Why memory is clogged on Android Xiaomi: real reasons and ways to clean

You open a gallery to take a photo, but you see the words "Not enough memory." Or you try to install an app, and the system gives you a "Storage full" error. Familiar? On Xiaomi smartphones, this problem is more common than on other Android devices — and it's not just your photos or videos that are to blame, it's about the features of MIUI firmware, caching system processes and hidden mechanisms that the manufacturer does not mention.

In this article, we’ll look at 10 real reasons why Xiaomi’s memory is clogged on its own — even if you haven’t downloaded anything, how to find and remove invisible junk, disable unnecessary MIUI features, and what to do if cleaning doesn’t work, and why, after a firmware update, space can be drastically reduced by 5-10 GB.

Spoiler: 80 percent of the time, it's not the user files that are to blame, it's the system processes that can be controlled.

1. App cache: why it takes gigabytes

Cache is a temporary file that creates applications to work quickly, like YouTube saving thumbnails of videos, Google Maps saving offline maps, and messengers saving avatars and stickers, and normally the cache should be cleared automatically, but that often doesn’t happen on Xiaomi.

To make matters worse, MIUI aggressively caches even system processes, for example, after viewing a gallery in a DCIM/.thumbnails folder, there may be hundreds of megabytes of thumbnails that are never deleted, and the Theme app downloads background images and fonts even if you don't use them.

  • 📱 How to check: Go to Settings → Annexes → App management, select any app and see the Storage section, and if the cache is over 500MB, it's not normal.
  • 🧹 How to clean: In the same menu, click "Clear the cache." For mass cleaning, use Settings → Memory. → Cleaning (but this will only remove cache of parts of apps).
  • ⚠️ Note: Do not clear the cache of system applications such as Google Play Services or MIUI System – This can lead to failures.

There's a radical way to turn off caching for individual applications, like in Chrome, you can prevent saving files to Settings → Privacy → Clear history when you leave, but it will affect the speed of loading pages.

📊 How often do you clear your cache on Xiaomi?
Once a week.
Once a month
Only when memory ends
Never cleaned.

2. System garbage: what is "Other" in storage

If you go to Settings → Memory, you'll see a graph with categories like Apps, Images, Video, and the mysterious Other section, which can be anywhere from 3 to 15 GB on Xiaomi -- and that's not a mistake.

The Other includes:

  • 🗑️ Logs of the system (/data/log) — Failure reports files that MIUI not automatically removed.
  • 📄 Temporary update files – remnants of firmware that have downloaded but not installed.
  • 🔄 Remnants of Remote Applications – folders with settings and data of programs that you have long uninstalled.
  • 📂 Hidden folders MIUI — for example, MIUI/Extra or MIUI/Wallpaper, wallpaper-box.

You can’t remove this garbage manually – you need root or ADB-But you can reduce the size of the team:

  1. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version and tap 7 times to activate the developer mode.
  2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
  3. Connect the phone to your PC, open Command Prompt and type: Adb shell pm trim-caches 1000G This command will forcefully clear the cache of all applications.

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If you don’t have a PC, use the SD Maid app (requires root) or Files by Google – it finds some of the system junk without superuser rights.

3. Duplicate photos and videos: where they hide

Xiaomi smartphones are known for creating duplicate media files in different folders, for example, the same photo may lie:

  • DCIM/Camera is the original.
  • In Pictures/Screenshots, if you took a screenshot from the gallery.
  • MIUI/Camera/Cloud – if you have Mi Cloud sync enabled.
  • In.thumbnails, there are miniatures for quick viewing.

To find duplicates:

  1. Install the Duplicate Files Fixer app or Files by Google.
  2. Run scanning of DCIM, Pictures and MIUI folders.
  3. Delete all files with the same size and date of creation (except the originals from DCIM/Camera).

And there's a lot of trash that's being created by the MIUI Gallery app, which automatically generates previews for each album, even if you're not using them, to turn this off:

⚠️ Note: If you are using Mi Cloud, do not delete files from the folder. MIUI/Camera/Cloud manually, this can disrupt synchronization. Better turn off autoboot in your account settings.

4 MIUI updates: why they are "eating" memory

Every update MIUI weight 1,5 before 3 GB: But the problem is not the size of the firmware, but the system doesn't delete the old versions after installation. /cache and can borrow up to 10 GB.

Xiaomi also uses the mechanism. A/B-updates (starting with the MIUI 12). This means that the phone has two copies of the firmware at the same time, the active one and the backup one, and if the update fails, the system will roll back to the previous version, but even after the installation is successful, the backup often doesn't get deleted.

Type of fileWhere they're storedHow to clean up
Remains of updates/cache and /data/ota_packageRemove via TWRP or adb shell rm -rf /cache/*
Backup firmware (A/B)/dev/block/bootdevice/by-nameOnly through Fastboot with data loss
Logs of updates/data/log/otaRemove via Root Explorer

If you're not planning on rolling back on the old version of MIUI, you can manually remove the backup firmware.

Unlock the bootloader via fastboot oem unlock|Install TWRP Recovery|Go to Mount → System and delete the folder /cache/ota|Reboot your phone-->

Important: Once you remove the backup firmware, you won’t be able to roll back to the previous version of MIUI without completely flashing it.

