Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a situation where the once-quick device starts to work slowly. the interface of MIUI or the new HyperOS is overgrown with background processes, and the accumulated cache of applications begins to take up a significant part of memory, which leads to delays when opening programs and slowing down the system as a whole.
There are many ways to get your device back to speed without having to flash it or go to a service center, and the effectiveness of the methods depends on how long you have been using the gadget and how much free memory is left on the internal drive.
In this article, we will examine proven action algorithms that will help significantly improve performance, learn how to properly configure the hidden parameters of the developer and disable unnecessary system processes.
Memory cleaning and cache work
The first step to speed up is to review the occupied space, where less than 10-15% of the total memory is left, the file system starts to work with delays, and the operating system cannot efficiently distribute temporary files, which causes lags.
Don’t rely on built-in cleaning tools alone; manually check the folders of messengers like Telegram or Viber, where gigabytes of media are stored, and remove unused apps that can run background services.
☑️ Memory check
For deep cleaning, you can use the standard Security app, but more advanced users should consider installing specialized slits that analyze folder structure.
- 🗑️ Remove old screenshots and saved images from social media.
- 📂 Check the folder. Android/data Residual files of remote games.
- 📸 Clear the cache of cameras and galleries if you are actively shooting high-resolution video.
- 📱 Remove the browser cache, which often grows to hundreds of megabytes.
⚠️ Warning: When cleaning folders manually, be careful not to delete system files whose names you don't know.
Regular maintenance of storage is the key to stable operation, if memory is constantly crowded, you should consider transferring photos and videos to the cloud or to an external medium.
Set-up of Developer Parameters
The hidden menu of the developer contains tools that allow visually speed up the response of the system, and it's about transition animations that create the illusion of smoothness, zero time to render.
To access these settings, you need to go to Settings → About Phone and 7 times click on the MIUI version. After that, a new option will appear in the menu “Additional” or “Extended settings”, where you need to find “For developers”.
How to Enable Developer Mode
Inside the menu, find the section "Drawing." You're interested in three options: "Window animation," "Change animation," and "Duration of animation." The default value is usually 1x.
Change all three values to 0.5x or disable them completely, which will make switching between applications instantaneous, as the system will no longer waste resources on rendering effects.
| Parameter | Standard value | Recommended value | The effect | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window animation | 1x | 0.5x | Acceleration of opening/closing applications | |
| Animation of transitions | 1x | 0.5x | Quick switching between screens | |
| Duration of animation | 1x | 0.5x | Reducing waiting time for action | |
| Background processes | No restrictions. | No more than 2-3. | Freeing RAM |
Also on this menu, you should find the option “Limit background processes”, setting the restriction will help prevent the accumulation of many “hanging” applications in memory that slow down the active window.
💡
If after changing the font scale or element size, the interface becomes unreadable, return the default values in the Display section.
Optimizing battery and background processes
Xiaomi’s energy saving system aggressively restricts background activity, but sometimes this mechanism doesn’t work properly, or vice versa, too many applications have permission to work in the background.
You need to go to the battery settings and check the list of applications. For programs that do not require constant notifications (for example, games or rarely used services), you should set a background activity limit.
There's an Advanced Memory feature that takes a piece of permanent memory and uses it as a RAM, and on devices with a slow drive, this can, paradoxically, slow down the system.
- 🔋 Turn off Memory Extension in Settings if you have less than 6GB of physical RAM.
- 🚫 Disable auto-run for all unnecessary apps in the Apps menu» → «Permits».
- ⚡ Activate Performance Mode in the Security App» → «Battery».
- 📉 Turn off the gallery cloud sync if it is not required every minute.
⚠️ Warning: Complete disabling of background processes for messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) will delay incoming messages until the application is opened.
It's important to understand the difference between energy saving and performance. Energy saving mode reduces the processor's frequency, which directly affects the interface's response speed.
Removing Advertising and Systemic Garbage
MSA (MIUI System Ads) services consume Internet traffic and processor resources to load targeted ads in system applications, a must-do step to speed up the download.
To remove ads, go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Access to Personal Data. Search the msa list and turn off the slider. The system will ask you to wait 10 seconds, after which you need to confirm the action.
You should also turn off receiving recommendations in folders and settings, and for this, in each system application (Conductor, Music, Themes), you need to find the settings gear and remove the “Receive recommendations” box.
The accumulated cache of Google Play and other services can also cause problems, and periodic data cleaning of these services helps restore the normal operation of the app store and sync.
Reset network settings and Wi-Fi
Slow Internet operation is often perceived as a general slowness of the smartphone, and problems with the communication module can arise due to accumulated errors in the configuration of networks.
In the settings menu, look for Connection and Sharing, and you can reset your Wi-Fi, mobile network, and Bluetooth settings, and that will bring the network back to factory values.
If the problem is only seen on a particular network, try changing the router’s broadcast channel or standard from 802.11n to 802.11ac (5GHz) if your Xiaomi supports this range.
- 📡 Reset your network settings through the Connection and Sharing menu».
- 🔒 Remove saved Wi-Fi profiles that you no longer connect to.
- 🔄 Switch the network type in the mobile settings to 5G/LTE if the signal is forced 3G weak.
- 🌐 Turn off the "Private" function DNS», If it is enabled, to check the speed of loading pages.
Often users forget that the router’s overflowing memory or a large number of connected devices also affect the response speed of a smartphone on the network.
Updating the system and applications
Xiaomi developers regularly release updates that contain security patches and performance optimizations. Ignoring updates can lead to conflicts in the work of new versions of applications and the old OS.
You can check for updates in the Settings → About Phone menu, however, if the automatic update does not come, you can use the Three Dots feature in the corner of the screen and select Check for Updates.
💡
Full reset to factory settings (Factory Reset) is a radical, but the most effective way to speed up an old smartphone if software methods do not help.
It is also important to update all installed apps via Google Play or GetApps. Older versions of programs may not be optimized for the current version of Android, causing errors and freezes.
Sometimes the new firmware version, on the contrary, slows down the device on the old hardware, in which case experienced users are considering rolling back to the previous stable version 2026, but this requires unlocking the bootloader.