Cleaning up RAM on Xiaomi Mi 9: from basic methods to hidden MIUI chips

Why Xiaomi Mi 9 is slowing down and how it relates to RAM

Your Mi 9 is slowing down, apps are hanging up, and switching between tasks takes forever? 90% of the time is due to overloaded RAM. Despite 6-8 GB of RAM depending on the modification, even Xiaomi’s flagship smartphones suffer from memory leaks due to the features of MIUI firmware and background processes. It’s not the “weak hardware” – the problem lies in how the system allocates resources.

The manufacturer claims that the Mi 9 is optimized for multitasking, but in practice, users face automatic application closure with 70-80% of RAM loading - this is not a bug, but a feature of MIUI energy saving. Fortunately, there are ways to get around restrictions without root rights or complex manipulations.

Before proceeding with cleaning, make sure the brakes are not related to:

• 🔋 Discharged battery (below 15% of the Mi 9 charge is forced to limit performance)
• 🌡️ Overheating (at a temperature above 45)°C chipset Snapdragon 855 trott)
• 📱 Damaged firmware (if the smartphone "lagdite" even after resetting, flashing is required)

Method 1: Manually clean through the multitasking menu

The most obvious, but often underrated, method is that many users just swipe apps up in the multitasking menu, but that doesn't shut them down completely -- they stay in the background and keep taking up RAM. Here's how to do it right:

1. Open the multitasking menu (swipe up with a delay of 0.5 seconds).

2. At the bottom of the screen will appear the button Clean everything (or the icon of the basket in MIUI 12+).

3. Press and hold it for 2 seconds – this activates deep cleaning, which removes even system processes (in normal mode they remain).

⚠️ Warning: Do not abuse deep cleaning more than 1 time per hour. MIUI It will be forced to restart critical services, which will temporarily increase the load on the processor.

Efficiency of the method:

Method 2: Optimizing the Autoboot of Applications

By default, MIUI allows dozens of apps to automatically run when you turn on your smartphone or connect to the network, many of which stay on RAM all the time, even if you're not using them. Mi Video, Mi Browser or GetApps can take up to 200 MB each.

How to turn off autoboot:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management
2. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner and select AutoRun
3. Sort the list by Last Startup and disable Autoboot for all apps except: 📱 System (starting with com.android. or com.miui.) 🔔 Messengers (if you need notifications) 🔒 Antivirus (if you use it)

Disable auto-run of unnecessary applications |

Leave only messengers and system services |

Reboot your smartphone to apply changes |

Check the list once a month (after MIUI updates)

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When you turn off autoboot, free memory will be 300-600 MB more and battery life will increase by 10-15%.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling Autoplay for Google Play Services or Mi Cloud may cause Xiaomi account failures or data syncs.

Method 3: Using a hidden developer mode

MIUI has hidden settings that allow you to limit background processes.

1. Go to Settings → About phone and tap 7 times on the item MIUI version (the notification will appear "You became a developer").

2. Go back to the main settings menu and open a new Developer section (usually at the bottom of the list).

3. Find the parameters:

• 🛠️ Limit background processes → Select the Maximum 2 of the process
• 🔄 Don't keep up → Turn on (this will prevent apps from remaining in memory after closing)
• 🚫 Shut down. MIUI optimisation → Do not touch (this can lead to unstable work)

These settings radically reduce RAM consumption, but have side effects:

• ❌ Applications will be rebooted more often when they are returned to them.
• ❌ Some notifications may be delayed
• ✅ But free memory will be 1-1.5 GB more

Method 4: Cleaning up cache and debris through Security App

Xiaomi’s Security (or Global Firmware Security) app has a built-in tool to clean up the cache of apps and junk files that indirectly affect the RAM load. Here’s how to use it effectively:

1. Open Security → Cleaning (or Cleaner).

2.Push Deep Clean (not to be confused with Quick!).

Manually select the following items:

• 🗑️ Application cache (can be cleaned without risk)
• 📁 Unnecessary APK (post-refreshment)
• 🔍 Advertising files (if any)
• ⚠️ Do not touch System logs and Updates files"

4.Push Clean and restart the smartphone.

This method does not release the working memory itself, but the permanent memory (ROM), But it has an indirect effect on RAM: when the system lacks RAM, it uses a portion of the memory as a swap partition. The less garbage on the drive, the more efficient it is.

💡

Once the cache is cleared, some applications (such as maps or social media) will load longer on their first run, which is normal — they recover data.

Method 5: Disabling animations and visual effects

Transition animations, smooth scrolling and heavy MIUI wallpaper not only eat up the battery, but also constantly take 100-300 MB of RAM for rendering, and turning them off will give you free memory and speed up the interface.

Instructions:

1. Activate the Developer Mode (see Method 3).
2. Go to For Developers → The scale of the animation window/transition/animator.
3. For all three, select Disable animation (or Animation disabled 0x).
4. Go back and turn off the animation when you turn on/off.

In addition, it is possible to:

• 🖼️ Install static wallpaper instead of live (saves up to 150 MB of RAM)
• 🌓 Switch to a dark topic (less stress on the subject) GPU → less memory)
• 🔍 Turn off Smooth Scrolling in Special Opportunities → Usability

💡

Disabling animations not only frees up RAM, but also speeds up the opening of applications by 10-20% due to the absence of delays on visual effects.

Method 6: Forced limitation of background processes (for advanced processes)

This is a method that requires caution, but it has the maximum effect, and we're going to manually limit the number of background processes through the ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which doesn't require root rights, but you need to connect to a PC.

Step-by-step:

1. Install ADB Tools on your computer.
2. Enable USB debugging on Mi 9 (Settings → Developers → USB debugging).
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC and type in the command line: adb shell settings put global bg_process_limit 2 This team will limit the background processes to 2 (Select the value of the number from) 1 before 4).
4. To apply the changes, restart the device: adb shell reboot

Test results for Mi 9 (6 GB of RAM):

• 📈 bg_process_limit 2: +1.2 GB of free memory, but messengers reboot when returned
• 📊 bg_process_limit 3: +800 Free memory MB, balance between performance and convenience
• 📉 bg_process_limit 1: +1.5 GB, but the smartphone works as if 2 GB RAM (not recommended)

⚠️ Attention: After update MIUI Some system applications (such as MiuiDaemon) may ignore the restrictions.

Method 7: Alternative launchers and optimizers

If standard methods don't work, you can install third-party memory management applications, and it's important to choose those that aren't "scrap cleaners" (they often make the problem worse) but actually optimize the system.

Recommended tools for Mi 9:

Avoid "optimizers" like Clean Master or DU Speed Booster.

• 🚫 Take up by themselves 100-200 MB of RAM
• 🚫 False warnings about “critical loading” are often displayed"
• 🚫 They may conflict with MIUI Optimizer

Frequent questions about cleaning RAM on Xiaomi Mi 9