Not enough memory on Xiaomi Redmi 7A: 12 proven ways to free up space

Xiaomi Redmi 7A is one of the most popular budget smartphones with 16 or 32 GB of internal memory, but even this amount is often not enough for modern applications, photos and updates. If your phone constantly gives a notification “Not enough memory”, slows down or can not install new programs – the problem is not only in the small amount of storage, but also in system debris, cache and incorrect settings.

In this article, we will discuss 12 working methods to free up memory on Redmi 7A without losing important data, from basic cache cleaning to hidden MIUI features and radical measures like factory resets. All instructions are adapted for Android 9 Pie and Android 10 (the current versions for this model) and tested on real devices.

We will pay special attention to the unique problem of Redmi 7A: due to limited memory capacity (especially in the 16 GB version), the system can freeze applications or refuse to update even with 1-2 GB of free space, we will show how to circumvent this limitation.

1. Quick diagnosis: how much memory is occupied and what

Before you can clean up your memory, you need to understand what's in it. Redmi 7A has built-in analysis tools.

1. Open the settings → About the phone → Memory.
2. Wait for the chart to load (it can take up to 30 seconds).
3. Click on the category (such as “Apps” or “Media Files”) to see the details.

Typical memory allocation on Redmi 7A (16GB):

If the Other section (or System Data) is more than 2 GB, it's a sign of fragmented debris that isn't cleaned by standard methods.

⚠️ Attention: On Redmi 7A With 16GB of storage, the system reserves up to 3GB for your needs. Even if you free up 1GB, the phone can show a notification of a shortage of space — that's okay.

2.Cleaning App Cache: An Easy Way to Free 1–3 GB

Cache is a temporary file that creates applications to speed up work. On Redmi 7A, cache can take up to 30% of the free space, especially if you are actively using social networks, messengers or games.

How to clean the cache selectively:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select an app (such as Facebook or YouTube).
3. Click Clear Cache (not to be confused with Clear Data – this will remove settings!).

For mass cleaning:

1. Open the Security app (shield icon).
2. Select "Cleaning up» → «Garbage».
3. Check all the boxes and click “Clean” (can free up to 1.5 GB).

• 📱 What apps clog the most? Social networks (Facebook, Instagram), instant messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp), games (PUBG Mobile, Free Fire).
• 🔄 How often do you clean the cache? Every 1-2 weeks. More often, no, less often, the cache will grow to critical sizes.
• ⚠️ What NOT to clean? system application cache (Settings, Phone, Google Play Services) – this can cause crashes.

3. Removal of unnecessary applications and transfer to SD-map

On the Redmi. 7A Many system applications are preinstalled MIUI, which cannot be removed, but can be removed or transferred to SD-map (if installed).

How to remove unnecessary applications:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the application → «Delete” (if the button is active).
3. If there is no “Delete” button, click “Disable” (this will stop the background work).

List of safe apps to remove on Redmi 7A:

• 🎵 Mi Music is a standard player (can be replaced by Spotify or Spotify) VK Music).
• 📺 Mi Video - Video Player (alternative — MX Player).
• 📰 Mi Browser – Browser (better to use Chrome or Firefox).
• 🛒 Mi Pay – payment application (not working in Russia/CIS).
• 📊 Analytics – statistics collection service (you can turn off).

How to transfer applications to SD-map:

1. Put it in. SD-card (class 10 is recommended or UHS-I).
2. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
3. Select the application → «Warehouse» → «Change» → «SD-map».

⚠️ Note: Not all applications support portability SD. If there is no "Change" option, the transfer is not possible, and after the transfer, the application can run slower.

Remove unnecessary games and social networks |

Disable pre-installed MIUI| applications

Transfer heavy applications to SD-map|

Clear the cache in Google Play Services-->

4.Photo and video optimization: how to free 2-5 GB

Photos and video are the main memory eaters. On the Redmi 7A, the camera shoots video in Full HD (1080p), and one photo in JPEG format can weigh 3-5 MB. If you do not clean the gallery, 10+ GB of garbage can accumulate in six months.

Ways to make room:

• 📸 Reduce photo/video resolution: Open the camera → Settings → Photo resolution and select 8 MP 12 MP. For the video, set it up. 720p instead 1080p.
• ☁️ Automatic upload to the cloud: Use Google Photos (free 15GB) or Yandex.Disk (10GB). Enable autoboot over Wi-Fi.
• 🗑️ Remove duplicates and screenshots: Files by Google (free in Play Market) will find duplicate photos and prompt them to delete them.
• 🎞️ Convert video to a smaller format: Apps like Video Compress will reduce file size without much loss of quality.

How to Enable Photo Compression in Google Photos:

1. Install Google Photos from the Play Market.
2. Open the app → click on the avatar → “Photo settings”.
3. Select “Load Quality” → “High Quality” (Unlimited Storage).
4. Enable "Backup and Synchronization".

Once you upload the photos to the cloud, you can delete them from your phone, freeing up space.

