Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a paradox: a standard keyboard that seemingly shouldn’t consume gigabytes of resources begins to take up a significant part of internal memory. This is especially critical for models with a 64 or 128 GB drive, where every megabyte counts. When Keyboard for Xiaomi (or Gboard, if used as the default system) grows to unimaginable sizes, it signals the accumulation of temporary files, user dictionary cache and voice input data.
Ignoring this problem can lead to a noticeable decrease in device performance, as it becomes more difficult for the system to manage the file system when the /data partition is overflowing. Many users mistakenly believe that deleting the message history will solve the problem, but the root of the evil often lies deeper in the mechanisms of artificial intelligence, which tries to predict your words by storing huge amounts of data.
It is worth noting that the cleaning process does not require Root rights and can be performed using the regular Android operating system or through the MIUI / HyperOS shell settings menu. However, it is important to act consistently so as not to lose saved passwords or personalized dictionaries if they are dear to you.
⚠️ Before performing a complete keyboard cleanup, make sure you remember the primary passwords from important accounts, as rare character combinations stored in the dictionary can be deleted.
Why does the keyboard consume so much memory?
The main reason for the app size is because of adaptive dialing. Modern keyboards are constantly analyzing your communication style, remembering new slang words, contact names, and even the emojis you use most often. This machine learning happens locally, and the database grows exponentially if a user is actively communicating in instant messengers. Over time, a user dictionary file can weigh hundreds of megabytes.
The second factor is the cache of media files and themes. If you like to change the look of the keyboard, download it. GIF-animation or use stickers directly from the input panel, all of these elements are stored in the app's cache. MIUI Keyboard or Gboard don’t always aggressively clean this garbage automatically, especially if the settings have a cache size limit equal to “no restrictions".
And there's also the voice input feature, which is that for voice typing to work quickly, the keyboard can load offline language packets, and these packets occupy a fixed space that doesn't shrink by themselves, and if you rarely use voice input, but the language packs are installed, they just take up a dead weight.
- 📂 Accumulation of temporary cache files after system updates.
- 🗣️ Download bulk offline packages for voice input Google or Xiaomi.
- 🎨 Installation of heavy third-party themes and background images.
- 📝 The growth of the database of predictive text and autocorrection.
Analysis of the occupied space in settings
Before you start taking any drastic measures, you need to accurately assess the scale of the disaster. The MIUI and HyperOS shells have a fairly detailed memory analyzer built in to see the real picture. Go to Settings, then select the App item and go to All Apps. In the list, find your keyboard (usually called Xiaomi Keyboard, Gboard or Simple Keyboard).
Click on the name of the application to get into the management menu. Here you are interested in Memory or Memory Use. You will see two digits: the size of the application itself and the size of the data. If the data takes more than 200-300 MB, this is cause for concern. In some cases, after many years of use, this figure can reach 1-2 GB, which is a clear anomaly for text input.
Pay attention to the "Clear" button. Depending on the version of Android, it can offer two options: "Clear Cache" and "Clear Everything" (or "Reset Settings"). The first option is secure and only deletes temporary files, the second returns the keyboard to factory status, removing your personal vocabulary and settings. To start, always use only cache cleaning.
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Regularly checking the “Memory” section in the application settings helps to detect inflating the cache before it starts to slow down the smartphone.
Cleaning the cache and resetting keyboard settings
The most effective and safe way to free up space is to manually clean up. However, it is important to understand the difference between deleting cache and completely resetting. Cache cleanup removes temporary files that may have been damaged or simply taken up after updating the system. This operation does not affect your personal dictionaries and dialing habits.
If cleaning the cache doesn’t help or the button is inactive (which is rare), you’ll have to take more drastic steps: resetting the keyboard (Storage & cache -> Clear storage) will return the application to a store-like state. This is guaranteed to free up space, but you’ll have to re-configure the language, vibration and maybe retrain the keyboard with frequently used words.
