How to turn off sync on Xiaomi phone: all ways for MIUI

Why users want to turn off sync on Xiaomi – and when they really need to

Synchronizing data on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones works out of the box: immediately after you link your Mi Account or Google account, the system automatically saves contacts, photos, notes and even settings to the cloud. For most users, it is convenient — lost data can be recovered in a couple of clicks. But there is a downside: synchronization consumes traffic, drains the battery and sometimes leads to unauthorized access to personal data when the device is lost.

When is the timing of the shutdown justified?

• 🔋 You’ve noticed that the phone has become faster to discharge for no apparent reason (background sync can consume up to a few hours). 10-15% day-load).
• 🌐 You have limited mobile traffic and the system syncs gigabytes of photos in Google Photos or Xiaomi Cloud.
• 🔒 You sell or transfer your phone to another person and want to delete all linked accounts.
• 🛡️ You care about privacy and don’t trust cloud services (especially for Mi Account, which collects device usage data).

In this article, we will discuss how to turn off sync selectively (for example, only for contacts or photos) or completely for all services. Instructions are relevant for MIUI 14/13/12 and Xiaomi 13/12/11 models, Redmi Note 12/11/10, POCO F5/X5 and others. If your firmware is older, some menu items may differ.

Method 1: Disable Mi Account Synchronization (Xiaomi Cloud)

Mi Account is a Xiaomi branded account that syncs contacts, notes, calendar entries, health data (Mi Fitness) and even system settings to disable this sync:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Account.
2. Slip on your account (usually an email or phone number).
3. Go to the Data Synchronization section.
4. Turn off sliders in front of unnecessary categories (e.g. Contacts, Notes, Calendar).
5. To completely disable sync, click Delete Account (bottom of the screen), but remember: this will delete all data from the phone that was associated with Mi Account!

⚠️ Note: If you delete Mi Account completely, some Xiaomi features will stop working:

• 🔄 Air firmware updates (OTA).
• 🛒 Shopping at Mi Store and access to promotional codes.
• 🔐 Security features such as Find Device (phone search).

Method 2: Disable Google Sync (Contacts, Mail, Calendar)

Syncing with Google on Xiaomi works independently of Mi Account. It is responsible for backing up contacts, calendar events, Google Fit data, Chrome browser history and more. To manage it:

1. Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google.
2. Select your account (usually @gmail.com).
3. Click Account Sync.
4. Turn off the sliders in front of unnecessary services: 📇 Contacts – if you don’t want them to be duplicated in Google Contacts. 📅 Calendar – if you use another scheduler. 📸 Google Photos – if you don’t want to automatically upload photos.

To completely disable synchronization with Google, you can delete your account from the system, but this will lead to:

• 🚫 Loss of Play Market access and app updates.
• 🔕 Disable Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube (re-entry required).
• ⚠️ Reset some settings (such as Smart Lock to unlock on trusted devices).

💡

If you have disabled Google Photos sync but want to save backups, use the alternatives: Mi Cloud (if you trust Xiaomi) or local storage with automatic upload to your PC via Mi PC Suite.

Method 3: Disabling Autosynchronization for Individual Applications

Some apps (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber) sync data regardless of system settings to manage them:

⚠️ Note: Disabling autosynchronization in messengers will not remove the already downloaded data from the cloud.To completely clear the backups, you need to go to the appropriate service (for example, Google Drive) and manually delete files.

Method 4: Turning off background synchronization to save battery

Even if you've turned off data synchronization, some processes can continue to run in the background, using up a charge.

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Consumption Management.
2. Select the Applications Selection.
3. Search the list of Google Sync or Mi Cloud and set a Background activity limit.
4. To completely disable tap the application and select Limit background activity.

You can also use the energy saving mode:

• 🔋 Settings → Battery → Energy saving regime → Turn it on.
• 📵 This will limit background synchronization for all applications except mission critical (calls, SMS).

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Disabling background sync can delay notifications (e.g. from Gmail or Telegram).If push notifications are important to you, add the desired apps to the exceptions in your battery settings.

Method 5: Disconnect cloud services (for advanced users)

If you want to get rid of synchronization, including system services, you can go a radical way – disable cloud functions at the MIUI level:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (Tap 7 times)
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find the Background Account Verification option and turn it off.
4. Also, turn off Autosynchronization of data in the same menu.

For models with MIUI 14 and later, there is another way to disable system applications via ADB (requires a PC):

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.cloudservice


adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.gms

⚠️ Attention: These actions may lead to:

• 🚨 Some features are not functional (e.g. Google Play Services).
• 🔄 Impossibility to update applications through the Play Market.
• 📱 Failures in the operation of Xiaomi branded services (for example, Mi Video or Mi Music).

What to do if the synchronization is not turned off

Sometimes users find that even after the sync is turned off in the settings, the data continues to go to the cloud.

If nothing helps, try resetting your network settings:

1. Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings.
2. Reboot your phone and check the sync again.

FAQ: Frequent questions about synchronization on Xiaomi