How to turn off power saving mode on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Modern Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones, which run on the shell of MIUI or the new HyperOS, are famous for their energy efficiency. However, aggressive system optimization sometimes does more harm than good, especially when the user stops receiving important notifications from messengers or the navigator.

Many device owners face a situation where the app abruptly closes in the background, the GPS shuts down while driving, or the screen goes out too early, a direct consequence of the built-in charge-saving algorithms that the system prioritizes.

In this article, we will discuss in detail how to turn off power saving mode on Xiaomi to return the phone to the usual performance and stability of all services.

Why the system limits the work of applications

Xiaomi has implemented several battery protection layers that often conflict with the user’s needs: The main mechanism is the battery and performance, an integrated utility that monitors resource consumption with each running process.

When you're not interacting with the screen, the system tends to lull the background. This is normal for a calculator, but critical for a navigator or email client. The MIUI Optimization algorithm can force services it considers "heavy."

There is also the concept of deep sleep, where the phone restricts network activity for all but a select few programs, and understanding this logic is essential to properly configuring the device.

💡

If you’ve just upgraded to a new version of Android or MIUI, your energy saving settings may reset to factory values, so it’s worth checking again.

Global power-off savings in battery settings

The first and obvious step is to change the performance profile, so by default, the phone can be in "Balanced" or "Energy Saving" mode, and you need to switch it to full operation of all functions.

Go to Settings → Battery and Performance (or simply Battery). Here you will see a slider or mode selection. You need the Performance or Unlimited option.

It is worth noting that in the mode of maximum performance, the device can consume more energy and heat up more during intensive tasks, but the background processes will cease to “strangle” the system.

After the switch, the system can issue a warning about reducing battery life, which is a standard reaction that confirms that the restrictions are lifted.

Set up the behavior of individual applications

Global settings are only half the solution, and it often happens that the phone mode is turned off, but a particular application (like Telegram or WhatsApp) still does not send messages, which means that it has individual restrictions.

You need to find the program you want in the installed list and change the energy saving strategy, and the path may vary depending on the version of the shell, but the logic remains the same.

Go to Settings → Applications → All applications. Find the problem app in the list. Click on Battery or Energy Saving.

So here you'll see three options. You have to choose No limits. It's this parameter that allows the application to run in the background as long as it wants, ignoring the general rules of the system.

Remember to repeat this procedure for all important messengers, email clients and smartwatches if they are paired with a smartphone.

Managing Auto Start and Background Activities

In the MIUI-based Android ecosystem, there is a separate auto-start control mechanism, and even if you allow it to run in the background, the app can be blocked from starting after the phone is restarted.

Open the Safety app (green zipper icon) that is preinstalled on all smartphones of the brand. Go to the Permissions → AutoRun section.

Find the programs you want in the list and activate the switch in front of them, which ensures that the service will start immediately after the phone is turned on and will wait for events.

⚠️ Warning: Do not turn on auto-start for all applications in a row.This can lead to a noticeable decrease in interface speed and a rapid battery discharge in the first minutes after turning on the phone.

Also in the same menu Security is a permission point. → Background connection. Make sure that there's also a checkmark for important programs. Double checks for these parameters often solve the problem of "missing" messages.

Comparison of battery operating modes

To give you a better understanding of the difference between settings, we have prepared a table that shows the effect of different modes on the functionality of the device.

As you can see from the table, the Power Saving mode disables many features that can be critical for everyday use, such as vibration and background synchronization.

Balance mode is a compromise, but it is the one that most often causes notification problems for active users.

Solving GPS and navigation problems

A separate pain Xiaomi users experience is turning off GPS while navigating when the screen goes out, which is because the system considers the navigator a “heavy” application and tries to save charge by turning off the geolocation module.

To avoid this, it's not enough to just turn off the savings. You need to stop the system from "optimizing" the navigation. Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → Battery and performance.

Find your navigation app (Yandex.Navigator, Google Maps, 2GIS) in the list. Set the slider in the position No restrictions.

💡

For navigators, it is critically important not only to allow background work, but also to work with the screen turned off, if such an option is in the application itself.

Also check if the navigation mode is “Saving traffic” or “Battery Savings” that may conflict with the phone settings.

Additional screen settings and locks

Sometimes the problem is not the batteries, but the lock screen settings, and the lock screen function can limit the operation of widgets and live wallpaper, which is perceived by the user as a “brake” or shutdown functions.

Go to Settings → Always on screen and lock screen. Here it is worth turning off unnecessary animations if the phone is slow, but for our task it is important to check the access rights.

Some firmware versions have a feature called "Increase time to turn off the screen." Make sure it doesn't run at a minimum (15 seconds), or the phone will go out too quickly, creating the illusion of power-saving problems.

⚠️ Note: After resetting or updating the firmware, all of the above-described resolutions (autostart, background work) may fly.

Using Developer Mode for Advanced

For power users, there is a possibility of fine-tuning through the developer menu, which allows you to manage the dreams of applications at a deeper level than the standard menu.

Activate the developer menu by repeatedly clicking on the MIUI version in the About Phone section. Then go to Advanced Settings → Developer.

Find a section that's associated with background processes, and you can force the system to stop killing processes, but you need to be careful not to overload RAM.

Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (7 times) → For developers → Limit of background processes → No restrictions

This method is considered a "heavy artillery" and is recommended only if standard methods have not worked.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)