Modern Xiaomi smartphones, which are based on the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS, have powerful hardware, but even it eventually begins to experience a shortage of resources. When the system starts to slow down and applications fly out when switching, the first thing to do is check the status of RAM (Random Access Memory), which is a temporary storage where data from running programs is stored, and overflow is the most common cause of interface lags.
Unlike internal memory, which can be cleaned by removing photos and videos, RAM requires a more nuanced approach to management. Simply closing tabs in the browser or swiping applications in Task Manager is often not enough, since Android system processes are quickly restored.
In this guide, we’ll look at not only standard cleaning methods, but also the hidden developer settings that force resources to be freed up for background tasks, explaining why the built-in Cleaner isn’t always effective and how to manually monitor running services for maximum performance.
Basic cleaning through the standard MIUI interface
The first and most obvious step, often ignored or performed superficially, is to use a regular cleaning tool. In Xiaomi smartphones, it is integrated deep into the system and has access to closing background processes at the kernel level. To access it, you need to click the menu button (three bars or square, depending on the type of navigation) or swipe from the bottom up and hold your finger to open the manager of running applications.
At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a Clean button or a broom icon, and clicking on it forcibly ends processes that aren't labeled "important" by the system itself. However, there's a deeper level of cleanup available through the Security app. Inside this system module is the Cleanup function, which analyzes not only the junk of files, but also the state of RAM.
- 📱 Click the multitasking menu button and select “Clear All” to quickly reset the app cache.
- 🧹 Launch the Security app and go to the Cleanup section for comprehensive analysis.
- 🔒 Use the “Accelerate” function in the desktop widget for instant resource release.
It is important to understand that standard cleaning often closes only user applications, leaving Google and MIUI services active. If after such a procedure the phone still works slowly, then the problem lies in the “heavy” background processes or unoptimized code of specific programs that continue to hang in memory even after closing.
⚠️ Attention: Frequent use of the “Acceleration” function» (RAM Booster can lead to faster battery discharge. Android is forced to reload frequently used applications into memory, which puts additional strain on the processor.
Managing Autoboot and Background Processes
One of the main reasons for the lack of free RAM is the excessive number of applications running with the operating system. In the MIUI shell, there is a special mechanism for controlling the boot that allows you to prevent programs from starting automatically.
To set up, go to Settings → Apps → Autoboot. Here you will see a list of all programs that have permission to start. Turn off everything you don't need right after you turn on your phone: marketplaces, games, heavy social networks. Leave only messengers if notifications are critical to you, and system services.
Also, you should pay attention to background activity. Even if the application is not in autoload, it can be constantly hanging in the background. Go to Settings → Apps → All applications, select a specific program and find “Activity Control” or “Battery”. Set “No Limits” mode only for the desired applications, and for others, select “Limit background activity” or “Freeze”.
☑️ Checklist of autoload optimization
An effective method is also to disable unnecessary system services that you don’t use, for example, if you don’t use Google Assistant voice control or print services, you can turn them off in the Applications → Hidden System Applications section (to access enable system processes to be displayed in the developer’s settings), which will free up several tens of megabytes, which can be crucial at a critical moment.
Hidden Developer Settings for Memory Management
For advanced users, Xiaomi provides access to the developer menu, where the tools for fine-tuning RAM work are located. To activate this mode, you need to quickly click 7 times on the build number in the About Phone section. After the message “You became a developer”, a new option “Additional” → “For developers” will appear in the settings menu.
In this section, we're interested in the "Background Process Limit" option, which is set to the default "Standard Limit" value, which allows the system to decide how many applications to keep in memory, and by changing this value to, for example, "No More than 2 processes," you force the system to unload old applications from RAM, making room for an active task.
- 🔧 Find the “Background Process Limit” item and set a reasonable limit (2-4 process).
- 🚫 Turn off animation of windows, transitions and animator duration for visual acceleration.
- 📉 Use the “Do Not Save Activity” function for testing only, as it completely clears the memory after leaving the application.
And there's a Running services feature on the developer menu that shows detailed real-time memory usage statistics, and you can see which process eats up gigabytes, and you can decide whether to force it to stop or delete it, which is much more informative than a standard task manager.
