Cleaning up RAM on Xiaomi Redmi 5: from manual methods to hidden MIUI features

Xiaomi Redmi 5 with its 2 or 3 GB of RAM is still a popular budget smartphone, but over time even it begins to “slow down”. The reason most often lies in overloaded RAM – the system lacks free resources for smooth operation. Unlike flagships, where the storage allows you to keep dozens of applications in the background, Redmi 5 requires regular “cleaning”.

This article presents unique RAM cleaning techniques that go beyond the trivial click of the Clean button in the multitasking menu, and will break down the hidden features of MIUI, optimize autoboot, learn how to manage background processes, and even consider radical measures for extreme cases. All methods are tested on Redmi 5 with MIUI 9-14 firmware (including global and Chinese versions).

Why is Redmi 5 “suffocating” from a lack of RAM?

On paper, 2GB of RAM sounds modest, but in 2018 (when Redmi 5 came out) it was enough for basic tasks.

• 📱 Apps are “blown”: the same Facebook or Instagram now consume 2-3 times more RAM than 5 years ago.
• 🤖 MIUI Xiaomi’s shell adds background services with each update (e.g. miui.analytics or com.xiaomi.mipicks).
• 🔄 Out of control: Many programs (including system) are added to auto-runs.
• 🧹 Discarded: Even after uninstallation, their cache and temporary files can remain in memory.

The key problem with Redmi 5 is the Snapdragon 450 processor architecture with limited memory bandwidth. When RAM is clogged, the system starts to actively use the swap file, which leads to lags, while the standard “Clear All” button in the multitasking menu removes only visible applications, leaving the background processes intact.

Method 1: Manual cleaning through hidden MIUI menu

Few people know, but MIUI has a hidden menu for deep cleaning of RAM that you can't see in the standard settings.

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Click on MIUI Version 5 times in a row until the notification “You became a developer” appears.
3. Return to the main settings menu and open Additional → for developers.
4. Find the Memory option (or Free Memory in older versions) and tap it.
5. In the window that opens, you'll see a full list of processes, including system processes. Click Clear Memory in the upper right corner.

This method removes all background processes except those critical to the system (e.g. Android.system or miui.home) and after cleaning, the phone may be able to “suppress” the first 10-15 seconds a little, which is normal, since the system needs to restart the core of the processes.

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If there is no Memory item in the Developer Menu, try enabling USB debugging (Settings → Additional → Developer → USB debugging) and restarting your phone. The option should appear.

Method 2: Optimize the boot (the most effective method)

Up to 70 percent of the RAM load on Redmi 5 comes from apps that are added to auto-runs, and even after closing, they continue to hang in the background, consuming memory.

1. Install Autostarts (available on Google Play) or Greenify (requires root for full control).
2. Open the list of applications and sort them by the number of autostart points (in Autostarts, this is the Triggers column).
3. Turn off auto-run for unnecessary programs: 📌 Social media (Facebook, VK, TikTok) 📌 Google Play Games, Xiaomi Game Center) 📌 Xiaomi System Services (com.xiaomi.market, com.miui.weather2)

For maximum effect, combine Autostarts with the built-in MIUI Autostart Manager:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Autorun.
2. Turn off auto-run for all apps except instant messengers (like WhatsApp or Telegram).

Instructions:

1. Connect Redmi 5 to your PC and open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux).
2. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices should appear the name of your device.
3. Get a list of all working processes: adb shell ps -A
4. Find the processes you want to close (e.g. com.facebook.katana for Facebook) and do: adb shell am force-stop com.facebook.katana

To completely clean the RAM (analogue to a reboot, but without turning off the phone) use:

adb shell "echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches"

⚠️ Attention: Inept use ADB It can cause data loss or a cyclical reboot of your phone, and if you're not sure what you're doing, skip this.

Method 4: Cleaning through Safe Mode

If the phone is so slow that it doesn’t respond to commands, try booting into Safe Mode, which only runs system applications, allowing you to:

• 🔍 Identify a program that “eats” RAM.
• 🧹 Remove viruses or conflicting applications.
• 🔄 Reset settings without losing data.

How to run Safe Mode on Redmi 5:

1. Press the power button until the shutdown menu appears.
2. Press and hold the "Switch off" (or "Switch off" power) item until a request to go to Safe Mode appears.
3. Confirm the action. The phone will reboot, and in the lower left corner of the screen, the message "Safe Mode" will appear.

In this mode:

• Check the level of free RAM in Settings → About the phone → Memory. If it has grown significantly, the problem is in third-party applications.
• Remove suspicious programs through Settings → Apps.
• If the phone is fast, one of the remote applications caused the lag.

To exit Safe Mode, simply restart your phone.

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Safe Mode is the only way to diagnose a voracious app if the phone is no longer responding to commands, and all third-party services are disabled in this mode, so RAM should be free 30-50% more than usual.

Method 5: Optimization through Developer Settings

The Developer Menu contains options that can significantly reduce the load on RAM. Here are the most useful:

Recommended settings for Redmi 5:

• 🔧 Set Limit background processes to a maximum of 3 process values.
• 🔧 Turn on Do Not Save Actions (but be prepared for applications to close when folded).
• 🔧 Turn off all animations (Scope of window animation, Scope of transition animation - set on Off.).

⚠️ Note: Do Not Save Actions may disrupt some applications (e.g. music players will stop when you lock the screen.

Method 6: Radical measures - cache reset and Dalvik

If all previous methods did not work, then cache cleaning remains and Dalvik is not a factory reset, but it gives a similar effect to freeing RAM, TWRP), but does not delete user data.

Instructions:

1. Install TWRP Recovery on Redmi 5 (instructions are available on 4PDA or XDA Developers).
2. Load into the receptacle: turn off the phone, then press Power + Volume up.
3. In TWRP, select Wipe → Advanced Wipe.
4. Check the boxes: 🗑️ Dalvik / ART Cache 🗑️ Cache

Swipe for confirmation.

Reboot → System

After this procedure:

• 🔹 The first download will take 5-10 minutes (this is normal – the system recovers the cache).
• 🔹 RAM will be free 200-400 MB more than before cleaning.
• 🔹 Some apps may require re-entry (such as WhatsApp or VKontakte).

⚠️ Note: Do not clean the data in TWRP — This will result in a complete reset of the phone and the deletion of all data!

Method 7: Alternative launchers to save RAM

A standard MIUI launcher (miui.home) consumes up to 300-500MB of RAM, even when you’re not interacting with your phone, and replacing it with a lightweight counterpart can free up to 20 percent of RAM.

The best options for Redmi 5:

How to install an alternative launcher:

1. Download the selected launcher from Google Play.
2. When you first start, select it as the default launcher.
3. Go to the settings of the new launcher and turn off: 🔘 Animations when opening / closing applications. 🔘 Background update of widgets. 🔘 Automatic sorting of applications (if not necessary).

Settings → Applications → Application Management

turn off

MIUI

miui.home

Note: After the launcher is replaced, some MIUI features (such as pop-up notifications or gestures) may work differently.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning RAM on Redmi 5