1. In Google Photos, click on three bars. → «Basket».
2. Select "Clean» → «Delete everything».

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If you often take screenshots, enable automatic deletion after 30 days. Go to Google Photos for Settings → Storage Management → Auto-delete screenshots

5. Clean Uploads and Documents: Hidden Gigabytes

Download folder on Redmi 7A Often contains unnecessary files: outdated APK, PDF-Even if you think there's nothing in it, check that sometimes there's 1-2 GB of junk data.

How to clean the download folder:

1. Open the Files app (folder icon).
2. Go to the "Downloads" section.
3. Click on three dots → “Sort by” → “Size” (to see the largest files).
4. Select unnecessary files and click “Delete”.

What files can be safely deleted:

• 📄 APK-Files (application installation packages) – no need for them after installation.
• 📂 Archives (ZIP, RAR) — If you have already unpacked their contents.
• 📑 PDF and DOCX — If they are duplicated in the cloud or on PC.
• 🎵 Audio files from messengers (voice messages, music from the VK Telegram).

How to find and delete large files:

1. In the Files app, click on the magnifying glass (search).
2. Enter "size:>100MB"

6.Deep cleaning: removal of system debris and application residues

Even after you delete the apps on Redmi 7A, there are leftovers: folders in /Android/data, Dalvik cache, temporary update files. Standard methods don't clean them, but there are ways to remove this garbage.

Method 1: Cleaning through Safe Mode (Safe Mode)

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the power button and hold until the MI logo appears.
3. Once the logo appears, press and hold the volume button until the phone boots into Safe Mode (the inscription will be at the bottom).
4. In Safe Mode, remove unnecessary apps and clear the cache (system files will be available for change).
5. Reboot your phone in the usual way.

Method 2: Use of ADB (for power users)

If you are familiar with ADB (Android Debug Bridge), you can manually delete unnecessary files:

adb shell pm list packages -f | grep 'application package'


adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 name.packet

For mass cleaning of the cache of all applications:

adb shell pm trim-caches 1000000000

(This command will clear the cache of all applications, freeing up to 1-2 GB.)

Method 3: Deep cleaning applications

• 🧹 SD Maid – removes remnants of remote applications and system debris.
• 🔍 Files by Google – Finds duplicates and large files.
• 🛠️ CCleaner – clears the cache and history (caution: can delete the necessary data!).

⚠️ Note: Do not manually delete files in folders /system, /data/data or /vendor — This can cause a phone to crash, and only work with files that you recognize as the names of the apps you have deleted.

7.Reset to factory settings: Last chance

If all previous methods failed, and the Redmi 7A still lacks memory, it will leave a hard reset to the factory settings, which will delete all data, including photos, apps and settings, but return the phone to its original state.

How to reset:

1. Create a backup copy of important data (contacts, photos, messages).
2. Go to Settings → Additional → Recovery and Reset.
3. Select “Reset” → “Erase all data”.
4. Confirm the action (a password may be required).
5. Wait until it is completed (it will take 5-10 minutes).

What happens after the dump:

• ✅ All applications and data will be deleted.
• ✅ The system section will be cleaned of garbage.
• ✅ The phone will be as new (but updated to the latest version) MIUI).
• ❌ You will have to reconfigure accounts, Wi-Fi and install programs.

How to recover data after resetting:

1. When you first turn on, select recovery from Google Account or Mi Cloud.
2. Install Google Photos to restore media files.
3. Move the contacts from SIM-Maps or sync with Google Contacts.

⚠️ Attention: On Redmi 7A After reset, you may need to re-activate the device via Mi Account. If you forget your password, restore it in advance at account.xiaomi.com.

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Resetting to factory settings is the only way to completely clean up the system partition of garbage, but only use it as a last resort when other methods have not helped.

8 Prevention: How to avoid memory loss in the future

To avoid recurring problems, follow these rules:

• 📲 Install. SD-card (preferably 64-128 GB of class 10) and set up saving photo / video on it.
• 🔄 Clean the cache once a week (via "Security» → «Cleanup»).
• ☁️ Use cloud storage (Google Photos, Yandex.Disk) to automatically download media files.
• 🚫 Don't set games by weight >1GB (on Redmi) 7A They'll slow down).
• 🔍 Check the Downloads folder once a month for debris.
• 🛠️ Turn off auto-update apps in the Play Market (settings) → «Auto-update» → «Never»).

How to Configure File Saving on SD-default-card:

1. Put it in. SD-Format it as an internal memory (all data on it will be deleted!).
2. Go to Settings → Storage → Storage settings →
3. Choose «SD-map as the default storage for photos, videos and downloads.

How to limit the background activity of applications:

1. Open Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Management
2. Select “Select Apps” → mark programs that shouldn’t work in the background.
3. Enable the option to “Limit background activity”.

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If you frequently install and remove applications, use APK-extractor (e.g., extractor, APK Extractor) to save installation files to SD-map and do not re-download them.

FAQ: Frequent questions about memory on Xiaomi Redmi 7A