Xiaomi Cloud Album Completed: A Complete Cleanup Guide

When Xiaomi reports a storage overflow, it takes many users by surprise: You try to take a new photo, but the system blocks the shooting, claiming that there is no more space. Most often, the culprit is a cloud album that syncs the gallery with the Mi Cloud servers. Understanding where the megabytes go is the first step to solving the problem.

Unlike local storage, which can be cleaned by removing apps, cloud space is limited by manufacturer tariffs.The free 5GB limit fills up surprisingly quickly, especially if you're shooting 4K videos or taking a lot of high-resolution shots. Synchronization works in the background, so you may not notice gigabytes of data flying to remote servers.

In this article, we will discuss in detail why overflow error occurs, how to safely remove excess, and whether it is worth keeping the Synchronization Gallery function on at all. We will consider not only the standard cleaning methods, but also the hidden nuances of the MIUI and HyperOS file system.

Storage analysis: What exactly takes place

Before you blindly delete files, you need to do an audit. Xiaomi provides fairly transparent tools for analysis, but users often ignore them, starting with the cleaning with the removal of applications. This is a mistake. You need to go to Settings → Mi Account → Cloud. Here is a visual scale showing the distribution of data.

The main "eaters" of space are usually not just photos, but full-resolution copies and backups of system settings. Videos take up the lion's share of volume. Even a short video of 1080p can weigh more than a hundred text documents. If you haven't cleaned the cloud in a long time, there may be screenshots from two years ago or concert videos.

• 📸 Photo and video – the main amount of data synchronized from the Gallery.
• 📱 System backups – contact lists, messages, notes and Wi-Fi settings.
• 🗑️ Deleted items – files in the recycle bin that have not been permanently erased (stored for 30 days).

Note the "Other" section, which can sometimes hide data from remote applications or erroneous sync logs, and if the scale is 90-100% busy, new photos will stop downloading, and old ones may become unavailable from other devices.

⚠️ Warning: Before a mass cleanup, make sure important files are saved to a computer or external hard drive.Deleting from the cloud often results in a copy being deleted from the phone if sync is enabled.

Cleaning methods through the Gallery app

The fastest way to free up space is to work directly through the Gallery app, which is more flexible than the system settings. Open the app, go to the Albums tab, and scroll down to the Cloud Albums section, and that's where all the synchronized data is stored.

You can sort media by date or type. It's best to delete content in groups. Click Select, then use the "Select All" function or select a specific period (e.g., "Last year"). Deletion here works instantly, but remember the 30 day rule: files go to the cart.

There's a nuance to the so-called "Hidden Albums." If you've hidden photos in a hidden album and enabled them to sync, they also take up space in the Mi Cloud. Check this section separately, as standard cleaning may skip them. They're accessed through long-term clicks on the "Albums" tab or through privacy settings.

Management through the web version of Mi Cloud

The mobile interface is convenient, but not always functional, for thousands of files. For deep cleaning, use your browser on your computer or phone. Go to i.mi.com and log in to your Mi Account. The web interface allows you to work with files like a regular file manager on a PC.

You can sort in more detail here, you can select the Gallery section and sort files by size, and it's a great way to find and remove the heavy video files that take up the most space, and the Web version also allows you to download archives of photos, which is useful for creating local backups before cleaning.

The advantage of the web version is that it's fast, it's big data, you can highlight hundreds of photos at a time, which would take a long time on the phone because of the previews, and you can see clearly which files have already been deleted, but not yet erased from the bin.

Synchronization setting and folder exclusion

To keep the cloud album full problem from coming back, you need to configure sync rules. Not all folders on your phone need to be duplicated in the cloud. Go to Settings → Mi Account → Cloud → Gallery. Here you will see a list of all the albums the system is trying to download.

Turn off sync for folders that are not valuable or duplicate content. For example, WhatsApp Images, Telegram or screenshots often litter the cloud with garbage. Leave only the main camera sync enabled if you want to save your photos.

Also worth paying attention to the download quality: some versions of MIUI have the option to "Optimize Storage"; when it is enabled in the cloud, the originals are downloaded, and compressed copies remain on the device, which saves space on the phone, but quickly consumes the cloud limit.

⚠️ Note: If you turn off sync for a specific folder, the photos you have already uploaded will remain in the cloud.

Cleaning the basket and removed items

Many users forget that deleted files don't disappear immediately. They move to a cart that's stored for 30 days. If your cloud is crowded, cleaning the cart is the fastest way to get free space right now. Go to the Gallery → Albums → Deleted.

You can select "Clean it all" here. Once confirmed, the files will be permanently destroyed. Be careful: you can't recover them after that, even through support. Check the contents of the shopping cart before you delete them.

Similar to the Recycle Bin in Files or Explorer. If you have deleted documents or downloads, they can also be duplicated in cloud backups. Check the Mi Drive section (if used) and clear its Recycle Bin separately from the gallery.

Alternatives and limit increase

If 5GB is too little for you to buy a paid subscription, consider alternatives. Google Photos provides 15GB for free (although it shares them with mail and drive). Many Xiaomi users are moving to Google's ecosystem for media storage, leaving Mi Cloud only for system settings and contacts.

Another option is to use third-party cloud storage, such as Yandex.Disk or Telegram (Favorites channel as unlimited storage, albeit with compression), which requires manual configuration, but gives more control over the data.

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Use the “Free Space” feature in Google Photos, which automatically removes photos from your device that are already securely stored in the Google cloud.

Paid subscription Mi Cloud in Russia is difficult to pay due to the limitations of payment systems, so for most users of the Russian Federation transition to alternative services is the only reasonable way out if there is a shortage of space.

⚠️ Warning: Don't store a single copy of important photos only in the free cloud. Services can be closed, accounts can be blocked. Always have a local copy on your PC.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Regular check of messenger folders and screenshots saves up to 70% of the space in the cloud storage.