How to Create Folders on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Xiaomi’s modern smartphones are equipped with powerful processors and large screens, allowing users to install tens or even hundreds of different applications. Over time, the desktop turns into a chaotic mosaic of icons where it is extremely difficult to quickly find the right functionality. Putting things in order in the digital space is not just a matter of aesthetics, but also a way to increase the productivity of using the gadget in everyday life.

MIUI, developed by engineers at the Chinese corporation, offers flexible content-systemization tools. You can group programs by topic, color, or frequency of use, creating a user-friendly navigation structure. In this article, we will explore the nuances of working with directories on the home screen, and also consider hidden features that not all owners of Redmi and Poco devices know about.

The right icon organization allows you to run games, instant messengers or banking applications faster without spending time searching. Automatic folder creation when dragging one icon to another is a basic function of the system, but it has many additional settings. Let's go from theory to practice and study in detail the process of organizing your workspace.

The basic way to create a directory on the desktop

The simplest and most obvious way to organize space is to manually combine shortcuts. First, you need to unlock the device and go to the main screen where all your apps are located, and find two programs that you would like to put in the same group, such as Phone and Contacts.

Press the icon of the first app and hold your finger until it starts to pulsate slightly or grows in size. This is a signal that the item is in edit mode and ready to move. Without letting go, drag this icon right over the second program you selected for the group.

Once the top icon is above the bottom, the system automatically creates a container. MIUI instantly generates a new folder and suggests it as its default name based on the category of apps installed. Usually the word "Tools," "Social" or "Games," but you are free to change it at any time.

• 📱 Press and hold the app icon until vibrations appear.
• 📂 Drag the shortcut on top of another application that should be in the group.
• ✏️ Wait for the automatic container creation and release your finger.
• 🔄 If necessary, repeat the procedure to add other programs.

⚠️ Warning: If you release an icon next to another, rather than strictly on top of it, the apps will simply swap places and the folder will not be created.

Once you've successfully created a group, you can continue to add other elements to it, just drag and drop new icons into the area you've created, and the system allows you to put up to a few dozen shortcuts inside a container, organizing them as a grid, and if there are too many apps, they will automatically form additional pages inside the folder itself.

💡

Use folders not only for applications, but also for widgets, if your version of MIUI allows you to place them inside containers - this will save space on the desktop.

Set up and rename the created groups

The default folder often has-generic-It's a name that might not match your vision of order, and fortunately, Xiaomi's interface makes it easy to customize those elements. To change the name, simply click once on the created folder to open its contents, and then tap the text box at the top of the screen where the current name is written.

On the screen keyboard, type in the name you want, you can use letters, numbers and special characters. After you type in, press the confirmation button or just tap the blank area of the screen to save the changes, and this action instantly updates the signature under the folder icon on the desktop.

In addition to renaming, you can resize the folder itself on the screen. Some versions of the shell offer different display styles. Click the folder on the desktop until the action menu appears, and select the option to "Resize" or "Curb" if this feature is supported by your firmware version.

If you decide that you don't need the grouping anymore, just drag all the icons from the folder back to the desktop. Once the container is empty, it will disappear automatically, freeing up space, which ensures that your data and programs remain safe anyway.

Automatic Sorting and Smart Folders

MIUI is famous for its automation features, which are designed to make life easier for the user, one of which is automatic sorting of applications by folder, the system analyzes the type of software being installed and can independently suggest placing new shortcuts in the appropriate categories.

To activate or configure this feature, you need to go to the system settings. Find the partition responsible for the desktop, and look at the item "Sort applications." Here you can turn on the automatic distribution option, in this mode, when you install a new game, it immediately goes to the folder "Games", and the banking application - to "Finance".

But automation doesn't always work perfectly. The algorithm can misclassify specific programs or create duplicate categories. So it's recommended that you periodically check the contents of automatically generated groups. Manual adjustments take a minimum of time, but provide perfect order.

