Free RAM on Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro: from basic methods to hidden MIUI features

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro with its 6 or 8 GB of RAM eventually begins to “slow down” even if you haven’t installed heavy games. The reason is the background activity of applications, MIUI cache and the features of RAM management in Xiaomi firmware. Unlike iPhone or “naked” Android, RAM is clogged faster because of the aggressive caching policy of the system. But the good news is that on the Redmi Note 8 Pro you can free up to 40% of RAM without root rights and resets, if you know the hidden settings of MIUI and the correct sequence of actions.

In this article, only proven methods, sorted by efficiency, we will not advise to “remove unnecessary apps” (this is obvious) or “buy a phone with more memory” (no use for Note 8 Pro owners). MIUI Optimized Battery, com.miui.daemon background processes and non-obvious developer settings. MIUI 12.5–14.0.5 (Android 9–11) and relevant to models M1906G7G (global version and M1906G7T (Chinese).

1.Diagnostics: Why RAM is clogged on Redmi Note 8 Pro

Before you clean up your memory, you need to understand what it's using. On the Note 8 Pro, the typical RAM eaters are:

• 🔄 MIUI Optimized Battery is a service that keeps up to 15 apps in the background for “fast launch” even if you don’t use them.
• 🎮 Game Turbo – stays active after games and eats up to 300MB even when you close the game.
• 📱 Duplicate processes MIUI: For example, com.miui.home and com.miui.securitycenter are launched 2-3 times.
• 📊 System cache — MIUI aggressively caches data to “speed up” work, but often it leads to the opposite effect.

To see the current state of RAM:

1. Open the Settings. → The phone. → Version. MIUI and tap 7 times on the line "Version" MIUI», activate the developer mode.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB Debugging and Show Memory Use.
3. Now in Settings → Applications → System Status you will see a detailed schedule of RAM usage broken down by process.

⚠️ Note: If the "System processes" are occupied more than 2.5 GB at 6 GB RAM 3.5 GB at 8 GB is a sign of memory leakage MIUI. In this case, only rebooting or resetting cache through Recovery will help.

Basic cleaning: what can be done without root

Start with simple methods that don’t require a thorough knowledge of the system:

Cleaning through the safety menu:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon).
2. Put it on the optimisation. → Cleaning up memory.
3. Press Deep Cleanup and confirm the action.

This method frees up 200-500 MB, but does not remove background MIUI processes.

Limitation of background processes:

• 🛑 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 📌 Select an app (such as Facebook or Telegram) → Limit background activity.
• 🔄 For system applications (such as Mi Video or Mi Music) use Disable instead of delete.

Clean Memory through the Security App

Limit background activity for the 5 most voracious apps

Disable unnecessary system applications (Mi Video, Mi Music, etc.)

Reboot the phone-->

⚠️ Note: Do not disable processes called com.android.phone, com.miui.securitycenter or android.process.media, which will result in network loss or system errors.

3. Hidden MIUI settings for RAM management

MIUI hides a few useful options that allow you to manually control memory allocation.These settings are not dokumented by Xiaomi, but work on all firmware versions for the Redmi Note 8 Pro.

Activation of the hidden memory menu:

1. Enable the Developer Mode (see Section 1).
2. Go to Settings. → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find the Process Limit in the background and set the value of No Background Processes (or maximum 2 processes).
4. Activate Do not remain active – this will cause the system to kill processes immediately after the shutdown.

Setting memory priorities:

• 🔧 In the same developer menu, find Adaptive Brightness and Windows Animation, turn them off, and that will reduce the workload on the processor and, as a result, on the processor. RAM.
• 📉 Set the minimum width scale to 320 dpi (this will reduce the memory consumption of the interface).
• 🔄 Turn it on. GPU-Acceleration (if available) – this will carry some of the load from the CPU videoprocessor.

💡

If after changing the developer settings, the phone began to work slower, return the process limit parameter to the background value of the Standard Limit - perhaps you have installed applications critically dependent on background activity (for example, messengers or fitness trackers).

