Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often encounter a mysterious partition in the storage called "The Other" that can take up tens of gigabytes, gradually eating up the available space and slowing down the device. System debris accumulates unnoticed, and standard cleaning methods often prove powerless against it.
Understanding the nature of this data is critical to keeping the gadget running. In this article, we'll look at what makes up this volume, why it can't be removed indiscriminately, and what proven ways to reclaim space are available. MIUI and HyperOS have their own caching features that require a customized approach.
You'll learn to distinguish between secure files and system-critical data, and we'll look at both built-in tools and radical methods, including computer work. Memory optimization isn't just about deleting photos, it's about deep-cleaning hidden partitions.
What is hidden in the “Other” section really?
The Other section (sometimes referred to as System Data) is a hodgepodge of various files that the Android operating system cannot uniquely classify as apps, images, videos or music. App cache, temporary update files, error logs and remnants of deleted programs all fall here.
This section is particularly inflated by messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp, which saves the media files viewed into hidden folders that the system sees but does not consider personal files of the user, and also includes backups created automatically and data about the operation of Google services.
It's important to understand that not all of the content in this section is garbage, some of the data is needed to load frequently used applications quickly, but when the volume exceeds 10-15 gigabytes, this is a signal that you need to intervene, and the critical threshold is filling the partition with more than 20 GB, which indicates the accumulation of unused cache.
Safe cleaning through built-in tools
The first step to freeing up space is to use the regular Security or Explorer app, which has access to system partitions and can delete secure temporary files. Go to Settings → Memory and start a deep cleanup.
The system will prompt you to delete cache, ad files and duplicates. However, the built-in analyzer is often too conservative and does not see large hidden folders. For more detailed work, use the built-in File Manager, sorting the files by size.
☑️ Basic cleaning of the system
Remember to check the Download folder, which often includes APK installation files and documents after browsing in the browser, and deleting them is completely safe and instantly frees up space, and it’s worth looking at the storage settings of each heavy application separately.
Manual garbage removal through the conductor
For advanced users, manual file manager cleaning is available, you need access to internal memory and an understanding of the structure of Android folders. Be careful: deleting the wrong files can cause app settings to reset.
First of all, they are interested in folders. Android/data and Android/obb. Here, for example, the cache of games and application data is stored. Telegram, for example, can store gigabytes of cache here, even if you cleaned it through the settings of the messenger itself.
⚠️ Note: When manually cleaning folders Android/data You may lose progress in games or offline maps in navigators. Only delete folders with app names that you don't need or whose cache you're willing to lose.
Also worth checking are the root folders of social networks, like the Tencent folder (for WeChat or QQ) or the folders with browser names, which often contain thousands of thumbnails and temporary files that are no longer needed.
Hidden folders in Android 11 and higher
Cleaning the cache of messengers and social networks
The leaders in clogging the “Other” section are always messengers. Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp store all the photos and videos viewed in cache. Standard cleaning through the phone settings often does not affect the internal databases of these applications.
The most effective way is to use built-in cleaning tools inside the applications themselves. Telegram does this through Settings → Data and memory → Memory Use → Clear cache. Here you can configure autodeletion of the cache, for example, once every 3 days.
- 📱 Telegram: Go to settings, select Data and Memory, then Memory Use, and click Clear Cache. You can set a timer for auto-cleaning.
- 💬 WhatsApp: Go to “Settings» → «Data and storage» → «Storage management. You can delete large files from specific chat rooms here.
- 📞 Viber: On the menu "More» → «Settings» → «Memory» → «Clear the cache. It's also helpful to disable auto-save in the gallery.
After this procedure, the volume of the Other partition can be reduced by several gigabytes instantly, which is the safest and most effective method of combating vault inflating in modern versions of MIUI.
💡
Enable the “Cache Auto Remove” feature in Telegram settings. Set a 200 MB or 1 GB limit – this will prevent the application from growing indefinitely in size in the future.
Use of Developer Mode and ADB
If standard methods don't work, you can use more serious tools, the developer mode allows you to access hidden system functions, and to activate it, click 7 times on the MIUI version in the About Phone section.
One effective way to do this is to use the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) command line through your computer, which allows you to delete the system cache and application data that you don't delete otherwise, and you'll need to plug your phone into a USB connection and enable debugging.
adb shell pm clear com.android.browserThis command will completely clear the browser data, and you can do the same with other packages, but this method requires precision: a mistake in the name of the package can lead to instability of the system.
| ADB Team Team | Action. | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| pm trim-caches 999999999 | Forced trimming of all applications cache | Low. |
| pm clear [package_name] | Complete data cleanup of a particular application | Average (data loss) |
| wipe cache partition | Cleaning the cache partition through Recovery | Low. |
⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-The pm clear command deletes all application data, including logins and saves, as in reinstallation. Use only for applications that you don't need data from.
Radical measures: resetting and reflashing
When the Other partition takes up half the memory and cleaning doesn’t help, there may be some bugs or broken sectors in the file system, in which case the (most efficient) way is to reset completely to factory settings.
Before you run Hard Reset, be sure to back up your important data to your computer or Google Drive cloud. After you reset, the phone will return to the “out of the box” state and the “Other” section will be minimal.
- 🔄 Reset via menu: Settings → The phone. → Resetting settings → Erase all data.
- 🔘 Reset via Recovery: Turn off the phone, pinch Volume up + Power, select Wipe Data.
- 💻 Clean firmware: Install global firmware via Mi Flash Tool with the option “Clean all».
After a reset, don't restore the backup of the applications right away. Install only what you need. Often, old backups return the old garbage. Better set up the applications again.
💡
Full reset is the only guaranteed way to remove the “Other” partition if it has grown due to file system errors or update bugs.
Prevention of memory overflow
So that the problem doesn't come back in a month, change your smartphone habits, regular digital hygiene is more important than one-off cleanings, and watch which apps request storage.
Turn off auto-save statuses and media in instant messengers. Use cloud services to store photos, removing local copies. Google Photos or Yandex.Disk with auto-download function will help keep the gallery clean.
Periodically check the list of installed applications. Unused apps often continue to collect data in the background. Delete what you haven't used for more than a month.