How to completely clean the Xiaomi Redmi smartphone: from cache to factory settings

Xiaomi Redmi smartphones are known for their price-performance ratio, but even the most powerful models eventually start to slow down. The main reason is filled memory, overloaded cache and fragmented system files. If your Redmi Note 12, Redmi 10C or other model has become slower to work, often overheats or gives notifications of memory shortages, it’s time to conduct a deep cleanup.

In this article, we'll take you through all the ways you can clean up from manual garbage removal to factory reset, how to safely free up space without losing important data, which apps are best left out, and what to do if your smartphone freezes during cleaning, and also unique techniques for models with MIUI 14 and later, where standard methods may not work because of a modified interface.

1. Diagnostics: what exactly takes up memory on Xiaomi Redmi

Before you start cleaning, it's important to understand which files are clogging up memory. MIUI has a built-in storage analyzer, but it doesn't always show the full picture. Here's how to check in detail:

Open Settings → Memory (or Storage in newer versions). The system will automatically scan the device and show the allocation of memory into categories: applications, multimedia, cache, system files, and more.

• 📱 Applications: especially those that weigh more than 500 MB (social networks, games, instant messengers).
• 📸 Media files: photos in DCIM, Videos in Movies, downloads from Telegram or WhatsApp.
• 🗑️ Cash and garbage: temporary files, remnants of deleted programs, log files.
• 🔄 Duplicate: MIUI Often creates copies of photos when editing (folder.thumbnails).

If the Other section is more than 5-10 GB, it's a worrying sign.

• 📂 Remnants of Remote Applications (Folders in the /Android/data/).
• 🔍 Log files of the system (/data/log/).
• 📄 Update files (/cache/ or /data/ota_package/).

⚠️ Note: Do not manually delete files from folders /system/ or /vendor/ — This can lead to the collapse of the system and the need for flashing.

2.Cache cleaning: safe and efficient

Cache speeds up applications, but eventually it turns into digital garbage. There are two types of cache in MIUI: applications and Dalvik cache.

Clearing the cache of individual applications

The safest method is to remove cache for specific programs:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select an app (such as Facebook or Google Play Store).
3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.

For mass cleaning:

1. In the same section, App Management click on three dots (⋮) top-right.
2. Select Sort by size.
3. Clear the cache for all applications that are over 100MB.

Dalvik cache cleaning (for power users)

This cache is responsible for optimizing Java applications, and cleaning it can speed up the system, but it needs to be rebooted, and you can do this through Recovery mode:

Turn off your smartphone.|Press the power button. + Loudness up|Choose Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache|Confirm the action.|Reset the device-->

If you have a MIUI 14+, the path may be different: Wipe Data → Advanced Wipe → Dalvik Cache.

⚠️ Note: Do not confuse Wipe Cache with Wipe Data – the second action will erase all data on the device!

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After cleaning the Dalvik cache, the first turn on the smartphone can take up to 5-10 minutes - this is normal, the system reassembles the cache again.

3. Delete unnecessary files and duplicates

Photos, videos and downloads are the main memory eaters, and MIUI has built-in tools to clean them up, but they're not always effective.

3.1 Clearing through File Manager

Open the Files app and go to Cleanup. The system automatically finds:

• 🗑️ Large files (over 50 MB).
• 📁 Empty folders.
• 📄 Duplicate photos (including screenshots with the same content).
• 🎵 Audio files without metadata (for example, voice messages from messengers).

Pay special attention to the folders:

• 📥 Download – here accumulate files from browsers and instant messengers.
• 📷 DCIM/.thumbnails — Photos that can be safely removed.
• 🎮 Android/obb — Game files (e.g. Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile can weigh several GB).

3.2 Search for hidden "junk" files

Some apps (like TikTok or Likee) create hidden folders with cache to see them:

1. In Files, click three dots (⋮) → Settings → Enable Showing Hidden Files.
2. Check folders: /Android/data/ – this is where application data is stored. /MIUI/ – system log files. /Tencent/ – cache of games and social networks (for example, WeChat or PUBG Mobile).

