Owners of Xiaomi’s smartphones, which run on the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS, often face a shortage of space, due to the growing size of modern applications, high quality photos and the accumulation of system debris. When the storage is overcrowded, the device starts to work slower, and installing new programs becomes impossible.
There are several effective ways to solve this problem without buying a new gadget: we will look at software cleaning methods, working with cloud storage and physical ways to expand. Freeing up space is a complex process that requires careful attention to system files and user data.
Before we start taking radical steps like formatting, we need to assess the current state of disk space, and understanding what exactly takes up space is the first step to optimizing, and we'll go into detail on each method in the next sections.
Analysis of vault occupancy
The first thing you need to do is figure out where the precious space is going, and the MIUI has a powerful analytics tool built in that shows you how the data is categorized, and you can see that the most space is taken by messengers, a gallery, or a cache of system services.
To do a detailed diagnosis, you should go to the settings menu, which is the section that tells you how the device is and the memory you have available, and if you click on the storage point, you get a detailed file distribution diagram.
The system will automatically prompt you to delete unnecessary files, but manual control is often more effective. Note the folders of messengers such as Telegram or WhatsApp, which can grow to tens of gigabytes.
- 📂 Go to Settings. → The phone. → General evaluation repository.
- 📂 Use the built-in “Security” utility to scan garbage.
- 📂 Check the Downloads folder where old installation files often accumulate.
- 📂 Pay attention to the cache volume in the "Applications" section».
⚠️ Note: Do not delete files from system folders with Android names or MIUI, If you're not sure what they're doing, it could cause the operating system to malfunction.
And then you start to see what kind of expansion is going to work best for you, and if you're taking up photos and videos, the cloud will help, and if you're having a problem with games and apps, you'll need to do more in-depth customization.
Cleaning cache and temporary files
The fastest way to free up space is to delete temporary files. apps constantly save data for fast downloads, but over time this cache becomes redundant and takes up gigabytes. Xiaomi smartphones have a standard means for safe cleaning.
The standard Security app has a built-in cleaner that finds advertising files, remnants of deleted programs and temporary browser data, and it is recommended to launch this utility regularly, for example, once a week.
But automatic cleaning doesn't always remove the cache of heavy applications completely, so for a deeper cleaning, you have to go into the settings of each application separately, which is especially true for social networks and video services that store a lot of media data.
☑️ Checklist for quick cleaning
There is also the possibility of using ADB commands for advanced users, but standard tools are usually sufficient, the main thing is not to confuse the cache with important user data.
- 🗑️ Open the Settings. → Annexes → All applications.
- 🗑️ Choose a heavy app (like YouTube or Instagram).
- 🗑️ Click “Clean” and select “Clear Cache».
- 🗑️ Repeat the procedure for browsers and news aggregators.
⚠️ Note: When you select Clear All Data, you will lose your logins, passwords and settings within the app. Use only Clear Cache. Using a MicroSD card, many Xiaomi models feature a hybrid slot that allows you to install a MicroSD card. It's a physical way to increase the amount of storage available for photos, music and documents, but it doesn't always allow you to install apps on an external map by default. MIUI There's an Advanced Storage feature that makes the card part of the internal memory, which allows the system to consider the external card as a system partition, and the formatting process will completely destroy all the data on the card, so pre-copy it onto the computer. After connecting the card, the corresponding notification or item in the storage menu will appear in the settings. SD-Speed of operation of applications installed on the SD-The card may be lower than when installed in internal memory. U3 or V30 If memory unbundling is not available or you don't want to risk speed, use the card as a portable storage device. In the camera and voice recorder settings, you can specify the default save path to an external medium. Parameter Internal Memory External card (Portative) External card (Internal) Read speed High Average Depends on card Application Installation Yes No (usually) Yes Transfer to another phone No Yes No (format required) Data loss risk Low Average High when retrieved 💡Using a memory card as an internal memory card requires a high-speed card, or the phone's interface may start to slow down. Cloud storage is a modern response to the lack of physical space. Xiaomi Cloud or alternatives like Google Photos allow you to store media files on servers, freeing up local memory, while the files remain accessible through the gallery, but do not take up space on the disk. Xiaomi’s “Storage Optimization” feature replaces the original photos in the phone’s memory with smaller copies. Full versions are stored in the cloud and downloaded only on request when viewed. 60% To activate this feature, you need to log into your Mi Account and enable gallery sync. Similarly, Google Photos, which offers a “Free Space” feature to delete local copies of already uploaded images. 📊 Where do you store photos and videos?In memory:On memory card:In the cloud (Google/Xiaomi):On your computer/hard drive, it's important to keep track of the amount of free space in the cloud itself, as free rates are limited. When the cloud overflows, sync will stop, and new photos will start to take up space in the phone again. ☁️ Enable synchronization in Settings → Mi Account. → Xiaomi Cloud. ☁️ Activate the option “Optimize storage” in the Gallery settings. ☁️ Use Google Photos with Save Place mode». ☁️ Regularly check the cloud basket, removing unnecessary. Delete duplicates and heavy files During the use of the smartphone accumulates many duplicate files, these can be the same photos taken in a series or re-upload documents from messengers. Finding and deleting copies of these is an effective way to quickly get free space. The built-in analyzer in the Security app can find similar images and large files. There are specialized cleaning applications, but be careful with their permissions. Often enough to manually go through the folder Download and Documents. Particular attention should be paid to the folders of messengers. Telegram, for example, stores all the media files viewed in the cache, even if you no longer need them. In the settings of the messenger itself, you can configure automatic cache cleaning after time has passed. Telegram settings → Data and memory → Use of memory → Delete old video files gives you the greatest gain in free space. High-resolution videos can weigh hundreds of megabytes each. Revisit the gallery and remove unsuccessful or irrelevant videos. ⚠️ Attention: Before mass deletion of files, be sure to check the folder "Recently deleted" files are stored there for 30 days and take up space until they are permanently deleted. Radical methods: Reset and formatting If the software methods do not help, you can resort to a complete reset. This will bring the phone back to factory status by removing all user content and settings. Factory Reset often solves problems not only with memory, but also with system speed. Before performing a reset, it is critical to create a full backup of data. Local backups can be used MIUI If you don't, you lose contacts, texting, and app settings. If you reset, you don't have to restore all the apps from the backup, because you can get back the system debris, you'll want to install the phone as new, downloading only the necessary programs. This ensures the cleanliness of the system. 💡Before resetting the settings, take out SIM-So you can use a card and a memory card to avoid accidentally formatting them or losing contacts stored on the SIM card, and in some cases, especially on older models, flashing the device through a computer using the Mi Flash Tool utility helps. This completely cleans all memory partitions, including hidden system partitions, returning the device to its original performance? If a full reset is quickly filled up again, it may indicate a system application malfunction or malware. Try upgrading to the latest version or rolling back to a stable firmware version. Also check if a service is synchronized in the background, loading gigabytes of data. Can you increase memory in Xiaomi software without losing data? Physically increase the memory size of the memory chip is not programmatically possible. All the methods described above are aimed at optimizing the use of existing volume or transferring data to external media and to the cloud. Applications-memory enhancers promising memory marvels, often containing files on time, "other files are so loaded" to memory. Cleaning the app cache and removing old update files helps reduce this volume.