Xiaomi smartphone owners often face an annoying problem: the declared storage volume suddenly shrinks, and the system warns of a shortage of space. The user has just taken several pictures or installed one application, as free space disappears. This is not magic or a hardware defect, but a feature of the MIUI or HyperOS operating system that requires competent management.
Understanding the structure of the Android file system is key. The operating system creates a lot of temporary files, cache and logs that grow over time to gigabytes. In this article, we will detail where the memory eaters are hiding, how to safely delete the excess, and why the Other partition can take up half the disk.
Anatomy of storage: what is divided into the memory of the smartphone
Before you delete files, you need to understand how the operating system distributes the available space. Unlike computers where we see C and D drives, Android is more complex and often hidden from the eyes of the average user, most of it is system files that can not be touched without the risk of turning the device into a brick.
The rest of the space is divided between user data, apps, and the mysterious Other section, which is where free megabytes are most often leaked, and the system doesn't always correctly display folder sizes, especially if they contain files with non-standard extensions or damaged structure.
It's important to distinguish between internal and RAM, and when people say that memory is "lost," they almost always mean embedded storage (ROM) rather than RAM, filling up storage directly affects the speed of the gadget and the ability to install updates.
⚠️ Warning: Never attempt to delete files from root system folders through superuser file managers unless you are 100% sure of their purpose.
A standard storage analyzer in settings gives only a general idea. Deep analysis often requires a connection to a computer or the use of specialized utilities that can scan hidden application directories.
The phenomenon of the “Other” section: where gigabytes hide
The most common complaint of users is the unexplained growth of the “Other” partition (or “System” in some versions of the shell), which includes files that the system cannot uniquely classify as photos, videos, music or documents, which are used to cache browsers, temporary update files and remnants of deleted applications.
Telegram and WhatsApp store every image, video and voice message they see in their internal cache, which the system often refers to as “Other” if you actively communicate in work chats, this section can grow to 10-20 GB in a few months.
Another source of “junk” is streaming services and social networks, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram cache previews and portions of videos to smoothly scrolle through the tape, which over time is not deleted automatically, but accumulated dead weight.
Why can't the system see these files?
Cleaning this partition is a delicate process, and simply deleting files through a file manager may not work, because the application will immediately create new temporary files, and you need to use built-in tools to clean the cache of specific applications.
Messengers and social networks: the main consumers of the place
As mentioned, the lion’s share of memory on modern smartphones is occupied by content from messengers, the problem is compounded by the fact that by default many applications are set to automatically download media files. You may not even open the video, but it will already take up space on the disk.
In Telegram, for example, caching settings are deep in the menu. The app can store gigabytes of data, claiming that it will speed up its work. However, in practice, the difference in download speed is invisible, and space is lost irrevocably if autocleaning is not configured.
- 📱 Open the Telegram settings, go to Data and Memory» → «Use of memory».
- ⏳ Set a timer for “Storage Media” for 3 days or 1 week instead of “Always».
- 🗑️ Click the “Clear Cache” button – it’s safe, your chats won’t be lost.
- 📸 On WhatsApp, go to “Settings» → «Data and Storage and Turn Off Media Autouploads on Mobile Networks.
The same is true on social media, where apps like VK or Odnoklassniki can cache music and video for offline viewing if you've used it, and check the cache section of the app's settings and clear it.
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Regularly cleaning the messenger cache through their internal settings frees up more space than using third-party “cleaners”.
System garbage, logs and update residues
The Android operating system creates many log files that record errors and events in normal mode, but if the system crashed or the application fell, the log size can grow exponentially.
Also worth paying attention to is the Android/obb and Android/data folder, which stores game and heavy app data, and if you delete a game but you have cache files (like maps for the navigator or resources for the game), they will be dead weight here.
Another hidden eater is the.thumbnail folder, which stores thumbnails of your photos and videos. If you have thousands of photos in your gallery, this hidden folder can be as big as a few gigabytes in size. It's on the DCIM/.thumbnails path.
⚠️ Note: The.thumbnails folder can automatically recreate with the system, and only makes sense to remove it if you are urgently freeing the place, but be prepared that the next time you open the gallery, the phone may temporarily "think" by re-creating the preview.
To find large forgotten files, you can use a built-in file search, sorting them by size, and often find forgotten.apk files or archives downloaded a year ago.
Analysis of the occupied place: table of main consumers
To visually assess which categories of data consume the most resources, consider the typical memory distribution on a mid-loaded Xiaomi smartphone.The numbers can vary depending on the model and habits of the user.
| Data category | Typical volume | Can I remove it? | Location. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applications and games | 20-60 GB | Yes (via settings) | /data/app |
| Photos and videos | 10-100+ GB | Yes (manually) | DCIM/Camera |
| Cash messengers | 5-30 GB | Yes (inside the annex) | Android/data/org.telegram... |
| System section | 15-25GB | No (critically) | System section |
| Downloads (Downloads) | 1-10 GB | Yes (manually) | Download |
As you can see from the table, the main reserve for release is in the media files and the application cache. It is not recommended to touch the system partition, as this will lead to unstable work.
Cleaning Tools: Built-in and Third-Party
The MIUI and HyperOS shell already have a powerful memory cleaner built in, and it's in the Security → Cleanup app, and it can find duplicates, large files, and remnants of deleted applications.
But the built-in analyzer doesn't always see everything. You can use Files by Google or Total Commander to clean it up a little bit deeper, and they let you see the real folder structure and remove what's hidden from the standard conductor.
☑️ Safe cleaning algorithm
Third-party clinching applications (such as CCleaner or Clean Master) should be used with caution, often becoming a source of advertising and background processes, consuming the same memory that should be released.
The manual check of Download and Bluetooth folders is also an effective method, often saving documents, installers and accepted files that the user forgets about after a week.
Radical measures and prevention
If no methods are working and memory is disappearing at an alarming rate, it may be that the system has accumulated a critical amount of errors or the file system has been damaged, in which case a complete factory reset helps.
Before resetting, be sure to save all the important data to the cloud or to your computer. Once reset, the phone will look like new, and you can install only the right applications, avoiding the accumulation of old garbage.
- 🔄 Go to Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings.
- 💾 Select “Erase all data” (Factory Reset).
- ⚙️ Once turned on, set the phone as new, restoring only backup contacts and photos.
As a preventive measure, set up automatic sync photos with Google Photos or Xiaomi cloud, enabling the function “Free space” to remove from the device pictures that are already stored in the cloud.
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Use the Extended Cleanup feature in the standard Security app once a week, and it finds hidden temporary files that are not visible during normal browsing.
Also keep an eye out for system updates: In newer versions of MIUI, developers often fix bugs associated with incorrect calculation of free space or "bloating" system logs.