Disabling background processes on Xiaomi: 5 proven ways for MIUI

Why the background processes are slowing down your Xiaomi and how to fix it

Background processes are one of the main reasons why even new Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO smartphones start to slow down after a few months of use. MIUI is known for its aggressive optimization, but the paradox is that it often leaves dozens of unnecessary services running, from system updates to user data analytics, resulting in a battery that goes down in half a day, and in the task manager you see 30+ active applications that have not been opened for a long time.

Compounding the problem, Xiaomi has hidden some of its power saving settings under “developers” in MIUI 14 and later, and the standard battery backset restriction works selectively. This article will help you figure out which processes can be turned off without risking the system and which ones should not be touched, even if they seem useless. We’ll look at both standard methods (for beginners) and advanced ADB tricks for power users.

It's important to understand that not all background processes are harmful, like com.miui.securitycenter for virus protection, and com.android.phone for mobile communications, and shutting them down can cause disruption, and our goal is to find the middle ground between performance and stability.

Method 1: Manual constraint through "Battery and Performance"

The safest method that works for all Xiaomi models (from Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi 13 Ultra) is not to turn off processes completely, but to limit their activity in the background. This will not give 100% effect, but significantly extend the battery life.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Battery and productivity → Battery management
• ⚙️ Slip on "Settings" (cog in the upper right corner) → "Limitation of background activity"
• 🔍 In the list, select apps that shouldn’t work in the background (like social media or instant messengers you rarely use)
• 🔘 Activate the switch "Limit background activity"

Note that some system applications (e.g., com.miui.weather2 for the weather widget) will not appear here. They will require other methods, which will be discussed later.

Applications for food delivery (Delivery Club, Yandex Food)

Social networks (TikTok, Instagram – if you do not use notifications)

Games (they often run background processes for updates)

Fitness trackers (if you don’t wear a smartwatch all the time)

-->

⚠️ Note: Do not limit background activity for Google Play Services and Miui Daemon.This may cause app store disruptions and system updates.

Method 2: Hidden MIUI settings for power users

MIUI has a hidden Special Permissions menu where you can turn off auto-start and background activity for system applications, which works on MIUI 12-14 firmware, but the path to it varies depending on the version.

How to open it:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management
2. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → "Special Permits"
3. Select "Stop" or "Background Activity" (depending on the MIUI version)
4. Disable unnecessary apps by moving the slider to the left

For example, you can safely turn off:

• 🎵 com.miui.player – standard music player (if you use a third-party player)
• 📰 com.miui.notes – Xiaomi notebook
• 🛒 com.xiaomi.shop - Mi Store

For owners of POCO F3, Xiaomi 12T and other models with “clean” Android (without heavy shell MIUI), this section may be called differently. Try the way: Settings → Apps → Permissions → Additional → Background Limitation.

Method 3: Using ADB for deep optimization

If you’re willing to go beyond standard settings, ADB (Android Debug Bridge) will disable even the processes MIUI hides from the user, a technique that requires connecting a smartphone to a computer and basic command-line knowledge.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode (7 times tap on "Version") MIUI" In Settings → The phone)
2. Activate Debugging by USB in the Developer Menu
3. Connect your phone to your PC and install ADB Tools
4. Enter in the command line: adb shell pm list packages -f | grep "mi" to see the list of Xiaomi system packages
5. To disable an unnecessary package, use: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.

Examples of safe to disable packets:

💡

Before disabling packages through ADB, back up the list of installed applications with the adb shell pm list packages > packages.txt command. This will help restore the system if something goes wrong.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling com.android.phone, com.miui.securitycenter or com.google.android.gsf may result in loss of mobile communications, inability to call or use Google services.

Method 4: Applications for Automatic Optimization

If manual methods seem complicated, you can use third-party utilities. They won't give you as much control as ADB, but they will make the process easier for beginners.

• 🛠️ Greenify - suspends unnecessary processes without root rights, supports the modes of "Aggressive dose" and "Working in the background"
• ⚡ AccuBattery – shows which applications consume the most charge and suggests optimizing their performance
• 🔧 Servicely – allows you to disable system services on a schedule (requires root)
• 📊 BetterBatteryStats – Advanced Battery Consumption Analyzer (Shows Even Hidden Processes)

For installation of Greenify:

1. Download the app from Google Play
2. Provide access to special features (Settings → Special features → Greenify)
3. Add the appendices to the list of "Winter Sleep"
4. Activate the option "Aggressive Dosage" (requires the developer mode enabled)

Note: Servicely and similar utilities require root rights, which voids the warranty and can lead to failures. On Xiaomi 13 Pro, Redmi K50 and later, unlocking the bootloader also resets all data.

Manual settings in MIUI

Apps like Greenify

ADB-team

Root and custom firmware

I'm not doing anything.-->

Method 5: Disconnecting via Recovery (for advanced)

If your Xiaomi smartphone supports custom TWRP Recovery installation, you can disable system applications directly through it.This method is suitable for models with an unlocked bootloader (for example, POCO F1, Redmi Note 8 Pro).

Instructions:

1. Install TWRP for your model
2. Load into recovery (clip Power + Volume up)
3. Go to Advanced → File Manager
4. Find the /system/priv-app/ or /system/app/ folder
5. Rename the folders of unnecessary applications by adding at the end.bak (for example, MiuiDaemon → MiuiDaemon.bak)
6. Reset the device

The advantage of this method is that applications are not simply disabled, but completely removed from the system (although they can be restored by removing.bak).

• 🚨 Incorrect renaming of system files can lead to bootloop (cyclical reboot)
• 🔄 After updating MIUI Disabled applications can return
• 🛡️ Xiaomi’s warranty will be cancelled

💡

Use the TWRP method only if you are confident in your actions. For most users, 1-3 (manual settings + ADB) is enough.

What to do if after switching off the processes the phone began to lie down

Sometimes over-optimization has the opposite effect: the smartphone starts to "freeze", slowly open applications or completely stops turning on.

1. Restart the device – many changes only take effect after the reboot.
2. Check the error log: adb logcat | grep -i "error" This will show which services are failing.
3. Restore the disabled packets: adb shell pm enable com.name.packet
4. Reset the cache via recovery (Wipe → Advanced Wipe → Dalvik/ART Cache).
5. In extreme cases, reset to factory settings (save the data in advance!).

If the problem occurred after working with ADB, but you do not remember which packages you disabled, use the command to output a list of all disabled applications:

adb shell pm list packages -d

For Xiaomi models with a Snapdragon processor (such as the Xiaomi 11T Pro), sometimes resetting the battery settings helps:

1. Go to Settings. → Battery → ⚙️ → Resetting battery settings
2. Confirm the action and restart the phone

FAQ: Frequent questions about turning off background processes