Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones face an annoying notification that cloud storage is overcrowded, which is not just annoying, it blocks the creation of new backups and the stopping of synchronizing important data such as contacts, notes and most importantly photos. Ignoring this warning can lead to loss of information in the event of a device breakdown.
Making matters worse, the free 5GB defaults fill up pretty quickly, especially if you’re actively shooting high-resolution videos or taking a lot of pictures in RAW mode. The system starts to require subscription fees, but often the problem can be solved without investing money simply by properly organizing file storage. In this article, we’ll break down all effective methods for cleaning and optimizing space.
Analyzed space in the Mi Cloud
Before you delete files at random, you need to understand what exactly takes up precious gigabytes. Often users think that memory is filled with photos, but in fact the main "eaters" are backups of applications or old video files. For detailed analysis, you need to go to the settings menu of your account.
Open Settings, click on your Mi Account name at the top of the screen, then select Xiaomi Cloud and go to Storage Management. Here you will see a detailed memory allocation chart. Pay attention to the categories: Gallery, Recorder, Conversation Records and Backups.
💡
Note that files deleted from the cloud can stay in the bin for up to 30 days, continuing to take up space until you force it to be cleared.
It's important to distinguish between synchronized data and local copies. If you see a Gallery partition taking up 4.8GB out of 5GB, the problem is media files. However, if App Data is the majority, it's worth checking which programs are backing up the most.
Cleaning the gallery and removing duplicates
The fastest way to free up space is to work with media files. Xiaomi Cloud often stores the original photos and videos, even if they are already compressed or deleted on the phone. The first thing to do is check the folder "Recently deleted", as many forget to clean it after the standard deletion of photos.
Go to the Gallery app, go to the Album tab and scroll to the bottom of the Other Albums section. Find the folder "Recently Deleted" and click the clean button. It's also worth checking the Screenshots and Favorites folder if they're synced separately.
- 📸 Sort the photo by file size and remove the long videos that take up the most space.
- 🗑️ Use the Cleanup feature in the Security app to search for similar images.
- ☁️ Turn off sync for folders with memes and screenshots in the cloud settings.
☑️ Cleaning Gallery
If you have a lot of serial shooting or duplicates of the same frame, deleting them can free up hundreds of megabytes. Manually do this for a long time, so you better use the web version of the cloud on your computer, where sorting and highlighting groups of files is more convenient.
Managing application backups
Often users are unaware that Xiaomi Cloud defaults to creating full copies of installed applications along with their data, which can include messenger cache, progress in games and customization of system utilities, which together gives a huge amount of volume.
To change your settings, go to Settings → Mi Account → Xiaomi Cloud → Backup. Here you will see a list of devices. Click on your smartphone name and select Backup Settings or Delete Old Copies.
⚠️ Attention: Deleting the app backup will result in loss of its local data and settings when reinstalled.Make sure important chats are saved to Google Drive or the app's internal archive.
It is recommended to disable backup for heavy games and applications that are not critical, and leave this feature only for Contacts, Messages, Notes and System Settings, which will reduce the amount of memory you take up by many times.
Optimizing storage through a web interface
The mobile application is not always convenient for mass file processing. The web version of the service at i.mi.com provides more functionality for managing content, where you can not only delete, but also move files between folders or download them from archives to your computer.
Log in using your Mi ID. In the Gallery section, you can select multiple albums and delete them, and the Notes section is also available, which often stores forgotten voice recordings and long text files that weigh a lot.
| Type of data | Average weight | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Photo (JPEG) | 3-5 MB | Leave it if it's important. |
| Video (4K) | 300+ MB/min | Move it to PC |
| Dictaphone | 10-50 MBh | Delete after listening |
| Application backup | 1-5 GB | Turn off sync. |
Why is the web version better?
It's through the web interface that the Dictator is most convenient to audit, often with records of meetings or lectures that have lost their relevance but continue to take up space for years.
Alternative solutions and limit extension
If the cleanup didn’t work and there’s nothing left to remove, there are two options: paid expansion or switching to alternative services. Xiaomi offers tariff plans, but the cost may be higher than competitors.
Consider using Google Photos in Save Place mode (compressed photos) and it provides 15GB for free, three times more than Mi Cloud. Set up automatic uploads over Wi-Fi only to avoid wasting traffic.
- 💾 Buy a MicroSD card and set up a photo save right on it (if the phone model supports it).
- 🔄 Use third-party clouds: Yandex.Disk, Telegram (Favorites channel), Dropbox.
- 📦 Periodically download archives to your computer’s hard drive (cold storage).
💡
Combining free rates from different cloud services is the best way to get a large amount of storage without a monthly fee.
The sharing of data between Xiaomi Cloud (for settings and contacts) and Google Photos (for media) will create a reliable security system for your data.
Preventing overcrowding in the future
To keep the situation "Xiaomi Cloud full" from happening again, you need to start a regular cleaning habit: set a reminder once a month to check the status of the storage, automate processes where possible.
In camera settings, disable geo-metadata storage if you don't need it, it will slightly reduce the weight of each shot, and also watch for call recording settings - if this feature is enabled, each conversation is saved to the cloud and can quickly exhaust the limit.
⚠️ Note: When the cloud overflows, synchronization of new contacts may stop, you risk losing numbers added from another device if you do not vacate space in time.
Check the Recycle Bin folder regularly in the cloud interface, and the files are stored there for 30 days, but manually deleting them frees up space instantly, especially after working with large video files.