What is the memory on Xiaomi: how to find and delete unnecessary files

Xiaomi’s smartphone memory fills up unexpectedly quickly — even if you haven’t installed new apps or downloaded heavy files. MIUI caches data, apps create temporary files, and debris after updates can take up gigabytes unnoticed. As a result, the phone starts to slow down, apps fly out, and the “Memory is 90% full” alert appears at the most inopportune moment.

In this article, we’ll look at how to determine exactly what memory is clogged on Xiaomi, from standard MIUI tools to hidden features and third-party utilities. You’ll learn which file types take up the most space, how to distinguish system debris from important data, and what can be safely removed without risking the phone’s operation, and why even after cleaning, memory can “return” after a few days.

1. Standard Memory Analyzer in MIUI: What Shows and Where to Look

The easiest way to check memory is to use the built-in MIUI tool, which is available on all Xiaomi models, from Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi 13 Ultra, and does not require additional applications to be installed. However, it has limitations: for example, it does not always correctly display the cache data of some system applications.

To open the analyzer:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Memory (on some firmware, the path may differ: Settings → Storage).
2. Wait for the scan to be completed (usually 10–30 seconds).
3. Click on any section (such as “Apps” or “Media Files”) to see the details.

Here's what you'll see in the results:

• 📱 Applications – a list of installed programs sorted by location (including cache and data).
• 📷 Media files – photos, videos, audio (including downloads from instant messengers).
• 🗑️ System data – cache, log files, updates and other garbage.
• 📄 Other files - documents, APK, archives.

Note that System Data often hides up to 5 to 15 GB of unwanted files, including update residues, error dumps, and Google Play Services cache, which can be manually deleted, as we’ll discuss below.

2. Hidden files and folders: where Xiaomi hides garbage

Even after cleaning through a standard analyzer, memory can remain full, because MIUI hides some system folders and files from the user, and can only be found through a root file manager or special commands.

Here are the main “junk” folders that are worth checking out:

To access these folders:

1. Use a root-access file manager (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Or connect your phone to your PC and use it. ADB: adb shell su cd /sdcard/MIUI/debug_log rm -rf *

⚠️ Note: Delete files from the folder /data/data/ root-free applications can cause malfunctions. If you are not sure, use safe cleaning methods (see section). 4).

3. “Invisible” applications: what takes up memory without your knowledge

Many users wonder why the memory fills up on its own, even though they haven't installed anything, because of pre-installed system applications and background processes.

• 🤖 Google Play Services caches up to 1-3 GB of data to speed up Google’s services, and can be cleaned, but will temporarily deteriorate the work of maps, mail and other applications.
• 📊 MIUI Analytics – collects data about phone usage (you can disable in Settings) → Additionally. → Confidentiality → Analytics).
• 🎮 Game Turbo – Creates a cache for games even if you don’t play /sdcard/MIUI/GameCenter).
• 📱 Duplicated files — MIUI Sometimes creates duplicate photos and videos when editing.

To see the full list of memory-consuming apps:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select "Sort by size."
3. Scroll down the list and there will be system applications at the end (e.g. com.xiaomi.market or com.android.providers.media).

Some of them can be turned off (but not removed completely):

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.mipicks

This will disable the GetApps app (Xiaomi theme and app store), which is often updated in the background.

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If the app starts to slow down after cleaning the cache, restart it. The cache will recover automatically, but without any extra debris.

4. How to clear memory without risking the system

Delete files at random is dangerous, you can break MIUI or lose important data. Here are safe ways to clean up that do not require root rights:

Clear the cache in Settings → Storage → Cache data

Remove downloads from /sdcard/Download folder

Clean the Recycle Bin in the Gallery (stores files for 30 days)

Disable unnecessary system applications through ADB

Transfer your photos/video to the cloud or PC-->

For deep cleaning, use the Recovery mode:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up until the Mi logo appears.
3. Select Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache (don’t choose Wipe Data, it will reset your phone!).
4. Reset the device.

If the phone is slowing down, try resetting the app cache settings:

• 🔄 This will delete all temporary data, but will not affect personal files.
• 📉 After the reset will be freed 1-5 GB (depending on the model).
• ⚙️ It's done in Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings → Resetting application settings.

⚠️ Warning: If the memory is filling up quickly after cleaning, check the phone for viruses. /sdcard/.trash or /sdcard/.nomedia.

5. Third-party utilities for memory analysis: which is better MIUI

The built-in MIUI analyzer doesn't always show the full picture. Use third-party apps for detailed scanning.

Root Explorer or FX File Explorer is the root-access analysis tool.

• 🗃️ Zero size folders (remnants of remote applications).
• 🔍 Files with extension.tmp,.bak,.log.
• 📁 Duplicate in /sdcard/MIUI/Gallery/cloud (If you use the Xiaomi cloud).

Example of a command to search for large files through ADB:

adb shell


su




find /sdcard -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \;

This command will find all files larger than 100 MB on the internal drive.

6 Why memory fills up on its own: Hidden causes

If you haven’t installed new apps, but your memory is running out anyway, one of these factors may be the problem:

• 🔄 Auto-Update Apps – Google Play and GetApps download updates in the background. Disables in store settings.
• 📤 Messenger cache – Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber save all media files in a folder /sdcard/Telegram or /sdcard/WhatsApp/Media.
• 📡 Offline maps – Google Maps and Yandex.Maps can take up to 1-2 GB per region’s cache.
• 📥 Background synchronization – cloud services (Mi Cloud, Google Photos) download backups without notice.

To stop automatic memory filling:

1. Turn off auto-update apps in Google Play → Settings → Auto-update apps.
2. Limit the cache of messengers: in Telegram, this is done in Settings → Data and memory → Clear the cache.
3. Remove unnecessary offline maps in the settings of the respective applications.
4. Check the synchronization settings in Settings → Accounts and Synchronization.

WhatsApp backups are particularly large in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder, up to 500MB each, which can be manually deleted, but only the last copy of the chat history will be restored.

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If memory is filling up for no apparent reason, check the Adaptive Brightness and Battery Optimization settings, which sometimes create gigabyte-sized log files.

7 What to do if the memory is 100% full and the phone is not working

When the memory is full, Xiaomi starts to slow down, the apps won't open, and the system may not even boot.

1. Connect your phone to your PC and delete large files through Windows/macOS Explorer. Even if the screen doesn't respond, the computer can see the internal memory.
2. Use Safe Mode (press the power button → long tap on “Stop” → “Reboot in Safe Mode”). In this mode, all third-party applications are turned off, and you can remove unnecessary programs.
3. If the phone doesn’t turn on, boot to Fastboot (power button + volume down) and run clean firmware through the Mi Flash Tool (this will delete all data!).

In extreme cases, the reset to factory settings will help:

• 🔧 Save important data (contacts, photos) on your PC or in the cloud.
• 📱 Go to Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings → Delete all data.
• 🔄 After reset, the phone will be as new, but the memory will be completely cleared.

⚠️ Note: On Xiaomi models with dynamic memory (e.g. Redmi Note 12), some of the internal storage is reserved for system needs. If you see that out of 128 GB only 110 GB is available, that’s fine, not a bug.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi memory