How to completely remove recordings of a voice recorder on Xiaomi: from standard methods to deep cleaning

Recordings from a tape recorder on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO smartphones take up gigabytes of memory over time, especially if you actively use voice notes for work, study or recording important conversations. However, standard deletion through the Dictaphone application does not always free up space effectively: files can remain in the basket, cache or hidden folders of the system. In this article, we will discuss all possible ways of deleting from basic to advanced, including cleaning residual data and restoring free space.

The problem is complicated by the fact that MIUI (Xiaomi firmware has features of media storage, for example, records can be duplicated in a folder MIUI/sound_recorder Or you can stay in the Mi Cloud cloud storage, even if you delete it. MIUI 12–14 And collected the latest methods that work on models from Redmi Note 10 Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

Important: if you plan to permanently erase sensitive records, standard deletion will not be enough, and at the end of the article is a section on deep cleanup using tools like Shredder or Secure Delete that overwrite data, making it impossible to recover.

1. Standard removal through the Dictophone app

The most obvious way is to delete the entries directly within the app itself, but there are nuances that most users are unaware of.

Open the Dictophone app, in the main menu, you'll see a list of all the records sorted by date.

• 📌 Click and hold the entry you want to erase, then select “Delete” (basket icon).
• 🗑️ For mass removal: tap on the three-point menu (⋮) → «Choose» → mark the required files → «Delete».
• 🔄 Once deleted, the records are sent to the application basket, where they are stored for another 30 days. To clear the basket, go to the Recycle Bin section» → «Clean up».

⚠️ Note: If you use a Mi Account, your records can automatically sync to the Mi Cloud, and you also need to manually delete them through the web version of the cloud (i.mi.com) under the "Dictorphone" section».

Removed entries from the main list?|Cleaned the basket in the app?|Checked the file. MIUI/sound_recorder file-manager?|Remove duplicates from Mi Cloud (if synchronization is enabled)?-->

2. Delete via File Manager: Where records are stored

The Dictophone app saves files to a standard folder, but it depends on the MIUI version and the smartphone model. Here are the main ways in which audio recordings can be located:

To manually delete files:

1. Open Files** (the standard file manager for Xiaomi).
2. Go to the Internal Memory section → find the MIUI or Recordings folder.
3. Select unnecessary files (usually.m4a or.mp3) and click Delete.

Important: some records may be hidden by the system. To see them, turn on the hidden files display in the file manager (three-point menu → Settings → Show hidden files).

3. Cleaning the cache and data of the Dictator application

If the memory is not free after deleting the records, the problem may be in the accumulated cache or damaged application data. Clearing the cache will delete the temporary files, and resetting the data will return the recorder to the factory settings (all records and settings will be lost!).

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the "Dictophon" list** (or com.miui.soundrecorder).

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g, POCO F4 or Redmi K50) After cleaning the data, the application can request permissions again. If the recorder stops working, restart the smartphone or reinstall the application through the Mi App Store.

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Before clearing your data, export important records to the cloud or PC. Select the record in the Dictator app → Share → Save to Files or send it to the mail.

4. Delete records via PC (for deep cleaning)

If your smartphone doesn’t have enough permissions to delete files (for example, records are protected by DRM or stored in a system folder), connect the device to your computer.

You'll need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 📱 Cable USB (Best Original from Xiaomi).
• 🔑 Permission to transfer files (mode) MTP).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC and select File Transfer mode (in the notification on your phone).
2. On PC, open “This Computer”** → find a connected device (usually Xiaomi or Redmi).

⚠️ Attention: If the folder sound_recorder If you don't have it, check your settings for displaying hidden files on your PC. In Windows, enable the Hidden Items option in the Explorer View tab. On macOS, use the Cmd combination. + Shift +. (point.

5. Irreversible Deletion: How to Delete Records Forever

Standard deletion methods do not guarantee that files cannot be recovered using specialized programs (for example, Recuva or DiskDigger).If records contain sensitive information, use tools for irrevocable erasure:

Methods of deep cleaning:

• 🔄 Data overwriting: Apps like Shredder or Secure Delete (available on Google Play) overwrite files with random data, making recovery impossible.
• 🗃️ Encryption + Deletion: Encrypt the folder with records through ES File Explorer (Section "Tools» → «Encrypt) then delete the encrypted files.
• 📱 Reset to factory: The extreme method - a complete reset of the smartphone (Settings) → The phone. → Reset settings. Delete everything, including records.

For use by Shredder:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Open it and give access to the storage.
3. Select the records files (formats.m4a,.mp3,.wav).
4. Click Shred and wait until the process is complete (may take a few minutes).

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Irreversible deletion is relevant for personal data records (passport details, passwords, financial information). For ordinary notes, standard deletion + basket cleaning is enough.

6.Automatic Cleanup: How to Set Up Deletion of Old Records

To avoid accumulating gigabytes of unnecessary audio files, set up automatic deletion of old records. In MIUI, this feature is hidden in the settings of the Dictophone application.

How to turn on:

1. Open the Dictator» → tap on the three-point menu (⋮) → «Settings».
2. Find the "Storage Management" or "Autocleaning" section.
3. Activate the option to “Delete posts older” and select the period (30, 60 or 90 days).
4. Save the changes.

⚠️ Note: On some firmware (for example, MIUI 13 Global) this feature may not be available; alternatively, use third-party voice recorders with auto-cleaning support, such as Easy Voice Recorder or Hi-Q. MP3 Recorder.

Additionally, you can limit the size of the storage for records:

• In the same settings of the recorder, find "Memory Limitation".
• Set a limit (e.g. 500MB) if you exceed the old records will be deleted automatically.

7.Restore space after deletion: why memory is not released

A common problem: you deleted the recordings, but the space on your smartphone didn't increase.

If the problem persists, try:

• 🔄 Reboot your smartphone (sometimes the system doesn’t update your real-time memory data).
• 📊 Use Memory Analysis: Settings → Memory. → Analysis – This will show which files are in place.
• 🛠️ Install Files by Google – App Offers Tools to Clean Up ‘Junk’ Files.

FAQ: Frequent questions about deleting recordings of a voice recorder on Xiaomi