For users who want to save their settings but clear the space, there is an alternative way through the menu of the keyboard itself. Often inside the keyboard settings there is an option called "Additional" or "Advanced Settings" where you can find the option to delete downloaded languages or clear history.
☑️ Checklist for safe cleaning
After cleaning, it is recommended to restart the device, which is necessary to ensure that the system processes responsible for text input correctly recalculate the space occupied and update their indexes. Without rebooting, the displayed memory can remain unchanged visually, although the physical space is already vacated.
Removing language packets and voice input
One of the most hidden reasons for memory consumption is language packs. The Gboard keyboard and Xiaomi's standard keyboard often offer downloading languages for offline work. These files can take anywhere from 50 to 200 MB each. If you're always connected to the Internet, these packets are unnecessary, and deleting them will safely free up space.
To remove any extra languages, open the keyboard settings (usually through the gear icon on the keyboard or through the app menu). Find the Language or Input Languages section. There will be a list of all active languages. Click on the unwanted language and select the deletion or deactivation option. Leave only Russian and English (or the one you use regularly).
Voice input is a special consideration. If you use Google's voice dial, it can store the recognition cache. In the Google app settings, find the Voice input section and clear the data there. This is an often overlooked step that can return up to 300 MB of free memory.
| Type of data | Average size | Can I remove it? | Impact on work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash app. | 50 - 500 MB | Yes, it's safe. | Temporary deceleration at first launch |
| User-generated dictionary | 10 - 100 MB | No (reset training) | Decreased accuracy of autocorrection |
| Offline languages | 50 - 200 MB/pc | Yes, if there's the Internet. | It is impossible to enter without a network in this language. |
| Topics and stickers | 10 - 50 MB/pc | Yes. | Standard design will return |
The hidden media folder
Use of facilitated alternatives
If the standard Xiaomi keyboard continues to consume resources or simply does not like the functionality, the best solution is to install a third-party, but optimized counterpart. The market offers solutions that take up many times less space and are not overloaded with functions that no one uses.
One of the best alternatives is Simple Keyboard.This is an open source app that weighs less than 2MB (vs. 100).+ It has no Internet access, which guarantees no advertising and data collection, and also prevents the inflating of cache through online content.
Another popular option is Microsoft SwiftKey. Despite being a large corporation, this keyboard is perfectly optimized and often faster than the standard one. It predicts text more intelligently, which reduces errors and, as a result, the amount of data that can be corrected. However, it requires a Microsoft account to sync, which may be a downside for some users.
- 🚀 Simple Keyboard: Minimalism, lack of internet, weight ~1.5 MB.
- 🧠 SwiftKey: advanced prediction algorithm, flexible configuration.
- 🎨 Facemoji: a huge base of emojis, but can be heavyweight.
- 🛡️ OpenBoard: fork AOSP Keyboards, balance between functionality and ease.
⚠️ Note: When installing a third-party keyboard, Android will alert you to potential dangers (password interception).This is a standard warning for all keyboards, download apps only from a trusted Google Play store.
Preventing memory overflow in the future
To keep the problem of "bloating" the keyboard from returning in a month, it is worth implementing simple digital hygiene rules, first of all, do not abuse the installation of heavy themes with complex animations. Static themes or minimalist design not only save battery power, but also do not create unnecessary files in the cache.
Regularly, at least once a quarter, check the size of the keyboard application. If you notice that the amount of data is growing for no apparent reason, this can be a sign of a software bug in a particular version of the update, in which case you should wait for the application to update or, conversely, roll back to the previous version, if you have such a possibility.
It's also helpful to disable the "Improving typing" feature or sending usage statistics if it's enabled.These features often run in the background and can create logs that take up space. Turn off dictionary sync with the cloud if you don't change devices often - this will remove the need to store backups locally.
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Use the built-in Cleanup tool in Xiaomi’s Security app by adding a schedule to automatically clean your cache once a week.