4. For complete cleaning, click Clear Data (⚠️ This will delete accounts and settings!)

📊 Top.-5 "Gravely” apps on Xiaomi:

⚠️ Attention: On models POCO F5 redmi K60 Cleaning up the Google Play Services cache can lead to account sync errors.It's better to reboot the phone after cleaning up.

4. Systemic debris disposal through ADB

For advanced users, ADB (Android Debug Bridge) can delete files that are not available through the standard interface, a method that is suitable for Xiaomi with an unlocked bootloader or root rights.

🛠️ Instructions:

1. Install Platform Tools on PC (download from Google website)
2. Turn on USB Debugging on your phone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times) → Additional → For Developers → Debugging on USB
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell pm trim-caches -f 1000000 (clears the cache of all applications forcibly)

🔧 Additional teams:

• 🗃️ Delete Empty Folders: Adb Shell Find /sdcard -type d -empty -delete
• 🧹 Cleaning Dalvik cache (requires root): adb shell su -c "rm -r /data/dalvik-cache/*"

⚠️ Attention: Rm teams -r No root rights can cause data loss in the user section. Use only if you understand the consequences!

5.Storage optimization with MIUI Hidden Settings

MIUI has hidden settings that allow you to manage your memory more flexibly, so you can activate them.

1. Open the Phone application and enter the code:

##4636##

(The Testing Menu will open)

2. Go to the Warehouse → Other applications.

3. Here you will see a complete list of programs sorted by place, including system.

🔍 What can I do:

• 📉 Disable application preload (saves up to 500 MB)
• 🚫 Prohibit background activity for underutilized programs
• 🔄 Move some of the applications to SD-card (if supported)

💡 Advice POCO M5 And Redmi Note 11: You can turn off Mi Video and Mi Music on this menu if you're not using them. ~200 MB and cannot be removed in the standard way.

💡

If the phone is still slowing down after cleaning, try turning off the animation interface. To do this, type in the engineering menu (#4636##) the command Window animation scale 0.5x and Transition animation scale 0.5x. This will speed up MIUI by 15-20%.

6. Reset to factory settings: when necessary

If all previous methods failed and there is a critically low amount of free space (less than 5%), you will have to do a hard reset, which will delete all data, including apps, photos and settings, but return the phone to its original state.

🔄 How to drop:

1. Make a backup through Settings → About Phone → Backup
2. Go to Settings → Additional → Recovery and Reset
3. Select Resetting → Delete all data
4. Confirm the action (it may be necessary to enter a password from Mi Account)

⏳ How much does it take:

• 📱 Xiaomi 12/13 Series: 3–5 minute
• 📱 Redmi 9/10 Series: 5–10 minute
• 📱 POCO M3/M4: before 15 Minutes (due to slow eMMC memory)

⚠️ Note: Phones with Mi Accounts tied to the device will need to enter a login and password after reset, and if you forget your account details, the phone can be locked permanently (especially on models from 2020 to 2023 release).

💡

Factory resets are a last resort, and before the procedure, make sure that all important data is synchronized with the cloud or copied to a PC.

7.How to prevent future memory clogging

To avoid having to clean your phone every month, follow these simple rules:

📌 Preventive measures:

• 📱 Set cache limit for applications: Settings → Annexes → Limitation of background activity
• 🖼️ Set up an automatic upload of photos to Google Photos and then delete the originals
• 🗑️ Clean Download once a week (most files are disposable)
• 🔄 Turn off automatic app updates in the Play Market (renew manually)

📊 Recommended settings for MIUI 14:

💡 For owners. POCO F4 GT Black Shark 5: Xiaomi gaming phones have a file shredder feature (Settings) → Additionally. → Privacy: It permanently deletes files, eliminating the possibility of recovery, useful for cleaning before selling a phone.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi cleanup