Owners of modern smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco often face a marketing ploy called “Memory Extension” — a feature known as Memory Extension that allows you to reserve some of the built-in storage for use as RAM — at first glance, it seems like a great solution for multitasking, allowing you to keep more applications open.
However, real performance of MIUI or HyperOS systems often suffers from this optimization, especially on devices with a fast UFS 3.1 drive. Many users notice that after activating this option, the interface begins to slow down, and animations become less smooth. A natural question arises: how to disable the Xiaomi memory expansion to return the phone to its former sharpness?
In this article, we will take a closer look at the technical aspects of virtual memory, explain why turning it off can speed up your gadget, and provide a step-by-step instruction on how to deactivate the function. You will learn about the hidden risks to the durability of the drive and understand when using this technology is really justified and when it is only a waste of resources.
The principle of virtual memory in MIUI and HyperOS
The memory extension feature is based on Swap technology, which is widely used in desktop operating systems but has its own characteristics in mobile environments. When physical RAM (RAM) is not enough, the system transfers the background application data to a reserved area of the internal drive, which creates the illusion of increasing the amount of RAM, allowing the system not to close the applications immediately after filling the physical buffer.
But the speed of embedded storage, even the fastest UFS 3.1 or UFS 4.0 standard, is far below that of real LPDDR5 RAM. The delays in reading and writing data from flash are an order of magnitude higher. When the processor needs information it sent to "extension," there is a micro-pause to return it, which the user perceives as lag or twitching of the interface.
⚠️ Note: Using a memory extension puts additional strain on the drive controller, which could theoretically shorten the lifetime of internal flash memory due to exhaustion of overwrite cycles.
MIUI algorithms often aggressively cache data, and the presence of a virtual buffer causes the system to use slower memory more actively, rather than optimizing the work with the existing physical RAM. As a result, instead of smooth operation, you get fragmentation of data and uneven load on the system.
Technical details of Swap in Android
Why you should disable this feature on modern smartphones
Modern Snapdragon and Dimensity paired processors with 8GB or 12GB of physical RAM are able to effectively manage multitasking without crutches. Disabling memory expansion often leads to tangible performance gains in everyday scenarios. The interface becomes more responsive and applications run faster, since the system only addresses the fast physical module.
And it will also free up useful space in the internal storage, so if you choose the maximum expansion volume (like +4GB or +8GB), these gigabytes will not be available for game installation, photo storage, and video storage, and for users who install heavy games like Genshin Impact or PUBG, every gigabyte counts.
- 🚀 Speed increase: Delays associated with reading data from a relatively slow drive are excluded.
- 💾 Save space: You return the reserved gigabytes for personal use, movies and apps.
- 🔋 Lower load: Less memory controller activity can have a positive effect on power consumption in the background.
It is especially important to disable the function on devices with physical memory of 8 GB or more. In such cases, the Android operating system itself efficiently allocates resources. Adding virtual memory here does not give an increase, but only causes delays. Only on budget models with 4 GB of physical RAM this feature can make sense, but even then with the reservations of stability.
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On devices with 8GB of physical RAM and above, turning off memory expansion almost always has a positive effect in the form of smoother interface operation.
Step-by-step: how to disable the expansion of memory
The deactivation process is simple enough to require no Root rights or computer connection, and all settings are in the standard system settings menu, but the location of the item may vary slightly depending on the version of the MIUI shell or HyperOS.
To start, unlock your smartphone screen and go to the main settings menu. Find the Additional (or Additional Settings) section. In some firmware versions, this item may simply be called "Memory Extension" and be located at the root of the settings menu or in the About Phone section.
Inside the menu, find Memory Extension. Press the switch to deactivate the function. The system will warn you that the changes will require a device reboot. Confirm the action and wait for the smartphone to turn off and on.
☑️ Checklist of the shutdown function
Once the phone is turned on, the system will automatically redistribute resources. You can check the result by going to the About Phone menu. The memory bar should only display physical volume, without an additional value (for example, “8 GB” instead of “8 GB + 4 GB”).
Comparison of productivity: with and without expansion
To understand the difference, we'll compare the system across different scenarios, and tests show that synthetic benchmarks like AnTuTu or Geekbench may not make a clear difference, or even a minimal difference, but in real-world environments, the differences become noticeable.
| Parameter | With extension included | With the expansion off. |
|---|---|---|
| Application Opening Speed | Medium, possible micro-delays | High, instant response |
| Multitasking | More apps in the background but a slow switch | Fewer apps in the background but quick reboot |
| FPS Stability in Games | Possible drawdowns when loading textures | Stable framerate, less friezes |
| Free space in the vault. | Occupied 2-8 GB | Fully accessible to the user |
Users often note that without memory expansion, the phone warms less, which is because the processor does not have to constantly wait for data from slow storage, and it spends less time in a state of active waiting. Heat generation decreases, which is especially important in the summer or when using navigation.
In open-world games, the situation is ambiguous. On the one hand, fast RAM provides smoothness; on the other hand, if a game is critically short of memory, it can simply fly to the desktop without a virtual buffer; however, for most popular mobile projects, 8 GB of physical memory is more than enough.
Possible problems and solutions
After the function is disabled and rebooted, some users may experience unexpected behaviors, such as applications closing in the background more actively than before, which is normal behavior, since the physical memory limit is now strictly observed by the system.
In rare cases, especially on custom builds or after a failed HyperOS update, the menu item may remain active or the function may turn on itself. In this situation, it is recommended to check for system updates or reset the settings to factory, saving important data beforehand.
⚠️ Warning: If after disabling the memory expansion, the phone began to work unstable or artifacts appeared, try cleaning the cache through the Recovery menu or contact the service center.
It is also worth considering that some heavy applications that are optimized for the presence of a large amount of RAM may behave incorrectly, in which case you can try not to completely disable the function, but to reduce its volume to a minimum (for example, to +2 GB), if the firmware version allows flexible configuration.
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Tip: After disabling the memory expansion, it is recommended to manually clear RAM through the menu of recent apps to reset old cached data.
Impact on the durability of the smartphone drive
One of the most important but often overlooked aspects is the internal memory resource: Flash memory has a limited overwriting cycle, and the active use of part of the storage as RAM leads to the constant writing and overwriting of temporary files, cache and memory dumps.
Memory wear is faster when working in Swap mode. Although modern UFS controllers have wear-alignment systems, the additional load of thousands of cycles per day can lead to the storage degradation ahead of time, which can manifest itself in the form of loss of write speed or the appearance of “broken” sectors after a year or two of active operation.
For owners of budget models with memory like eMMC or UFS 2.1, this risk is even higher. By disabling the feature, you will not only speed up the phone, but also extend the life of its main storage component, which is especially true if you plan to use a smartphone for more than two years.