Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face the mysterious situation of overloaded memory, but a standard analyzer shows that the main applications and media files occupy only a small part. The main “eater” of gigabytes becomes the “Other” partition (or “System” in some versions of MIUI), which can grow to tens of gigabytes. This is not a system error, but a specific mechanism of the MIUI shell, which accumulates various types of data that do not fall into the standard categories.
Understanding the nature of this partition is critical, as blindly deleting files can lead to unstable operating systems. Unlike “pure” Android, where files are distributed more transparently, Xiaomi groupes system services cache, remnants of remote applications, temporary update files and messenger data into this category.
In this guide, we will discuss safe and effective ways to free up space, which folders can be touched safely and which are better left alone. It is critical to understand that the Other category often hides data from WhatsApp and Telegram messengers, which are not always correctly displayed in their own internal counter. Follow the instructions consistently to return the device to performance.
The Anatomy of the Other Section: What It Is Consisted of
To effectively combat a problem, you need to know the enemy in person. The Other category is a hodgepodge of disparate data. First of all, it gets cache of system applications and Google services that accumulate temporary files to speed up work, but over time they start to take up an unreasonable amount of space, the system considers this data important for performance, so it does not delete it automatically.
The second important component is residual files. When you delete a game or a heavy application, there are often folders with textures, error logs and settings in memory. MIUI does not always correctly track these tails, continuing to consider them part of the system data, and also files that the system cannot identify by type, such as downloaded documents from browsers or archives.
The third component is messenger data. WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber create huge databases of media files. If the chat settings are autosave, then all images and videos sent are duplicated in the gallery, but their originals and databases can be counted in the "Other" section, which creates a double memory effect that confuses many users.
- 📂 System cache and temporary update files MIUI.
- 🗑️ Residual files of remote applications and games.
- 💬 Databases and media files of messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram).
- 📥 Uploaded files from browsers and email clients.
⚠️ Note: Do not attempt to manually delete files from Android system folders through a file manager without root rights.This can result in a "bottle" (cyclic reboot) or data loss.
Basic cleaning with MIUI staff funds
The first and safest step is to use built-in optimization tools. Xiaomi has a powerful cleaning mechanism that users often ignore in favor of third-party software. To start, open the Safety app (green zipper icon) and select Cleanup. The system will analyze the device and suggest removing obvious debris.
But standard cleaning often doesn't affect the deep sections of the Other category, so you have to go to Deep Cleaning, where MIUI algorithms scan memory more carefully, finding large files, duplicate photos, and rarely used applications. Be careful when selecting files to delete: the system can flag some important documents as trash.
It's also worth checking the settings of the storage itself. Go to Settings → About Phone → Memory (or Storage). Click on the "Other" category if it's clickable in your firmware version. In some cases, the system will suggest clearing the cache of specific applications that take up the most space. This is especially effective for social networks.
☑️ Checklist of basic cleaning
Remember, once the cache is cleared, applications can run a little slower on their first run, because they have to re-upload data from the network. This is normal behavior. If the Other category starts to grow again after a few days, then the accumulation process is active and more radical measures are needed.
Working with messengers: Telegram and WhatsApp
The majority of the space in the “Other” section on modern smartphones is in messengers. Telegram and WhatsApp store media files in their own databases, which the system often classifies as unknown. On Telegram, for example, the cache settings are inside the application itself. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use. Here you can see the real amount of space occupied and clear the cache with a single button.
WhatsApp is more complicated. It backs up chats that can take up gigabytes. To clear up the space, go to Settings → Chats → Storage. Here you'll see the details of each dialogue. Often, one of the group chats has thousands of old photos that are no longer needed, but continue to occupy space in the "Other" category.
It is important to set up autodelete media files. Telegram can set a cache clearing timer (e.g., 3 days or 1 week) to ensure that old files are deleted automatically without inflating the system partition. WhatsApp can disable autosave to the gallery, which will prevent duplicate files, although the volume of the "Other" partition is less affected than cleaning the internal database.
