How to clean RAM on Xiaomi Android smartphones: the full guide

Your Xiaomi smartphone is slowing down, apps are spontaneously closing, and animations are twitching? The reason most often lies in overloaded RAM. Even the flagship Redmi or POCO models with 8-12 GB of RAM eventually begin to “suffocate” from the background processes. In this article, we will examine 7 proven ways to clean RAM — from standard MIUI tools to hidden features for power users.

It's important to understand that cleaning RAM is not a panacea for all lags. If the phone brakes because of a weak processor or a crowded drive, freeing RAM will only have a temporary effect. But in 80% of cases, properly optimizing RAM returns the smartphone to speed without drastic measures like resetting.

We have tested all methods on devices with MIUI 14 and HyperOS (including Xiaomi 13 Pro, Redmi Note 12 and POCO F5), and the methods will also work for older models on MIUI 12/13 if they receive security updates after 2022.

1. Built-in memory cleaner in MIUI/HyperOS

The easiest way is to use Xiaomi’s regular tool, which requires no additional apps installed and works on all the brand’s devices, including the budget Redmi A2 and POCO M6 Pro.

To start the cleanup:

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Tap 5-7 times on the line MIUI Version (or HyperOS Version) until the notification “You became a developer” appears.
3. Return to the main settings menu and go to Additional → For developers.
4. Find the Memory Cleanup option and activate it.
5. Return to the home screen and add the Memory Cleanup widget to the notification panel (swipe down from the top edge of the screen and click Edit).

Now you can clean RAM with one tap on the widget, but here's the caveat: this method only removes the app cache, not the background processes. It takes additional steps to clean it completely.

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If the memory cleanup widget doesn't show up, restart the phone. On some firmware, it only appears after the reboot.

2. Manual cleaning through the menu "Last Appendices"

The method works on all versions of MIUI and HyperOS, but the efficiency depends on the model of the smartphone. On devices with 6 GB of RAM and less (for example, Redmi 9A or POCO M4 Pro), manual cleaning gives a noticeable increase in performance, while on flagships with 12+ GB, the difference will be minimal.

Instructions:

• 📱 Press the square navigation button (or swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen and hold your finger).
• 🧹 At the bottom of the screen will appear the button Clean all (or icon basket) – tap it.
• 🔄 For deep cleaning, hold the Clean All 2-3 Seconds button until a menu with the option Clear Background Processes appears.

On smartphones with HyperOS (Xiaomi 14, POCO F6 and later), instead of the “Clear All” button, you can display a lock icon. Slip on it, then select “Close all applications” and confirm the action.

3. Optimization through Security App

Security is a Swiss knife for Xiaomi smartphones, pre-installed on all devices of the brand and allows you not only to clean RAM, but also to manage autoload, cache and even viruses.

How to use:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to the Optimization tab (or Boost in global firmware).
3. Press Memory Boost (or Memory Boost).
4. Wait for the analysis and tap the Clean.
5. For deep cleaning, go to Deep Cleaning and select Background Cleanup.

In the same menu you can configure automatic cleaning:

• 🔄 Enable the Auto Cleanup option.
• 🕒 Set a schedule (we recommend every day at 3:00).
• ⚡ Select the cleaning level: Fast (removes only the cache) or Deep (close background processes).

4. Disable autoloading of unnecessary applications

Many apps (especially social networks and instant messengers) automatically start when the phone is turned on and hang in the background, consuming RAM. Shutting down autoboot can free up to 1-1.5 GB of memory on devices with 6-8 GB of RAM.

How to turn off autoboot:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select an app (like Facebook or AliExpress).
3. Slip AutoRun and turn off the slider.
4. Repeat for all unnecessary applications.

For mass blackout:

• 📊 Open Security. → Optimization → Auto-start.
• 🔍 Include filters that are recent or frequently used.
• ❌ Tick unneeded apps and click Disable.

⚠️ Note: Do not disable auto-start for system applications (e.g. Google Play Services, MIUI Daemon or Security: This can cause smartphone malfunctions, including push notifications and synchronization issues.

5.Use of ADB-Teams for experienced users

If standard methods do not help, you can resort to ADB-This requires you to connect your phone to your computer, but you can manually control your processes and free up RAM without root rights.

What you need:

• 💻 Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).li>
• 📥 Google Platform Tools (download and unpack).
• 🔧 Included debugging by USB phone-on.

Instructions:

1. Enable Developer Mode (as in the first method) and activate Debugging over USB.
2. Connect the phone to your computer and select File Transfer mode.
3. Open the command line (or Terminal) in the Platform Tools folder.
4. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices should appear the name of your device.
5. Execute the command to clean RAM: adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.CLOSE_SYSTEM_DIALOGS This team will close all system dialogues and background processes.

For more aggressive cleaning, use:

adb shell am kill-all

This command will forcefully close all user applications, but will not affect system processes.

⚠️ Note: Do not use the adb shell kill or adb shell pkill commands without understanding the consequences. Incorrect completion of system processes (for example, surfaceflinger or zygote) can lead to a crash of the interface and the need to restart.

USB | Installed Xiaomi | Drivers Downloaded Platform Tools | Phone connected in file transfer mode | Command line open on behalf of administrator-->

6.Configuring the limitation of background processes

MIUI and HyperOS allow you to limit the number of background processes, which reduces the load on RAM. This feature is hidden in the menu for developers and can significantly improve performance on devices with 4-6 GB of RAM.

How to set up:

1. Activate Developer Mode (as in the first method).
2. Go to Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Find the option Background Process Limit (or Background Process Limit).
4. Choose one of the values: 🛑 No background processes – radical mode, suitable only for weak devices (Redmi) 8A, POCO C31). ⚠️ Maximum 1 process – optimal for 4-6 GB of RAM. ✅ Process Maximum 2 – Balance between performance and multitasking (recommended for 8GB of RAM). 🚀 Standard Limit – Default value (4 processes).

After changing the setting, restart the phone. The effect will be noticeable after 10-15 minutes of active use: applications will be less likely to reboot when switching between them, and free memory will be 20-30% more.

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Limiting background processes to 1-2 significantly increases battery life, as it reduces the CPU load, but it can lead to longer applications loading when first opened.

7. reset partition cache (without data loss)

If all previous methods failed, try resetting the partition cache, which does not delete user data (photos, messages, apps), but clears temporary system files that can take up to 1-2 GB of RAM in the background.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the button combination: 🔧 For most models: Power button + Loudness up. 📱 For POCO F4/F5 Xiaomi 12/13 Series: The Power Button + Loudness up + Loudness down (hold on) 10 seconds).

Recovery

Wipe & Reset

Wipe Cache

Wipe Data

Confirm the action and wait for the completion (it will take 1-3 minutes).

Reboot

After the cache is reset, the system can boot longer than usual (up to 5 minutes). This is normal - MIUI restores optimized files. After 10-15 minutes of work, you will notice that there is more free memory and the phone is more responsive.

⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse Wipe Cache with Wipe Data! The second option will completely reset the phone to factory settings by deleting all your data. If you accidentally chose the wrong option, immediately turn off the phone - sometimes it helps interrupt the reset process.

FAQ: Frequent questions about cleaning up RAM on Xiaomi