How to see how much RAM is free on Xiaomi: Full guide

Modern Xiaomi smartphones, which are based on the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS, have powerful hardware, but sometimes even flagship models can start to work slower. RAM is a critical resource that is responsible for the speed of running applications and multitasking. When this resource is exhausted, the system begins to forcefully close the background processes, which leads to reboot applications and interface lags.

Users often wonder how much free memory is available at the moment to figure out whether to clean the cache or close the unnecessary tabs. Unlike computers where the task manager is always at hand, in Android, access to this information can be hidden in different menu sections depending on the version of the firmware.

Understanding how Xiaomi’s resource allocation works will help you extend the life of your device without buying a new gadget. 20-30% The total amount, but do not strive to 0% downloads, as Android uses free space to caching frequently used applications. Let's take a look at where to look for this data.

Standard "About the phone" section in settings

The easiest and safest way to find out basic memory filling information is through the standard settings menu. However, it is worth noting that in the latest versions of MIUI and HyperOS, the detail is often stripped down. The system shows the total amount of memory installed and how much of it is occupied by the system and applications, but does not display the dynamic process in real time.

To get into this section, you need to go to Settings → About Phone. Here you will see a line called "Memory" or "RAM" that will show the ratio of occupied to total volume. For example, "6.2 GB of 8 GB" indicates that the system is about 75% busy. This is static data that is rarely updated.

This is a poor diagnostic technique because it doesn't show which process is consuming resources, but it's ideal for quick checks of the overall state of the device after a reboot, and it gives you a general idea of how much space is reserved for the system.

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The amount of available memory is always less than stated in the specifications, since part of the RAM is reserved for the operation of the processor and the graphics core.

Developer Menu: Detailed real-time monitoring

To get an accurate estimate of how much RAM is available right now, you need to activate the hidden developer menu, which is a professional tool that allows you to see the system from the inside, and unlike the standard menu, it updates the information every second.

To activate, go to Settings → About phone and quickly click on the "MIUI version" (or "OS version") 7 times. After the message "You became a developer", return to the main settings menu, select Additional → For developers. In the list that opens, look for the "Memory" or "Running Services" section.

This section shows you detailed statistics on how much memory is used, how many applications are available, and how much is available, and you can see a list of processes sorted by resource consumption, which allows you to identify "gluttonous" applications that are consuming battery power and performance invisibly.

⚠️ Warning: Do not change the settings in the developer menu unless you know what they are intended for. Resetting some settings can lead to unstable interface operation or data loss.

CIT Engineering Menu: Xiaomi's Hidden Diagnostics

Xiaomi devices have a unique feature, the Customer Integration Test (CIT) menu, which is a special mode designed to test hardware components in the factory, but also available to ordinary users, and provides information about the status of all sensors, screens and, of course, memory.

You enter the menu through a special code set in the Phone app, you need to type ##6484##. If the code is entered correctly, the test list will open. We are interested in the item related to memory, often called the "Memory Test" or "RAM Test".

You can run an automatic test here that checks the memory cells for errors and shows the current status, but for a simple view of free volume, this method is less convenient than the developer menu, because it is focused on troubleshooting, not monitoring. Use it if you suspect a hardware problem with the RAM module.

Using ADB commands for advanced users

For those who are not afraid of the command line, the ADB toolkit provides the most powerful access to the system. By connecting a smartphone to a computer, you can get the most accurate data about the distribution of memory that even the developer menu does not see.

Once you connect the device and enable debugging over USB, type in the command adb shell dumpsys meminfo. This command will give a huge log with information about each process. To see the general summary, you can use the command adb shell cat /proc/meminfo.

adb shell dumpsys meminfo | grep"Total RAM"


adb shell dumpsys meminfo | grep"Free RAM"

Using ADB is especially useful if you want to screen the memory state for reporting or analysis without installing unnecessary apps on the phone itself, a “clean” method that does not affect the system.

Third-party applications for system monitoring

If built-in tools aren't enough, Google Play offers a variety of monitoring tools, with apps like CPU-Z, AIDA64, or DevCheck leading the way in this niche, providing a beautiful interface and historical load graphs.

The CPU-Z app will show not only the current amount of free memory, but also the type of memory used (LPDDR4X, LPDDR5), the frequency and number of channels. This is important for enthusiasts comparing the performance of different Xiaomi models. Real-time graphs help to see the consumption jumps when launching heavy games.

However, installing these cleaners or constant monitoring consumes resources on its own. The background process of the monitoring application also takes up space in RAM. So it is worth using them sporadicly for diagnosis, rather than keeping them running all the time.

Optimization and cleaning of RAM

Once you know how much memory is free, the question is, what do you do when you don't have enough? There's a built-in Security tool in the MIUI shell. The Cleanup app allows you to (with a single tap) free up RAM by closing the background processes.

But remember the nature of Android: free memory is wasted memory. The system specifically keeps applications in RAM so they open instantly. Forced cleaning causes the application to be rebooted, using more CPU and battery power when it is rebooted.

Clearing the memory makes sense only in two cases: if a particular application is “hanging” and does not respond, or if you are going to run a heavy game that requires maximum resources. → Annexes → Auto-start and ban unnecessary programs from starting.

⚠️ Warning: Continuous use of “acceleration” or “memory clearing” features can reduce overall smartphone performance by making the processor run idle.

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Don’t aim for 100% free memory – Android is designed to use the available RAM for caching, which speeds up the system.

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