Where on Xiaomi background mode: a complete management guide

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the need to control applications that continue to function even after they’ve been folded. Background mode is a mechanism that allows programs to update data, play music, or track location without active user involvement. However, this autonomy is not always useful: some utilities can overuse the battery or slow down the system.

The interface of the MIUI and HyperOS shells has their own characteristics that distinguish them from pure Android. Standard ways to access settings can be hidden in deep menus, and item names sometimes change when you update your firmware. Understanding exactly where the activity switches hide will help you optimize your device and extend its life from a single charge.

In this article, we will take a look at all the available methods of managing background processes, how to find a particular application in the system settings, how to use built-in optimization tools, and what hidden features are available to advanced users, and controlling the system is the first step to stable operation of your gadget.

Search for settings through the application menu

The most direct way to find out where the background mode for a particular program is on Xiaomi is, is to go to the general menu of smartphone settings, which contains all system parameters, including detailed information about each application installed, you need to open the Application section, and then select All applications.

In the list that opens, find the program you want. Note that system services can be hidden, so you sometimes need to click three dots in the corner of the screen and select the option to display all processes. Once you select the application, you will be taken to the screen with information about the version, the place occupied and access rights.

This is where the key switch is located. Find AutoRun or Other Permissions (depending on the shell version). Inside you will see the option Run in the background. If the slider is active, the system allows the program to run constantly. Disabling this option will limit its functionality to only active use.

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If you can’t find the desired application in the general list, use the search bar at the top of the settings screen and enter the program name manually.

It is worth noting that for some system services, such as a phone book or messages, access to this menu may be limited by the rights of the superuser, in such cases, changing the settings without root rights is impossible, and the system itself adjusts their operation to ensure the basic functionality of the device.

Control through Battery section

An alternative and often more efficient way to manage background activity is through the power-saving menu. Xiaomi shells are known for aggressive power optimization, and this is where the main levers of influence on processes are concentrated. Go to Settings → Battery → Energy consumption of applications.

This section lists all the programs installed with their status, and you'll see three main modes: No Limits, Power Saving, and Hard Limits. Choosing No Limits is essentially the equivalent of turning on a full-fledged background mode, allowing the program to do whatever it wants.

Saving charge is the middle ground: it allows background activity but limits it when the battery is low. Hard limit mode completely blocks the application when you close it, ideal for programs that you rarely use but that are constantly hanging in your memory.

⚠️ Note: Setting a “Strictly Restricted” mode for messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) will cause notifications to stop coming in real time.

Configure through the Security app

The built-in Security app is the central hub for performance management, and many users ignore it by relying on standard Android settings, but this is where the most powerful controls lie: Launch the app and select the Battery or Licenses section (depending on the regional version).

You can find here AutoRun, which controls which applications start with the system and can remain active. Disabling AutoRun is the first step to disabling background work. If the program is not running, it cannot run in the background, except when it is called by another authorized service.

Also in this section, you often find Accelerate or Clean Memory, and by clicking on the settings gear in this menu, you can set exceptions. Applications added to exceptions won't close when you clear memory, which indirectly supports their background.

It is important to check this partition regularly after major system updates, sometimes settings are reset to factory values, and previously banned applications again gain access to the CPU resources, and systematic monitoring will help to avoid sudden discharges.

Hidden opportunities through the developer menu

For advanced users who want maximum control, there is a special engineering menu available. To get there, you need to activate the developer mode. Go to Settings → About phone and quickly click 7-10 times on the MIUI version or OS version.

After activation, a new section will appear in the settings menu Additional → For developers. Here we are interested in the item Background Process Limit. By default, there is a value "Standard Limit", but you can change it to "No Background Processes" or limit their number (for example, no more than 2).

adb shell settings put global background_process_limit 0

This command, entered through ADB, compulsorily sets a limit to the background processes at zero, but using such methods requires caution, system services may start to work incorrectly, and switching between applications will become slower, as the system will have to reload them from memory each time.

This is a useful technique for older devices with low RAM, where every megabyte counts. On modern flagships with 8 gigabytes or more of RAM, such a radical measure is usually not required and can even harm multitasking.

Comparison of application modes

To better navigate settings, it is important to understand the difference between different application states. Users often confuse concepts, leading to misconfiguration of the system. Below is a table explaining the key differences.

As you can see from the table, completely shutting down background processes (Strict Limit) is very different from just turning off autostart: the first stops an already running program, the second only prevents it from starting when the phone is turned on.

For multimedia applications, such as music players or navigators, it is critical to leave the No Limits mode, otherwise the music will go silent as soon as you lock the screen or switch to another application.

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The right balance between performance and autonomy is achieved by customizing each application individually, not by shutting down all features globally.

Frequent problems and their solution

Even after setting up the right setup, users may encounter situations where applications behave unpredictably, such as a program that spontaneously starts or fails to start at all, often due to a conflict of power saving settings and permissions.

If the application doesn’t work in the background, although the settings allow it, try clearing its cache or reinstalling it. Sometimes resetting the settings of the application itself through the App menu → All Apps → Select the app → Clean helps.

• 🔋 Fast discharge: Check battery statistics to find a "gluttonous" app, and limit its background activity.
• 📉 System Brake: Turn off auto-start for rarely used programs and games.
• 🔔 Missed notifications: Make sure that the messengers are in “No Limits” mode and autorun enabled.

In some cases, updating firmware to the current version solves the problem. Xiaomi engineers are constantly working on optimizing background processes, and old bugs can be fixed in new HyperOS builds.

⚠️ Note: Do not disable system applications with names "MIUI", "System, Google Play Services, this could cause the basic functions of the smartphone to fail.