How to Clean RAM on Xiaomi Phone: A Complete Guide for All Models

Your Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO has started to slow down, apps spontaneously shut down and animations are running in jerks?Most likely the problem lies in congested RAM (RAM). Even flagship models with 12GB of RAM face resource shortages over time due to background processes, cache and unoptimized applications.

Unlike cleaning internal memory (where files are deleted), RAM release is about managing active system processes. There is no universal “clean everything” button: it requires a comprehensive approach that takes into account the MIUI version, phone model and installed applications. In this article, we will discuss unique methods for Xiaomi that do not work on other Android devices, including hidden MIUI functions and commands for the engineering menu.

Why Xiaomi RAM is clogged faster than other smartphones

Xiaomi manufacturers have traditionally equipped their devices with an aggressive memory management system, allowing more applications to run in the background, and artificially contaminating RAM, among other things.

• 🔄 MIUI Memory Extension (Virtual Extension) RAM): model MIUI 12.5+ Part of the internal memory is reserved for the extension of RAM, but is often used inefficiently.
• 📱 Duplicate processes: Some system applications (com.miui.home, com.android.systemui) run in multiple instances.
• 🚀 Autoboot: by default MIUI It allows background activity even for underutilized programs (unlike “pure” Android).
• 🗑️ Cache system services: for example, MediaProvider or DownloadManager can take up to 500 MB of RAM for no apparent reason.

Interesting fact: on the Xiaomi 13 Pro with 12 GB of RAM in downtime, the system can take up to 4.5 GB of memory — and that’s okay! Problems begin when less than 1 GB of free memory remains, and the system can not correctly manage process priorities.

⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse RAM cleaning with internal memory freeing! Delete files from storage (Settings) → Memory) does not affect RAM. RAM needs other methods.

Method 1: Manual cleaning through the "Safety" menu

The most obvious, but often ignored, method is that MIUI has a built-in memory management tool that works better than third-party boosters:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Go to Optimization (or Acceleration in older versions).
3. Click Clear Memory – the system will show you a list of active processes.
4. Choose Clean All or manually mark unnecessary apps.

Important: This method does not remove system processes (for example, android.process.media), but it does well with background applications such as Facebook, Instagram or instant messengers.

After cleaning, check the free memory in Settings → About Phone → Memory Status. If the value has not changed, the problem is deeper, and the following methods are needed.

Method 2: Use of the Engineering Menu (for advanced)

Xiaomi’s hidden engineering menu allows you to manually control processes and even forcefully kill system services. Careful: wrong actions can lead to failures!

Instructions:

1. Open the Phone app and enter the code: ##4636###
2. Select Usage Statistics (or Usage Statistics).
3. Go to the Running apps tab – all active processes, including system processes, are displayed here.
4. Click on the unnecessary process and select Stop or Force Stop.

⚠️ Warning: Do not stop processes called com.android.phone, com.qualcomm... or miui.daemon are critical system services.

For power users, you can also turn off MIUI automatic optimization, which sometimes causes lags, in the engineering menu.

1. Enter the code ##6484##
2. Select MIUI Optimization and turn off the switch.

Method 3: Disabling Autoboot Applications

Many apps (especially Chinese ones) are added to the autoload by default and run when the phone is turned on, one of the main reasons for Xiaomi’s persistent RAM shortage.

How to turn it off:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select AutoRun.
3. Sort the list by the date of last use and disable autoload for underutilized programs.

Pay particular attention to:

• 📦 Applications with the word launcher, theme or wallpaper in the title – they often duplicate system functions.
• 🎮 Games (even if you haven’t played in a long time, they can be updated in the background).
• 📊 Analytics services such as Mi Analytics or Google Play Services.

After you turn off the autoboot, restart your phone and check your free memory through Settings → About Phone → Memory Status. The difference can be as high as 1-1.5 GB!

Method 4: Limit background activity through ADB

For users ready for a deeper setup, there is a method using Android Debug Bridge (ADB) that allows you to manually limit the number of background processes, which is especially true for devices with 4-6 GB of RAM.

Instructions:

1. Install ADB Tools on your PC.
2. Turn on the phone Debugging over USB (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version – press 7 times, then go back to Additional → For Developers).
3. Connect your phone to your PC and type in the command line: adb shell settings put global settings.background_process_limit 2 Here. 2 — maximum number of background processes (can be determined from the 1 before 4).

⚠️ Note: After applying this command, some applications (such as instant messengers) may stop sending notifications in the background. To return the standard settings, type: adb shell settings delete global settings settings.background_process_limit

Method 5: Using the hidden Deep Cleaning function

MIUI 13/14 has a hidden option called Deep Clean, which removes not only the app cache, but also temporary system service files, which is not available in the standard interface, but can be activated through the Developer Settings:

1. Enable the Developer Mode (as in Method 4).
2. Go to Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Find Memory Deep Clean (or Memory Deep Clean) and activate it.
4. Return to Settings → Memory – a new Deep Clean button will appear.

This function removes:

• 🗃️ Cache of system applications (com.miui.gallery, com.android.providers.media).
• 🔄 Temporary files MIUI Optimization Service.
• 📊 Error Logs and Memory Dumps (can take up to 300MB).

Important: Do not use this feature more than 1 time per week – it resets some system settings (for example, permissions for applications).

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If after deep cleaning the phone is slower, restart it.The first start after cleaning can be slow due to the rearrangement of the cache.

Method 6: Disable virtual RAM (for 8+GB devices)

Starting with MIUI 12.5, Xiaomi added Memory Extension, a virtual extension of RAM to internal memory, which sounds good on paper, but in practice often leads to:

• 🐢 Delayed work due to constant data exchange between RAM storage.
• 🔋 Increased battery consumption (5-10%).
• 📉 Unstable multitasking (apps are rebooted more often).

How to turn it off:

1. Go to Settings → Additional → Expand memory.
2. Turn off the Memory Extension slider.
3. Reboot the phone.

Performance comparison on Xiaomi 12T Pro (12 GB RAM) before and after virtual memory shutdown:

Exception: On devices with less than 6GB of RAM (like the Redmi Note 10), virtual memory can be useful – disabling it will lead to frequent app reboots.

Method 7: Alternative firmware (for enthusiasts)

If all of the above methods did not help, and the phone is still slowing down, it is worth considering installing custom firmware. Optimized builds such as Pixel Experience, LineageOS or Xiaomi.EU are devoid of unnecessary background MIUI processes and offer:

• 🚀 20-30% less RAM consumption in downtime.
• 🔧 Flexible Memory Management Settings.
• 🛡️ Lack of Chinese analytics services.

Cons:

• ⚠️ Loss of warranty (when unlocking the bootloader).
• 🔧 Technical skills required (working with fastboot, TWRP).
• 📱 There may be problems with the camera or sensors (on some models).

Recommended Firmware for Popular Models:

• Xiaomi 11/12 series: Xiaomi.EU (maximum stability) or ArrowOS (pure Android).
• Redmi Note 10/11: Pixel Experience Plus (optimized for weak devices)
• POCO F3/F4: LineageOS (Long-term Update Support)

⚠️ Attention: Before installing custom firmware, be sure to check compatibility with your model on the forum XDA Developers: Wrong firmware can turn a phone into a brick"!

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Castom firmware is an extreme method, and if you're not risk-averse, you better go back to methods 1-6 and optimize your current system.

Frequent Questions (FAQ)