How to Set Up Notifications on Xiaomi: From System Alerts to Push Messages

Notifications on Xiaomi smartphones are not just signals about new messages, but a whole mechanism for interacting with the device. The right setup determines whether you receive an important email on time or miss a reminder of a meeting. The problem is that the MIUI shell (especially in versions 12-15) offers so many options for managing notifications that users often get lost in settings or accidentally turn off critical alerts.

In this article, we will explore not only the basic ways to turn on notifications, but also the nuances that are not written about in the official instructions, for example, why some applications (like WhatsApp or Viber) may not show alerts even when you have setups on, how the notification prioritization system in MIUI 14+ works, and what to do if notifications come, but without sound or vibration.

Basic notification settings in MIUI

Start with the basics: where and how notifications are enabled at the system level. In Xiaomi, this is the responsibility of the Settings → Notifications and Status bar section. Here you can collect all the key parameters, but the interface may differ depending on the version of MIUI and the smartphone model (for example, on the Redmi Note 12 and Xiaomi 13 Pro, the menu will look different).

The first thing to check is the general notification switch, which is at the top of the screen, and it's called Show Notifications. If it's off, no notifications (from apps or system) will work.

• 🔔 Notification sounds – Melody selection, volume and vibration;
• 📱 Position on the lock screen – whether to show the contents of notifications or only icons;
• 🔄 Repeated notifications – how often to remind of unread messages;
• 🌙 Do Not Disturb – Exceptions for Important Contacts or Applications.

Note Priority Notifications (some versions of MIUI call it Important Notifications), where you can highlight apps that will show alerts even in Do Not Disturb mode, which is useful for messengers or work chats.

Set up notifications for individual applications

Even if system notifications are enabled, individual apps can block alerts. To fix this, go to Settings → Apps → Application Management, select the desired application (such as Telegram or Gmail), and open the Notifications section.

Here it is important to check three parameters:

1. Allow notifications – the main switch;
2. Notification icons – whether to display badge on the app icon
3. Notification Categories – Some apps (like Facebook) divide alerts into types (messages, reactions, reminders).

Pay special attention to AutoStart in the app settings. If it is disabled, the app may not start in the background, which means it will not receive push messages. This is a common reason why VK or Instagram do not show notifications on Xiaomi.

Select the application in "Application Management"|Insert “Allow notifications"|Check "Autostart" and "Background Activity"|Set up notification categories (if any)|Restart the application after changes-->

Notification problems after MIUI update

Many users find that after updating MIUI (for example, from the 13th to the 14th version) notifications stop coming, this is due to the fact that the system resets some permissions for applications.

1. Completely reset notification settings to Settings → Notifications → Additional → Reset notification settings;
2. Clearing the cache and data for the Google Play Service app (sometimes this solves push messaging problems);
3. Special Access → Battery Optimization – Some applications may be limited.

If the problem persists, try temporarily disabling the Adaptive Battery feature in the power settings, which sometimes restricts the background activity of applications too aggressively.

Notifications on the lock screen: what can be configured

By default, MIUI hides the content of notifications on the lock screen, showing only the application icons. To change this behavior, go to Settings → Lock screen → Notifications on the lock screen. Here you can find three options:

• 🔒 Not to show notifications - only time and date;
• 📌 Show icons - application icons without text;
• 📄 Display content – full text of notifications (not safe if the phone can be seen by outsiders).

For added security, you can configure exceptions, such as showing the content of notifications only for trusted applications (messaging, mail) or when the device is connected to a trusted Wi-Fi network.

Push notifications: why they don’t come and how to fix it

If notifications from specific applications (such as TikTok, AliExpress or banking services) don’t come, push services may be the problem.

1. Google Play Services – for most Western applications
2. Mi Push Service is for system and some Chinese applications.

To check the performance of Google Play Services:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management → Google Play Services;
2. Make sure that Notification and AutoRun permissions are enabled;
3. Clear the cache and data (Warning: This may reset some of your Google account settings).

For Mi Push Service:

1. Go to Settings → Memory → Autostart;
2. Find Mi Push Service and enable auto-start.
3. Reboot the phone.

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If push notifications don't only come on the mobile network (and Wi-Fi works), check your carrier's APN settings, sometimes requiring you to manually add either mms or supl to the access point configuration.

Hidden Notification Settings for Experienced Users

V MIUI There are a few hidden parameters that can only be changed through Developer Mode or ADB-For example, teams:

• 🔧 Disabling Notification Grouping – Useful if you need separate alerts for each message;
• 📛 Changing notification priority – some apps can be made “more important” than others;
• 🔕 Block notifications from system applications (e.g. Mi Video or Mi Browser).

To access these settings:

1. Activate Developer Mode (7 times click on the MIUI version in your phone settings)
2. Go to the additional → For developers → Notifications;
3. You can turn off Background Process Limitation for mission-critical applications.

For advanced users: some settings can be changed through ADB. For example, to completely disable battery optimization for a particular application, use the command:

adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.example.app

Where com.example.app is the batch name of the application (you can find out through the App Inspector in Settings → Applications).

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Configuring background processes in developer mode can greatly improve notification delivery, but reduce battery life by 10-15%.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Many of the notification problems on Xiaomi are caused by non-obvious setting errors, and here are the most common ones:

• ❌ Disabled autorun for messengers – without it, applications do not receive push messages;
• ❌ Restricting background activity in battery settings – check the Special Access section → Optimizing the battery;
• ❌ Resetting notification settings after update — MIUI Sometimes resets permissions for applications;
• ❌ Conflict with cleaning applications (such as Clean Master or Security) – they can block background processes.

Another common problem is duplicate notifications, which happens when an app sends alerts through both Google Push and Mi Push, and to fix this, turn off Mi Push for a particular app in the notification settings.

⚠️ Note: If you use two of these SIM-cards, call notifications and SMS They may be late on the second card, and it's because of the way the modems work at Xiaomi. SIM-maps in Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Priority SIM-call-card.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions