How to watch screen time on Xiaomi: official and hidden methods

Monitoring your time behind your smartphone has become an important habit for many users, with Xiaomi offering several ways to track these statistics, from built-in MIUI tools to hidden features and third-party apps, but not everyone knows where to look for this data, especially if it’s older firmware or models without Digital Well-Being.

In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods, including little-known tricks for Android 10-14 devices: how to check screen time not only for today, but also for a week, how to export statistics and why data may differ from source to source, and what to do if the desired option Suddenly disappeared after the update.

1. Standard Method: Digital Well-Being at MIUI

The most obvious way is to use the built-in Digital Wellbeing (or Digital Wellbeing in global firmware) feature, which is available on most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones starting with MIUI 10 (Android 9).

1. Open the settings (cog icon).
2. Scroll down and select Digital Well-Being and Parental Controls.
3. Slip the chart at the top of the screen – this shows the total time of use of the device and distribution by application.

In this section you will see:

• 📊 Today's usage diagram (by hour).
• 📱 Top applications by activity time.
• 🔄 Comparison with previous days (if the function is enabled).
• ⏰ Number of screen unlocks.

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If the Digital Well-Being section is missing, update the firmware via Settings → About Phone → System Update. On older versions of MIUI (up to 10), this feature may be hidden.

Note that the data here is updated with a delay of 5-10 minutes. If you just closed the application, the changes may not be displayed immediately, and the statistics are reset when you completely reset the settings or manually clear the cache of the system.

2. Hidden statistics in "Battery Settings"

Few people know, but Xiaomi duplicates some of the data on screen time in the energy consumption section, which works even on devices without Digital Well-Being, such as some Redmi Note 8 Pro or POCO X3 models with custom firmware.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance.
2. Slip on Battery Use (or Battery Statistics).
3. At the top of the screen you will see the screen time bar with exact hours and minutes.

You can also see the time in the background (when the screen was off but the processes were working) and this data is updated in real time, but does not save the history longer than 24 hours.

3. Use of the application "Security" (Security)

On smartphones with MIUI for the Chinese market (or global versions with Security preinstalled) there is an alternative way to check. The Security app (shield icon) contains advanced statistics, including screen time.

How to find it:

• 🔍 Open the Security app (if not, download from Google Play at Mi Security request).
• 📅 Go to the Optimization or Monitor tab (name depends on version).
• 📊 Tap by Time of Use - here is a detailed 7-day statistics.

The advantage of this method is the ability to export data in.csv format (via the “Share” button in the upper right corner), which is convenient for analysis in Excel or Google Sheets.

4. Third-party applications for in-depth analysis

If Xiaomi’s built-in tools aren’t enough, you can use third-party utilities that offer advanced reports, notifications about exceeding limits, and even app blocking.

Top.-3 screen-time tracking applications:

To install any of these applications:

1. Download it from Google Play.
2. Please provide permission to access the usage statistics (required!).
3. Start the analysis – the data will start to be collected from the moment of installation.

🔹 Make sure the application has access to usage statistics (Settings) → Annexes → Special access → Usage statistics)

🔹 Disable Battery Optimization for Tracker (Settings) → Battery → Optimizing the battery → Find the app and select “No restrictions»)

🔹 Check that the function “Digital well-being” does not conflict with third-party software

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Important: Some applications (such as ActionDash) require the inclusion of Special features for collecting data about the locking of the screen. Without this downtime (when the phone is lying without action) may not be counted correctly.

5. ADB-Teams for Advanced Users

If you need raw screen time data directly from the system (for example, for automation or analysis), you can use ADB. This method is suitable for users with unlocked bootloader or root rights.

Instructions:

1. Install ADB on your PC (download Google’s Platform Tools).
2. Connect your smartphone to your computer and allow debugging over USB (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version → tap 7 times, then go back to Additional settings → For developers → Debugging over USB).
3. Open the command line in the ADB folder and type:

adb shell dumpsys batterystats --charged

In the conclusion, find the lines:

• screen on is the total screen time from the last charge.
• screen brightness – data on brightness (if necessary for analysis).

For resetting the counter (for example, before testing):

adb shell dumpsys batterystats --reset

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ADB-commands give the most accurate data, but require technical skills. Don't use them unnecessarily - wrong commands can disrupt the system.

Frequent problems and their solutions

Sometimes users are faced with screen time not being displayed or reset, and let's look at the typical cases and how to fix them.

Problem 1: Digital Well-being shows 0 minutes, even though the phone was used.

⚠️ Warning: This may be due to a com.miui.analytics service failure.Reboot your device and check the date/time settings – they should be automatic, not manual.

Problem 2: Data is reset every day at 00:00.

• 🔄 It's normal behavior — MIUI By default, it saves history only for the current day.
• 📅 To see the weekly statistics, use the Security app or third-party trackers.

Problem 3: After the MIUI update, the Digital Well-Being section disappeared.

⚠️ Note: In some regional firmware (e.g. India or China), the function may be disabled. Try changing the region to Settings → Additionally. → Region on "Russia" or "Europe».

FAQ: Answers to popular questions