Smartphone owners Xiaomi Redmi sooner or later face an unpleasant situation: notifications about lack of space begin to appear at the most inopportune moment. This is not just an annoying factor, but also a real threat to the device’s performance, since full memory makes the system work slower and applications unload from RAM more often than usual. Modern shells HyperOS and MIUI provide powerful built-in tools, but often users do not know how to use them effectively or are afraid to delete something unnecessary.
In this article we will look in detail at all the ways to free up space on your gadget. From securely clearing the system cache to manually deleting forgotten files in hidden folders. We will show you how to identify hidden memory “eaters” and set up automatic optimization so that the problem does not return in the future.
Built-in optimization tools for MIUI and HyperOS
The first thing you need to do is use the standard application Securitypre-installed on all brand devices. This is not just an antivirus, but a full-fledged resource management tool. At startup, the system automatically scans the device for temporary files, remnants of deleted applications, and advertising junk.
However, automatic cleaning is often superficial. For deep cleaning, you need to go to the Cleaning section inside the application. Here you will see details by category: App Junk, Large Files, Unused Apps, and Duplicates. Particular attention should be paid to the section Deep cleaning, where the system offers to remove outdated installation packages .apkthat remain after updating apps.
Xiaomi also implemented a function "Cleaning Assistant" that learns your usage habits. If you regularly clean messengers, the system will prompt you to do this preventively. Do not ignore the recommendations, but always check the list of files before confirming the deletion, especially when it comes to attachments from work chats.
Enable automatic cleaning in the Security application settings so that the smartphone itself deletes temporary files once a week, without requiring your participation.
⚠️ Attention: When using the "Deep Cleaning" function, carefully read the names of the folders. Sometimes the system analyzer marks folders with game caches as garbage, although your saves or downloaded maps may be stored there.
The standard "Security" application removes up to 80% of visible garbage, but to completely unload the system requires manual work with media files and the messenger cache.
Analysis and removal of duplicate photos and videos
The majority of memory on modern smartphones is occupied by media files. Redmi cameras shoot in high definition, and 4K videos can weigh hundreds of megabytes per minute of recording. Often, users take several identical pictures “just in case” or download pictures from the Internet, forgetting about them.
The built-in File Manager tool has a special section Imageswhere you can sort files by size or date. A more advanced solution is to use the Duplicates section in the cleaning application. Algorithms HyperOS can find not only identical files, but also similar pictures taken several seconds apart (serial shooting).
Manual checking of the gallery is also necessary. Go to the album Screenshots i WhatsApp Images. This is where a huge number of advertising banners, memes and random images that are of no value accumulate. Deleting even 50 such files can free up several gigabytes if there is a video among them.
- 📸 Check the folder
DCIM/.thumbnails—thumbnails of photos are stored there, which can grow to gigabytes if the photo library is large. - 🎥 Sort videos by duration and delete unfortunate long entries that you never edited.
- 🗑️ Use the Trash function in the Gallery, but do not forget to empty it completely, since deleted files still take up space for 30 days.
Clearing the messenger cache: Telegram and WhatsApp
Messengers are the most aggressive consumers of memory. Applications like Telegram and WhatsApp by default save all received photos, videos and documents to internal storage. Over time, this cache can reach 10, 20 and even 50 gigabytes, turning the smartphone into a “brick” in terms of free memory.
In Telegram the situation is the easiest to correct. Go to Settings → Data and memory → Memory usage. Here you will see a "Store Media" slider. Set a limit, such as 3 days or 1 week. Also press the button Clear cache. This action is safe: all media files will remain on Telegram servers and will be downloaded back if necessary, but will only take up space when viewed again.
With WhatsApp the situation is more complicated, since the data storage architecture is different. The files are stored locally in the folder Android/media/com.whatsapp. Inside the application, go to Settings → Data and storage → Storage management. Here you can see which chats are taking up the most space and delete attachments selectively. Often it is group chats with active video sharing that cause overflow.
The path to manually deleting the WhatsApp cache (for advanced users):
Internal memory → Android → media → com.whatsapp → WhatsApp → Media
⚠️ Attention: Before clearing the messenger cache, make sure that important documents and photos are saved to the cloud or to your computer. Cleaning inside the application deletes files permanently if they are not uploaded to the cloud backup of the service.
