How to reduce the weight of photos on your phone Xiaomi: from built-in tools to professional applications

Photos on modern Xiaomi smartphones are taking up more and more space: a camera with a resolution of 48 MP, 108 MP or even 200 MP creates images weighing 10 to 30 MB each. This quickly clogs the device’s memory, complicates sending to messengers and slows backup. Fortunately, you can reduce the weight of photos on Xiaomi both standard means of MIUI and with the help of third-party applications – without any visible loss of quality.

In this article, we’ll look at 7 proven ways, from built-in camera and gallery features to advanced batch processing tools, and focus on the nuances for models ranging from the budget Redmi Note to the flagship Xiaomi 14.

1. Customize the quality of the photo in the camera Xiaomi

The easiest way to reduce the weight of future photos is to change the resolution and format of the shooting directly in the Camera app. This is true for all models on MIUI 12-14, including POCO, Redmi and Mi. Importantly, the settings apply only to new pictures, already taken photos will have to be compressed separately.

How to change the parameters:

• 📱 Open the Camera app and tap on ⚙️ Settings (or swipe up/down on the screen in photo mode).
• 🔍 Find the photo resolution section (may be called aspect ratio or photo quality).
• 📉 Choose a lower resolution: 9 MP (16:9) — optimally for social networks; 12 MP (4:3) — balance of quality and weight; 48 MP/108 MP – only if you need the maximum detailer (weight up to) 25 MB).
• 🔄 Turn on the option. HEIF/HEIC (If available, this format compresses the photo into 2 more effectively JPEG lossless.

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On models with a 200 MP camera (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra), there can be a separate 200 MP → 50 MP switch in the settings to reduce the weight of the shots.

Example of saving space:

⚠️ Attention: Format HEIC It is not supported by some messengers (for example, VK) And then you have to convert these photos to social media before you send them. JPEG.

2. Compress photo through the standard gallery Xiaomi

If photos are already taken, they can be compressed directly in the Gallery app (or Photos in newer versions of MIUI).The feature is available on all models, including the Redmi 9A, POCO X3 and Xiaomi 12T. The main advantage is that you do not need to install third-party programs.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Gallery and select a photo (or more, holding your finger on the screen).
2. Tap on. ⋮ → Export (or share in older versions).
3. Select Squeeze and Send (may be called Size Down).
4. Specify the target quality: 📌 Small size (~300-500 KB, suitable for messengers); 📌 Average size (~1-2 MB, for social networks); 📌 Big size (~3-5 MB, minimum quality loss).

Save.

Compressed

Selected all photos | Sufficient room to save copies | Specified the correct compression level | Compressed folder is not hidden in the settings-->

Limitations of the method:

• 🚫 You cannot set the exact size or resolution;
• 🚫 No batch compression support for hundreds of photos;
• 🚫 Quality is deteriorating more than in specialized applications.

3. Photo compression apps: TOP-5 for Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s standard tools are suitable for one-off tasks, but if you need to process dozens of photos regularly, you’d better use third-party apps. We tested the top 5 on the Redmi Note 12 and POCO F5 models – all work stable and do not overload the system.

Comparative table:

Selection recommendations:

• 🔹 For maximum compression (for example, to send over WhatsApp) – Photo Compress 2.0;
• 🔹 For batch processing without loss - Lit Photo;
• 🔹 To modify the permission (e.g., with the 4032×3024 on 1920×1080) — Resize Me!.

4. Automatic photo compression when synchronized with the cloud

If you use Mi Cloud, Google Photos, or other cloud services, you can set up automatic compression when you upload, which eliminates the need to process photos manually. Consider setting up Google Photos (the most versatile option for Xiaomi).

How to turn on:

1. Install Google Photos from the Play Market.
2. Open the app and tap on the profile avatar → Photo settings.
3. Select the download quality:

Backup and synchronization

Important: when choosing the option "High quality" photos are compressed to a resolution of 16 MP, even if the original was 48 MP or 108 MP. This reduces the weight of 3-5 times without visible losses on the screen of the smartphone.

⚠️ Note: There is no automatic compression option in the Mi Cloud. All photos are uploaded in original quality, so to save space, it is better to use Google Photos or Yandex Drive with similar settings.

5. Compression of photos via PC: when you need maximum quality

If you want to compress photos from Xiaomi without loss or with fine-tuning settings, you should do it on a computer, such as Adobe Photoshop, GIMP (free), or online services like TinyPNG.

Instructions for Photoshop (relevant to the 2020-2026 versions):

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC via USB (select File Transfer Mode in the notification curtain).
2. Copy the photo onto the computer.
3. Open the image in Photoshop.
4. Select File → Export → Save for Web (Old) or Export as...
5. Set up the parameters: 🖼️ Format: JPEG WebP (the latter compresses better); 📊 Quality: 60-80% (optimum for social networks); 🔍 Size: Specify width/height (e.g. 1920 px for Full) HD).

5-10 times

For quick compression without installing programs, use TinyPNG:

• 🌐 Drag the photo to the site (maximum 20 pieces at a time);
• 🔍 Wait for processing (compression to 70-80% without visible losses);
• 💾 Download the archive with optimized photos.

6. Photo optimization for messengers and social networks

Each messenger and social network has its own restrictions on weight and resolution of photos. For example, Telegram compresses images above 10 MB, and WhatsApp - over 16 MB. To avoid automatic deterioration of quality, optimize the photo for a specific platform in advance.

Recommended settings:

How to quickly prepare a photo for Instagram on Xiaomi:

1. Open the photo in the gallery → Edit.
2. Select the Trimming and set the ratio 1:1 (square) or 4:5 (portrait).
3. Slip Save as a copy.
4. Use Photo Compress 2.0 to compress to 1-2MB.

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For Instagram Stories, the optimal resolution is 1080×1920 px (vertical). If you upload a photo with a different ratio, the platform will crop it up or add black fields.

7. Additional tips for saving space

In addition to photo compression, Xiaomi can free up space in other ways related to media files:

• 🗑️ Cleaning up the camera cache: Go to Settings → Annexes → Camera. → Memory. → Clear the cache.This will delete temporary files weighing up to 500MB.
• 📁 Transfer the photo to the memory card: in the Gallery, select a photo → ⋮ → Move it → SD-map.
• ☁️ Automatic upload to the cloud: Enable autosynchronization with Google Photos or Mi Cloud and delete local copies after downloading.
• 🔄 Turning off takes: In the Gallery tap Albums → Duplicate and delete repeated images.
• 🎥 Video compression: Video takes up even more space. Use Video Compress (available on the Play Market) to reduce the weight of the videos.

For models with MIUI+ support (such as Xiaomi 13 or Redmi K60), you can configure automatic memory optimization:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → MIUI+.
2. Turn on the option of memory optimization.
3. Select to delete unused files automatically.

⚠️ Note: On some models POCO (for example, POCO X5 Pro) function MIUI+ In this case, use Google Files to clean up your memory.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo compression on Xiaomi