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In Telegram, enable the Autodelete Media feature for all chats, which will prevent the accumulation of gigabytes of garbage in the future and make the Other category stable in size.
Once you clear the messenger cache, restart your smartphone, so that Android can correctly recalculate file indices and update the storage statistics, and you may notice that there's a lot more space available than originally showed.
Analysis of folders through the file manager
For advanced users, manual file system analysis is an effective method. Xiaomi's standard File Manager app has a built-in analyzer. Open it, select Analysis or Folders. Here, files are sorted by size, allowing you to quickly find heavyweights.
Note the Android/data folder, which stores app data, and if you delete a game but the folder with its name (e.g. com.roblox.client) is still there, you can safely delete it, and check the Download folder and MIUI/Gallery/cloud/cache, which often accumulate thumbnails and deleted photos.
| Folder/The Way | Description of the contents | Security of removal |
|---|---|---|
| Android/obb | Cash files of heavy games (textures, sounds) | Safe if the game is removed |
| MIUI/debug_log | Logs of system and application debugging | Safe (all can be removed) |
| Tencent/MicroMsg | WeChat data (cache, stickers) | Careful, just the cache. |
| Download | Downloads from browsers | Safe after check-up |
When working with a file manager, use the size sorting function to instantly identify forgotten video files or archives that are lost in the back of the folders and count as “Other” and only delete files that you understand the origin of.
Use of the Files app by Google
If Xiaomi’s regular tools don’t seem to be effective enough, installing the official Files by Google app is a de facto standard for cleaning Android devices, and it runs deeper than the built-in MIUI tools and better identifies garbage.
Once installed, start scanning. Files by Google will offer to delete temporary files, WhatsApp memes, blurred photos and rarely used apps. The feature of this tool is that it can find files that Xiaomi has deemed system or unknown. It also offers a “Secure Deletion” feature that backs up before cleaning (optional).
Another useful feature is duplicate search, and often the "Other" category is inflated because the same image is saved in different formats or folders. Google Files finds these matches and suggests leaving only the original, allowing you to free up up to several gigabytes without losing media quality.
⚠️ Warning: When using third-party cleaners, always check the file list before final deletion.Do not delete files with the.apk extension unless you are sure that these are installers or system files with unclear names.
Radical measures: Resetting to factory settings
If neither method worked and the Other category continues to take up an absurd amount (e.g., 40-50 GB on a 64 GB device), it is possible that the file system is damaged or indexing has failed.
Go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. This process will delete absolutely everything, including hidden system errors and fragmented files. Once reset, the phone will be like new, and the category “Other” will take up the minimum possible volume typical of a clean system.
Why can the “Other” still be big after the reset?
After reset, it's recommended that you don't install all the applications at once. Put the main ones in, use a couple of days and look at the memory loading dynamics, which will help identify the culprit application that generates excessive cache.
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A full reset is a “nuclear option” that solves 99% of system partition overflow problems, but takes time to reset the phone.
Prevention of memory overflow
To keep the problem from coming back, you need to change your smartphone usage habits. Check the storage regularly without waiting for critical values. Make a rule: once a week, go to the storage settings and delete the extra one. This takes 2 minutes, but saves you from a headache in the future.
Use cloud services. Google Photos with Free Space automatically removes photos from your device that are already stored in the cloud. This is one of the most effective ways to keep the Other and Gallery categories in check. Also consider transferring heavy files to a memory card (if the model supports) or to a computer.
Watch out for MIUI updates. Sometimes the problem with the incorrect display of the size of the Other partition is a bug of a particular firmware version. Xiaomi regularly releases patches that fix file system errors. If you notice a sharp jump in memory after the update, wait for the next patch or, conversely, update if the problem is known.
- 🔄 Regularly reboot your smartphone to reset temporary caches.
- ☁️ Set up sync photos with the cloud and delete local copies.
- 📉 Turn off auto-save media in messengers.
- 🧹 Once a month, conduct a deep cleaning through a regular application.