Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones are known for aggressive power optimization, which often blocks the background work of applications. Users face problems: messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) do not send notifications, fitness trackers (Google Fit, Mi Fitness) lose data, and music services (Spotify, Yandex Music) are interrupted 5 minutes after blocking the screen. In this article, we will analyze all ways to enable background work on Xiaomi devices, from basic settings to hidden developer parameters.
To make matters worse, MIUI is constantly repositioning menus in newer versions (12-15). We updated the 2026 manual with the latest updates. It's important to understand that background constraints are not a bug, but a deliberate manufacturer's policy to save battery life. However, for many users, app stability is more important than an additional 10% of autonomy.
Why Xiaomi is blocking the background of applications?
The MIUI shell uses three levels of optimization that affect background processes:
- 🔋 Battery optimization: automatically suspends applications if they are not actively used, even affects system services.
- 🚫 Autostart Limit: Blocks the launch of applications when you turn on your smartphone or after restarting.
- ⚡ Adaptive brightness and performance: Reduces CPU frequency for background tasks, leading to applications falling asleep.
MIUI 14/15 adds another layer, Deep Optimization, which analyzes user behavior and pauses apps if they haven’t opened for more than 3 days, for example, if you haven’t run Viber for several days, the system can completely block its background activity, even if you have unread messages.
The manufacturer argues that 80 percent of users don’t notice the difference in the application experience, but they benefit from autonomy, but for those who actively use messengers, health trackers or cloud services, such limitations become a critical problem.
Method 1: Setup Auto-Run Applications
The first step is to allow apps to automatically start when you turn on your smartphone, without which, even after unlocking the background, apps will not be able to start after you restart.
Instructions for MIUI 12-15:
- Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- Slip on three dots in the upper right corner and select AutoRun.
- Enable the slider for the desired applications (for example, Telegram, WhatsApp, Google Play Services).
- Some applications (such as Mi Fit) may require additional permission – click on the app name and activate Auto Run in its settings.
Note that MIUI 15 has a deeper autorun menu, and if you don't have Autorun in application management, try an alternative path:
Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Settings → Applications Choice → AutoRunEnable auto-start for messengers
Allow Autoplay for Google Play Services
Check the settings for fitness trackers
Reboot your smartphone to apply changes-->
Method 2: Disabling Battery Optimization
Battery optimization is the main culprit for background problems, and in MIUI, it works on two levels: global (for all applications) and individual (for each application separately), to completely disable the restrictions:
Step 1: Global optimisation shutdown
- Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Settings
- Choose App Choices (or Battery Optimization in older versions).
- Select All Apps and select No Limits for Critical Services.
Step 2: Individual settings for applications
- Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- Select the app you want (such as WhatsApp).
- Go to Permits. → Optimizing the battery.
- Choose No Limits or No Limits (depending on the version of MIUI).
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If the list of applications does not include the item "Battery Optimization", try to first enable the developer mode (7 taps by the build number in "About Phone"), and then repeat the steps.
For applications that actively use geolocation (for example, Yandex Maps or Google Maps), further disable location optimization:
Settings → Privacy → Permits → Location → System Settings → Disable “Optimization of Location Accuracy”Method 3: Permissions for background work in application settings
Even after battery optimization is turned off, some apps (especially from Google) require additional permissions to run steadily in the background.For example, Google Play Services can block notifications from Gmail or YouTube if it does not have auto-run rights.
How to check and configure:
- Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- Select an app (e.g. Google Play Services).
- Go to the Permissions section and enable: 📍 Location (if the application uses geodata) 🔔 Notifications (for messengers and email clients) 🔄 Auto-start (unless previously included) 📶 Mobile data in the background (for online services)
For MIUI 14/15, a new item has been added, Background Activity, which should be enabled for applications that need to run constantly (e.g. Mi Fitness for sync with smartwatches), and can be found in the settings of a particular application:
Settings → Applications → [Application Name] → Background Activity → EnableWhich apps should be set up first?
Method 4: Developer settings for advanced users
If standard methods don't work, you can use hidden developer settings to turn off system-level constraints, but you need to be careful that improper changes can lead to increased battery consumption or overheating.
Step 1: Activate the Developer Mode
- Go to Settings. → The phone.
- Tap 7 times on the MIUI version (you will be notified "You became a developer").
Step 2: Disable the limitations of background processes
- Return to Settings → Additional → For Developers (or Settings → System → For Developers in New Versions).
- Find and turn on: 🔄 Do not limit background processes (or background processes) → Standard limit) 📱 Turn off optimization MIUI (if) 🔋 Turn off the adaptive brightness of the battery
MIUI 15
Priority background processes
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Changes to the developer settings are reset after the MIUI update. After the update, check them again!
Step. 3: Turn off "Deep Optimization" (for the purpose only) MIUI 14/15)
Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Settings → Deep Optimization → Disable⚠️ Caution: Disabling deep optimization can reduce battery life by 15-20%. Use this method only if other methods have not helped.
Method 5: Use of third-party utilities (for power users)
If manual settings don't work, you can use specialized utilities that automate the process of unlocking background restrictions, but require root or ADB rights.
Popular tools:
- 🛠️ MIUI Optimizer (requires Magisk): disables battery optimization at the system level, adds advanced settings for background processes.
- 🔧 ADB AppControl (without root): allows you to use ADB disable restrictions for specific applications.
- ⚡ Greenify (with Donate): Manages the “sleep mode” of applications, preventing them from being forced to close.
An example of a team for ADB that disables battery optimization for WhatsApp:
adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.whatsappTo massively disable restrictions, use the script:
adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy 1
adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.google.android.gms
adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.whatsapp
adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +org.telegram.messenger⚠️ Attention: Use ADB or root rights may result in loss of warranty or unstable system operation.
Table: Comparison of methods for incorporating background work
| Method | Difficulty | Required rights | Efficiency | Impact on the battery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-launching applications | ⭐ | No. | Medium | Minimum |
| Disabling battery optimization | ⭐⭐ | No. | Tall. | Moderate (5-10%) |
| Developer settings | ⭐⭐⭐ | No. | Very high. | Significant (10-15%) |
| ADB-team | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | USB debugging | Maximum | Depends on the settings. |
| Root applications (MIUI Optimizer) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Root rights | Absolute. | High (20%+) |
Important: On devices with a Snapdragon processor (for example, Xiaomi 13, Redmi Note 12 Pro+), background work is blocked more aggressively than on models with MediaTek (Redmi Note 11, POCO X5).