How to organize icons on Xiaomi: from chaos to perfect order

The modern smartphone has become a digital office, entertainment center and storage of personal memories. With each passing day, the number of installed applications grows, turning the desktop into a confusing maze. On Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices running MIUI or HyperOS shells, navigation through dozens of screens can take a significant time.

Effectively organizing screen space is not just a matter of aesthetics, it's a way to increase productivity. When the right widget or program is at hand, the user saves seconds, which together give minutes of free time. In this article, we will discuss all available methods of structuring the interface.

You will learn how to use built-in sorting tools, create smart folders and hide unnecessary system elements. Proper setting up the home screen will make using your gadget much more comfortable and enjoyable.

Basic principles of navigation in the shell of MIUI and HyperOS

Before we make any radical changes, we need to understand the logic of Xiaomi’s standard launcher. The interface offers two main modes of displaying content that fundamentally change the way icons are organized.

In classic mode, all installed programs are displayed directly on desktops, taking up free space. Alternatively, there is a separate application menu where all shortcuts are sent, leaving the main screen free for widgets and frequently used functions.

To switch mode, you need to go to Settings → Desktop. Here you will find the option “Desktop Mode”. Choosing the “Applications folder” option (or “Applications Menu”) will hide all icons from desktops, leaving only system widgets.

• 📱 Classic style: all icons are visible at once, suitable for those who like visual control over all content.
• 🗂️ Application menu: screen remains clean, programs are searched by swipe up or through the menu button.
• ⚙️ Setting flexibility: the ability to change the size of the grid and the signature font under the icons.

⚠️ Warning: When you switch to App Menu mode, all your current icons can disappear from desktops and move to central storage. Don't worry, they're not gone, just changed the way they're displayed.

Importantly, mode choices affect system performance on weak devices. The app menu can consume a little more RAM when scrolling, but provides a cleaner interface. The classic mode quickly opens up access to rarely used utilities without unnecessary movement.

Creating and Configuring Folders for Grouping Applications

The easiest way to clean up is to combine the icons into thematic folders, which reduces the amount of space you occupy and visually structure the content. MIUI Allows you to create folders simply by dragging one icon to another.

Once you create a group, you can rename it to match the content, like Social Media, Games, or Finance. Newer versions of the shell offer folder widgets, which allow you to open apps inside the folder without opening it to the full screen.

To expand the folder to the size of the widget, click on it, and then select the option “Expand” (if available in your version of the OS). This will turn a regular group into an interactive element that occupies a 2x2 or 2x3 place on the screen grid.

• 📁 Quick creation: pinch the icon and drag it over another program.
• 🏷️ Rename: Click on the folder name to enter your text.
• 🔍 Inside Search: Extended folders often search for content.

Foldering is especially important for small-screen devices, so instead of just flipping five pages, you can fit twenty programs into four neat groups, which makes it much faster to get to the right functionality.

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Use emojis in folder names for faster visual identification, 🎮 play-off 💰 It works in most launchers.

Hiding System and Rarely Used Applications

Many users are faced with the problem of cluttering the interface with system utilities that cannot be removed by standard methods. Xiaomi has a built-in mechanism for hiding applications that allows you to remove them from view without removing them from the system.

The Hidden Apps feature is available in security settings or through a special menu in the Application Manager. Hidden programs do not appear in the menu, do not show notifications or take up space on the desktop, but remain accessible through a special login.

To activate this feature, go to Settings → Applications → Hidden Applications. Here you can choose which shortcuts to hide, accessed through a special gesture in the app menu or through search.

Keep in mind that hiding an app doesn't free up the memory of the device. The program files stay on the disk, it just disappears, and it's a great way to keep things in order if you're afraid to remove the system component that's necessary for the smartphone to work smoothly.

Use of widgets and personalization of the desktop

Widgets are a powerful personalization tool that turns a desktop into a dashboard. Unlike static icons, widgets display current data, such as weather, currency, steps, or task lists. HyperOS has focused on designing these elements.

To add a widget, you need to pinch an empty space on the screen or pinch (to hold two fingers together). The editing menu will open, where the "Widgets" button will be at the bottom of the screen. Here is a catalog of all available elements from the system and installed programs.

Modern widgets support resizing, and if you pull over the edge of an element, you can adapt it to your design project, and some widgets allow you to change the color and style of the design to fit the theme harmoniously.

• 🌤️ Informativeness: output data without running applications.
• 🎨 Design: the possibility of choosing a style for wallpaper.
• 📏 Scalability: Resizing to fill voids.

⚠️ Attention: A large number of active widgets, especially those that are updated in real time (news, weather), can increase battery consumption.

The judicious combination of widgets and free space creates a sense of "air" in the interface. Don't try to fill every pixel of the screen with a payload. Leave room for wallpaper so that visual noise doesn't tire your eyes throughout the day.

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The optimal desktop contains no more than 4-5 widgets, which is a balance between functionality and performance.

Alternative launchers and advanced customization

If standard MIUI capabilities aren't enough, you can always turn to third-party solutions. Google Play Store offers dozens of launchers that completely replace the standard interface. It's a radical but effective way to change the experience.

Popular alternatives like Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher or Smart Launcher provide deep grid settings, animations and gestures that allow you to create complex icon schemes, change icons globally, and customize system behavior.

However, installing a third-party launcher on Xiaomi has its own peculiarities: the system can aggressively unload them from memory, which leads to resetting settings or lags, you need to manually configure the permission to autorun and work in the background.

Settings → Applications → All Applications → [Your Launcher] → Permissions → Auto Run (VL)

It is also worth considering that some system functions, such as Second Space or specific MIUI gestures, may not work correctly or not at all with third-party software.

Cleaning and Optimization: Removing Garbage and Duplicate

You can't clean up the screen without first cleaning up digital garbage. Often users forget about apps they haven't used in years, and they hang dead weight, taking up space and potentially slowing down.

Xiaomi's built-in Security app has a useful Cleanup feature that analyzes installed programs and suggests removing those that haven't been launched in a long time, a great way to quickly identify candidates for removal.

Also, it's worth checking for duplicates. Often users accidentally install multiple browsers, social media clients, or file managers, leave one primary and one (backup) option, delete the rest.

Regular desktop revisions should become a habit. Take 5 minutes a month to go through folders and remove unnecessary items, which supports "digital hygiene" and ensures that your phone stays fast and responsive.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)