How to completely disable synchronization of games on the Xiaomi phone: 5 proven ways

Why syncing games on Xiaomi can get in the way, and when to turn it off

Gameplay synchronization via Mi Account is a useful feature for those who often reinstall games or change devices. It automatically saves progress to the cloud, allowing you to continue playing from the same moment on the new gadget. However, this option has a downside: it consumes traffic, slows down the device during auto saves and sometimes conflicts with internal game mechanics (especially pirated or modified versions).

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO owners are facing this problem more often than others because of MIUI’s aggressive policy of integrating with cloud services, such as games like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail or PUBG Mobile, synchronization can lead to login freezes or duplicate saves, and in online shooters like Call of Duty Mobile, conflicts with server data, which causes the player to lose progress.

When should I turn off the synchronization?

• 🔋 The battery quickly discharges during games (background synchronization consumes up to a maximum of two hours). 15-20% charge in an hour).
• 📱 The device brakes or overheats when autosaving.
• 🌐 Limited mobile traffic (synchronization can eat up to) 50-100 MB per day).
• 🎮 The game also features errors such as "Conflict with cloud save" or "Failed to sync data".
• 🔒 You use unofficial versions of games (mods, APK off-site).

Method 1: Disabling synchronization through Mi Account settings

The most obvious and secure method is to deactivate cloud sync directly in your Xiaomi account, which is suitable for all devices on MIUI 12-14 (including Redmi Note 12, Xiaomi 13, POCO F5, etc.).

Instructions:

1. Open the Settings. → Xiaomi Account (or Mi Account).
2. Go to Sync (may be called Cloud Sync or Cloud Sync).
3. Find the Game or Game Data item and move the slider to the Off position.
4. Confirm the action by clicking Disconnect in the pop-up window.

What if the "Games" item isn't on the menu? Some firmware (especially global ones) have the option hidden.

• 🔍 Try to find the section additionally → Synchronization of data.
• 📱 Update. MIUI Up to the latest version (in old builds, the function could be called differently).
• 🌍 Check your account region: China and India may have different menus.

⚠️ Note: Disabling sync via Mi Account does not guarantee 100% results for all games.Some titles (such as Free Fire or Mobile Legends) use their own cloud servers that are not associated with the game. MIUI. In this case, additional actions will be required (see Method 3).

Method 2: Prohibit synchronization for individual games

If you don’t want to shut down the cloud completely, but you need to block sync for a particular game (for example, due to bugs), use the built-in Game Turbo settings.This method works on devices with MIUI 13+ and prevents autosave only for selected applications.

Step-by-step:

1. Start the game you want to turn off sync.
2. Swipe from top to bottom to open the notification bar, and tap the Game Turbo icon (the joystick icon).
3. In the menu that opens, select Settings (cog in the upper right corner).
4. Find the Cloud or Sync section and deactivate the option.

If the Game Turbo icon doesn’t appear:

• 🎯 Activate the mode manually: Settings → Special facilities → Game Turbo.
• 🔄 Restart your phone and try again.
• 📌 Add the game to the list of game accelerations through settings MIUI.

💡

If the game starts to give out errors after the synchronization is turned off, try clearing its cache: Settings → Applications → [Game Name] → Storage → Clear the cache.

Method 3: Block sync through Google Play Game settings

Many mobile games (especially from major publishers) use Google Play Games to keep progress, and if you have disabled sync in MIUI, but the game still saves data to the cloud, the problem may be with Google services.

How to turn it off:

1. Open the Google Play Games app (if not, install it from the Play Market).
2. Slip on the profile avatar in the upper right corner and select Settings.
3. Go to the Synchronization of Games section.
4. Turn off Auto Sync slider or select Never in backup settings.

For individual games:

• 🎮 Go to the game profile in Google Play Games.
• 🔧 Click on three dots in the corner and select Synchronization Settings.
• 🚫 Deactivate the option to Save Progress in the Cloud.

⚠️ Note: Disabling sync through Google Play Games may result in loss of progress when reinstalling the game or changing the device.It is recommended to pre-create a local copy of the saves (for example, through Titanium Backup or manually copying files from the game). /Android/data/[game-pack]).

Method 4: Turning off background activity for gaming services

If previous methods have failed, the problem may lie in the background processes that MIUI runs to sync, and even after the settings option is turned off, some system services continue to send data to the cloud, and to block this activity completely, you will have to restrict the rights of the respective applications.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find and open the following services: Mi Cloud (or Xiaomi Cloud), Game Center (or Game Center) Google Play Services (if synced via Google)
3. For each of them: 🚫 Stop Auto-Run. 🔄 Turn off background activity. 📵 Limit access to Mobile Data and Wi-Fi (under Data Use).

Reset the device.

Important: After these actions, some features (such as achievements in games or cloud saves) will stop working, and notifications from gaming services may also be problematic.

💡

Restricting background activity for Google Play Services may disrupt other applications using Google services (such as maps or emails) and only use this method if others have not helped.

Method 5: Radical method - deletion of Mi Account (for power users)

If you’ve decided to get rid of sync and don’t use other Mi Account features (like device search or cloud storage), you can completely delete your Xiaomi account from your phone, which permanently deletes all data from the cloud, including backups, notes and photos synced through MIUI.

How to delete your account:

1. Open Settings → Xiaomi account.
2. Slip the profile icon at the top of the screen.
3. Choose Delete Account (or Exit and Delete).
4. Confirm the action via SMS or password.
5. Wait until the process is completed (it can take up to 5 minutes).

What to do after removal:

• 🔄 Reboot the phone.
• 📱 Check if Sync and Cloud items have disappeared in your settings.
• 🎮 Run the game and make sure that sync requests no longer appear.

⚠️ Note: Deleting your Mi Account may result in the following consequences: 📵 Loss of access to Find Device (phone search). 🔒 Blocking some system applications (e.g. Mi Video or Mi Music). 📱 Impossibility to obtain OTA-Updates (on some firmware) Before deleting your account, be sure to back up important data!

Additional tips: how to avoid problems after disabling synchronization

Disabling cloud sync solves one problem, but it can create others, and here are some recommendations to minimize the risks:

• 💾 Local backups: Use applications like Swift Backup (requires root) or Titanium Backup to manually save game progress. SD-card.
• 🔧 Game mode setting: In Game Turbo, activate the No Notifications and Background Process Ban options so that the games don’t conflict with the system.
• 📡 Mobile Traffic Restriction: For games that are still trying to sync, disable mobile network access in their settings (Settings) → Annexes → [Game] → Mobile data).
• 🔄 Regular cleaning of the cache: Once in a while 1-2 Weeks clean the game cache through Settings → Storage to avoid the accumulation of unnecessary data.

If after the game has been disabled, it starts to produce errors such as “No Internet connection” or “Failed to load data”, try:

• 🌐 Connect to another Wi-Fi network (sometimes games block access when restrictions are detected).
• ⏳ Reinstall the game (pre-saving local files).
• 📋 Check if the game requires binding to the account (for example, Genshin Impact without synchronization will not start).

💡

For games with mandatory sync (like Honkai Impact or Nikki), create a separate Google or Facebook account specifically for saving, so you can control what data is sent to the cloud.

FAQ: Frequent questions about syncing games on Xiaomi