5. Pre-installed applications: can they be removed

Xiaomi installs dozens of pre-installed apps on smartphones, from Mi Browser to Mi Pay, many of which cannot be removed by standard means, but they take up space and work in the background.

Here is a list of the most “gluttonous” system applications:

  • 🌐 Mi Browser – caches web pages even if you don’t use them.
  • 💳 Mi Pay – downloads bank card data for offline payments.
  • 🎵 Mi Music – saves album covers and streaming music cache.
  • 📦 GetApps – Xiaomi’s app store that updates in the background.
  • 📱 Security – Antivirus and optimizer that scans files and creates logs.

You can remove them in two ways:

  1. Unroot: Disable via ADB. Connect your phone to your PC and execute: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.browser Replace com.miui.browser with the desired application package (a list of packages can be found on the XDA Developers website).
  2. With root: Use Titanium Backup or System App Remover for complete removal.

⚠️ Warning: Removing system applications may disrupt the work MIUI. For example, without Security, virus notifications will cease to work, and without GetApps, firmware updates will stop over the air.

6. Mi Cloud files and synchronization

The Mi Cloud automatically syncs photos, contacts, notes, and even SMS, but many users don’t know that:

  • 📸 Photos are synchronized in two copies - the original and the compressed version for viewing.
  • 📱 Xiaomi Backup applications can weigh up to 5 GB.
  • 📝 Notes and recordings from Mi Notes are stored in /MIUI/Notes even after removing the application.

To make room:

  1. Open Mi Cloud and turn off autoboot for unnecessary file types.
  2. Remove old backups to Settings → Accounts → Mi Cloud → Backup.
  3. Clear the MIUI/CloudBackup folder through the file manager.

If you are not using Mi Cloud, turn it off completely:

⚠️ Warning: After disabling Mi Cloud, phone search through Find Device will stop working. make sure you have an alternative tracking method (e.g. Google Find My Device).

7 Viruses and Malware: How They Clog Memory

Xiaomi smartphones are not immune to viruses, especially if you install apps from third-party sources.

  • 🛡️ Disguise your presence (files with random names in the /data).
  • 📊 Slow down your phone (so you can buy an optimizer»).
  • 💰 Show ads (caches banners in hidden folders).

Signs of infection:

  • The memory is filled by itself (for example, at night).
  • In Settings → Battery you can see unknown processes with high consumption.
  • Folders like.trash,.temp, or com.android.xxx appear.

How to check and clean:

  1. Install Malwarebytes or Dr.Web Light and scan your phone.
  2. Check the /sdcard and /data folders for suspicious files (names like update.apk, systemx.zip).
  3. If a virus is found, delete it and clear the memory through Settings → Memory → Cleanup.
What if the antivirus does not find the virus, but the memory is still clogged?
In some cases, the virus masquerades as a system application (e.g., com.android.system). Try: 1. Install 360 Security (it is better than detects Chinese viruses). 2. Check the phone in Safe Mode (press the power button → Reboot in Safe Mode). 3. If nothing helps, reset the phone to factory settings (Settings → About phone → Reset).

8. MIUI Optimization: Hidden Settings to Free Memory

MIUI has hidden features that help control memory, and here are the most useful ones:

  • 🔄 Autoclean: Include in Settings → Memory. → Auto-cleaning. The system will remove garbage once a week.
  • 📉 Background Limitation: In Settings → Battery → Background Limiting Disconnect Unnecessary Apps from Working in the Background.
  • 🗑️ Cleaning when blocking: C Settings → Lock screen → Clean Memory: Enable the option to “Clear Memory When Locked».
  • 📂 Easy Mode: In Settings → Special opportunities → Easy mode will reduce memory consumption of the system.

You can also disable unnecessary MIUI functions that consume memory:

Settings → Additional → Special features → Delete animation (accelerates work)


Settings → Notifications → Disable unnecessary notifications (reduces cache)




Settings → Display → Disable “Autolightness” (saves resources)

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If you're still clogged after all the manipulations, check the health of the drive. On Xiaomi, with worn-out flash memory, the system can show incorrect data about the free space. Use the AIDA64 app (Site "Storage") to diagnose.

FAQ: Frequent questions about memory on Xiaomi

Why did the MIUI update reduce the space by 5-10 GB?
It's OK: New firmware weighs 1,5–3 GB, plus the system backs up the old version (more) 3–5 If the space is not vacant in a week, clear the folder. /cache through TWRP or ADB.
Can I transfer applications to a memory card?
On most Xiaomi, this is not possible due to the limitations of MIUI. But you can use the card as internal memory (formatting into Settings → Memory → SD card).
Why does cleaning up memory in settings not help?
Standard cleaning only removes the cache of user applications, but does not touch system files. ADB-team SD Maid (with root).
How do I know which files take up the most space?
Install Files by Google or DiskUsage. They show large files and folders that are not visible in standard Explorer.
What if your memory is getting lost on its own every day?
It's probably one of the apps (most commonly messengers or social media) that's to blame. Check Settings → Memory → Memory Use and delete the suspicious app. If the problem persists, reset your phone to factory settings.