How to permanently remove video from Xiaomi devices: phones, tablets, TV boxes

Deleting videos from Xiaomi devices only seems like a simple task – in practice, users are faced with “undeleteable” files in hidden folders, duplicates in the Mi Cloud, or situations where the video “disappears” from the gallery, but continues to take up space in memory. Especially relevant problem for owners of smartphones with hybrid memory (for example, Redmi Note 12 Pro).+ or POCO X5 Pro, where every gigabyte is in the account, and for Mi users TV Box, where the cache of video applications can “eat” up to 30% of the total storage.

In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to delete video from basic (via the standard gallery) to advanced (using ADB and manual cache clearing). Separately, we will focus on the nuances of working with MIUI 14/15, where the algorithms for storing media files have changed compared to previous versions. And if you have tried to delete video, but it “resurrects” after rebooting, at the end of this article there is a section on how to find and destroy “zombie files” once and for all.

The most obvious way is to use the built-in Gallery app (or Photos in newer versions of MIUI), but there are pitfalls: for example, videos can be stored in multiple folders at once (the main DCIM/Camera, as well as Movies, WhatsApp Media or Telegram).

To remove the video correctly:

  • 📁 Open the gallery. → Go to the Videos (or Albums) section → Video).
  • 🔍 If there is no video, check the Hidden tab (available after clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner).
  • 🗑️ Hold your finger on the video. → select Delete. → confirm the action. MIUI 14+ The option to delete irrevocably (bypassing the basket) will appear).
  • 🔄 If the video is not deleted, try Move to the cart, then clean the cart manually (Basket section in the gallery).

Important: In some firmware (e.g., POCO F5), videos from messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) do not appear in the gallery by default. To see them, go to Gallery Settings → Show hidden files.

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If the video was downloaded from the internet, check the Download folder – often browsers save files there rather than in DCIM.

2. Search and Delete through File Manager

The standard Xiaomi gallery doesn’t always show all the videos on the device, for example, files from the app cache (such as TikTok or YouTube) can take up gigabytes of memory but remain invisible to the user, in which case an embedded file manager (Files) or third-party applications like Solid Explorer will help.

Instructions:

  1. Open the Files app (the folder icon on the desktop).
  2. Go to Categories → Videos – all video files on the device, including hidden ones, will be displayed here.
  3. To search by name, use the magnifying glass icon at the top, for example, type.mp4 or.mkv.
  4. Hold the file → click Delete. If the option is inactive, check the permissions (see section below).

Pay special attention to the following folders, where "extra" videos are often hidden:

  • 📂 /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/ — cache of applications (e.g. com.zhiliaoapp.musically for TikTok).
  • 📂 /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/ — system screen recordings and promo videos.
  • 📂 /storage/emulated/0/Download/ — browser-loading.
How to delete video from TikTok cache?
1. Go to /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.zhiliaoapp.musically/cache/. 2. Delete all files with the.mp4. 3 extension. Clear the app cache to Settings → Apps → TikTok → Storage.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete files from folders /system/ or /vendor/ — It can cause a firmware failure. /system, You better use it. ADB (section 5).

3.Removing video from the Mi Cloud

If your Xiaomi has Mi Cloud sync enabled, the deleted video can be “recovered” after the next sync, and to avoid this, you must also delete the file from the cloud:

Steps:

  1. Open your Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
  2. Choose the Gallery (or Photos and Videos).
  3. Find the right video → click on three points → Delete.
  4. Confirm the deletion and wait until the synchronization is complete (it can take up to 5 minutes).

If the video was only deleted from the device but remained in the cloud, it will return the next time you connect to the Internet.

  • 🔄 Turn off autosynchronization in the Mi Cloud settings → Synchronization of the gallery.
  • 🗑️ Clean the cloud cart (Basket section in the Mi Cloud web version).

Yes, sync everything | Only photo, video no |No, not using |Tryed, but turned off-->

4. Cleaning up the video app cache

Apps like YouTube, TikTok, and Kwai can cache videos to make it faster, which can take up to 10 to 15 GB (like the Redmi K60 Pro, which is heavily socialized), and can be deleted in two ways:

Method 1. Through application settings:

  1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
  2. Select the appropriate app (e.g. YouTube).
  3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.

Method 2: Manual cleaning (for advanced users):

  • 🛠️ Use a file manager with root rights (e.g., Root Explorer).
  • 📂 Move to the /data/data/{packet}/cache/ (For example, for YouTube - com.google.android.youtube).
  • 🗑️ Delete all files with extension.mp4,.webm or.mkv.

⚠️ Attention: Clearing the cache of Netflix or Disney+ It will remove downloaded movies for offline viewing, and you can only restore them by re-uploading them.