⚠️ Note: Only delete files with cache, temp, log or backup in their name. folders with names like com.whatsapp or com.facebook.orca contain important messenger data!

4. MIUI Optimization: Disabling Unnecessary Functions

MIUI is known for its abundance of background processes that devour memory and battery power, and shutting down some of them will free up up to 1-2 GB of space and speed up work.

Disabling system applications

Many preinstalled apps (Mi Video, Mi Music, GetApps) cannot be removed, but you can disable:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Press three points (⋮) → Show all the processes.
3. Select an unnecessary application (such as Mi Pay) → Disable.

Limitation of background activity

MIUI aggressively keeps apps in memory even when they're not needed.

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Management.
2. Select App Choices → Find resource-intensive programs (like Facebook or Instagram).
3. Set a limit: Limit background activity.

For MIUI 14+, the path is different: Settings → Applications → Permissions → Autorun – disable autorun for unnecessary programs.

5. Reset to factory settings: when and how to do

If all previous methods fail, a hard reset will delete all data, including photos, contacts and apps, so make sure to back up!

5.1 Resetting through settings

The safest way is:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Erase all data (reset to factory settings).
3. Enter the password (if installed) and confirm the action.

5.2. Reset via Recovery (if the smartphone is not turned on)

If the device is getting stuck or does not respond to touch:

1. Turn off your smartphone (clip Power + Volume up for 10 seconds).
2. Hold Power + Volume up until the Mi logo appears.
3. From the Recovery menu, select Wipe Data → Wipe All Data.
4. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

⚠️ Note: On models with a locked bootloader (for example, the Redmi Note 11 for the European market), a reset via Recovery may require you to enter a password from Mi Account»!

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After reset, the first thing to do is turn off automatic application recovery in Settings → Google → Backup, otherwise junk programs will return back.

6.Alternative methods: ADB and third-party utilities

For advanced users, there are cleaning methods that don’t require root rights, but give more control.

6.1 Cleaning through ADB (no root)

With Android Debug Bridge, you can remove unnecessary system applications or cache:

1. Install ADB Tools on your PC.
2. Turn on USB Debugging on your smartphone (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version – press 7 times, then go back to Additional Settings → For Developers).
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC and execute commands: adb shell pm list packages -f | grep 'miui' adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.videoplayer # example of deleting Mi Video

List of safe packet removal:

• 🎬 com.miui.videoplayer — Mi Video.
• 🎵 com.miui.player — Mi Music.
• 🛒 com.xiaomi.market — GetApps.
• 📡 com.duokan.phone.remotecontroller — Mi Remote.

6.2 Third-party cleaning utilities

If you don’t want to mess with ADB, try these apps (available on Google Play):

• 🧹 SD Maid – Finds Remnants of Remote Programs and Duplicates.
• 🗑️ Files by Google – a simple interface for cleaning garbage.
• 🔍 CCleaner – clears the cache and manages the autoload.

⚠️ Please do not use “optimizers” like Clean Master or DU Speed Booster – They often install advertising software and become a source of garbage themselves.

7.How to prevent re-clogging of memory

To avoid cleaning your smartphone every week, follow these rules:

• 📱 Turn off automatic download of media in messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram).
• 🔄 Set up automatic cleaning in Settings → Memory. → Autocleaning.
• 📁 Use cloud storage (Google Photos, Mi Cloud) to back up your photos.
• 🚫 Do not install apps from unknown sources – they often contain hidden debris.
• 🔋 Update regularly MIUI — In new versions optimized work with memory.

For models with a small amount of memory (32-64 GB), it is recommended:

• 🎮 Install games on a memory card (if supported).
• 📸 Store photos in a compressed format (in Google Photos, select High Quality instead of Original Photos»).
• 📱 Disable interface animation (Settings) → Additionally. → For developers → The scale of window animation (Disable)).

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up Xiaomi Redmi