How to Clean Everything From Xiaomi Phone: From Cache to Complete Reset

Many smartphone owners face a situation where once-fast devices start to run slower and notifications of space shortages appear with alarming regularity. Android, which runs the MIUI and HyperOS shells, accumulates gigabytes of temporary files, remnants of remote applications and erroneous logs over time. This is a natural process that requires periodic user intervention to maintain high performance of the gadget.

There are several levels of cleanup, from securely deleting temporary files to radical resets to factory settings. The choice of method depends on your ultimate goal of just making room or getting your phone ready for sale. It's important to understand that deep cleanup affects personal data, so you need to be clear about the difference between removing garbage and fully formatting internal memory.

In this article, we will take a look at all the tools available to optimize space on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones. We will go from using built-in utilities to applying engineering codes and recovery modes. Proper use of these methods will allow you to return the device to factory speed without the need to buy new equipment.

Use of the built-in Security application

The easiest and safest way to start cleaning is to use a standard application that is pre-installed on every device in the company.Security has access to system partitions that ordinary file managers cannot penetrate, making it an effective tool for primary diagnostics.

To start the procedure, you need to open the application and click on the large green Clean button. The system automatically scans the device, finds the cache, advertising files and remnants of deleted programs. After scanning, you will see a list of categories that occupy space, and you can selectively remove the unnecessary.

• 🧹 Cache Clearing: Deletes temporary application files that often inflate to gigabyte sizes.
• 📦 Large File Analysis: Helps you find and delete forgotten videos or archives that take up a lot of space.
• 📱 Application management: allows you to quickly remove rarely used programs with one click.

However, it is worth remembering that automatic cleaning does not always delete everything that is superfluous. Some files can be marked as important even if you do not need them, so after an automatic scan, it is recommended to manually check the Documents and Downloads sections to make sure that there is no critical data.

Manual cleaning through File Manager

A more advanced method of controlling the device’s memory involves manually working with the standard File Manager application, which requires more care, but allows you to get rid of specific garbage that automatic scanners ignore, especially in the folders of instant messengers.

Inside the Android file system, special attention should be paid to the Android/data and Android/obb folders. It stores cached data from games and heavy applications. Deleting the contents of these folders for already remote games is safe and frees up a significant amount of space.

⚠️ Be very careful when deleting files in the folder Android/data Deleting this data can result in resetting game progress or loss of settings in programs.

Also prominent are social media folders like Telegram or WhatsApp, which store copies of every image and video ever received, and cleaning Images and Video folders regularly inside messenger directories is the most efficient way to quickly free up a few gigabytes.

Cleaning through Recovery Mode

If your phone is unstable or you want to do a deep cleanup of your system cache without deleting your personal data, you can use Recovery Mode, a special diagnostic mode built into the firmware that allows you to perform service operations.

To enter this mode, you need to turn off your smartphone completely. Then press the volume button and the power button at the same time. Hold them until the Mi logo appears, after which a menu with a black background and a few lines of text opens.

Navigation in the menu is done with volume buttons (up/down), and the choice of item is confirmed by the power button. You need to find the Wipe Data item and select the Wipe Cache option. This action is safe for your photos and contacts, it removes only system debris.

After cleaning the cache, select Reboot to restart the device as normal, and the first run may take longer than usual, as the system will reassemble the cache.

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If the buttons in Recovery mode don’t respond, try connecting the phone to a charger or computer – sometimes this will activate the touchscreen or buttons in the engineering menu.

Full reset to factory settings (Hard Reset)

The radical method that solves all software problems and completely cleanses the phone is Hard Reset, which returns the device to the “out of the box” state, removing absolutely all user data, accounts, applications and files.

You can reset through the settings menu. Go to About Phone, select Reset and click "Erase All Data." The system will request confirmation and input of the unlock password.

⚠️ Note: Before performing a complete reset, be sure to remove SIM-microSD card and memory card: Formatting may affect external drives if they are defined as part of internal memory.

The alternative is through the Recovery menu mentioned above, in which case you can select Wipe Data → Wipe All Data, which is often necessary if the phone is locked or not loading normally.

An important aspect is protecting your Google account and your Mi Account, and if you're not logged out before you reset, when you turn on, your phone will require you to enter the password from the last account you used, which is an anti-theft measure, and it's almost impossible to get around it without a password.

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Hard Reset is the only solution when you infect your phone with miner viruses or when you sell your device, as it ensures that all traces of your activity are removed.

Cleaning through computer and ADB

For advanced users, there is a way to clean the system with a computer and debug over USB. Using the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) toolkit allows you to remove system debris and even remove embedded applications that cannot be removed by standard methods.

To start, you need to activate the developer mode. To do this, go to Settings → About the phone and quickly press 7 times on the MIUI Version (or OS Version).

Turn on the USB debugging option and connect the phone to your computer. The PC must have drivers and platform toules installed. The commands are entered at the command line or terminal.

adb shell pm clear com.android.browser


adb shell pm clear com.miui.securitycenter

These commands clear the cache of specific system applications, and you can use the adb shell pm list packages to find the names of the packets you want to clear or delete. Be careful: removing critical system packages can lead to a “boot loop.”

Prevention and optimization of storage

To avoid having to do a complete cleaning often, you should adhere to certain rules of operation of the smartphone. Regular maintenance takes less time than dealing with the consequences of overcrowded memory.

Use cloud services like Google Photos or Mi Cloud, with automatic sync and local copy removal, which allows you to store archives online, leaving only thumbnails or recent pictures on your phone.

• 📉 Disable autoload: in instant messengers, prohibit automatic saving of media files to the gallery.
• 🔄 Update apps: Developers often optimize cache size in new software versions.
• 🗑️ Remove downloads: Make it a rule to clean the Downloads folder once a week).

Also worth noting is the memory extension feature that new models have, which uses some of the internal memory as RAM, and if you have enough physical RAM (8 GB or more), it's best to turn it off so you don't wear it down with unnecessary write cycles.

⚠️ Note: Do not install "accelerators" and "cleaners" from third-party sources. MIUI already has a built-in mechanism, and third-party programs are often the source of advertising and slow down the system.

Following these simple guidelines will allow your Xiaomi device to run fast and stable throughout its lifespan.Memory is a resource that requires management, and now you know all the tools you need to do it.