How to Clean RAM on Xiaomi Phone: The Complete Guide

Why Xiaomi phone brakes and how does it relate to RAM?

Have you noticed that your Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 Pro is slowing down, apps are slowing down, and animations are slowing down? 90% of the time, the problem lies in overloaded RAM (RAM). Even powerful models with 8-12 GB of RAM eventually start to “choke” due to background processes, cached data and unoptimized applications.

RAM (or RAM) is a phone’s “short memory” where active application data is temporarily stored. When it is filled, the system is forced to constantly reload data from the slow drive, which causes lags. Xiaomi manufacturers have built several memory management tools into MIUI, but they do not always work effectively. In this article, 7 proven ways to clean up RAM, including hidden functions and third-party utilities.

It's important to understand that cleaning RAM is not a panacea. If the phone brakes because of a weak processor (Snapdragon 4xx series) or overheating, freeing up memory will have a temporary effect. But in most cases, the right optimization returns smoothness to 30-50%.

Method 1: Built-in memory cleanup in MIUI

Xiaomi has added a 12/13/14 tool for manually cleaning the RAM to MIUI firmware.It doesn’t remove background processes completely (this would violate the logic of Android), but closes unnecessary tasks and frees up to 20-30% of memory.

How to use:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → The phone. → Memory (on some models, path: Settings) → Annexes → Application management → Memory).
• 🔍 At the top of the screen you will see a graph of RAM usage. click on the "Clear" button (or "Clear Memory" button").
• ⚡ The system will close the background processes without affecting critical services (calls, notifications).

Limitations of the method:

• ❌ Does not clear the application cache (only background tasks).
• ❌ The effect lasts 10–30 minutes until the apps are loaded back into memory.
• ❌ On some models (Redmi) 9A, POCO M3) The cleaning button may not be available.

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If there is no Clear button, try holding the Home button (navigation bar) for 2-3 seconds – on some versions of MIUI this triggers the Clean Menu.

Method 2: Using Safe Mode for Diagnostics

If the phone is slowing down even after cleaning the RAM, the problem may be in a particular application. Safe mode helps to identify the "culprit": it only works system processes, without third-party programs.

How to turn on:

1. Press the power button before the turn off menu appears.
2. Hold your finger on the “Switch off” option for 3-5 seconds.
3. Confirm the transition to safe mode (the inscription "Safe mode" will appear at the bottom of the screen).

What to do next:

• 🔍 Check the smoothness of the work – if the lags have disappeared, the problem is in one of the installed applications.
• 📌 Remove newly installed programs until you find the culprit.
• 🔄 To exit the mode, just restart the phone.

Method 3: Disabling Autoboot Applications

Many programs (Facebook, TikTok, instant messengers) automatically start when you turn on your phone and hang in the background, occupying RAM. MIUI has a hidden setting that allows you to turn off autoboot.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the "Outload" tab (on some models - "Start").
3. Turn off autoboot for unnecessary apps (such as games or social media).

Exceptions:

• ✅ Leave autoload for messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) if you use notifications.
• ✅ Do not disable system processes (start with com.android. or com.miui.).

Method 4: Cleaning the cache and application data

App cache is a temporary file that speeds up programs, but grows to giant sizes over time. For example, Instagram can accumulate up to 1-2 GB of cache, and Google Play Services can accumulate up to 500 MB. These files not only take up space on the drive, but also overload RAM when you access them.

How to clear the cache:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Choose an app (such as Chrome or Facebook).
3. Click Clear Cache (not to be confused with Clear Data – it will delete accounts and settings!).

Top.-5 "cache-driven applications:

Method 5: Using Developer Options (Developer Mode)

Developer Options’ hidden settings allow you to limit background processes and force applications to close when folded, a radical method, but one that is effective for weak phones (Redmi 8A, POCO C31).

How to turn on the developer mode:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Click 7 times on the "MIUI version" (you are a developer!).
3. Return to the main settings menu – there will be a new section “For developers”.

Useful settings for RAM:

• 🔧 "Do not save actions – closes all applications when you press the Home button.
• 🔧 "Limit background processes" - set the value "Maximum 2 process" (for phones with 2-4 GB of RAM).
• 🔧 "Disable animation" - reduce the load on the processor and RAM (set the animation scale on the 0.5x).

⚠️ Attention: Sloppy changes to Developer Options can cause phone malfunctions. For example, disabling the com.miui.home process will make it impossible to use the launcher. → Additionally. → Backup and reset.

Method 6: Third-party utilities for cleaning RAM

If the built-in MIUI tools don't work, you can use third-party apps, and the key is to choose reliable utilities that don't overload the system any more.

Top.-3 tested:

• 🛠️ Greenify — freezes background applications, preventing them from consuming RAM.
• 🧹 SD Maid – Clears cache, junk files and optimizes databases (requires a premium version for full functionality).
• 🔄 Boost for Redmi (MIUI) — specialized utility for Xiaomi smartphones, cleanses RAM and speeds up animation.

How to use Greenify:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Provide access to special features (in Android settings).
3. Add unnecessary apps to the list of “hybernations” (for example, games or social networks).
4. Press the Hibernation button and the programs will “sleep” before the next launch.

⚠️ Note: Some “optimizers” (e.g. Clean Master or Clean Master) DU Speed Booster) consume RAM themselves and show false virus notifications. Use only proven utilities from the official store.

Method 7: Reset to factory settings (last resort)

If all the previous methods didn't work, and the phone is still slowing down, it's a complete reset, and it deletes all the data, but it returns the performance to its original state.

• 📤 Create a backup copy in Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset.
• 🔐 Remember or write down passwords from your accounts (Mi Account, Google).
• 📱 Make sure your phone is at least 50% charged (reset takes 5-10 minutes).

How to reset your settings:

1. Go to Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset → Reset settings.
2. Select "Erase all data."
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

After the reset, don't restore the data from the backup immediately - first check the phone's "clean" state. If the lags have disappeared, the problem was accumulated debris or conflicting applications.

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Factory reset is the last resort, and 80 percent of the time, it's enough to clean the cache, turn off autoboots, and optimize background processes.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up RAM on Xiaomi