How to remove garbage on Xiaomi: 7 proven ways to clean

Xiaomi smartphones based on MIUI Over time, gigabytes of unnecessary files accumulate: remnants of remote applications, browser cache, temporary data of messengers and system debris. Even after manually cleaning through standard settings, many files remain invisible to the user, but continue to occupy space and slow down the device. This article will help not only free up memory, but do it as efficiently as possible - taking into account the features of the firmware. MIUI 14 and the latest models Redmi/POCO.

We will analyze both standard methods (built-in cleaning utility) and hidden functions - from removal APK-Residues before cleaning Dalvik-cache ADB. We’ll focus on safe ways to keep the system running smoothly, and warn of common bugs that cause users to lose important data. If your Xiaomi is slowing down, overheating, or showing a message “Memory is full,” you’re in the right place.

1. Standard cleaning through MIUI: what removes and what is missing

Built-in Cleanup (available in Settings → About Phone → Memory → Cleanup) is the first tool Xiaomi owners use. It removes:

• 🗑️ App cache – temporary files that programs create to speed up work (for example, thumbnails in a gallery or web page data in Chrome).
• 📁 Unnecessary APK — Remains of installer packages after application updates.
• 🧹 Garbage files – empty folders, system log files and remnants of deleted programs.

However, this method has critical limitations:

⚠️ Attention: Cleaning Utility in MIUI It does not remove Dalvik-cache (Android virtual machine cache), which can take up to 1-2 GB on devices with a large number of installed applications, and it ignores the cache of the system services Google Play and Mi Account, which accumulate up to 500 MB of garbage.

To start the cleanup:

1. Open the settings → About the phone → Memory.
2. Press Cleanup at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select file categories (we recommend marking all ticks).
4. Confirm the action with the Clean button.

2. Deep Cleaning through Safe Mode: Removing Hidden Garbage

Safe Mode allows you to delete files that are normally locked by the system, which is useful if the standard cleaning didn't work and the phone still shows Memory is full, and in Safe Mode, all third-party apps are disabled, and you can:

• 🔍 Delete the cache of system applications (such as Mi Video or Mi Music, which often accumulate gigabytes of data).
• 🗂️ Clean Download folder of unnecessary files that are not visible in normal mode.
• 🚫 Eliminate application conflicts that interfere with the operation of the Cleanup utility.

How to log in to Safe Mode:

1. Press the power button before the turn off menu appears.
2. Hold your finger on the option to turn off - a prompt will appear to go to safe mode.
3. Confirm the action. The phone will reboot with the Safe Mode label at the bottom of the screen.

In this mode:

1. Open the files. → Internal memory.
2. Go to the folders: Android/data — This is where the application data is stored (you can delete the folders of remote programs). Download - check for old ones. APK and media files. MIUI/backup — backups created by the system (if not required).

Delete unnecessary files and restart your phone as normal.

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If Safe Mode can’t delete the folder, try renaming it (e.g., adding “ old” at the end) and then deleting it after you restart.

3. Clean Dalvik-cache and system cache via ADB

Dalvik-cache is an Android virtual machine cache that speeds up application launches, which gets fragmented over time and can take up to 1-3 GB on devices with a lot of software, and standard methods don’t clean it, but you can do it through ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

Warning: Incorrect ADB commands may disrupt the system. Follow the instructions accurately!

Steps for cleaning:

1. Enable USB Debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times, then go back to Additional Settings → For Developers).
2. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command prompt (cmd in Windows or Terminal in macOS/Linux).
3. Enter commands in order: adb devices (you should have the name of your device) adb shell su (the phone will request root rights – allow if you have the bootloader unlocked) rm -r /data/dalvik-cache/* reboot

For complete cleaning:

1. Install a file manager with access to root folders (such as Solid Explorer or FX File Explorer).
2. Go to /data/app and delete folders with the names of the remote applications (for example, com.facebook.katana for Facebook).
3. Check /sdcard/Android/data and delete folders of unnecessary programs.

Remove APK from /data/app

Clear the folder /sdcard/Android/data

Check /data/data for unnecessary files

Reboot the phone-->

If you have the bootloader unlocked, you can use the ADB command to mass remove:

adb shell pm list packages -u | grep 'name packet'

(Replace the name of the package with the name of the application, such as Facebook)

5. Clean up Google Play cache and system services

Google Play and Mi Account services accumulate up to 1 GB of cache that is not deleted by standard methods, and cleaning up this data can solve problems with:

• 🔄 Hanging in when updating applications.
• 📱 Google account synchronization errors.
• 🛑 Message "Insufficient memory" when it is actually available.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Google Play Services and click Storage → Clear Cache.
3. Repeat for: Google Play Store Services Google Play Mi Account (if used)

Reboot the phone.

⚠️ Note: After cleaning up Google Play Services, push notifications (such as Gmail or YouTube) may temporarily not work.

6.Automatic Cleaning: Setup of the Planner in MIUI

MIUI allows you to set up automatic garbage cleanup on a schedule, so you don't have to start the process manually.

1. Open Settings → Battery and Performance → Cleanup.
2. Activate the Autoclean switch.
3. Click Auto Cleanup Settings and select: 🕒 Cleaning time (recommended every week). 📴 File types (check all boxes). 🔋 Cleaning at low battery charge (optional).

Advantages of automatic cleaning:

• ⏳ Save Time – Don’t need to remember about manual cleaning.
• 📉 Prevents the accumulation of critical waste.
• 🔄 Works in the background without user involvement.

However, this method has drawbacks:

• 🚫 Does not clean Dalvik-cache and system log files.
• 📁 May miss the cache of some applications (for example, Telegram or VK).

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Autocleaning in MIUI does not replace manual cleaning, but reduces its frequency from weekly to monthly.

7. Advanced Methods: TWRP and Custom Scripts

For power users with unlocked bootloader, deeper cleaning methods are available through TWRP (Castom Recovery).

• 🧹 Delete all temporary system files, including hidden folders.
• 🔧 Clear sections /cache and /system data-free.
• 📥 Install scripts for automatic optimization (e.g. Universal DM-Verity Disabler).

Instructions for cleaning through TWRP:

1. Load the phone to TWRP (press Power + Volume up when the device is off).
2. Select Wipe → Advanced Wipe.
3. Check the Dalvik/ART Cache Cache System (only if you are confident in your actions!)

Swipe for confirmation and restart the phone.

⚠️ Note: Cleaning the System section in TWRP This can lead to data loss or the need to flash it back!

You can use MIUI Optimizer script (available on the XDA-Developers forum) to automatically optimize.

• 🗃️ Unnecessary system applications (bloatware).
• 📜 Log files and memory dumps.
• 🔄 Remains of updates MIUI.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up garbage on Xiaomi