Owners of Xiaomi smartphones often face an intrusive notification “Not enough memory”, which blocks the installation of updates, uploading photos and even the normal operation of messengers. This problem is relevant for budget models with 32 GB of internal storage, and for more powerful devices when the system partition is overflowing. MIUI or a full-frozen gadget.
To make matters worse, modern apps and social media consume a huge amount of resources, saving gigabytes of cache and temporary files. The user needs to understand not just delete photos, but the structure of the Android file system to effectively free up space. In this guide, we will examine all cleaning methods, from simple built-in tools to advanced developer settings.
It is important to immediately determine which type of memory is exhausted: internal memory of the device or RAM. In the context of the space shortage notification, this is exactly the internal storage device where your files, applications and system are stored. RAM is responsible for running processes, and its shortage is solved by closing tabs, not deleting files.
⚠️ Before performing radical actions, such as a full reset, be sure to back up important data in the Google Drive cloud or on your computer to avoid losing contacts and photos.
Analyzed space through settings
The first step is always to diagnose. MIUI provides built-in tools to visualize what exactly is taking up space on your device. Without understanding the structure of the occupancy, you can delete files indefinitely, as the system will instantly fill the vacant space with new temporary data.
For detailed statistics, go to the Settings menu, select About Phone, and click on Warehouse. Here you will see a color diagram showing apps, images, videos, audio, and system files in different colors, and clicking on any of the sectors will take you to the detailed management menu for this type of content.
It often turns out that the lion’s share of the space is not your personal photos, but data from messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp, which cache all the videos and documents you see, and the Other section, which often contains the remnants of deleted applications or system logs, can also occupy a significant amount of space.
Use the Cleanup feature available directly from this menu, but don’t rely on it completely. The automatic algorithm may find it safe to delete important debugging logs or temporary game files that will have to be downloaded again on the next run, consuming traffic.
Cleaning cache and deleting temporary files
The fastest way to free up a few gigabytes is to clear the app cache. Cache is temporary data that speeds up programs but inflates over time to an incredible size. Unlike app data, deleting the cache won't cause you to lose your logins or progress in games.
For manual cleaning, follow the Settings → Apps → All apps. Sort the list by memory size. Most often, browsers (e.g. Chrome), social networks (VK, Instagram) and video platforms are the leaders. Once you go to the information about a particular application, click Clean and select Clear cache.
- 🗑️ Cleaning the browser cache can release up to 1-2 GB, if you haven’t done this procedure in a long time.
- 📸 Xiaomi Gallery stores thumbnails of photos that can also be safely removed through gallery settings.
- 📱 The Downloads system application often stores installation files APK, No longer needed after installing programs.
Also worth checking is the MIUI folder in the file manager. It often accumulates voice recorder logs, erroneous reports and backups that the system forgot to delete. The standard File Manager Explorer has a built-in cleanup feature, but manual control in the Android/data partition (access to which new versions of Android are limited) is sometimes necessary.
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Use Xiaomi’s Security app for quick garbage cleanup, but always check the file list before you delete it so you don’t lose important documents.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete the contents of folders with the names of system processes or services unknown to you, if you are not sure of their purpose - this can lead to unstable operation of the interface.
Working with messengers: Telegram and WhatsApp
Special attention should be paid to messengers, as they are the main “eaters” of memory on Xiaomi smartphones. by default, WhatsApp and Telegram store all received media files in the memory of the device, creating duplicates in the gallery and taking up space in their internal databases.
Telegram handles the situation in the most elegant way possible. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory usage. You will see a "Storage Media" slider. Set a value like "3 days" or "1 week." This won't delete your correspondence, but the phone will automatically delete the cache of old photos and videos if you haven't opened them recently. When you reopen them, they will download from the cloud.
WhatsApp is a bit more complicated because it stores everything locally.
- 📂 Open chat settings and select Data Storage to see which dialogs occupy the most space.
- 🎥 Disable auto-save media in the gallery in privacy settings so that photos are not duplicated.
- 🧹 Manually remove large video files from the Documents and Video tabs inside a particular chat.
Secret Telegram Secret
It is also recommended to check WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images/Sent regularly, which stores copies of all the images you sent to the people you interviewed, and often grows to several gigabytes, duplicated photos from your gallery.
Use of the SD-maps and cloud storage
If internal memory is physically limited, the only way out is to expand storage. Most modern Xiaomi models support microSD memory cards. However, just inserting a card is not enough, you need to set up the system correctly.
In the new versions of Android and MIUI Adaptive Storage (when a card becomes part of internal memory) is unstable or absent, so it's better to use the card as a portable storage and transfer media files there. SD-map.
The alternative is cloud storage. Google Photos allows you to free up space on your device in one click. Once you have synced, click on your profile avatar and select "Free up space." The app will remove photos from your phone that are already securely stored in the cloud.
| Method of expansion | Pluses | Cons | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| SD-map | Cheap, big volume. | Slower than internal memory | For photos, videos, music. |
| Google Photo | Autosaving, access everywhere | Internet required, limit 15 GB | For important personal photos |
| USB-flash-drive (OTG) | Mobility, does not occupy the slot | We need an adapter, easy to lose. | For rare backups. |
| Xiaomi's Cloud | Integration into the system | Not enough free space. | For contacts and notes |
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Cloud storage for important photos and SD-Media cards – the best strategy for owners of smartphones with a small amount of memory.
Removing Unused Applications and Games
Mobile games today weigh huge amounts of data: a single game can take up 5-10 GB, which is a significant part of the memory of a budget smartphone; if you haven’t played the game for months, it’s more convenient to delete and download it again if necessary than to store it “just in case”.
Go to Settings → Apps → All apps and sort the list by size. You will be surprised to find old offline map navigators or video editors that haven't been used in years. Removing such heavyweights is the fastest way to get free space.
Also worth paying attention to is pre-installed apps (Bloatware) – Xiaomi has a lot of them, and not all can be removed in the standard way. Removing system debris sometimes requires superuser rights (Root) or using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) through a computer, but this is already an advanced level that requires caution.
- 🎮 Games are often left behind after deleting folders with data (cache) that need to be deleted separately through the file manager.
- 🛍️ Store and delivery apps take up little space, but their cache can grow if you flip through directories often.
- 📺 Streaming services (Netflix, YouTube Premium) save offline video that must be manually deleted.
Radical measures: Resetting to factory settings
If neither cache cleaning nor file deletion helps, and the phone continues to write about memory shortages, there may be bugs or “junk” in the file system that standard utilities don’t see, in which case a full reset helps.
This procedure will put your phone back out of the box, and all your data, contacts, photos and apps will be destroyed, so the backup phase is critical here, and before you start, make sure that you have at least 50 percent battery life.
☑️ Preparation for discharge
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. The system will ask you to enter the screen unlock password and the Mi/Google account password for confirmation. The process will take 5 to 15 minutes.
⚠️ Warning: After the reset, the phone will be clean.Don't rush to restore all applications from the backup at once - install only the necessary ones so that the memory problem does not return on the first day.