⚠️ Attention: Aggressively restricting background processes (e.g., “0 processes”) can lead to unstable messaging – messages may be delayed or not arriving at all until you open the app.
What is ZRAM and should it be changed?
Analysis of memory consumption by heavy applications
Not all apps are equally polite to system resources. Social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and even Telegram grow in size over time and consume a disproportionate amount of RAM. This phenomenon is often called app bloating, due to the accumulation of cache, temporary files, and unoptimized update code.
To identify these memory eaters, you can use the built-in analyzer. Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → Usage Statistics (or through the developer menu). Notice applications that use a lot of memory in the background. Often it turns out that an application that you haven't used for several hours still works.
There are two ways to combat this: One is to regularly clean the cache of a particular application through the Apps menu → Application Management → App Management → Selected Application → Memory → Clear the cache. The second, more radical but effective method is to use “lightweight” versions of applications (Lite), if available, or simply remove rarely used heavy programs.
| Type of application | Average RAM consumption | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Social media | High (300-800 MB) | Use Lite versions or web analogues |
| Messengers | Average (150-400 MB) | Cleaning media cache regularly |
| Games | Very high (1-3 GB) | Close immediately after the game |
| Systemic processes | Low/Mediocre (500MB+) | Do not touch without extreme necessity |
Live wallpapers and widgets that constantly update data (news, weather, currency rates) also take up space in RAM. By removing excess graphics from the home screen, you can free up to 100-200 MB, which for budget models with 3-4 GB of memory will be palpable.
Using the Developer Mode for Debugging
In the arsenal of the experienced user Xiaomi has another powerful tool – debugging over USB and related functions that can be activated even without connecting to a computer for monitoring. By turning on the developer mode, you get access to a profiler that shows the load on memory in real time in the form of a graph.
To enable, go to Settings → For developers and activate the GPU Profiler option, or use commands via ADB (Android Debug Bridge) from your computer. the adb shell dumpsys meminfo command gives a detailed report of how much memory each process takes up, including system demons that are not visible in the normal interface.
adb shell dumpsys meminfo | grep -E"Total|Native|Dalvik"This command, entered into the console connected to the PC smartphone, will show the overall picture of the distribution of memory between the native code and the virtual machine. Dalvik/ART. If you see that a process takes up an abnormally large amount of space (for example, more than one person can use it). 500 MB for a simple calculator, this is a signal about a failure in the application code, and it is better to reinstall it.
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Use the command "adb shell am kill-all" only if you understand the consequences. It kills all background processes except system-critical, which can temporarily "refresh" the system, but will lead to a complete restart of all services.
And there's also a feature called "Show Processes" in the developer settings, which if you turn it on, you'll have a little plaque on each application you run that says the name of the process, and it helps you visually measure how much is going on right now, and you can quickly find the culprit just by looking at the screen.
Radical measures: resetting and optimizing the system
If the software cleaning and tuning methods don’t work and the phone continues to suffer from a lack of RAM, there may be critical errors or conflicts in the system after a lot of updates. In this case, more radical measures should be considered. The first step is to completely reset the settings to factory (Settings → Advanced Settings → Recovery and Reset).
Before this procedure, make sure to back up your data, as all photos, contacts and applications will be deleted. Clean installation of the system often works wonders: remove all tails from remote applications, reset erroneous cache settings and free up maximum memory.
- 🔄 Make a full backup of data to a cloud service or computer.
- 🗑️ Reset via the Recovery Mode menu for maximum purity.
- 📲 Do not restore all applications from backup, only install the necessary ones.
Another measure is to scrap heavy third-party launchers.Standard shell MIUI Optimized for Xiaomi's iron better than any third-party launchers.Installation of heavy launcher with 3D-effects and widgets can “eat” up to 500 MB of RAM just for its functioning, which is critical for devices with a small volume RAM.
⚠️ Warning: Before performing a full reset, make sure that the battery level is at least 60%. interruption of the reset process due to discharge can cause damage to the system partition and the need to flash the device.
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Full reset to factory settings is the most effective means of combating software “garbage” and memory leaks, if other methods did not help.