Make sure that the video is not needed for offline viewing|Backup of important files|Close the application before cleaning|Check the vacant space after removal-->

5. video removal via ADB (for power users)

If the video is not deleted by standard methods (for example, an error File is used or No access permissions are available), Android Debug Bridge (ADB) will help. This method is suitable for removing system videos (for example, MIUI promotional videos) or files in protected folders.

Instructions:

  1. Install ADB on your PC (download Google’s Platform Tools).
  2. Turn on USB Debugging on your smartphone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times to activate Developer Mode), then go back to Settings → Additional → Developers → Debugging on USB.
  3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: Adb devices (you should display your device).
  4. To remove the video, use: adb shell rm -f /path/to/file.mp4 For example, to remove the promo video MIUI: adb shell rm -f /system/media/bootanimation.zip

Critical: Deleting files from /system/ without backup can lead to a device blink. Create a backup via adb backup before executing commands.

ADB Team TeamDescriptionExample of use
adb shell ls /path/Viewing the contents of the folderadb shell ls /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/
adb shell rm -f fileDeletion of the fileadb shell rm -f /sdcard/Download/video.mp4
adb shell find / -name "*.mp4"Search for all videos on the deviceadb shell find /sdcard/ -name "*.mp4" > videos.txt

6. How to delete "undeletable" videos (hidden duplicates and cache)

Sometimes videos continue to take up space even after being deleted.

  • 🔄 The file was moved to the bin, but not cleaned.
  • 📁 Video is stored in the cache of the gallery or messenger.
  • 🔒 The file is protected by the system (for example, surveillance camera recordings on Xiaomi Home).

To find and delete these files:

  1. Check the basket: Open the Gallery → the basket and clean it.
  2. Storage Analyzer: Apps like Files by Google or DiskUsage show which files are taking up space, even if they are hidden.
  3. Clear the cache of the gallery: Settings → Apps → Gallery → Storage → Clear the cache.
  4. Check out the.thumbnails folder: It stores video thumbnails that can weigh several gigabytes.Way: /sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails.

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If the video “resurrects” after the reboot, check the sync settings in Mi Cloud and turn off autorecovery files.

7. Recovery of accidentally deleted videos

If you delete the video by mistake, you can try to restore it, the chances depend on how long it has been since you deleted it and whether the device has been used since then (new files can overwrite deleted data).

Recovery methods:

  • 🔍 Bag: Check out the gallery → Recycle bin (files are stored there for 30 days).
  • ☁️ Mi Cloud: If sync was enabled, video could be saved to the cloud.
  • 🛠️ Recovery software: DiskDigger, Recuva (requires root rights for deep scanning).
  • 📱 Backup: If you did backup through Mi PC Suite or Google Photos, recover data from there.

⚠️ Warning: Do not install recovery software on the same disk (or memory partition) where the video was stored, which will reduce the chances of successful recovery.

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing videos from Xiaomi

Why is the video removed from the gallery, but the disk space is not vacated?
This is because: The file was moved to the cart (you have to clean it manually), the video is stored in the cache of the application (like TikTok or Instagram), the encryption is enabled on the device, and the system does not immediately update the data about the free space, the solution: restart the phone or use Storage Analyzer to search for invisible files.
How to remove DRM-protected videos (e.g. from Netflix or Disney+)?
DRM-protected videos (such as downloaded movies from streaming services) can't be easily deleted or copied. To free up space: Open an app (such as Netflix). Go to My Downloads. Click on the cart icon next to the video. If the app doesn't allow you to delete a file, try clearing its cache through Settings → Apps.
Can I remove the video from the Mi TV or Mi Box?
Yeah, but it's different than smartphones. TV or Mi Box: Open the File Manager (the folder icon on the home screen). Go to Local Storage → Download or USB-device (if the video is on a flash drive). → Click Delete on the remote. To clean the cache of video applications (for example, YouTube): Settings → Annexes → Application management → Select an application → Clear the cache.
How to delete video if the phone is not turned on?
If Xiaomi doesn’t start, but files need to be deleted urgently (like before selling), there are two options: Connect to a PC: If the phone is recognized as a drive in Fastboot mode, use ADB or file manager to delete. Reset to factory settings: Press Power + Volume up → Select Wipe Data. Attention: This will delete ALL data!
Why does it appear again after the video is deleted?
This is due to: Sync with Mi Cloud (turn it off in account settings); autosave in messengers (for example, WhatsApp automatically downloads video when you watch); viruses or malicious applications that restore files (check the device through Malwarebytes); Solution: disable autosync and check the list of autouploads in messengers.