Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a mysterious situation: the internal memory of the device is rapidly filling up, even though the user has not downloaded heavy games or movies. In the system storage, an impressive section called “Other” appears, which can take up tens of gigabytes. This causes panic, since the system does not allow you to simply delete this block of data with a single button.
In fact, the Other is not a virus or bug, but a system mechanism that combines different file types that don't fall into the standard categories like Photos, Applications, or Documents, and includes temporary files, messenger cache, remnants of remote programs, and system logs, and understanding the structure of that partition is the first step to freeing up space on your Mi or HyperOS device.
In this article, we will take a closer look at what this hidden volume is made of, why it is growing so fast, and what safe cleaning methods are available. It is important to act carefully to avoid removing system files that are necessary for Android to work smoothly.
What is the “Other” section really about?
The MIUI shell classifies files by type, but many data are not clearly anchored to standard categories. The bulk of the Other is app cache and user data. For example, instant messengers like Telegram or Viber store the photos and videos viewed in their internal storage, which the system sees as “Other” rather than “Gallery”.
The second important component is offline maps and downloaded content on streaming services, and if you use Yandex.Navigator or Spotify, downloaded maps and music take place here, and you also get files left over from deleting apps and system error logs.
⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to delete files from system folders through root-right file managers without understanding their purpose.
The partition structure is dynamic: it changes constantly depending on user activity. If you are actively working with documents in the cloud services, their temporary copies also settle in this section. System update logs are another frequent resident of the Other repository.
The main reasons for the growth of hidden files
Social networks and instant messengers are the main culprits of memory overflows, and their mechanism involves saving media files for quick access, and over time, this cache swells to incredible sizes, and the user may not even notice how the background download of previews in chat rooms eats up the free space.
The second reason is that apps are not properly removed, and when you delete a game or a program, you often have configuration files and folders that are not needed to work, but they are not automatically deleted, and you go into the "Other" category.
Also worth mentioning are system error reports and debugging logs, which, when Android crashes, generates detailed reports that can take hundreds of megabytes, which are useful for developers to find bugs, but they only get in the way of the average user.
Safe cleaning through standard MIUI facilities
The easiest and safest way to free up space is to use the built-in Cleanup tool, which is built into the Security app and has access to secure files to delete. However, standard quick cleaning often only removes a small part of the Other.
To do more work, you need to go to the storage settings, and here the system will offer you to analyze the files in more detail. You can find the Files section, where large archives are often hidden, APK-installers and temporary download files.
☑️ Checking before deep cleaning
It is important to check the Download folder regularly. Browsers and downloaded files from the Internet often lie there for years, taking up space and getting into the Other's statistics if the system does not automatically recognize their type.
Manual removal of the cache of leading applications
The biggest effect is the manual cleaning of heavyweights, especially Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok, which have their own memory management tools inside their settings that are safer than the system.
For example, on Telegram, you need to go to Settings → Data and Memory → Memory Use. Here you can click the “Clear Cache” button. The system will warn that media files will be deleted from the device but will remain in the chat cloud, which frees up gigabytes of space instantly.
| Annex | The path to cleanup | Is it safe to remove? | Impact on data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Settings → Data and memory | Yes. | Videos and photos will be deleted from your phone but will remain in the cloud. |
| Settings → Data and Storage | Yes. | Temporary files are deleted, the history of correspondence is saved | |
| Google Chrome | Settings → Confidentiality | Yes. | Cookies and cache of pages will be cleared, passwords will be saved |
| YouTube | Settings → General | Yes. | Removes playback cache and search queries |
For other applications, the path will be standard: Settings → Applications → All applications. Select the application you want, find Memory, and click Clear Cache. Don't click Clear All or Reset unless you want to lose logins and settings inside the program.
Use of the Files app by Google
If standard tools are not enough, experts recommend installing the official Files by Google app, which is often pre-installed on modern Xiaomi models, which can find duplicate files, old screenshots and junk files that MIUI ignores.
The app analyzes memory and offers tabs like “Junk”, “Large Files”, “Dublicates” and it works softer and smarter than the standard analyzer, often finding hidden logs and temporary files in the Android/data folder, which is restricted in new versions of Android.
Why is the Android/data folder now hidden?
Third-party accelerators from the Play Market are often inefficient, and they only create the appearance of working by closing the background processes that will immediately start again, and it is better to use proven tools like Files or the built-in analyzer.
Radical methods: Reset to factory settings
If the Other partition takes up a critical amount of space (e.g., 30-40GB on 64GB of storage) and is not cleared by any methods, there may be an error in the file system. In this case, a full reset helps. Wipe Data is the only guarantee of 100% cleaning of the Other partition, since it erases the entire structure of the file system.
⚠️ Warning: Before performing a reset, make sure to make a full backup of all data to the cloud or computer.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. The process will take a few minutes, the phone will reboot and be like new. After that, the Other section will be minimal, taking only the system minimum.
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If the “Other” grows fast again after reset, check if high-quality photo sync is enabled in Google Photos or Mi Cloud – they can cache the preview.
Prevention of memory overflow
To keep the problem from coming back, change your smartphone usage habits, clean the cache of heavy apps regularly, and turn off auto-save media files to the work chat gallery if you don't need to.
Use cloud storage for photos and videos. Set up automatic uploads to Google Photos or Yandex.Disk and then delete local copies will help keep memory free.
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Regular manual cleaning of messenger cache is more effective than any third-party accelerator programs.
Keep an eye out for MIUI updates. In new firmware versions, developers often optimize memory and fix bugs that lead to proliferation of logs. The current version of the software is the key to stable file system operation.