Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a situation where RAM is full and the system starts to work slower. The MIUI or HyperOS shell accumulates a huge amount of temporary data, app cache and log files that are not always correctly deleted by standard means. Understanding which directories are allowed to be manually cleaned will help extend the life of the device without losing important data.
However, carelessly tampering with folder structure can cause system failures or loss of personal photos. In this article, we will detail safe cleaning methods, point out the exact paths to system debris, and explain why some files are best left unattended.
Analysis of space and file types
Before you start deleting, you need to understand the nature of files, occupying storage. In the structure of the Xiaomi file system, files are divided into system, user and temporary. System files are responsible for running the operanca, user files are your photos and documents, and temporary ones are created by applications to speed up work.
Cache and error logs are the most common ones. Cache helps applications load faster, but it grows to gigabytes over time. Error logs record information about crashes, but the average user doesn't need them and only takes up space.
For detailed analysis, it is recommended to use built-in Explorer or third-party utilities such as Total Commander or Files by Google, which visualize the folder structure, allowing you to see which partition eats up gigabytes.
Safe to remove folders in the root
When you connect your smartphone to your computer or use a conductor, you'll see a lot of folders in the root directory, most of which have clear names, but there are some that don't say anything. MIUI -> debug_log, If it is not automatically cleaned.
You also have to look at the backups folder, and if you're not backing up your internal memory, but you're using the Mi Cloud or Google Drive cloud, you can erase the contents of that directory, and you often have old backups of contacts and text messages that just take up space.
Another heavy directory is download, which is the default one that saves all your browser files, documents and apk files, and check the contents: old app installers and browsing. PDF-You don't need files anymore.
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Before you delete a folder with a name you don't know, try typing its name into a search engine, often it turns out that it's data from an application that was deleted six months ago.
⚠️ Attention! Never delete folders with the names Android, data, obb in their entirety, they store cache and data of current applications. Deleting the entire data folder can cause games and social networks to stop running or require re-downloading resources.
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
The leaders in memory consumption are traditionally Telegram, WhatsApp and VK. These apps store every picture and video you view in the memory of the device. In Telegram, for example, media files can take up tens of gigabytes, even if you have already seen them.
Cleaning is better done through the settings of the application itself, not through the file manager. On Telegram, go to Settings -> Data and memory -> Memory Use. There you can clear the cache, and your chats will not be affected - the media will be re-loaded when you view.
In the file manager, the path to WhatsApp media is usually Android -> media -> com.whatsapp -> WhatsApp -> Media. Inside the Sent folder, you store copies of the files you sent, and in Private, hidden files. They can be selectively deleted.
☑️ Checking messengers
System garbage: folders MIUI and Thunder
The MIUI shell creates specific folders that can grow. The MIUI folder -> gallery -> cloud contains thumbnails of the cloud gallery. If you don't use photo sync, this folder can be cleaned.
If you've ever used an on-board bootloader or third-party download managers based on Xunlei (Thunder), check for the Thunder folder at the root. There are often under-quality files or old downloads that weigh a lot.
You also have to look at the tencent folder, which is data from Chinese versions of apps or old games, and if you don't use Tencent services (like PUBG Mobile in some regions or WeChat), there's often garbage inside.
| folder | Description | Can I remove it? | Effects of consequences |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIUI/debug_log | Logs of system debugging | Yes. | No. |
| backups | Backup copies | Yes (if you don't need to) | Loss of old backups |
| Android/data | Application data | No (inside files) | Resetting application settings |
| temp | Temporary files | Yes. | No. |
Hidden folders and technical garbage
In Android, hidden folders usually start from a point (like.cache) created by applications to store temporary data, and can be found by turning on the hidden files in the Explorer settings.
The.thumbnails folder inside the DCIM stores thumbnails of your photos for quick viewing in the gallery. If you have thousands of photos, this folder can weigh several gigabytes. It's safe to delete: the system will recreate it, but the gallery will run a little slower on its first run.
Frequently found folder SNS or SNSKY. This is data from embedded services or pre-installed Chinese applications, and if you don't know exactly what they're responsible for, it's best to use Safe Mode or Disk Analyzer to keep the data from being deleted.
Why is the.thumbnails folder growing again?
Using Xiaomi's built-in cleaner
Xiaomi smartphones have a regular Security app, and the built-in cleaner can find unnecessary files, duplicates, and remnants of deleted applications, the safest way for beginners.
Run the app, click on the broom icon, analyze the memory and suggest removing the garbage, and you can find large files and rarely used applications in the Deep Clean section.
But the regular tool doesn't always see everything, it can miss old logs or cache in non-standard directories, so manual verification combined with automatic gives you the best result.
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Combine automatic cleaning through the Security app with manually checking Download and Backups folders for maximum effect.
⚠️ Be careful with the "Accelerate" function in the background. Aggressive process termination can cause messengers to stop sending notifications on time.
What to remove categorically can not be
There are a number of files and folders that will result in a bootloop or a phone that is completely inoperable, most notably system libraries at the root,.apk files in system folders, and configuration files.
Never delete the entire Android/obb folder if you want to keep your games progressing, because there are heavy game caches, and don't touch files with names that contain system, vendor, boot.
If you're not sure what the file is, you'd better leave it. 100MB of space is not worth the risk of flashing the device. Always back up important data before a radical cleanup.