Why does the messenger cache grow so quickly?
Messengers cache not only explicit files, but also thumbnails, voice messages and temporary files for fast scrolling tapes. With the active use of hundreds of chats, this “invisible” load becomes huge.
Management of applications and system garbage
In addition to media files, a significant part of the space is occupied by the applications themselves and their data. Social networks, browsers and games accumulate gigabytes of data over time. In the section Settings → Applications → All applications you can sort the list by the size of the space occupied.
Pay attention to applications that you rarely use. In MIUI there is a function called “App Archiving”, which removes the app from the device, but saves its data and icon on the desktop. When pressed again, the application is quickly restored. This is ideal for games that you enter once a month.
It is also worth checking out the section Autorun. Applications running in the background not only eat up the battery, but also constantly write logs and temporary files to the system. Disabling autorun for unnecessary apps will not only free up space in the long run, but also speed up your smartphone.
| Data type | Where it is located | Deletion security | Potential volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application cache | Settings → Applications | High (data is not lost) | 1-5 GB |
| Installation APK | Download / MIUI folder | High (if the application is installed) | 0.5-2 GB |
| Debug logs | System folders | Medium (requires rights) | Up to 1 GB |
| Gallery Trash | Album "Deleted" | Low (files will disappear forever) | Depends on the user |
Working with the Download folder and hidden files
The folder Download (Downloads) is a “black hole” in the memory of many users. Browsers, email clients and instant messengers often save everything there: from presentations in PDF format to installers of unknown origin. Regular auditing of this folder is required.
Use a file manager to sort the contents of the folder Download by size. Often there you can find forgotten archives, old versions of applications or videos downloaded a year ago. Files with or without an extension and strange names are often leftovers from interrupted downloads and can be safely deleted. .tmp or without an extension, with strange names, are often remnants of interrupted downloads and can be safely deleted.
Don't forget about the folder Android/obb. Cache files of heavy games are stored there. If you deleted a game, but the folder with its name remains, this garbage can take up several gigabytes. Manually check this directory and delete folders with the names of games that are no longer installed on the device.
☑️ Weekly Redmi cleaning
⚠️ Attention: Do not delete files from the root directory or system folders (for example,
MIUI,data) if you are not sure 100% in their purpose. This may lead to system failure or loss of personalization settings.
Install the "Cleaning" widget on your desktop. One tap on it starts a quick scan and removal of the most obvious garbage, which helps maintain cleanliness in the background.
Use of cloud services and data removal
If the internal physical memory is limited (for example, 64 or 128 GB), the best solution would be to transfer data to external storage. The ecosystem Xiaomi Cloud offers synchronization of contacts, notes and photos, but third-party solutions are better suited for large volumes of media.
Services like Google Photos, Yandex.Disk or Mail.ru Cloud allow you to set up automatic uploading of photos and videos and then deleting them from the phone's memory. The "Free up space" feature in Google Photos finds photos that are already saved in the cloud and deletes their local copy with one click.
For users who prefer local storage, buying a memory card microSD (if the Redmi model supports the slot) or using an OTG flash drive will do. You can transfer music, movies and archived photos to a memory card, leaving fast internal storage exclusively for the system and applications.
Transferring media files to the cloud or to an SD card is the only way to radically solve the problem of lack of space on devices with a small amount of internal memory without losing data.
Is it possible to delete the Android folder on Redmi?
You cannot completely delete the folder Android this will disrupt the operation of all installed applications. However, you can safely clear its subfolders cache and delete the contents of the folders of deleted games in the subsection obb.
Why does the memory fill up immediately after cleaning?
This happens due to the work of background processes and instant messengers, which instantly begin to cache new data. It is also possible that there are hidden system logs or an error in indexing media files. Try rebooting the device after cleaning.
How to clear "Other" in Redmi storage?
The "Other" category usually contains system files, application cache and data that the analyzer could not classify. Clearing the cache of all applications through settings and deleting old system updates helps reduce this partition.
Does full memory affect the charging speed?
No, the amount of occupied memory does not affect the charging speed of the battery. However, a critical lack of space (less than 500 MB) can slow down the processor and cause the device to overheat during intensive tasks.