How to increase the amount of free RAM on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Xiaomi smartphones based on MIUI often face the problem of lack of RAM (RAM), especially on budget models with 3-4 GB of RAM. Even powerful flagships like Xiaomi 14 Ultra or Redmi Note 13 Pro+ eventually begin to “brake” due to overloaded memory. The reason is not only small volume, but also in the peculiarities of Android and MIUI: the system actively caches applications, background processes eat up resources, and some services (for example, mipush or miui.analytics) work in hidden mode.

In this article, you will find 7 proven ways to free RAM, from basic settings to advanced tricks with ADB and shutdown of system services. We will discuss how to reduce memory consumption without loss of functionality, which applications eat up RAM the most, and why manual memory management through the developer settings can harm performance by 30%. All methods tested on MIUI 14/15 and are relevant for models from 2020 to 2026.

1. Diagnosis: Which apps eat up memory?

Before you optimize, you need to identify the culprits. MIUI has a built-in memory monitor, but it hides some of the data.

Open Settings → About Phone → MIUI version and tap 7 times on the line to activate Developer Mode. Then go to Settings → Additional → Developer → Memory. Here you will see:

• 📊 Average expenditure RAM in the last 3 hours (normal: 40-60% of the total volume).
• 🔍 Top.-5 Applications for consumption (often Facebook, TikTok, MIUI Launcher).
• ⚡ Background processes – system services such as com.xiaomi.midrop (file transfer) or com.miui.cleanmaster may be hidden here.

For detailed analysis, use third-party utilities:

Simple System Monitor (represents real-time consumption)

DevCheck (displays the distribution of memory by categories: system, applications, cache);

ADB (the adb shell dumpsys meminfo team will produce a full report).

⚠️ Note: If the consumption is constantly hanging in the top of the process system_server (more 1 GB), this may indicate a memory leak in the firmware, in which case only flashing or resetting to factory settings will help.

2. MIUI optimization: hidden memory settings

MIUI has several hidden features for managing RAM that are not enabled by default, and activating them can free up to 500-800MB of memory without removing applications.

Method 1: Limitation of background processes

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Autorun.
2. Turn off auto-run for all applications except instant messengers and system services.
3. Return to Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Management and select Charge Saving mode (it automatically limits background activity).

Method 2: Configure virtual memory (RAM Expansion)

Starting with MIUI 12.5, Xiaomi added the RAM extension feature to internal memory. It creates a swap file, but only works effectively on UFS 3.1 devices (such as the Xiaomi 12T or POCO F4 GT).

• 📱 Activated in Settings → Additionally. → Expansion of memory.
• 🔧 Recommended size: 1-2 GB (more is meaningless, as swap on Android is slower than physical size) RAM).
• ⚠️ Cons: increases the wear of the drive with frequent read / write operations.

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If the phone is slower after activating RAM Expansion, disable the feature – on weak processors (for example, Snapdragon 6xx) it does more harm than good.

3.Cache cleaning and "junk" processes

Application cache and system temporary files can take up to 1-1.5 GB of RAM in the background. Unlike internal memory, the cache in RAM is cleared automatically when resources are scarce, but sometimes manual cleaning is required.

How to clear the cache without losing data:

1. Go to Settings → Storage → Cleanup (or use the built-in Security app).
2. Select “Deep Cleanup” and mark the items: 🗑️ Application cache (safe to remove). 🧹 Residual files (remains from deleted programs). 🔄 System logs (error logs, up to 200 MB).

"Clean it up."

For advanced users: Use ADB to manually clear the cache of all apps:

adb shell pm trim-caches 1G

This command will forcibly clear the cache larger than 1 GB.

Open the menu of recent apps |Click on the "Clean All" icon (or swipe up) |Click the power button and select "Memory Cleanup" (on some models) |Reboot the phone (releases up to 30% RAM)

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4. Disabling unnecessary system services

MIUI is known for its abundance of background services, many of which duplicate Google Services features or work to gather analytics, and disabling them can free up 300-600MB of RAM, but requires caution.

List of safe to disable services (via ADB):

To disable the service, run the command:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.xmsf

Replace com.xiaomi.xmsf with the desired package. Use:

adb shell pm enable com.xiaomi.xmsf

⚠️ Warning: Disabling com.android.vending (Google Play Services) or com.miui.home (launcher) will cause a critical system failure.

5. Set-up of performance mode

MIUI offers three modes of operation of the processor, directly affecting the RAM consumption:

• 🐢 Battery savings – limits background processes, reduces clock frequency CPU (minus: lags in games).
• ⚡ Balanced – default mode, optimal for most tasks.
• 🚀 Performance – Maximum frequency CPU/GPU, expense RAM increase 20–40%.

To change the regime:

1. Go to Settings → Battery and Performance → Performance Mode.
2. Select “Battery Saving” to free up RAM or “Performance” for gaming (but with manual memory cleaning).

For models with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (such as Xiaomi 13T Pro), hidden mode "Game Turbo" is available. Activated via the code:

#4636## → Battery Information → Select Performance

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Battery Savings mode reduces consumption RAM 15-25%, but can cause delays when opening applications. 9A with 2GB of RAM).

Advanced methods: changing the parameters of the kernel

For power users, it is possible to fine-tune RAM by changing the kernel parameters. This method requires an unlocked bootloader and root rights, but allows:

• 🔧 Lmk (Low Memory Killer) – an algorithm that kills processes when memory is scarce.
• 📈 Optimize swappiness – the parameter responsible for using a swap file.
• ⚡ Disable kswapd – the demon that controls virtual memory.

Example of Lmk setting (requires root):

1. Install Kernel Adiutor or FrancoKernel Manager from Magisk.
2. Go to the "Memory" section.
3. Change the minfree values (e.g. 18432,24576,30720,36864,55296,81920 for 6GB of RAM).
4. Save the settings and restart the phone.

For devices with MediaTek (for example, Redmi Note 12), you may need to additionally configure zram, compressed virtual memory.

size RAM × 0.25 (e.g. for 4GB RAM: 1GB zram)

7.Alternative firmware: When MIUI fails

If all of the above methods didn’t work, consider switching to custom firmware. MIUI is known for high RAM consumption due to the abundance of background services and unnecessary features (e.g. Second Space or Game Turbo).

• 📱 Pixel Experience – pure Android without “garbage”, the expense RAM 20 to 30 percent lower.
• 🔧 LineageOS - stable firmware with minimal background consumption.
• ⚡ Evolution X – Optimized for Xiaomi, supports features like RAM Expansion, but without unnecessary services.

How to Switch Custom Firmware:

1. Unlock the bootloader through the Mi Unlock Tool (requires a wait of 7 days for new accounts).
2. Install TWRP Recovery for your model (this version is suitable for POCO X3 Pro, for example).
3. Download the firmware (e.g. Pixel Experience for Redmi Note 10 Pro here).
4. Sweat through TWRP by doing wipe dalvik/cache.

⚠️ Note: Custom firmware voids warranty and may cause the device to blink if you make an error. Before the procedure, check the firmware compatibility with your model (for example, Pixel Experience for Redmi Note 9 Pro and Redmi Note). 9S — file!).

FAQ: Frequent questions about RAM release on Xiaomi