Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones are famous for their excellent performance and affordable price, but even powerful hardware eventually begins to stumble on the accumulated digital garbage. MIUI, on top of which Android runs, tends to accumulate temporary files, remnants of deleted programs and duplicate photos, quietly eating gigabytes of internal memory. The user notices that there are more and more notifications about the lack of space, and applications begin to open noticeably slower.
The solution lies in regular and competent cleaning of the device, but it is important not to overdo it and delete system-critical data. In this guide, we will examine proven methods of freeing up space, from built-in tools to manually deleting hidden files, you will learn to distinguish useful content from useless ballast that slows down your gadget.
Analysis of storage occupancy and search for hidden bulk files
Before you start taking drastic action to remove, you need to understand what is taking up the precious space. Often, half of the memory is eaten by instant messenger videos or forgotten TV shows downloaded for offline viewing. The built-in analyzer helps quickly visualize the structure of the storage and identify the "eaters" of the space.
To start the diagnosis, go to Settings → Memory. The system will scan and show the distribution of data into categories: applications, images, video, audio, etc. Pay attention to the category “Other” – this is often where cached streaming services data and temporary update files are hidden, which can be safely deleted.
Use the Explorer utility to manually search for large files, sort the contents of folders by size to instantly see the heaviest objects, and sometimes users forget about old archives or downloads that lie for months and do not do any good.
⚠️ Note: Before removing files from the folder Android/data Make sure they don’t contain game saves or important app settings, otherwise progress could be lost without recovery.
Don’t ignore cloud services. If you have Google Photos or Xiaomi Cloud enabled, check if there are local copies of media files already uploaded to the cloud. Google Photos’ Free Space feature allows you to remove only those images that are already securely stored in the cloud.
Use of the built-in "Security" application
The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use the regular Security app, which is pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones. This tool is designed specifically for working with the MIUI shell and knows which files you can touch and which you should not touch. Launch the application and click the Clean button.
The system will automatically scan the device for temporary files, residual debris, and large files. You'll see a list of categories that occupy space. Click on each category to view the content in detail. The app will prompt you to delete what it considers safe, but the final decision is always yours.
☑️ Daily cleaning of the smartphone
In the Deep Cleanup section, you can find duplicate photos, old APK installation packages, and rarely used apps. Removing application installers is a great way to quickly free up space, because once you install the program, you no longer need the.apk file.
⚠️ Warning: Do not remove system applications through the security menu unless you are sure of their purpose. MIUI It can cause unstable phone operation or loss of functionality.
Regular use of this tool takes only a couple of minutes a week, but allows you to keep the system on top.Automatic garbage cleanup can be configured in the settings of the app itself, which will save you from having to do it manually each time.
Clearing the cache and data messengers
Messengers like WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber are the world’s biggest memory-fillers, storing every photo, video and voice message they receive in the memory of the device, and over time, folders with media files can grow to tens of gigabytes, significantly slowing down the smartphone.
To clean up, go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find the messenger you want in the list and go to the Storage menu. Here you will see two buttons: Clear cache and Clear all data. Clear cache is safe and removes temporary files, speeding up the application. Cleaning up all data will reset the application to the initial installation state by removing correspondence and logins, so use this feature with extreme caution.
Where are the Telegram files stored?
The apps themselves also have built-in memory management tools. For example, Telegram can set up automatic cache deletion: Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use → Maximum cache size. Set a limit of, for example, 1 GB, and the application will delete old files itself, making room for new ones.
Voice messages and circles deserve special attention, they are often duplicated and take up space. In the settings of messengers, you can turn off auto-save media to the gallery so that the files remain inside the application and do not clog the overall photo album.
Removing duplicates and unnecessary media files
The smartphone gallery is another place where garbage is erratically piling up: interface screenshots, failed shots, identical photos taken in series, and social media memes take up a huge amount of space. Manually rummaging through thousands of photos for a long time, so it's better to use smart sorting tools.
The Gallery app from Xiaomi has a duplicate search feature, go to the albums and find the "Similar Photos" folder or search for keywords, and the system will leave the best frames from the series and tag the rest for removal, which allows you to quickly clear the space, saving only high-quality pictures.
Also worth checking is the Screenshots folder, which often contains images of payment receipts, temporary confirmation codes, or screenshots of correspondence that are only valid for a couple of days, and the average user stores more than 500 MB of completely useless screenshots that can be deleted without regret.
| File type | Where to find | Can I remove it? | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screenshots | Gallery → Screenshots | Yes. | Remove old, relevant items to the cloud |
| Files.apk | Conductor → Install | Yes. | Remove immediately after installing applications |
| Cash browsers | Settings → Applications | Yes. | Clean once a week to speed up |
| WhatsApp Images | Gallery → Albums | Selectively | Leave only the important ones, the rest in the archives |
Remember the Download folder, and browsers and apps often save it there. PDF-Documents, pictures and installers. Check the contents of this folder through Explorer and delete anything that has become irrelevant.
Management of installed applications and system debris
Over time, we install a lot of applications that we don't use, that not only take up space, but can run in the background, consuming processor and battery resources, and that's a mandatory optimization step.
Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Sort the list by size or date of last use. If you see a game you haven’t played in six months or a food delivery service you haven’t used since last year, remove it. Delete system applications that aren’t needed (such as Google’s redundant services or Xiaomi’s partner apps) may require a deactivation via ADB, but standard methods only deactivate them.
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Use the Developer Mode feature to view running services, which will help you understand which apps are actively working in the background and consuming resources, even if you are not using them.
Pay special attention to social networks. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are known for their bloat. They can take up several gigabytes just by cache. If you rarely use them, consider using Lite versions of these apps or their web versions through a browser, which take up many times less space and less load the system.
⚠️ Note: When you delete bank or government applications, make sure to remember login details, as re-authorization may require additional security confirmations.
Radical methods: reset to factory settings
If neither cache cleaning nor file deletion helps and the phone continues to run slowly, it may be that critical errors have accumulated in the system or that the fragmentation of files has become too large, in which case the most effective, albeit radical, method is a full reset to factory settings (Hard Reset).
This operation will bring the phone back out of the box, and delete all user data: contacts, photos, apps, settings, so it's critical to make a full backup before you start. Use Mi Cloud, Google Drive, or the built-in "Mi Backup" app to save data to an external medium or computer.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase All Data. The system will request confirmation and password from the account. Once the reboot begins the cleanup process, which can take from 5 to 15 minutes, resulting in a clean, fast system without unnecessary garbage.
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A complete reset is not a panacea, but a last resort: If the phone quickly fills up with garbage again after a reset, the problem may be in a particular application or a malfunction of the memory storage device itself.
After reset, don't rush to install all the apps at once. Try using a clean phone for a couple of days, which will help you understand how fast memory fills up under normal conditions, and whether you're installing something extra.