Why Xiaomi Phone Takes a Long Time to Reboot and How to Fix It

You hit the reboot button on your Xiaomi, Redmi or Poco, but instead of getting back to work quickly, the screen hangs on the MIUI logo for 5, 10 or even 30 minutes? This problem is familiar to many owners of the brand’s smartphones – from the budget Redmi Note 10 to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra. In 80% of cases, the slow reboot is not due to hardware breakdowns, but is caused by software failures that can be fixed on their own.

In this article, we’ll break down 7 main reasons Xiaomi phones can slow down when turned on, from overloaded memory to firmware conflicts. You’ll learn how to diagnose a problem by symptoms (like hanging on the Fastboot logo or flashing indicator), and get step-by-step instructions for each situation.

Important: If your smartphone is stuck in the “Optimizing apps” phase for longer than 20 minutes, it signals a critical cache failure — don’t force it to shut down so as not to aggravate the problem.

1. overloaded memory: when the system does not have time to process data

The most common reason for a long reboot is a lack of free space in internal memory. If your Xiaomi has less than 10% of free space, the system has to re-index files every time it turns on, which takes extra time, especially for models with eMMC 5.1 (for example, Redmi 9A or Poco M3), where read/write speeds are lower than those of UFS 2.2/3.1 in flagships.

How to check:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → The phone. → Memory and see the percentage of occupancy of the "System" section".
• 🗑️ Go to Settings. → Memory. → Memory analysis and file size sorting. Often the culprits are the cache of Google Play Services (can weigh up to 5 GB!) or undeleted ones. APK-file.
• 🔍 Use Files by Google to search for junk files (temporary data, duplicates, remnants of deleted programs).

Decision:

1. Remove the cache of system applications through Settings → Annexes → Application management → [Select an application] → Memory. → Clear the cache.
2. Move your photos and videos to the cloud (Google Photos or Mi Cloud) or to the cloud. SD-card (if supported).
3. Turn off the automatic saving of media files from messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram).

⚠️ Warning: Do not clear the cache through Memory Cleanup in the security menu - this deletes all application data, including logins and settings. Use only manual cleaning for specific programs.

2. Conflicts after the MIUI update: why firmware "brakes" the system

MIUI updates often bring not only new features, but also hidden bugs. If the phone has been rebooting for a long time immediately after installing the update, it is the fault of:

• 🐞 Incompatibility of the kernel with the new version MIUI (relevant for custom firmware or beta versions).
• 🔄 Dalvik cache reset – the system is forced to reassemble optimized files for all applications.
• 📦 Damaged APK-file /system/priv-app, blocker.

How to diagnose:

1. Check out the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version. If it ends in.0.0.X (like 14.0.0.10), it's a stable build. Beta versions (14.1.23...) are more likely to contain bugs.
2. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → [Three dots] → Show all the processes. If there are processes with an error hanging here (red exclamation point), they slow down the load.

Decisions:

Remove the update via Recovery|Clear the Dalvik cache in TWRP|Remove updates for system applications|Reset the network settings-->

Hardware problems: when the "iron" is to blame

If Xiaomi’s phone slowly reboots after falling, getting moisture or disassembling itself, the problem may lie in:

• 🔋 Worn-out battery – if voltage drops below 3.5V When restarting, the power controller forcibly resets the clock frequency of the processor.
• 💾 Damaged memory (especially for eMMC models, such as Redmi) 8A POCO C3).
• 🌡️ Overheating of the chipset - at a temperature above 60°C system artificially slows down (trottling).

Diagnosis:

1. Check the battery status through the AccuBattery app. If the capacity has dropped below 70% of the nominal capacity, the battery needs to be replaced.
2. Run the memory test with AIDA64 (Storage → Read Test) Read speed below 100MB/s indicates the degradation of the chip.
3. Install the CPU Monitor and see if the CPU frequency decreases when you restart.