4. Clean up the MIUI cache without resetting settings

MIUI creates three types of cache that clog memory:

1. Dalvik cache – optimized files to speed up application launches.
2. System cache – temporary MIUI files (themes, animations, fonts).
3. Application cache – data that programs save for fast operation.

How to clear the cache without losing data:

1. Turn off the phone.
2. Press the Power button + Volume up to enter Recovery.
3. Select Wipe & Reset → Wipe Cache (use volume buttons for navigation, power button for confirmation).
4. After cleaning, restart the phone.

This method frees up to 1.5 GB of RAM, but does not delete user data. If after cleaning the phone started to work slower, this is a sign that the cache was useful (MIUI reassembles it, which temporarily loads the system).

⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse Wipe Cache and Wipe Data in Recovery! The second option will completely reset the phone to factory settings, deleting all your files.

5.Manage Game Turbo and Background Games

The Redmi Note 8 Pro is marketed as a gaming smartphone, but the Game Turbo is not only a plus, but a minus. This service is constantly hanging in the background, even if you are not playing, and eats up to 400 MB of RAM. Here's how to optimize it:

Disable the Auto-Run Game Turbo:

1. Go to Settings → Special features → Game Turbo.
2. Turn off Automatically Launch for Games.
3. In the Game Settings section, disable Network Optimization and Screen Recording (they consume extra memory).

Manual cleaning after games:

• 🎮 After the game, swipe it from recent apps (not just close it, but swipe it up).
• 🔄 Open Security. → Optimization → Clean Memory and Choose Deep Cleanup.
• 📊 Check the use RAM In Settings → Annexes → System status – if the game is still hanging in the process, restart the phone.

💡

Game Turbo is only useful for heavy games like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty. For everyday tasks (social networks, instant messengers), it is better to turn it off completely, since it consumes RAM without benefit.

6. Alternative launchers and lightweight firmware

If all of the above methods didn't work, the problem could be the MIUI system launcher, which consumes up to 600MB of RAM even in simple.

Installation of a third-party launcher:

• 📱 Nova Launcher – consumes 2-3 times less memory than a standard launcher MIUI.
• 🔍 Lawnchair – open launcher with minimalist design and low consumption RAM.
• ⚡ Hyperion Launcher – optimized for gaming smartphones, supports gestures.

After installation, turn off the system launcher: go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Launcher and click Disable.

Transition to custom firmware (for advanced):

If you are ready for experiments, you can install a lightweight firmware based on Android 10-11:

• 📦 Pixel Experience – pure Android without unnecessary services MIUI.
• 🔧 LineageOS - stable firmware with minimal consumption RAM.
• ⚡ Corvus OS — Optimized for performance and gaming.

The installation will require:

1. Unlock the bootloader (Mi Unlock Tool).
2. Install custom recovery (TWRP).
3. Swipe the firmware through ADB Sideload or from a memory card.

⚠️ Warning: Installing custom firmware voids warranty and can lead to data loss.Redmi Note 8 Pro also has the risk of blocking the bootloader if using unofficial versions TWRP. Before the firmware, make a backup through TWRP → Backup.

7. Automation of RAM cleaning

To avoid manually clearing the memory, you can configure automatic tasks:

With Tasker:

1. Install Tasker from Google Play.
2. Create a new task (Task → New Task).
3. Add the action System → Free Memory.
4. Set up a trigger: for example, Every 2 hours or when locking the screen.

Through ADB (no root):

Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command:

adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.CLOSE_SYSTEM_DIALOGS

This command simulates the press of the home button and kills the background processes. To automate it, use a script on your PC or a MacroDroid application.

Automatic cleaning applications:

• 🤖 Greenify – Freezes unnecessary apps in the background.
• 🧹 SD Maid – clears the cache and removes garbage files on a schedule.
• ⚡ Boost for Redmi (MIUI) — specialized application for optimization MIUI.

💡

Automatic RAM cleaning is useful, but don’t overuse it. If you kill processes too often (e.g., every 10 minutes), the system will spend more resources restarting them, which will lead to the opposite effect.

FAQ: Frequent questions about RAM cleanup on Redmi Note 8 Pro