How to do on a Xiaomi phone: a complete guide to features

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone owners often face the challenge of quickly completing certain actions that not everyone knows about. MIUI shells and the new HyperOS offer dozens of hidden features to make it easier to interact with your gadget. In this article, we will examine the most popular commands and action algorithms that will help you manage your device professionally.

Many functions, such as taking screenshots or recording screens, can be activated in a variety of ways: through physical buttons, gestures, or a voice assistant. Understanding these nuances greatly improves the usability of a smartphone in everyday life. We will look at both standard methods and advanced system settings.

We'll focus on security and maintenance, and you'll learn how to properly reset your data before selling it, or how to effectively clean your memory without third-party software, which is a knowledge that anyone wants to keep their Xiaomi running fast and steady for years to come.

How to take a screenshot of the screen on Xiaomi

Screenshots are a basic feature, but on Chinese brand devices, they are particularly flexible. The standard method, familiar to many, is to press the Volume Down and Power simultaneously, which instantly stores the image of the current picture in the gallery.

But physical buttons are not always convenient, especially if you're holding your phone with one hand, and you need to use the shell software tools, so you can assign an action to triple tap on the screen or use the control panel.

⚠️ Note: When using the Triple Touch method, make sure you don’t touch the edges of the screen with your palm, otherwise the screenshot may be taken accidentally at the wrong time.

To activate additional methods, you need to go to the settings menu. The path usually looks like: Settings → Additional features → Screenshot. Here you can choose a convenient option and adjust the cropping area that will appear immediately after you create the image.

Another powerful tool is a long press with three fingers, and if you swipe them from top to bottom across the screen, you can capture not only the visible area, but also create a long screenshot of the scrollable content, such as a text message in a messenger or an article in a browser.

How to record a screen with sound

The screen recording feature is built into the default MIUI and HyperOS system, eliminating the need to install questionable apps. To start recording, you just unlock the phone and call the Control Panel (swipe down from the upper right corner).

In the icon list, find the camera symbol. If you don't see it on the first screen, swipe left or press the edit button (usually a gear or pencil) to add the Screen Record widget to the active menu. Once you start, the system will prompt you to select the sound source.

• 🎙️ Microphone: Records external sounds and your voice, useful for creating video instructions with comments.
• 🔇 No sound: video is written without audio track, suitable for recording visual bugs.
• 🔊 System sound: Records internal audio streams (music, game sounds), but may be limited on some models DRM-protection.

You can change the resolution and frame rate in the recorder settings. For social media, the optimal setting is 1080p at 60 fps, which ensures a smooth picture. Be sure to check for free space, since high-quality videos quickly take up the memory of the device.

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Before recording a long video, turn on Do Not Disturb mode so that a random notification does not block an important part of the screen and interrupt the process.

How to Reset Settings to Factory

A full reset is required before selling a phone, if there are serious software errors or if the device is locked, and this procedure completely removes all user data, including contacts, photos and installed apps, returning the smartphone to the “out of the box” state.

The easiest way to reset is through the settings menu. Go to About Phone, select Reset and confirm the action. The system will require you to enter the screen unlock password and the password from your Google or Mi Account account to verify the identity of the owner.

⚠️ Note: After reset without first logging out of your Mi and Google account, your phone may be blocked (FRP Be sure to untie the device from your accounts before the procedure!

If the phone doesn't turn on or respond to touch, you can reset via Recovery Mode. Turn off the device completely, then press Volume up + Power before the logo appears. From the Recovery menu, select Wipe Data → Wipe All Data.

The cleaning process can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the amount of memory and number of files, and it is absolutely impossible to interrupt it, as this will damage the file system and the inability to boot Android.

How to make a Wi-Fi access point

Xiaomi smartphones are great for being a mobile router. To distribute the Internet, open the Control Panel and find the Access Point icon. In older versions of the shell, the path may be in the Settings menu → Connection and Sharing → Wi-Fi Access Point.

An important advantage of the MIUI shell is the ability to adjust the frequency range. By default, the 2.4 GHz band is used, which has a longer range but less speed. For modern devices, it is better to choose the 5 GHz band, which will provide the maximum data transfer speed for connected laptops or tablets.

You can also set the traffic limit and the time to automatically turn off the access point to save battery power, and the White List feature is available, which allows you to connect only trusted devices, which increases the security of your communication channel.

Table: Hot keys and gestures

To make it easy to control the device, the developers have implemented many keyboard shortcuts, and knowing these key combinations allows you to perform complex actions in one touch without diving into the deep settings menu.

Using these combinations becomes a habit within a couple of days, after which the control of the phone becomes much faster. Note that on some global versions of firmware, a long press of the power button can open the off menu rather than call the assistant. This is set up in the section Additional → Buttons.

How to Calibrate Sensors

If your Xiaomi screen has stopped responding to touches in certain areas or the proximity sensor is not working properly (the screen does not go out during a conversation), calibration may be required.

To get into the testing menu, open the Phone app and dial the code ##6484##. You will see a list of dozens of tests. Select items related to the Touchpanel or Proximity sensor.

Follow the instructions on the screen: you usually need to press a few dots or close the top of the screen with your palm. Once you pass the tests, the system will automatically save new calibration factors, which often helps eliminate the problem of phantom presses.

⚠️ Warning: Do not change the settings in the engineering menu unless you are sure of their purpose. Resetting important parameters can lead to incorrect operation of communication modules or touch screen.

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Calibration through the engineering menu is an effective way to solve software problems with the touchscreen without visiting the service center.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)