How to Make Xiaomi Faster: A Complete Guide to Accelerating Your Smartphone

Your Xiaomi is slowing down, apps are opening for a long time, and animation is twitching? This is a typical problem even for flagship models like the Redmi Note 12 Pro.+ or POCO F5 The reason for the slowdown is not only because of the ageing of iron, but also because of the firmware. MIUI, which over time is clogged with garbage, background processes and unnecessary services.

This article provides proven acceleration methods that work on all modern Xiaomi smartphones (including Redmi, POCO We will not advise you to buy a new phone or install custom firmware — all methods are safe, do not require root rights and take from 5 to 30 minutes.

Note: If your smartphone is released before 2019 (like the Redmi Note 7 or Mi 9) and has less than 4GB of RAM, some optimizations may have limited effect due to hardware limitations.+ Gen 2 or newer.

1.Diagnostics: Why Xiaomi is slowing down?

Before you start optimizing, it’s important to understand the specific reason for the slowdown, as Xiaomi smartphones typically have five:

• 🗑️ Overflowing memory: Less than 10% of the free space on the internal drive leads to lags due to fragmentation of data.
• 👻 Background processes: MIUI aggressively caches applications, but sometimes does not close them correctly (especially noticeably on the Internet). 3-4 GB RAM).
• 🔄 Older versions: in older versions MIUI There are memory management bugs (for example, in the MIUI 12.5 on Android 11).
• 📱 Thermal throttling: if the phone is warmed above 45°C, the processor forcibly reduces the frequency.
• 🎯 Animation settings: standard transitions to MIUI Often excessive and create visual delays.

To check the current state of the system:

1. Open Settings → About Phone → MIUI version and tap 7 times on the line with the version to activate the developer mode.
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers and find items: Average CPU load (should be below 20% in idle) RAM use (free memory should remain at least 1 GB) CPU temperature (critically above 40)°C)

⚠️ Attention: If you see a warning in the Developer section, "Performance limited due to overheating," first solve the cooling problem (clean the charging connector from dust, remove the case, avoid direct sunlight.

2. Cleaning the system: remove garbage and cache

The first and most notable step is to release memory. MIUI There are built-in tools, but they often skip hidden files.

Integrated cleaning MIUI

Go to Settings. → Annexes → Cleaning (or Security) → Cleaning in old versions:

• 🧹 Click Deep Clean – This will remove the cache of system applications (including Google Play Services, which often takes up the service). 1-2 GB).
• 🗃️ Files tab" → Sort by size and remove unnecessary ones. APK, download and duplicate photos (MIUI automatically creates copies when editing).
• 📁 Fiddle tab" → check the folders DCIM/.thumbnails (Photos and Download (forgotten files).

Manual cleaning of the application cache

Some apps (e.g. Facebook, TikTok, Mi Video) can take up to 500MB of cache each, to manually clear it:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Sort by size (click on the three dots at the top right).
3. Select the application → "Warehouse" → "Clear the cache” (not data!).

For convenience, use this checklist:

⚠️ Note: Do not clear the cache for Google Play Store, Google Play Services and Miui System – this can lead to malfunctions in the app store and system updates.

2.3 Deletion of duplicates and unnecessary files

For deep cleaning, we recommend Files by Google (free on the Play Store).

• 📄 Duplicate photos and documents (including screenshots with the same content).
• 🎵 Unnecessary audio files (voice notes, music app cache).
• 📺 Low quality videos (e.g. saved stories from social media).

After cleaning, reboot your phone – this will reset temporary Android kernel files.

3. RAM optimization: closing background processes

MIUI It is known for its aggressive memory management policy: the system tries to keep apps in the background for quick switching, but on weak smartphones (with the help of the system). 3-4 GB of RAM, that leads to slowdowns. Here's how to fix it:

Restriction of background processes

Enable the Developer Mode (as in Section 1) and:

1. Go to Settings → Additional → For developers.
2. Find the "process limitation" item and select: 4 GB RAM: “Maximum 3 process." For 6-8 GB RAM: “Maximum 4 process." For 12+ GB RAM: Leave the "Standard Limit".

"Do not keep the action"

Disable Auto-Run Applications

Many apps (especially Chinese ones) run when the phone is turned on and hang in the background to turn off auto-start:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the application → "Auto-start" → turn off the slider.
3. Use Security for mass shutdown → Auto-Run (in some versions) MIUI).

