How to open open open applications on Xiaomi: managing running processes

Modern Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI shells or the new HyperOS have powerful multitasking, allowing users to keep dozens of programs running at once. However, there is often a situation when the screen is busy with other content and you need to quickly switch to an already working messenger, navigator or music player. Understanding how to open open applications on Xiaomi is a basic skill for efficient use of the device, saving time and battery resources.

Many users confuse “open” with “recently used,” although in the context of the Android operating system, it is almost the same access window. Proper management of this list allows you not only to instantly return to interrupted tasks, but also to forcibly close the frozen processes that consume RAM. In this article, we will discuss in detail all existing methods of navigation, including standard gestures, button control and hidden system capabilities.

The shell interface can vary depending on the firmware version and model of your smartphone, whether it’s a budget Redmi Note or a flagship Xiaomi 14. Despite the visual differences, the logic of the task manager remains the same throughout the ecosystem. We will look at the nuances that will help you become a real wizard of window management, as well as answering frequent questions about why some applications are unloaded from memory too quickly.

Basic navigation methods: gestures and buttons

The most common method of accessing a list of running tasks depends on the type of navigation you choose in the system. If you use a classic scheme with three buttons at the bottom of the screen, you need to click on the central button, often indicated by a square or three horizontal lines, to view active processes, this action instantly deploys a visual list of cards, where each one corresponds to the application running.

The most common way that modern bezel-free displays use is gesture control, and in this case, to see which programs are active, you swipe from the bottom up in the center of the screen and hold your finger for a split second in the middle of the display, and the system recognizes this action as a "show all the windows" command and opens up the usual multitasking interface, where you can flip the list left and right.

There is also a less obvious but extremely convenient way to quickly switch between the last two apps used, by swiping horizontally along the bottom of the screen (in the area where the navigation bar or home button is usually located), which works like an Alt+Tab key on a computer, instantly changing the active window to the previous one without opening the full list of tasks.

⚠️ Warning: If a swipe from bottom-up immediately opens Google search instead of a list of apps, check your navigation settings. You may have too short a delay or have a specific searcher launch mode activated.

Windows management in MIUI and HyperOS provides flexible sorting and cleaning capabilities, and you can not only switch between them, but also group them mentally, understanding which processes are background and which are active. Knowing these basic navigation principles is critical for comfort, because the speed of access to the desired program directly affects the productivity of the smartphone as a whole.

Advanced window management in multitasking mode

Once you're in the menu of running tasks, the system offers a number of tools to manipulate them. Long-term clicking on the application card (tap and hold) causes a context menu with additional options. Here you can fix an important application so that it is not deleted during automatic memory cleaning, or run the program in split screen mode.

Split Screen is especially useful on large-diagonal devices like the Redmi Note series or Xiaomi Mix. By selecting the appropriate item in the long-press menu, you can split the display in half by running YouTube at the top and messenger or browser at the bottom, allowing you to consume content and communicate simultaneously without switching between tabs.

For quick memory cleaning, there is often a "Clear" button or a cross icon at the bottom of the multitasking screen. However, it is worth noting that forcing all applications to close at once is not always useful. The Android operating system is designed to keep frequently used programs in memory for instantaneous start-up, so constant manual cleaning can even increase battery consumption due to re-initiation of processes.

• 📱 Application fastening: protects an important process from system unloading when RAM is scarce.
• 🔲 Screen split: allows you to run two apps simultaneously on the same display.
• 🗑️ Individual Closing: Swipe cards up or down removes a specific application from the list of running.
• 🔍 Search in Tasks: In some versions of the shell, open windows can be searched if too many of them are typed.

Special attention should be paid to the Floating Windows feature, which is available in new versions of MIUI. By activating it through a long-press menu or a special gesture, you can turn the application into a small window that hangs on top of other programs.

Memory settings and background process limitation

A common problem users face is that the system is too aggressive in closing applications to keep them from remaining open. To fix this, you need to go to advanced settings. Go through the Settings → Applications → Setup of Applications, find the service you want (such as a navigator or messenger), and go to the Battery section.

