Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a paradox: a device with a declared 128 or even 256 gigabytes of internal memory suddenly reports a space shortage, not because of a hardware defect, but because of the MIUI operating system and user habits. The system accumulates a huge number of temporary files, error logs and application cache, which eventually begin to take up gigabytes of usable space.
Understanding how the storage is distributed is the first step to solving the problem. Unlike pure Android, the shell from the Chinese manufacturer has its own specific directories, which often go unnoticed during a standard cleaning. The system partition “Other” can take up to 40% of all memory, hiding deleted photos, backups and remnants of remote applications. If you ignore these accumulations, the smartphone will start to work slower and new applications will cease to be installed.
In this article, we will take a closer look at memory storage mechanisms, analyze hidden folders, and provide workable ways to free up space without losing important data, learn how to distinguish system files from garbage, and use built-in diagnostic tools correctly.
Anatomy of the storage: what is divided memory
The physical amount of memory listed on the smartphone box is never fully accessible to the user. Part of the space is reserved for the system partition, where the Android operating system resides and the proprietary shell MIUI. In addition, the file system also takes up a certain amount for its markup. Usually the user gets 10-15% less space than the manufacturer stated, and this is absolutely normal.
The remaining space is divided into user data, application cache, and system files. When you install an application, it takes up not only space for the.apk installation file itself, but also creates additional directories for its data, and over time, the size of this data can grow several times more than the original weight of the program.
Special attention should be paid to the "System Files" section, which is often inflated due to logs and error reports. If the smartphone is stable, these files can be safely deleted. However, the standard Explorer does not always show the real size of these folders, creating the illusion of free memory that disappears in a matter of hours.
To analyze the current state, you need to go to the settings menu. Find Settings → About Phone → Storage. Here's a diagram showing the distribution of space between apps, photos, videos and system files. This screen gives you a primary understanding of which type of data consumes the most resources.
It's important to understand the difference between internal memory and RAM, because cleaning internal memory affects the number of files you can save, whereas cleaning RAM affects the speed of open applications, and it's not worth confusing these concepts, because their optimization methods are different.
System section "Other": the main eater of the place
The most mysterious category in Xiaomi’s storage is the Other section, which users often see as tens of gigabytes of it, but they don’t know what’s inside, and it categorizes all files that can’t be clearly classified as photos, music, or documents, including streaming caches, temporary browser files, and remnants of remote programs.
Telegram and WhatsApp have a habit of saving all the media files viewed into hidden cached folders that a standard analyzer doesn’t see as Photos or Videos. These are counted as app data or system debris. If you actively use channels with heavy video content, this section will grow exponentially.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to manually delete files from system folders through third-party root file managers without knowing exactly what they are intended for, which can result in a cyclic smartphone bootloop reboot and loss of warranty.
To clean this partition safely, you should use built-in tools. Go to Security → Cleanup. The system will scan the device and suggest removing secure temporary files. It is also useful to go to the settings of a particular "heavy" application and select "Clear Cache" without touching the data if you want to save correspondence.
Why does the “Other” section not decrease immediately?
Another reason for the Other is online offices and navigators, where apps like Yandex.Maps and Google Maps cache massive amounts of map data to speed up work, and if you build routes often, that data can take up several gigabytes without being noticed in the mass of files.
Analysis of folders of messengers and social networks
Messengers are the leaders in memory consumption on modern smartphones. WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram are set to automatically download all received media files by default, which means that every funny video or card sent to group chats is stored in memory of your device, even if you did not view them.
The folder structure in Xiaomi has its own peculiarities: newer versions of Android (11 and up) have changed the paths to files due to Google’s security policy. Now WhatsApp media is often on the Android/media/com.whatsapp path, rather than in a separate root folder, making it difficult to manually search and remove garbage through simple conductors.
To effectively combat overflow, use built-in cleaning tools inside the apps themselves. Telegram does this through Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use → Clear cache. There you can set up automatic deletion of the cache if it exceeds a certain size, for example, 1 GB.
☑️ Cleaning up messengers
Special attention should be paid to the MIUI folder in the root directory, which contains a gallery folder where deleted photos from the basket are stored, and a cloud folder with local copies of cloud albums. Regularly checking these directories allows you to free up a significant amount of space that has been formally “removed” by the user, but physically remained on the disk.