Transition to a lightweight topic

Topics MIUI with complex graphical elements (for example, AOD or dynamic wallpaper) consume up to 15% CPU to change the subject:

1. Open the settings → design → Themes.
2. Choose "Simple" or "Classic" theme (no animations).
3. Turn off "Animated Wallpaper" and "Transition Effects".

For maximum performance, use static wallpaper in.jpg format (without.live or.gif).

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If after disabling animations, the interface seems “sharp”, return the scale to the 0.5x — It is a compromise between smoothness and speed.

5. Update of firmware and core

An outdated version MIUI — One of the main reasons for the slowdowns. Xiaomi regularly releases patches to optimize memory management and fix performance bugs.

Verification of current updates

Go to Settings. → The phone. → Updating the system and:

• 🔄 Click "Check Updates".
• 📥 If a new version is available, download and install (preferably via Wi-Fi).
• ⚙️ Enable "Automatic booting over Wi-Fi".

For models older than 2 years (such as the Redmi Note 10 Pro), updates may come less frequently.

5.2. Cache reset after update

After installing the new version MIUI:

1. Reboot the phone.
2. Clear the cache through Settings → Annexes → Cleanup → Deep cleaning.
3. Open the Settings. → Memory. → Clean (to reset the system cache).

⚠️ Warning: If after the update the phone began to brake more, reset settings through Settings → Additionally. → Reset. This will delete user data, but return factory performance. → The phone. → Backup.

6. Battery and performance optimization

Eating regimes in MIUI For example, activating Charge Savings limits the CPU frequency to 60 percent, which causes lags.

Setting up the feeding regimes

Go to Settings. → Battery and:

• 🔋 Select Performance Mode (if available) or Balanced".
• ⚡ Turn off Adaptive Charging (it limits charging speed, which can affect background processes).
• 📊 Enable “Optimizing Charging” (prolongs battery life without loss of performance).

Disabling unnecessary functions

Some chips MIUI They are beautiful but useless and slow down the system:

Calibration of the battery (for older smartphones)

If the phone suddenly turns off when 20-30% This may be due to incorrect data from the battery controller:

1. Discharge the phone to 0% (until it turns off by itself).
2. Connect to charging and do not turn on for 3 hours.
3. After fully charging (100%), turn off the cable and restart the phone.

💡

Performance mode increases the heat of the phone, but gives you up to 20% increase in games and heavy apps.

7 Radical methods: resetting and alternative firmware

If nothing works, there are two options: hard reset (loss of data) or custom firmware (requires unlocking the bootloader).

Hard Reset (Severe Reset)

This will return the phone to factory settings by deleting all user data. be sure to back up through Settings → The phone. → Backup or Mi Cloud backup.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Additional → Resetting settings.
2. Select "Erase all data."
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot (it will take 5-10 minutes).

After discharge:

• 📱 Do not restore data from a backup right away – check the performance of a clean system.
• 🔄 Install applications one at a time, watching for changes in speed.

Installation of custom firmware (for advanced)

If you're willing to take risks, alternative firmware like LineageOS, Pixel Experience or Xiaomi.eu can give you up to 40 percent performance gains.

• ⚠️ Requires unlocking the bootloader (data reset).
• ⚠️ Deprives official guarantee.
• ⚠️ It can cause a camera or sensors to fail (on some models).

If you decide, follow the instructions for your model in the forum. XDA Developers. For most users, the official MIUI with optimizations from this article.

8 Hardware solutions: when nothing helps

If the software methods did not give a result, the problem may be in the hardware:

• 🔋 Worn-out battery (capacity below 70%) causes processor throttling.
• 🔥 Overheating due to dried thermopaste or clogged charging connector.
• 💾 Damaged flash memory (frequent errors in file writing).

What to do:

• 🔧 Replace the battery (cost for Redmi Note) ~1500-2500 ₽).
• 🧴 Apply a new thermal paste (relevant to the POCO F1, Black Shark).
• 📊 Take a memory test through AIDA64 (section “Storage").

⚠️ Warning: If the phone turns off when loaded (such as in games) or shows artifacts on the screen, this may indicate a faulty memory chip or processor.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi acceleration