Owners of the Redmi Note 8 Pro often face the challenge of putting things in order in an endless sea of app icons. Xiaomi’s standard MIUI shell offers flexible customization tools, but not everyone knows how to use them to optimize space. Foldering is a basic but critical skill in turning a chaotic screen into a structured navigation system.
In this article, we will take a closer look at how applications are grouped, and the nuances that can arise when working with a desktop, and you will learn not only to create groups, but also to manage their content, changing the size and appearance to suit your needs, especially for models with high-resolution screens, such as your Redmi Note 8 Pro.
Before we get to the practical steps, it's worth noting that the interface may vary slightly depending on the version of the firmware installed, but the basic principles of interaction with the MIUI shell remain unchanged for many years. Let's look at the basic methods of organizing space.
Standard method for creating a folder
The easiest and most obvious way to group apps together is to use drag and drop. You need to find two icons on your desktop that you want to combine, like social media or banking apps that you rarely use, but they need to be on hand.
Press one of the icons with your finger and hold it until it freezes above the screen surface, at which point the system goes into edit mode. Without releasing your finger, move the selected icon over the second one you plan to place in the same group, and once you release your finger, the system automatically creates a new folder.
After this action, you will see that both icons are inside a new area with a translucent background. By default, Xiaomi will offer a name for this folder based on the category of applications (for example, "Social Networks" or "Tools"). You can agree to the proposed option or rename the group by clicking on the text box.
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If you accidentally dropped the icon in the wrong place, just click the “Back” button or click on the free screen space to cancel the action before fixing the result.
It's important to understand that the size of the area you create can change dynamically, so if you add a few more apps, the folder will automatically expand to accommodate new content, which is convenient, because you don't have to manually size the container for each case.
Alternative ways to group through the menu
While drag and drop is the most popular method, there are other options for organizing space that can be useful in situations where some users prefer to use the desktop editing menu to more accurately control the layout of items.
This requires you to pinch your two fingers across the screen (mix them together) to go into view mode of all desktops. At the bottom of the screen, a toolbar will appear. Here you can select the option to add widgets or folders if this functionality is supported by the current version of the launcher. However, the Redmi Note 8 Pro most often uses the drag-and-drop method.
Another nuance is creating empty folders. Unlike some other operating systems, MIUI doesn't allow you to create empty containers in advance. It only appears when you combine at least two objects. If you need to create a structure in advance, you have to use temporary icons.
And there's also the possibility of using styles, and in the MIUI theme store, you can find designs that change the look of folders beyond recognition, making them more functional or minimalist, so you can personalize the Redmi Note 8 Pro to your liking.
Editing and renaming folders
Once you've created an application group, you'll probably want to give it a clear name. Standard names like Tools or Systems don't always reflect the content. To rename the folder you've created, just click on it.
At the top of the window that opens, you'll see a text box with the current name. Tap it, and the keyboard appears on the screen. Type the name you want using Latin or Cyrillic. MIUI supports long titles, but for aesthetics, it's better to use short wording.
⚠️ Warning: Avoid using special characters and emojis in folder names, as this may lead to incorrect text display or shifting of interface elements on some firmware versions.
In addition to renaming, you can resize the folder, so if there are few apps inside, it takes up one cell, and if you add more elements, it can turn into a 2x2 or more widget, taking up a significant portion of the screen, and you can bring important applications to a prominent place without losing order.
To remove an extra application from the group, just open the folder, pinch the icon of an unnecessary application and drag it outside the folder to the free desktop space or to the basket if this option is active in editing mode, this allows you to flexibly manage content.
| Action. | Method of implementation | The result |
|---|---|---|
| Creation | Drag the icon to the icon | Formation of a new group |
| Rename | Click on the name inside the folder | Change of title |
| Removal | Drag and drop all applications from the folder | Automatic Disappearance of a Folder |
| Change of size | Addition/deletion of applications | Dynamic change of dimensions |
Deletion of folders and disaggregation of applications
Sometimes you have to eliminate the structure you created earlier. There is no separate button on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro, Delete folder. The logic of the system is built on content: the folder only exists as long as there are at least two applications in it.
To get rid of the folder, open it and start dragging apps outside it. You can spread them around the desktop or put them in other groups. Once there's only one icon left inside, the folder will automatically disappear, and the remaining application will take its place on the desktop.
This mechanism prevents the appearance of "junk" empty containers that would take up space on the screen. However, be careful: if you accidentally drag an application to another folder, it will remain there. Always check where you move the icon during the grouping process.
☑️ Check before deleting the folder
If you want to just clear the folder of the extra, but leave the structure, you'll have to add at least one stub application if you delete the penultimate item, but the easiest way to just ignore the empty or semi-empty folders until they accumulate new content.
Using widgets inside folders
One of the interesting things about MIUI is that it can not only host app icons, but also widgets inside folders, and it saves space on the home screen by hiding information blocks in thematic groups.
For example, you can create a Weather and Time folder and put not only a weather app, but also a large-digit widget in it, create a folder, open it, go to edit mode (clamping the icon) and add a widget from the menu or drag it from the desktop.
Not all widgets work within folders equally well. Some can be rendered in a smaller way, others can keep their full size. Experiment with widget sizes to find the optimal balance between information content and space.
⚠️ Attention: Placement of heavy animated widgets inside folders can slightly increase the consumption of RAM, which should be considered on devices with limited RAM.
This approach is especially useful for users who like minimalism, so you can remove all widgets from the home screen, leaving only folders that contain the necessary information blocks inside, which preserves the purity of the visual style of the Redmi Note 8 Pro.
Frequent problems and their solution
Despite the simplicity of the process, users sometimes face difficulties, and one of the common problems is that they can't move the icon, which is often because there's not enough space on the desktop to deploy the movement menu or create a new cell.
In this case, try to make room first by removing unnecessary widgets or moving applications to other desktop pages, and the problem may be in a third-party launcher. If you are using a Nova Launcher, for example, rather than a standard MIUI shell, the algorithm of actions may differ.
Sometimes the folder may freeze or not open. This is a rare firmware bug. In this situation, a simple smartphone reboot will help. If the problem persists, check for system updates in Settings → About Phone → System Update.
What to do if the icons are not being dragged?
It’s also worth remembering that some system applications can be protected from being moved to custom folders by firmware developers, in which case you can put them in a folder, but you can’t remove them from there or move them without root rights, which on the Redmi Note 8 Pro requires unlocking the bootloader.
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Most folder problems are solved by freeing up space on the desktop or restarting the device, as this resets the launcher's cache.