With each month of using a MIUI or HyperOS smartphone, users are faced with the same problem: mysteriously filling the “Other” section, warning of a lack of space, but when detailed analysis is taken up, photos, videos and apps only take up a small part of the memory, the rest is absorbed by system debris that is not removed by standard cleaning methods.
This section often grows to tens of gigabytes, turning a once-fast flagship into a slow device. User data, hidden messenger caches, and remnants of remote applications are the main culprits behind overflows. Understanding the nature of these files is the first step to successfully optimizing storage.
In this article, we will discuss safe and effective ways to free up space, learn how to find hidden folders, clean the system cache and prevent further growth of the “Other” partition on your Xiaomi device.
What is hidden in the “Other” section
The "Other" section of the storage analyzer is not one particular file type, but a collection of data that the system cannot uniquely classify, which includes app caches, temporary update files, logs of the system and data from messengers that Android perceives as an unknown format, often here gigabytes of garbage are hidden after long video calls or streaming.
Special attention should be paid to messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp, which can store their correspondence history and media files in their own private folders, ignoring the standard gallery. The system section “Other” on Xiaomi can include up to 30% of the total internal memory if not cleaned for several months, a critical fact that is often overlooked.
And there may be tails from remote games and programs, and if you've ever installed modified versions of apps or games with a data cache, the remnants of those apps will also settle in that section, and without deep cleaning, they'll take up space for years.
⚠️ Warning: Don't try to delete files from system folders through a file manager without understanding their purpose.Deleting critical libraries can lead to a cyclical smartphone reboot.
Standard cleaning through built-in facilities
The first and safest step is to use a regular cleaning tool, and the MIUI shell has a Security app that can detect obvious debris, but many users are limited to surface scanning without going into advanced settings.
To clean it deeper, you need to go to the memory management menu, click on the Cleanup icon, wait for analysis to be completed, and then select the Cleanup option, but you can't stop there, you need to click on the Deep Cleanup or similar button to see the categories of files that occupy the most space.
☑️ Quick cleaning algorithm
The Big Files section often contains forgotten downloads or archives, and the system will suggest removing them, but before that, it is better to double-check the contents, sometimes there may be important documents that you downloaded for work.
And you should also look at the Apps tab, and you can see how much space each program cache takes up, and the app cache is a temporary data that speeds up programs, but it can be too large.
- 🗑️ Cache removal does not affect your personal logins and passwords in apps.
- 📂 Cleaning the application data will completely reset it to a state after installation.
- 🔄 Regular cleaning of messenger cache frees up the most space.
Manual cleaning through the file manager
If the automatic tools fail, you'll have to work manually. File Explorer allows you to look into hidden directories, where services often put their garbage. First, turn on the display of hidden files in the Explorer settings.
You need to find the Android/data folder. This is where most apps store data. Inside, you'll see folders with packet names, like com.tencent.mm for WeChat or com.whatsapp. Inside these folders, look for cache or temp subfolders.
Should I delete the folder.thumbnails?
Pay special attention to the Download folder, and users often forget about downloaded app installers (.apk), presentations, and archives that are deadweight, and deleting them is safe and immediately makes room.
When working with a file system, it is important to understand the difference between deleting cache and deleting data. Cache can be cleaned safely, but deleting folders with application names can lead to loss of correspondence or progress in games.
⚠️ Attention: In the folder Android/obb Heavy game caches are stored. Deleting the contents of this folder will cause the games to stop running and require re-uploading data.
Memory analysis by third-party utilities
When Xiaomi’s built-in tools don’t show the full picture, dedicated disk analysis snails come to the rescue, and applications like DiskUsage or Storage Analyzer visualize the storage as a map, where the size of each block corresponds to the file size.
This approach allows you to instantly find bloated folders that are not visible in the standard interface, and you can see that, for example, a folder with voice recorder logs or a navigator cache takes up several gigabytes, which gives you an accurate idea of what to delete.
These programs require caution, and they show all the files in the system, including those that are strictly forbidden to touch, and system libraries and configuration files are best avoided if you are not 100% sure of their purpose.
The advantage of visualization is that it helps you find forgotten backups or older versions of updates that the system didn’t automatically delete, which is especially true for users who often update firmware or experiment with different versions of Android.
- 📊 Visual map helps you quickly find the heaviest files.
- 🔍 Possibility of sorting by date of last change.
- ⚙️ Some utilities are able to find duplicate files.
Specificity of cleaning messengers
Messengers are the main memory consumers in the Other category. Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber and Instagram store every photo and video viewed in cache. 10-20 GB or more, especially in active chat rooms.
Telegram itself has a built-in memory management tool. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use. You can clear the cache with a single click, and set the cache autodelete, for example, 3 days or a week after viewing.
WhatsApp is more complicated because it stores media files in a shared file system. It's best to use the built-in storage management function inside the app: Settings → Data & Storage → Storage Management. Here you can sort chats by volume and remove heavy attachments.
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Enable Autodelete in the Telegram cache settings.This will prevent gigabytes of garbage from accumulating in the future without your involvement.
Remember Instagram and TikTok. These apps cache every video they watch for smoother scrolling, and you can only clean them through the app's settings in the Apps section, or by reinstalling them, as they often don't have built-in cache cleaning tools or are hidden.
It is important to understand that clearing the messenger cache will not delete your correspondence if it is stored on the server (as in Telegram).However, on WhatsApp, media files can disappear from the chat if they were not saved to the gallery or the cloud.
Table: Comparison of cleaning methods
To make it easier for you to choose the right method, we have compiled a comparative table of the main ways to vacate space, each of which has its own pros and risks that you need to consider.
| Method | Efficiency | Security | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in cleaning | Low. | Tall. | Minimum |
| Cleaning up the app cache | Medium | Tall. | Low. |
| Manual deletion of files | Tall. | Medium | Medium |
| Third-party analyzers | Very high. | Low (risk of error) | Tall. |
| Reset to factory settings | Maximum | Average (data loss) | Tall. |
As you can see from the table, the maximum efficiency is a complete reset, but this is a last resort. For daily use, the optimal balance is a combination of built-in cleaning and manual removal of the cache of heavy applications.
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Regular prevention takes less time than battling overflowing memory. Take 5 minutes a week to check the storage.
Moving photos and videos to Google Photos or Xiaomi Cloud with the “Free Space” feature allows you to delete local copies of files, leaving them available online.
Radical measures: resetting and reflashing
If none of the above methods worked, and the Other section continues to grow, there may be errors or damaged sectors in the file system, in which case the only effective solution is a complete reset to factory settings.
Before you do that, make sure to back up all your important data. Reset will delete everything: contacts, photos, apps and settings. Phone will go back out of the box and the Other section will be minimal.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. The process will take a few minutes, after which the phone will restart. This is guaranteed to solve the problem of software debris.
⚠️ Warning: Before resetting, make sure the battery is at least 50% charged, or better fully charged. Interrupting the reset process due to battery discharge may make it impossible to boot the system.
In rare cases, the problem lies in the firmware version itself. If the Other grows rapidly again after resetting, it is worth considering installing a clean global firmware through a computer, bypassing the system. OTA-updates that sometimes cause memory errors.
What if memory is not released even after resetting?
Remember that modern Xiaomi smartphones use a file system that requires free space to work correctly. If the memory is filled to the fullest, the speed of writing and reading decreases, which causes lags and interface freezes.