Modern Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones have impressive specs, but even powerful devices are slowing down over time, often due to overflowing memory, which is actively occupied by background processes and applications, and users notice that the MIUI interface begins to slow down, and games fly to the desktop.
RAM, or RAM, is a critical resource for system performance. Unlike embedded memory, which stores photos and files, RAM is responsible for temporarily storing data from running programs. When this resource is exhausted, the processor has to constantly unload old data and download new ones, which causes delays.
In this article, we will explore not only standard cleaning methods, but also the hidden capabilities of the system that allow you to forcefully free resources, and you will learn to distinguish safe optimization methods from those that can harm the stability of HyperOS or MIUI.
Diagnostics and analysis of resource consumption
Before we start taking drastic measures, we need to understand what is eating up space. Xiaomi’s standard diagnostics tools provide basic information, but deep analysis will require access to advanced data. Often users are unaware that some system services occupy up to 30% of the available volume.
The built-in analyzer shows only the tip of the iceberg, and to get a detailed picture, you need to activate the developer mode, so you can see the real processes behind the beautiful names in the task manager, and without this step, fighting lags becomes a guessing game.
⚠️ Warning: Do not try to stop system processes with obscure names unless you are sure of their function, this can lead to a reboot of the interface or loss of communication with the network.
To start, open the standard Security app and go to Memory. This shows the overall download, but not the detail for each process. To see more, go to Settings → About phone and click 7 times on the MIUI or HyperOS version.
Once the developer menu is activated, you'll have access to process statistics, and this is where you can see which apps are mismanaging their resources, and some messengers or social networks can create hundreds of background streams that are not formally running, but they take up memory.
Standard cleaning methods through the interface
The easiest and safest way to free up resources is to use a regular accelerator built into the MIUI shell and optimized to work with a specific Xiaomi hardware. Pressing the "Clean" button in the Security app forcibly completes the background processes.
But you have to understand how it works, because it doesn't remove applications, it just closes their active windows, and after a while, the system will run them again if it thinks it's necessary for them to work quickly, so the effect of this cleaning is often short-lived.
To work more efficiently, you should set up automatic cleaning, and in the accelerator settings, you can select applications that will never close automatically, which is useful for instant messengers, which should be notified instantly.
- 📱 Open the Security app on the desktop.
- 🗑️ Press the large green button to clean the cache and memory.
- ⚙️ Go to the accelerator settings (cogs) for fine tuning.
There is also a feature called “Memory Extension” that uses a portion of the built-in storage as virtual RAM. Including this option in the menu Additional → Extension of memory can help devices with a small amount of physical memory (4 GB or less).
Using embedded tools is the first step, which doesn't require root rights or complex manipulation, but for older model owners, it may not be enough, and in such cases, you have to resort to deeper system settings.
Setup of Developer Mode for Memory Management
Developer mode hides powerful tools that allow you to manually control the behavior of the system, where you can limit the number of background processes, which directly affects the amount of free RAM, by default, the system decides how many applications to keep in the background.
To get into this menu, go to Settings → Additional → Developer. Find the Apps section. This is the key setting for "Background Process Limit." Changing this setting causes Android aggressively to close apps you're not using right now.
⚠️ Attention: Setting a hard limit (for example, "No background processes") will cause the music in the player to stop, and the navigator to reset the route when switching to another screen.
The best choice for most users is to set a limit of "No more than 2 processes" or "No more than 4 processes", which will maintain a balance between performance and functionality, and it is also useful to turn off animations in this menu, which will visually speed up the interface.
Another important option is "Do Not Save Activities." If you turn on this feature, the system will destroy the activity of the application as soon as the user leaves the screen, which radically frees up resources, but can cause problems with maintaining state in some games.
What are services processes?
Remember that after resetting the phone, all changes in the developer mode will be returned to factory values, so it makes sense to remember the selected settings or take a screenshot of the settings.
Forced shutdown and shutdown of system services**
Xiaomi smartphones have a lot of services that are not used in everyday life, but consume resources. In-system advertising, MIUI analytics and redundant Google services are often stored all the time.
To do this, go to Settings → Applications → All apps. Find unnecessary components, such as MIUI Daemon, MSA (advertising service) or Analytics. Go to the application information and click “Disable” or “Stop”.
It is important to be careful: disabling critical system components can lead to unstable operation. Always check the name of the process before stopping it. If the "Disable" button is inactive, then the process is protected by the system.
- 🔍 Find the app MSA (MIUI System Ads on the list.
- 🚫 Click "Disable" and confirm the action.
- 📉 Repeat the procedure for Analytics and GetApps if you do not use them.
Also worth checking is the autoload of applications. In the Security menu → Permissions → Autorun, you can prevent unnecessary programs from running with your phone, which will significantly reduce the load on RAM immediately after the device is turned on.
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Periodically clear the cache of applications that you rarely use. Go to the app settings and click "Clear Cache" - this is safe and will not delete your personal data.
Disabling system advertising not only speeds up work, it saves traffic. Analytics services constantly send data about phone usage, which also loads the processor and network.
Using ADB for deep cleaning**
For advanced users who want to get the most out of it, there is an ADB (Android Debug Bridge) cleaning method that allows you to remove or freeze system applications that cannot be disabled through the standard interface, which is the most efficient way.
You will need a computer to work, USB-cable and installed drivers ADB. You need to turn on the phone debugging USB You can send commands to delete packets once you're connected to a PC.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.msa.globalThis command removes the MIUI advertising service. There are whole lists of safe-to-remove packages that can be found in the public domain. However, using ADB requires care: removing an excess package can brick your phone or require flashing.
An alternative to the command line is graphical shells like Universal Android Debloater, which lets you see a list of packets and delete them with a click, which reduces the risk of error, but the principle of operation remains the same - interference in the system partition.
☑️ Preparation for work with ADB
Using ADB gives you full control of the device, turning it into a pure Android without unnecessary add-ons. However, remember that after resetting to factory settings, all remote applications through ADB will return.
Comparison of cleaning methods and their effect on the system
Different cleaning methods have different efficiency and risk levels, and to choose the right option, you need to understand the consequences of each action. Below is a table comparing the main optimization methods.
| Method | Efficiency | Risk | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| The regular accelerator | Low. | No. | Minimum |
| Process limit | Medium | Medium. | Low. |
| Disconnection of services | Tall. | Medium. | Medium |
| ADB team | Maximum | High-pitched | Tall. |
As you can see from the table, the standard methods are safe, but they have a temporary effect. Deep cleaning through ADB makes a difference, but it requires technical knowledge. For the average user, the best balance is a combination of setting limits and turning off autostart.
Don't chase the numbers of "free memory." Android is designed so that free RAM is wasted RAM. The system tries to keep in mind frequently used applications for quick start-up, the problem arises only when memory is not enough for current tasks.
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The main goal of cleaning is not to achieve 100% free memory, but to eliminate the background processes that cause lags and overheating of the device.
Regularly restarting your phone every few days also helps to reset accumulated memory allocation errors, a simple but powerful piece of advice that is often neglected.