Where to look for push notifications on Xiaomi Android phone: a full guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a situation where important messages from banks, messengers or delivery services do not appear on the lock screen or disappear from the notification center.This can be due to the aggressive energy saving system of the MIUI or HyperOS shell, as well as the confusing menu structure, where the alert settings are scattered across different sections. Understanding where to look for the push notifications is key to effective use of the device.

In this article, we will take a closer look at all the possible places where your aerials may be hiding, and we will also look at how to set up a system to ensure that messages are delivered, covering content concealment, managing curtains, and solving typical problems with the background of Android applications.

Xiaomi’s smartphone alert system has its own specifics: Unlike pure Android, there are many additional filters and categories, and if you don’t see a message that arrives, it doesn’t always mean it’s crashing — it may just be moved to a special folder or locked by security.

Control and notification curtain

The first and most obvious place where the user is looking for information is at the top of the screen. Current versions of the MIUI 12/13/14 and HyperOS have a so-called Control Center, which is visually and functionally separated from the standard notification curtain. To open the list of all the incoming pus, you need to swipe down from the top left corner of the screen (or throughout the area if the classic style is included).

This shows active notifications grouped by application, and the important thing is that you can fold down less important ads, and if you see a Show All button or arrow down below a group of messages, some of them are hidden to save space, and there are often tabs at the top of the curtain, like All, Unread, or categories like Social Networks and Ads.

Notice the gear icon or the three dots in the top right corner of the curtain, and you click on them and you'll be taken to the Notification Management menu, which is where you can force a story to be opened if the current allerts have been swiped but not read inside the app. In some versions of the software, this feature is called Notification History and must be activated separately.

Note that lock screens may have different behaviors. In Settings → Lock screen, you can set the display format to show the icon and text, only the icon, or hide the content completely. If you have the Hide Content option enabled, the push notifications will only be visible after unlocking the device or entering the pin code.

Non-Important folder and spam filters

One of the most common causes of missing messages is automatic sorting by Xiaomi’s security system. Message aggregator and Security Antivirus often classify emails, SMS from services, and even some system ads as unwanted.

To find these hidden messages, open the standard Messages app (an envelope icon). In the upper right corner, click on the menu (three dots or profile) and select Spam and Lock or Non-Important. This stores SMS and, in some cases, notifications from applications that the system has deemed suspicious or promotional.

⚠️ Warning: Check the Spam folder periodically, as it may include bank confirmation codes or important notifications from delivery services that the system mistakenly considered advertising.

There is also a separate category of notifications within the apps themselves, such as the Mi Browser or GetApps app settings, which have their own internal push lists. If you receive notifications from these services but they are not in the general curtain, check the settings inside the source app itself.

To fine-tune the filters, go to the Security app (green zipper icon). Find the Antispam section. Here you can see statistics of blocked calls and messages, and configure filters to smartly detect spam. By disabling aggressive filters, you will return some of the notifications to the general stream.

Notification settings for specific applications

If you don’t see a fluff from a particular app, such as Telegram, Viber or SberBank Online, the problem may lie in the individual settings of this app on the Android system.

Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification management. In the list that opens, find the application you want. Here you will see the Allow Notifications switch. Make sure it is active. Below is a list of notification categories (channels). For example, for the messenger, it can be Personal Messages, Groups, Calls.

It is important to pay attention to the channel importance parameters. If the category "Personal Messages" is low priority, the notification may come quietly, without sound and not appear on the lock screen. Change the sound and vibration settings for critical channels to "High priority".

There's also a floating notification option on this menu, and if it's enabled, it'll pop up on top of other apps as a small window, which is convenient for instant messengers, but can interfere with watching videos or games, and you can set this option to your preferences.

Problems with background work and energy saving

The most technically challenging reason for Xiaomi’s lack of fluffs is the “killing” of background processes. MIUI and HyperOS shells are known for their aggressive energy saving policies. The system can shut down an application you don’t use to save battery power, resulting in the app being unable to receive a push notification from the server until you open it again.

To allow the application to run in the background, find its desktop icon, press and hold your finger, then select About the application (or go through Settings → Apps → All apps). Find Autostart and turn it on. This will allow the system to run the application when you turn on the phone.

Next, go to Energy Saving (or Battery) inside the app menu. Select No Limits. The default is often "charge saving," which causes notifications to be lost. Setting No Limits mode tells the system that the application is critical and cannot be interrupted.

Another important thing is to work in the background. In the same About menu, find the Background Work (or Background Connection) switch and make sure it's on. Without that permission, the app won't be able to receive data when the screen is off.

Specificity of the HyperOS and MIUI shell

With the release of the HyperOS shell (and later versions of MIUI 14), the logic of the notification center changed, with the introduction of the Important Notifications feature, which uses artificial intelligence algorithms to prioritize messages, the system can hide less important allerts, showing only the most significant ones.

The new versions also changed the way to setup, and now management is often on the Settings → Notifications and Status Bar path, and here you have the Status Bar tab, where you can configure the icons of apps that have unread notifications. If the icons are gone, check this section.

Xiaomi device owners should be aware of the Mi Push service.This is Xiaomi's own system that replaces Google Push on some devices (especially in Chinese firmware versions).If Google Play services are disabled or are unstable, apps can rely on Mi Push. Make sure that sync and notifications are active in the Mi Account settings.

Problem Solving: If the notifications are completely gone

If you've tried all the settings, but the fluffs don't come, you may have had a failure in the system component of com.android.systemui or Google Play. First of all, try restarting your smartphone. This is a banal but often effective step that restarts all system services.

The second step is to clear the system component cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find Google Play Services and Google Play Store Services. Go to each, select Memory and click Clear Cache (not data, specifically cache). Then do the same for the Settings app (if the software version allows) or just restart the device.

💡

If notifications are missing after a system update, try resetting your network settings: Settings → Connection & Sharing → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile networks and Bluetooth. This often solves sync problems.

Also check to see if Do Not Disturb (a crescent icon in the curtain) is enabled, and in this mode all notifications can come without sound or vibration, and the lock screen may not show them at all. Do Not Disturb settings can create an exception list for important contacts.

⚠️ Note: If you use third-party launchers (Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher) or themes, they may conflict with the system curtain of notifications.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

💡

The main reason Xiaomi loses notifications is aggressive energy saving, and be sure to set up Auto Start and No Limits for important apps.