There's also a Smart Folder feature that dynamically changes its content based on time of day or location, like in the morning it can show news and weather apps, and in the evening it can show social media and video services, which isn't available on all models, but if your Redmi or Poco supports it, be sure to try.

• ⚙️ Go to Settings. → Desktop to search for sorting options.
• 🤖 Turn on the Application Autosort switchboard if you want to delegate order to the system.
• 🧹 Periodically check automatic groups for classification errors.
• 📍 Use smart folders for quick access to relevant applications.

⚠️ Note: When auto-sorting is enabled, new applications may not appear on the desktop, but immediately inside folders. Be careful when installing new software so you don't lose sight of it.

Automated functions are especially important for users who often install and delete a lot of programs, which eliminates the need to manually clean up every time, but for a static set of applications, manually creating a structure often turns out to be a more reliable and predictable solution.

Working with folders in the “Limitless screen” mode

There is a mode in Xiaomi’s desktop settings that dramatically changes the logic of displaying icons, called “Limitless Scrolling” (or “Infinite Scrolling”). Unlike the classic mode with individual pages, all shortcuts are lined up in a single tape that is scrolled from left to right.

In this mode, folder creation is done in a similar way: by dragging and dropping icons to another. But visual perception changes. Folders in limitless mode take up less space and have a more compact appearance, allowing more elements to be placed on one screen without losing readability.

To switch to this mode or return to the classic, go to the desktop settings. Find Desktop Mode and select the appropriate option. After switching, the system will ask you to confirm the action, as the location of all your icons will be changed.

Mode selection is a matter of taste. The classic is more common for those who switch from other Android smartphones where pages are divided. The limitless screen is often chosen by users who value minimalism and want to see maximum content without unnecessary finger movements. In both cases, the functionality of creating and editing folders remains fully accessible.

💡

Desktop mode affects only the visual location of icons, but does not limit the ability to create and fill folders.

Organization of applications inside the folder

Once you've created a folder and put apps in there, it's a question of internal organization, and unlike a desktop, you can also sort icons inside the folder. Click on the folder to open it, then press any icon and move it to the right place on the grid.

The system allows you to create multiple pages inside a folder if the number of applications exceeds the capacity of one screen. To move to the next page inside the folder, just swipe left or right from inside the open container, which is especially convenient for large collections of games or utilities.

Deleting an application from a folder is done by simply dragging it outside the folder. Press the icon inside the open folder, pull it out to the desktop and release it. If you want to delete several apps from a group at once, it's easier to do this through your phone's settings by finding the Apps section.

There's a life hack to quickly clean folders of unused software, and if you haven't opened an application in a while, MIUI can mark it as rarely used, and regularly audit your folders to delete what you're not using, which not only makes space visually, but also makes the system a little bit faster.

• 📂 Open the folder to access the internal content.
• 🗑️ Drag unnecessary icons outside the folder to remove them from the group.
• 📄 Use swipes inside the folder to navigate between pages.
• 📍 Change the order of icons within the group to prioritize important programs.

⚠️ Note: Moving system applications (such as “Security” or “Files”) from their standard folders may disrupt the logic of some automatic system scripts.

Frequent problems and their solution

Despite the cleverness of the interface, users sometimes face difficulties, such as not creating a folder if you release your finger too quickly or miss the second icon, in which case you try to slow down and clearly control the moment of touch.

Another common problem is the inability to rename a folder, often because text is not saved because of a launcher failure, try restarting your smartphone or clearing the Topic and Desktop app cache in your application settings, which often solves the problem of the interface freeze.

If the icons inside the folder are not displayed correctly (black square or standard Android), this means that the particular application does not have its own icon in the system or there was a cache failure. Try reinstall the problematic application or update it through the GetApps store or Google Play.

In rare cases, the folder may collapse or disappear after a reboot. This is a sign of an error in the launcher cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find Desktop (or Launcher), select Clear and then Clear All Data. Be careful: this will reset the location of all Nano icons.

💡

If the folder is acting strange, try changing the theme to a standard one. Third-party themes often contain errors in the code for displaying interface elements.