Xiaomi’s modern smartphone often faces the problem of crowded internal memory, and the popular messenger becomes one of the main “eaters” of space. Owners of Redmi and POCO devices notice that even after removing unnecessary photos and applications, free space disappears somewhere, and the system begins to warn about the lack of resources.
Cache cleaning isn’t just about deleting temporary files, it’s a necessary procedure to keep MIUI or HyperOS running. Accumulated gigabytes of garbage can cause lags, slow chats, and even cause sudden app closures. In this article, we’ll take a look at how to safely free up space without losing important correspondence and documents.
Many users are afraid to delete data, thinking that their dialogues will disappear with the garbage. This is a misconception, since the cloud architecture of the messenger stores all the history on servers, not on the device. Understanding the difference between cache and important data will allow you to regularly maintain your phone without the risk of losing information.
What is Telegram Cache and Why Does It Take So Much Space?
Cache is a temporary file that the app saves on your device to load content faster when you re-access. When you view photos, videos or listen to voice messages in channels, Telegram uploads them and stores them to local storage, so that the next time you open the same chat, the content is opened instantly without consuming mobile traffic.
The problem with Xiaomi owners’ aggressive memory management policies is that the messenger can grow to tens of gigabytes. Unlike other applications where cache is limited, here the size of temporary files depends only on the user’s activity and autosave settings. If you are in dozens of channels with high media traffic, the cache size can reach 50-100 GB, which is critical for models with 64 or 128 GB of memory.
⚠️ Cache cleaning only removes temporary copies of files from your phone.All media files will remain available in the cloud, and you can re-upload them if necessary, but they will take up disk space again.
It is important to understand the technical difference between cleaning the cache and cleaning the data. The first operation is safe and reversible, the second completely resets the application to the state “just from the store”, requiring re-authorization. For Android users, it is important not to confuse these concepts in the system settings, so as not to lose access to the account for a few minutes.
Preparation for cleanup: checking the current amount of data
Before we take any action, we need to assess the scale of the problem, because the built-in MIUI tools don't always correctly map the size of the messenger folders, so the best way to use the native toolkit of the application itself for diagnostics is to see the exact amount of space occupied and understand how critical the situation is.
To start, open the app and go to the settings menu. The path may vary slightly depending on the interface version, but the logic remains the same for all Xiaomi devices. You need to find the partition responsible for using disk space, where you will be presented with detailed statistics.
Once you go to the right partition, you'll see a memory allocation graph, which shows not only the size of the cache, but also the amount of data that the message databases occupy, and if the cache number is more than 2-3 GB, that's a reason to do the cleaning, especially if you have a budget smartphone with limited storage.
This stage should not be ignored, as visual evaluation helps to understand which types of files occupy the most space, perhaps the bulk of the video that can be adjusted to automatically delete, or thousands of small images from news channels.
Method 1: Cleaning through the settings of the application itself
The safest and most appropriate way to free up space is to use a built-in cleanup function that ensures that only temporary files are deleted and the database structure is not broken, and the algorithm is universal for all versions of Android installed on Redmi Note, Mi or POCO devices.
To perform the operation, follow the instructions:
- 📱 Open Telegram and click on the three menu bars in the upper left corner.
- ⚙️ Select "Settings" in the list that opens.
- 💾 Go to the section "Data and Storage).
- 🗑️ Click on the item "Storage Usage).
On the screen that opens, you'll see the "Clear Telegram cache" button, which will trigger the process of deleting temporary files, which can show a confirmation pop-up that tells you how much space will be freed up, which is safe and does not require rebooting the device.
☑️ Checklist before cleaning
There is also the option of selective cleaning if you want to delete the cache of only certain types of files. In the same menu, you can clear the cache of images, videos or files separately. This is useful if you need to urgently free up some space, but you are afraid of losing access to important documents that you rarely open.
Method 2: Memory management via Xiaomi file manager
The second method involves using System Explorer or a third-party file manager, such as Total Commander or Files by Google, which gives you deeper access to the Android file system and allows you to manually delete files if the standard method for some reason does not work or fails.
On Xiaomi devices, the cache file path may be in different directories depending on the operating system version. On newer versions of Android 11/12/13/14, access to system folders is limited, but the main media files are often available.
Manual search and deletion algorithm:
- 📂 Open the "Conductor" app on your smartphone.
