Xiaomi’s Multitasking Menu: A Complete Guide to Use and Setup

If you own a Xiaomi smartphone, you've probably noticed how often you have to switch between apps. MIUI There's a special multitasking menu, a tool that allows you to not only switch between tasks quickly, but also manage their work, but many users use it only at 20% of the possibilities, without even knowing about the hidden features.

In this article, we will discuss what is the multitasking menu on Xiaomi, how to open it correctly (including on different versions). MIUI And we'll also talk about little-known things that can save battery life and speed up the system.

Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned user, after reading this, you will be able to use Xiaomi’s multitasking experience to the maximum.

What is a multitasking menu and why is it necessary?

The Multitasking Menu (or Recent Apps) is a system tool that displays all the recently used applications. MIUI It performs several key functions:

• 🔄 Quickly switch between tasks without returning to the home screen.
• ❌ Closing unnecessary applications that waste resources.
• 🔒 Fix important tasks so they don’t end up accidentally.
• 📱 Control of split screen (on supported models).

Unlike pure Android, where the multitasking menu is often a simple card list, the multitasking menu is a simple, multitasking menu. MIUI It has advanced capabilities:

• 🔍 See screenshots of the app screen (on some versions).
• 📊 View the statistics of memory usage and CPU.
• 🔄 Use gestures to quickly close all tasks.

It's important to understand that the multitasking menu is not just an open-app list; it's your smartphone's performance control center, for example, if you notice your phone is slowing down, the first thing you should do is look in here and close down the resource-intensive processes.

How to open the multitasking menu on different Xiaomi models

How to open the menu depends on the version MIUI, So, you know, the model of a smartphone, and even whether you use navigation buttons or gestures.

1.On smartphones with physical/touch buttons (MIUI 10 and below)

If your Xiaomi is equipped with classic buttons (Back, Home, Recent), the multitasking menu opens as follows:

• 📱 Click once on the square button (Recent) at the bottom of the screen.
• 🔄 Hold her down. 2-3 seconds to see advanced options (e.g., clearing all tasks).

2.On smartphones with gestures (MIUI 11, 12, 13, 14 and HyperOS)

Modern Xiaomi models (for example, Redmi Note 12, Xiaomi 13, POCO F5) They use gesture control to open the multitasking menu:

• 👆 Swipe your finger up from the bottom of the screen and hold it for a second.
• 🔄 Or make a quick swipe up and left/right (on some firmware).

If the gestures don’t work, check the settings:

1. Go to Settings → Display → Navigation buttons.
2. Choose full-screen gestures or gestures MIUI.
3. Make sure that the menu of recent applications is enabled.

3. Features on tablets and foldable smartphones (Xiaomi Pad, Mix Fold)

On larger-screen devices (such as the Xiaomi Pad 6 or Mix Fold 3), the multitasking menu may work differently:

• 🖥️ On tablets, swipe up opens the menu, but with horizontal scrolling of cards.
• 📱 On foldable smartphones with the screen deployed, an extended menu with multi-window support can be displayed.

On the Xiaomi Pad 6 and new foldable models, the multitasking menu supports drag-and-drop: you can drag and drop apps to create pairs in split mode.

Hidden Multitasking Menu Features You Didn't Know About

Most users are limited to basic functions: open, close, switch. MIUI There are a few hidden opportunities that make multitasking much more convenient.

Fixing of applications (task fixing)

If you want an important app (like Google Maps or Telegram) to not be accidentally closed when you clean the menu, you can pin it to:

1. Open the multitasking menu.
2. Find the right application and make a long press on his card.
3. Select Secure (pin icon) 📌).

Now the app will remain on the menu even after clicking Clear Everything.

2. Split screen (multi-window)

On many Xiaomi models (starting with the MIUI 12) the split screen mode is maintained to activate it:

1. Open the multitasking menu.
2. Click on the app icon (at the top of the card) and select Split screen.
3. Select the second app from the list.

Now, both apps will work simultaneously. To resize the windows, pull the dividing line.

3. Rapid memory cleanup

If the phone starts to brake, you don't have to close each app individually. MIUI There are several ways to instantly clean up:

• 🧹 Swipe up the application card (on some firmware).
• 🗑️ Click on the basket icon (Clean everything) at the bottom of the menu.
• 🔄 Retention of the Recent button (on button devices).

Be careful, though: closing all tasks isn’t always helpful. MIUI It optimizes the background processes itself, and forced cleaning can even increase battery consumption, as applications will have to reboot.

💡

If you often have to clear the multitasking menu, check apps for viruses or updates.Frequent brakes can be associated with malware or outdated firmware.

