Xiaomi’s “Other”: What it is, why it grows and how to reduce it without risk

You opened up your storage settings on your Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO, and you saw that the lion's share of memory is occupied by the mysterious "Other" section - sometimes 10, 20, or even 50 GB? It's not a system bug or a virus. So MIUI (branded shell Xiaomi) groupes files that do not fall into the standard categories ("Apps", "Photos", "Video"). But what exactly hides behind this item, why it grows like a snowball and - most importantly - how to safely reduce it?

In this article, we will take a closer look at what types of data are in the Other, why they accumulate even when you regularly clean the cache, and give step-by-step instructions for freeing up space – from simple to advanced methods (including working with ADB and hidden folders).

Spoiler: 80 percent of the time, it's solved without rooting and factory resetting, but first, you have to understand what we're dealing with.

What is included in the “Other” section on Xiaomi: a complete analysis

The Other section of MIUI is a garbage bin for files that the system cannot uniquely categorize as standard.

• 📁 Application cache and system cache are temporary files that are not deleted after the program is closed (including the Google Play Services cache, MIUI Launcher and others.).
• 🗑️ Residual files of remote applications - folders /data/data/ and /sdcard/Android/data/, which remain after the uninstallation of the programs.
• 📄 System logs and dumps are error reporting files (.log,.dmp) that are created when crashes or for diagnostics.
• 🎮 Game data – saves, downloadable resources (e.g. textures in Genshin Impact or PUBG Mobile which is not always correctly defined as “Apps».
• 📥 Downloads from browsers and instant messengers – files downloaded via Chrome, Telegram or WhatsApp, unless they were manually moved.
• 🔄 System Updates – Firmware Packages (*.zip) that remain after installation OTA-update.
• 📂 Hidden folders MIUI — for example, /MIUI/, /Xiaomi/ or /DCIM/.thumbnails miniature.

Especially a lot of space is occupied by the cache of Google Play Services (can weigh up to 5-10 GB!) and residual game data. For example, after deleting Call of Duty: Mobile, a folder with 2-4 GB of resources often remains in memory.

But why don't these files fall into the standard categories? It's all about how MIUI classifies data.

• 🔍 If the file has a clear extension (.jpg,.mp4), It's going to be in "Photos" or "Video».
• 🤖 If the file belongs to the installed application - in "Applications».
• ❓ Everything else is in the Other because the system can't determine its type or affiliation.

Why the Other is Growing So Fast: 5 Reasons

If you notice that the “Other” section is growing before your eyes, one or more reasons are to blame:

1. Google Play Services and MIUI Cache – These services are constantly downloading updates and temporary files, but they don’t always clean them properly.

Interestingly, on smartphones with a small storage capacity (32-64 GB), the Other grows faster because the system uses caching more to speed up work. On devices with 128 GB or more, this effect is less noticeable.

⚠️ Note: If the Other takes up more than 30% of the total memory, this can lead to a slowdown in the smartphone, as the system does not have enough space for operational tasks.

How to see what exactly takes place in the “Other”: 3 ways

Before you delete something, you need to understand which files are eating up your memory.

Method 1: Integrated MIUI analyzer

The easiest way is to use a standard tool:

1. Open the Settings → Memory.
2. Slip on the "Other" chart.
3. The system will show the distribution by file types (for example, “Cache”, “Downloads”, “Logins”).

MIUI does not always correctly classify files, and some folders may remain “invisible.”

Method 2: File Manager (with access rights)

Use Mi File Manager or a third-party explorer (such as Solid Explorer):

1. Open the file manager and enable the display of hidden folders (in the settings).
2. Check the following directories: /sdcard/Android/obb/ – game data /sdcard/Android/data/ – application cache /sdcard/Download/ – downloads /sdcard/MIUI/ – MIUI /sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails system files – thumbnails
3. Sort files by size to find the heaviest ones.

Method 3: ADB-Teams (for advanced teams)

If you want to get a full list of large files, connect your smartphone to your PC and do:

adb shell


su




du -h -d 1 /sdcard/ | sort -hr

This command will show folders on the internal drive, sorted by size.

💡

If you don't have root permissions, use the adb shell pm list packages -f command to see the path to each application's data, which will help you find the residual files of the deleted programs.

How to Safely Clean “Other” on Xiaomi: Step-by-step instructions

Now, to the most important thing, to make room, we're going to go from the simplest to the most radical, and we're going to take risks.

Step 1: Cleaning the application cache and system

This is the safest way to do this, and it doesn’t require superuser rights:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Sort the programs by cache size.
3. For each major app (e.g. Google Play Services, MIUI Launcher, Facebook) click Clear Cache.
4. To clean the system cache, go to Settings → Memory → Clean (or use Settings → Additional → Clean).

Step 2: Delete the residual application files

Use Mi File Manager or SD Maid (from Google Play):

⚠️ Warning: Do not delete folders of current applications - this can cause crashes!

Step 3: Removing Logs and Dumps

The logs of the system are usually stored in:

/sdcard/MIUI/debug_log/


/sdcard/log/




/data/log/ (requires root)

Folders. debug_log The log can be deleted completely – it will be recreated if necessary.

Step 4: Clean Uploads and Temporary Files

Check the following folders:

• 📥 /sdcard/Download/ — downloaded.
• 📎 /sdcard/Telegram/ (or other messengers – media files.
• 🌐 /sdcard/Android/data/org.mozilla.firefox/files/ — browser-cache.

Step 5: Remove old MIUI updates (for experienced ones)

OTA-packets are stored in /sdcard/Download/rom/ or /cache/. They can be removed manually, but:

⚠️ Note: If you delete the current firmware package, the system may not boot after the reset. only delete files with dates preceding the last update.

Step 6: Reset to factory settings (extreme case)

If the Other takes more than 20GB and doesn't clean and the smartphone slows down, maybe hard reset will help.

• 🔄 Make a backup copy of the data.
• 📱 Make sure you have a Mi Account to recover.
• ⚙️ Go to Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings.

💡

Factory reset deletes ALL data, including files in Other, and use this method only if other methods have not worked.

What NOT to delete from “Other”: Critical Files

Not all files in the Other section are safe to delete, but you cannot touch the following data:

If you are not sure what you can delete, use the rule: do not touch files in /data/ and /system/ folders without root rights.

How to Prevent the Spread of the Other: Prevention

To avoid facing the problem again, follow these tips:

• 🔄 Clean the cache regularly (once every 1-2 weeks) through Settings → Memory.
• 📱 Remove Games correctly: first clean the data in Settings → Apps, then uninstall.
• 🚫 Turn off automatic download of media in instant messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp).
• 📂 Use cloud storage for photos and videos (e.g. Google Photos or Mi Cloud).
• 🔧 Update. MIUI — In new versions optimized work with cache.

You can also install applications for automatic cleaning, for example:

• SD Maid – Deletes residual files and cache.
• Files by Google – Find duplicates and unnecessary files.
• CCleaner – Clears the cache and history.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the “Other” in the memory of Xiaomi