How to Clean WhatsApp on Xiaomi: From Cache to Hidden Files

WhatsApp messenger on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO smartphones eventually turns into a real “black box”: gigabytes of busy photos, low-resolution videos, duplicate stickers and an invisible cache eat up the device’s memory, while the standard deletion of chats through the application interface often does not solve the problem – files remain in hidden folders, and the MIUI system continues to show notifications about the memory shortage.

In this article, we will analyze all the ways to clean WhatsApp on Xiaomi - from basic (delete media files and chats) to advanced (manual cleaning of folders through the file manager, resetting cache through Settings). MIUI We will focus on hidden.nomedia files, which block the display of media in the gallery, but do not delete them from memory. MIUI 12-14 and HyperOS.

1. Basic Cleanup: Delete Chats and Media via WhatsApp

Start with the obvious, the built-in tools of the messenger, which is suitable if you need to free up 1-3 GB of memory without in-depth manipulation.

Open WhatsApp and go to ⋮ (three dots) → Settings → Memory and data. Here you will see the Memory Management section, where the app automatically sorts files by size.

• 📸 Photos and videos are typically up to 70% of the memory, and WhatsApp saves even files you haven't explicitly downloaded (e.g., from group chats).
• 🎵 Audio and voice - voice messages weigh little, but there can be thousands. Remove unnecessary ones through the "By size" filter → "More than 5MB."
• 📄 Documents — PDF, Excel, and other files often go unnoticed, but weigh tens of megabytes.

For mass removal:

1. Select a category (e.g., “Photo”).
2. Sort by size (⋮ → Sort by: Size).
3. Check the unneeded files and click 🗑️ Delete.

⚠️ Warning: Deleting files via WhatsApp does not clear them from the /WhatsApp/Media/ folder on the internal drive. A file manager will be required to clean them completely (see 3).

2. Clear WhatsApp cache via MIUI settings

WhatsApp cache on Xiaomi can take anywhere from 500 MB to 2 GB — temporary files, thumbnails, authorization data and other service items that can be deleted without risk to chat or media.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find WhatsApp in the list (use search if there are many apps).
3. Select Memory → Clear the cache.
4. For deep cleaning, click Clear all data, but note: this will remove all chats and settings (reinstallation equivalent).

If WhatsApp stops again after cleaning the cache, try turning off autoloading media:

• WhatsApp: Settings → Memory and data → Autoload media.
• Select “Never” for mobile data and Wi-Fi.
• Turn on the option “Save in the gallery” → Off so that new files do not duplicate.

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After cleaning the cache, restart the smartphone - this will help the MIUI system correctly recalculate free memory.

3. Manually delete WhatsApp files via file manager

The most effective way to free up memory is to manually delete unnecessary files from the /WhatsApp/ folder. Xiaomi will do this with a standard Files or a third-party manager (for example, Solid Explorer).

Path to the folder:

/storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/

Folder structure:

• 📁 Databases are chat backups (you can delete, but don’t restore the history when reinstalled).
• 📁 Media -- all the photos, videos, audio and documents, and it's where the garbage is most often accumulated.
• 📄.nomedia is a hidden file that blocks the display of media in the gallery. Deleting it does not free up memory!
• 📁 Stickers – Stickers (you can delete everything except the Animated folder if you use animation).

How to clean the Media folder:

1. Open /WhatsApp/Media/.
2. Go to the subfolders: WhatsApp Images – photo; WhatsApp Video – video; WhatsApp Animated Gifs – Gifs; WhatsApp Voice Notes – voice messages; WhatsApp Documents – documents.

Delete unnecessary files (you can sort by date or size).

⚠️ Warning: Do not delete the entire WhatsApp folder, it will cause the messenger to crash. Also do not touch files with the extension.crypt12 or.crypt14 are encrypted backups.

Make a backup of chats in Google Drive|Check the free space on the device|Close WhatsApp in Multitasking|Disable autosynchronization of media-->

4. Hidden files and.nomedia folder: why media is not deleted

Many Xiaomi users face a problem: once files are deleted via WhatsApp or file manager, memory is not released, due to hidden files and the mechanism of MIUI working with media.

The causes of “invisible” garbage:

1. The.nomedia file blocks the WhatsApp folder from being scanned by the system gallery, but it doesn't delete the files themselves. They stay on the disk and take up space.
2. Duplicates in the MIUI/Gallery/cloud folder – Xiaomi sometimes creates copies of media files to speed up downloads.
3. Cache thumbnails – folder /MIUI/Gallery/thumbnails can weigh up to 1 GB.

How to delete hidden files:

1. Enable the display of hidden files in the file manager (⋮ → Settings → Show hidden files).
2. Go to /WhatsApp/Media/ and delete the.nomedia file (it will reappear after WhatsApp restarts, but that’s fine).
3. Search /MIUI/Gallery/ for files with the.thumb or.jpg extension and delete them.
4. Restore Chats: Open WhatsApp again and log in via SMS. During the recovery phase, select a backup from Google Drive.

This method helps in cases of:

• 🔄 WhatsApp is constantly restarted.
• 📱 No notifications are received;
• 📎 Files are not downloaded (the “failure to download” error)
• 🔒 Hanging on the boot screen.

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WhatsApp data reset does not delete media files from the /WhatsApp/Media/ folder, but resets all settings (themes, notifications, account binding).

6.Alternative methods: Background activity shutdown and MIUI Optimization

On Xiaomi smartphones, WhatsApp can consume memory and battery even in the background to limit its activity:

Autostart shutdown:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → WhatsApp.
2. Select AutoRun → Disable.
3. In the Permissions section, turn off AutoRun in the background.

Limiting battery consumption:

• In Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Consumption Management.
• Find WhatsApp and select “Limit background activity”.

Disable MIUI Optimization (for experienced users):

MIUI Optimization sometimes conflicts with WhatsApp, causing lags or notification issues to turn it off:

1. Enable Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times).


2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers.




3. Find the option "MIUI Optimization" and turn it off.




4. Reboot the smartphone.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling MIUI Optimization may cause some system functions (e.g. gestures or animations) to function in an unstable manner.

7.Extreme measures: reinstalling WhatsApp and resetting MIUI

If none of the methods worked, radical steps remain: completely reinstalling WhatsApp or resetting MIUI settings.

Reinstall WhatsApp:

1. Create a backup of chats (see Section 5).
2. Remove WhatsApp via Settings → Apps.
3. Delete /WhatsApp/ folder manually (via file manager).
4. Install WhatsApp from Google Play and restore chats.

Reset MIUI settings (without data loss):

This method cleans the system cache and temporary files without affecting user data:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Reset All Settings (not to be confused with Delete All Data!).
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

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Before resetting MIUI, write down or take pictures of important settings (e.g., APN settings for mobile internet).

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning WhatsApp on Xiaomi