- 📁 Go to the folder. Android/data/org.telegram.messenger/files.
- 🗑️ Find folders with names like cache, video, image.
- ❌ Select unnecessary files and click "Delete".
⚠️ Warning: When manually cleaning through the file manager, be extremely careful.Do not delete files with the.db extension or folders with names whose meaning you do not know, as this may lead to loss of correspondence history or malfunction of the application.
If you’re using an older version of Android or you have root rights, the path can look like /sdcard/Telegram/Telegram Images. Xiaomi owners often use the built-in “Security” cleaner, which can also scan Telegram junk files, but it doesn’t always distinguish cache from important downloads, so manual control is preferable.
Set up autosave and autoremoval to save space
To prevent the memory overflow problem from returning every two weeks, you need to properly configure your data retention policy.Telegram provides flexible tools for automatic cache management that need to be activated once and forget about the problem.
In the "Memory Use" section we've been going to before, there's a "Storage Media" slider, set a value that's comfortable for your storage. For devices with 64 GB of storage, the best choice is 1-3 GB, and for flagships with 256 GB or more, you can leave 5-10 GB.
What happens after reaching the limit?
It is also recommended to disable auto-save media in the phone gallery. By default, Xiaomi saves all received images to the system gallery, creating duplicates. Turn off this feature in the Chats -> Save to the Gallery settings, selecting Never or leaving only important contacts.
Comparison of cleaning methods and their effect on the system
Different ways of freeing up space have their advantages and disadvantages. Understanding these differences will help you choose the best strategy for your Xiaomi smartphone use case. Below is a comparative method table.
| Method | Security | Speed. | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in cleaning | Tall. | Instantly. | Complete. |
| File manager | Medium | Long time. | Selective |
| Third-party cliners | Low. | Medium | Partial |
| Reinstallation | Tall. | Very long. | Maximum |
Using third-party software-cliner apps (Clean Master and analogues) on MIUI is often redundant and even harmful. Xiaomi’s system effectively manages background processes, and aggressive cliners can constantly unload Telegram from memory, forcing it to reload the cache, which only increases battery consumption.
Reinstallation of an application is a radical method that should only be used in case of serious malfunctions in the program, it ensures that all debris is removed, but it takes time to reconfigure and log in, and also consumes traffic to download all media again.
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The most efficient and safe way is to use the built-in cleaning function in combination with a cache size limit setting, which provides a balance between performance and free space.
Frequent errors and problems in cleaning
While maintaining Telegram, users often encounter typical errors that can nullify all efforts. One of the most common problems is trying to clear the cache through Android settings (Settings → Apps → Telegram → Memory → Clear the cache).
While technically possible, this method is less informative and does not allow for automatic deletion in the future.In addition, on some versions of MIUI, the clean button in system settings may be inactive or not work properly due to OS security limitations.
Another mistake is ignoring the Download folder. Even after clearing the messenger cache, files that you clearly saved (documents, APK-files, original photos, remain in the Downloads folder, and must be deleted separately through the file manager, as they are not considered cache.
⚠️ Note: Do not use the "Accelerate" function in third-party applications immediately after cleaning the cache. Give Xiaomi time to rebuild the file indexes, otherwise you may notice a temporary decrease in the speed of the interface.
If the storage capacity has not changed after cleaning, check if you have synced with Google Photos or Mi Cloud. Sometimes the system shows disk occupancy by counting the reserved space for cloud sync, rather than real files on the device.
Additional recommendations for optimizing Telegram on Xiaomi
For Xiaomi owners, there are specific settings that will help keep the application in check. First of all, check the permissions of the application. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Telegram → Permissions and make sure that access to memory is given, but access to other unnecessary functions is limited.
Also worth paying attention to is the "Extended Cleaner" feature in the standard "Security" app. Add Telegram to the exceptions if you use an aggressive memory cleaner mode so that the app doesn't crash every time you switch between windows.
Regularly reviewing chats will help keep order, by deleting the history of correspondence with bots that send heavy files, or using the Clear History feature for specific dialogues, which will delete media files from the cache of this particular chat without affecting the rest.
These chats use end-to-end encryption and are not stored on servers, so cleaning them is critical to privacy and free up space.Deleting the secret chat completely erases its history from both devices.
Compliance with these simple rules will allow your Redmi or POCO to work quickly, and Telegram will please the speed of downloading messages without taking up all available memory.