From the power management menu of a particular application, select No Limits mode, which will prevent MIUI from forcibly ending the process even if the device is idle or other heavy tasks are running, and without this step, many users mistakenly think their phone is “glutting”, when in fact the regular energy saving mechanism works.

Also worth noting is the memory extension feature, which is available on many modern Xiaomi models, which allows you to reserve some of the permanent storage for virtual RAM, activating this option increases the number of applications that can remain open in the background without unloading.

Keep in mind that customizing each application can take time, but it will ensure that mission-critical services work consistently, especially for activity trackers, smartwatches, and health monitoring applications that need to run continuously.

Use of side panel and floating windows

For those looking for an alternative to the standard task menu, Xiaomi has a handy sidebar, which allows you to quickly open apps as a floating window on top of the current task, and to activate the panel, you need to swipe from the edge of the screen (top or bottom, depending on the settings) and hold your finger.

Inside the sidebar, you can configure a list of favorite apps, and clicking on the icon in this list will not close the current window, but will run the selected program in picture-in-picture mode or a small floating block, which is especially convenient for a calculator, voice recorder or a second messenger account.

Sidebar access is configured via Settings → Special Features → Sidebar. Here you can choose which apps it will appear in: all at once or only in specific ones, such as only in a browser or gallery, to avoid accidental activations while playing games or watching videos.

• 🎨 Customization: the ability to change the size and transparency of the floating window.
• ⚡ Quick access: Launching frequently used utilities in one tap without leaving the current task.
• 🔄 Mode Switching: Easy Turning a Floating Windows into a Full-Sized or Screen Split.

Using floating windows makes content work a lot more efficiently, so you can watch a tutorial video while taking notes, or chat with a social network, and the key is not to overload the processor with too many active layers at the same time.

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Tip: To quickly create a screenshot of an open application in multitasking mode, simply pinch the app card with two fingers (close your fingers on the card) if such a feature is supported by your shell version.

Hidden functions and debugging through ADB

For advanced users who want to gain full control over how to open and manage open applications on Xiaomi, there are developer tools that enable this mode by clicking seven times on the MIUI version number in the About Phone section, and then a new option will appear in the settings menu for developers.

In the developer section, you can find the setting “Background Process Limit”; by default, it is in the “Standard Limit” value, but the user can forcefully limit the number of applications running in the background (for example, no more than 2), which can be useful on older devices for improving performance, but on modern flagships it is better not to do this.

Even deeper control is provided by debugging over USB and using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) commands. Connecting your phone to your computer, you can list all active processes and force them to terminate with the command line. For example, the adb shell am stack list will show information about tasks, although in new versions of Android the command syntax often changes.

adb shell dumpsys activity processes | grep "pkgName"

Use of the command line requires caution. Incorrect completion of system processes can lead to unstable interface operation or even cyclical restart of the device. Therefore, such methods are recommended only if there is specific knowledge about which process is causing problems.

⚠️ Warning: Never disable system processes with the prefix com.android. or com.miui. ADB, If you're not sure what they're doing, it can lead to loss of communication, sound, or the inability to boot the system.

Solving problems with the freeze interface of tasks

Sometimes users are faced with a situation where the menu of open applications stops opening, animations slow down or swipes do not react, most often this indicates an overflow of the system launcher cache or a temporary failure in the GUI. The first step should always be a banal reboot of the device.

If the reboot didn’t help, you can try to clear the data of the system application “Security” or “Optimization”, since these services often control the list of running tasks in the Xiaomi shell. → Annexes → All applications → Security → Memory. → Clear the data.

In rare cases, the problem may be a third-party launcher conflict. If you have installed alternative shells (Nova Launcher, Niagara, etc.), try temporarily returning the standard MIUI/HyperOS launcher and checking if the problem has disappeared. Incompatibility of third-party software with system gestures is a common cause of navigation failures.

If none of the software methods help and the phone continues to ignore the task menu commands, there may be a hardware problem with the touchscreen (no touch in a specific zone is recorded) or a critical firmware error requiring factory reset or flashing through the Mi Flash Tool.

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Systematic failures in the task menu are often solved by updating the system to the latest stable version or cleaning the cache of system optimization services.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)