Hidden files and remnants of remote applications
When you remove applications from your Xiaomi phone, you often have tails — folders with settings, cache and temporary files. The standard desktop deletion procedure does not guarantee a complete cleanup of all directories, especially if the application had deep system resolutions or worked in the background.
To find these residues, use the Deep Clean feature in the standard Security app. However, more advanced users should pay attention to the storage analyzer. Go to Settings → Storage and click on the Apps category. Sort the list by size and carefully study the programs that you haven't used in a long time.
Often forgotten files remain in the Download folder. Browsers and social networks save all downloaded files that a user may have forgotten to delete. Document archives, application installers (.apk) and saved images take up space for months.
| File type | Where to find | Can be removed | Risks. |
|---|---|---|---|
| .apk | Download folder | Yes, if the app is installed | No. |
| Log files | folder MIUI/debug_log | Yes. | Low. |
| Cash cart. | Navigator data | Yeah (boots again) | We need the Internet for maps. |
| tumbnails | DCIM/.thumbnails | Yes (will be created again) | Slow loading of the gallery |
Cleaning the.thumbnails folder inside DCIM is a classic way to make room quickly if the gallery is slow. This folder stores thumbnails of your photos and videos. Once deleted, the system will recreate them the next time you open the gallery, but it will take time and processor life.
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Use the Image Compression feature in the Xiaomi Gallery, which allows you to reduce the weight of the photo without any visible loss of quality, which frees up space without removing the pictures themselves.
Cleaning Tools: Built-in Against Third-Party
MIUI has a powerful built-in cleaning tool that is often underrated.It is integrated into the system at a deep level and has access to areas closed to third-party applications due to Android security policies. Using third-party "cleaners" (Clean Master, CCleaner and analogues) on modern versions of Android is often pointless and even harmful, since they cannot clear the system cache effectively.
The built-in Security app can find duplicate photos, similar images and blurred images, and this is especially true for users who take many serial shots. The algorithm will suggest leaving only the best photo from the series, removing the rest, which saves space without losing the quality of memories.
Third-party file managers, such as Total Commander or FX File Explorer, are useful for manual folder structure analysis, showing the real size of directories, including hidden ones, allowing you to visually assess what exactly occupies space, but using them for mass automatic cleaning is not recommended.
⚠️ Attention: Third-party applications for memory acceleration (RAM Boosters often harm performance. They force the shutdown of processes that the system immediately starts again, wasting battery power and CPU time.
For deep analysis, you can use developer mode or special disk analysis utilities that build a visual memory card, which allows you to see the "trees" of files and find forgotten folders of several gigabytes in size left behind by once installed games or video editors.
Prevention: How to avoid overcrowding in the future
The best way to combat memory shortages is to properly configure your smartphone out of the box, first of all, disable auto-save media files in group chat messengers, and this will prevent thousands of unnecessary pictures and stickers from clogging your memory.
Use cloud services regularly. Google Photos, Yandex.Disk or Xiaomi Cloud allows you to store original photos and videos on the network, leaving only compressed copies on the device or deleting local files after synchronization.
Set up automatic shopping cart cleaner. In the gallery and the explorer, files are taken to the 30-day shopping cart after deleting, change this setting to 1 day or 1 week to make room faster, and it's also useful to audit installed applications once a month.
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Regular prevention (auto-save and cloud settings) is more effective than any one-time cleaning. Set up your smartphone once, and memory loss will no longer be a problem.
Keep an eye out for system updates. Newer versions of MIUI and HyperOS often improve file system and data compression algorithms. An outdated firmware version may contain bugs that misrepresent free space or proliferation of logs.
Radical measures: resetting and reflashing
If no cleaning methods are working and the Other section continues to grow, there may be a build-up of errors in the file system, in which case the most effective solution would be a full factory reset, which would return the smartphone to a store-like state.
Before the procedure, make sure to back up important data. Reset will delete all user files, contacts (if not synced) and settings. Go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data.
After reset, do not restore the backup of the applications completely "wholesale"; it is better to install the applications again from Google Play. This ensures that you do not return with the programs old garbage and erroneous configuration files that may have caused the problem.