⚠️ Note: If Xiaomi phone with MediaTek Helio processor (e.g. Redmi) 9C POCO C31) It only reboots when you connect to charging for a long time, it's a sign of a malfunction of the power controller. Self-repair is fraught with short circuit - contact the service.

4. Viruses and malware: hidden "brakes"

Malware masquerading as system processes (e.g., com.android.system or com.qualcomm.qti) can block critical services when booting, especially phones with an unlocked bootloader or Magisk installed.

Signs of infection:

• 🛡️ Appearance of unknown applications in Settings → Applications (e.g. System Update with a suspicious developer).
• 📡 Increased traffic in the background (checked in Settings) → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Traffic).
• 🔄 Spontaneous reboots at night (virus can run tasks on schedule).

How to clean:

1. Boot in Safe Mode (hold Power → long tap on "Stop" → "Safe Mode"). In this mode, viruses do not start.
2. Remove suspicious apps and clear the Google Play Services cache.
3. Scan your phone through Malwarebytes or Dr.Web Light.
4. If the virus is embedded in the system files, reset via Fastboot: fastboot erase userdata fastboot erase cache.

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Before scanning for viruses, disable Mi Cloud and Google Sync – some legitimate system processes can falsely trigger as threats.

5 Developer settings and experimental functions

Activating Developer Mode (Settings → About Phone → MIUI → 7 taps) opens up access to dangerous parameters that can disrupt system stability.

• 🔧 The enabled option Don’t keep activities forcibly closes all processes when restarted, which increases the initialization time.
• 🖥️ The modified layout GPU-rendering (Force) GPU rendering) can cause graphic artifacts and hangings.
• 🔄 Optimized auto-start causes the system to reconfigure services.

How to return settings to a safe state:

1. Open the settings → Additional → for developers.
2. Find the parameters marked with a red exclamation point and reset them to default values.
3. Turn off USB Debugging and OEM Unlock if you are not using them.
4. Execute the command to reset all developer settings: adb shell settings put global development_settings_enabled 0

6. Conflicts with custom firmware and Magisk

If you installed a Custom ROM (like Pixel Experience or LineageOS) or rooted your phone through Magisk, a long reboot could be due to:

• 📦 Kernel incompatibility – for example, the kernel for Android 12 on Android 13 firmware.
• 🔌 Magisk modules (especially Riru or LSposed).
• 🔄 Damaged partition vendor - relevant for firmware based on Project Treble.

Diagnosis:

1. Download to TWRP and check logs (Advanced → Copy Log).Look for lines with E:failed to mount /vendor.
2. Turn off all Magisk modules and restart. If the problem is gone, turn on the modules one at a time to find the culprit.
3. Check for Magisk version and firmware. Magisk 26.1, for example, is not compatible with Android 14 on some devices.

Decisions:

Remove all modules through Magisk Manager|Reinstall Magisk in another slot (A/B)|Remove the firmware to a stable version|Verification of the integrity of the vendor partition-->

⚠️ Note: If after installing custom firmware, Xiaomi phone with Snapdragon processor (for example, Xiaomi) 11T POCO F3) It hangs on the Fastboot logo with the inscription Invalid. BL Unlock Code, which means the bootloader is locked. unlocking will require an official key from Xiaomi (the procedure takes up to 72 hours).

7 Hardware reset: Last chance to get speed back

If none of the previous methods worked, then you have a hard reset, which deletes all the data, but returns the phone to a factory state. Xiaomi has three ways to reset:

Important:

• 🔐 After the reset, the phone will require you to enter a Mi Account if reset protection was enabled (Settings) → Xiaomi account → Protection against discharge).
• 📱 On models with Android 11+ (Xiaomi 12 or Redmi Note 11 reset can take up to 30 minutes – don’t interrupt the process!

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If the phone still restarts for a long time after reset, it is a sign of hardware failure (for example, degradation of flash memory), in which case a diagnosis is required at the service center.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi's long reboot