4. Review of usage statistics

In the multitasking menu, you can see how many resources each application consumes:

1. Open the menu of recent tasks.
2. Press three points (⋮) top-right.
3. Select Application Information or Statistics.

Here you'll see:

• 📊 Use of the CPU.
• 🗃️ Busy memory (RAM).
• ⚡ Battery consumption.

This information will help identify “gluttonous” applications that should be closed or restricted.

How to set up a multitasking menu for yourself

V MIUI There are a few parameters that allow you to customize the multitasking menu.

1. Change in the number of cards displayed

By default, the menu shows a limited number of recent apps, to increase this limit:

1. Go to Settings → Special features → System settings.
2. Find the item Number of recent tasks (on some firmware it may be called the Multitasking Limit).
3. Choose between 5 and 20 (depending on the model).

Keep in mind that too many cards can slow down animation when you open the menu.

2. Shutdown of animation

If you don’t like smooth transitions when opening the menu, you can turn them off:

1. Activate Developer Mode (click 7 times on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone).
2. Go to Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Find options: Animation windows → Transition animation. → Shut down.

This will speed up the opening of the menu, but make the interface less smooth.

3. Customize gestures for multitasking

If you are uncomfortable using standard gestures, you can reconfigure them:

1. Go to Settings → Display → Full-screen gestures.
2. Choose MIUI Gestures or Android Gestures (depending on your preferences).
3. Customize the swipe sensitivity or return the classic buttons.

Some firmware also has a dual-press lock option, which allows you to quickly fold all applications.

💡

Customizing gestures is one of the most effective ways to speed up multitasking, with a swipe up late to open the menu and a quick swipe left/right to switch between the last two apps.

Problems with the multitasking menu and their solution

Sometimes the multitasking menu may not work properly, like not opening, slowing down, or displaying blank cards, and we'll look at the most common problems and their solutions.

1.The menu does not open or slows down

If the swipe up doesn’t work or the menu opens with a delay, try:

• 🔄 Reboot your phone (often helps with temporary crashes).
• 📱 Clear the system cache: Go to Settings → Annexes → Application management. Press three dots (⋮) and select Show System. Find Launcher (or MIUI Launcher) and clear the cache.

Reset your gesture settings

1. Go to Settings → Display → Navigation buttons.
2. Choose a different type of control, then go back to the gestures.

2. Apps are not displayed in the menu

If an app doesn’t appear on the list of recent tasks, the reasons may be:

• 🔒 The application is hidden from multitasking (for example, some banking applications).
• 🛠️ In the developer settings included item Do not save actions for this application.
• 🐞 Failure to work MIUI Launcher (will help clean the cache, as described above).

3.The menu opens by accident

If the multitasking menu is activated when you normally scrolle the screen, the problem may be:

• 👆 Too sensitive gestures (set the trigger threshold in Settings) → Display. → Full-screen gestures).
• 📱 Damaged display (if the screen responds to touch without pressing).
• 🔧 Conflict with the shell (try to change the launcher to a standard one).

💡

If the menu opens when swiping up in apps (like Instagram or Chrome), try using the swipe up and hold gesture instead of a simple swipe.

Comparison of the multitasking menu in MIUI and other shells

The multitasking menu in MIUI It has its own characteristics compared to other shells. EMUI (Huawei), One UI (Samsung) and “clean” Android.

As you can see from the table, MIUI It offers one of the most functional options for the multitasking menu, especially when compared to pure Android. UI maybe more comfortable.

Main advantage MIUI — It's a flexibility of customization. You can customize the menu to your needs, which you can't do on most other shells.

How the Multitasking Menu Affects Performance and Battery

Many users think that cleaning up the multitasking menu often saves battery life and speeds up the phone, but that's not always the case. Let's see how the menu actually affects performance.

Myth: "Closing apps saves battery"

Actually, MIUI It optimizes the background processes itself. When you close the application manually:

• ⚡ It restarts the next time it opens, which consumes more energy than if it were left in the background.
• 🗃️ The system unloads the cache, which makes the application longer to load.

The exception is resource-intensive applications (games, video editors), which are really worth closing after use.

💡

To really save the battery, it is better to turn on the Battery mode in Settings → Battery and performance and limit background activity for individual applications.

2. when you really need to clean the menu

There are several cases where manual cleaning is warranted:

• 🎮 After games or heavy applications (e.g. Genshin Impact, Lightroom).
• 🐢 If the phone is noticeably slowing down (but first check the free memory in Settings). → Memory).
• 🔄 Update the system (to avoid conflicts).