How to Close Background Apps on Xiaomi: All Ways

Background apps on Xiaomi smartphones are one of the most talked-about topics among users. Many people mistakenly believe that their forced closure will speed up the device or save battery life. In fact, MIUI itself manages the background processes through the optimization mechanism, but in some cases manual closure is really necessary, for example, when the application is “hang” and consumes an unreasonable amount of resources, or when you need to free up RAM before starting a demanding game.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to close background applications on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones (including the models of 2023-2026 on MIUI 14/15 and HyperOS). You will learn how to do this through standard system tools, gestures, and which applications are better not to close manually.

Why background apps don’t always have to be closed

The Android operating system (and its MIUI shell) is designed to manage RAM efficiently, so when you close an application manually, the system simply removes it from the list of recent ones, but the process can remain active in the background. This is normal behavior, because:

• 🔄 Caching – Re-launching an application from the background requires less resources than a cold start.
• ⚡ Optimizing the battery — MIUI Automatically restricts background processes to save charge.
• 📱 Multitasking – some apps (messengers, music players) must work in the background for proper work.

However, there are situations where manual closure is warranted:

• 🐢 The app “hangs” and slows down the system (for example, Facebook or TikTok after prolonged use).
• 🔋 Incorrect background operation leads to overheating or rapid discharge of the battery.
• 🎮 Before launching resource-intensive games (Genshin Impact, Call of Duty Mobile) to free RAM.

⚠️ Attention: Frequent forced closure of applications through Task Manager can lead to increased battery consumption.

Method 1: Closing through the "Recent Apps" menu

The simplest and most intuitive method is to use a standard gesture to call up a list of recent apps, which works on all Xiaomi smartphones regardless of the model and version of MIUI.

Instructions:

1. Swipe from the bottom up and hold your finger for 0.5 seconds (on models with the Home button, press it once).
2. The list of "Recent Appendices" will open.
3. Swipe your finger left or right on the app card to close it.
4. For mass closing, click Clear All (or the basket icon in the lower right corner).

On some models (such as the Xiaomi 13 Pro or POCO F5), an alternative gesture is available: swipe up with double-touch on the screen, which works if the option is enabled in the gesture settings.

Limitations of the method:

• ❌ Not all background processes are displayed in the list of "Recent".
• ❌ System Services (Google Play Services, MIUI Daemon cannot be closed in this way.

Method 2: Forced stop using "Settings"

If the application continues to work in the background even after closing through the "Recent", it can be forcibly stopped through the settings menu, this method is guaranteed to remove the process from memory, but can lead to the loss of unsaved data.

Step-by-step:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the desired application from the list (or use the search).
3. Press Forced Stop (button at the bottom of the screen).
4. Confirm the action in the pop-up window.

For convenience, you can sort applications by memory use or battery consumption:

1. In the Application Management menu, click on three dots (⋮) top-right.
2. Select Sort. → Using memory.
3. Applications with maximum RAM consumption will be at the top of the list.

⚠️ Warning: Forced shutdown of system applications (e.g. com.miui.home or com.android.phone) can cause a phone to malfunction or mobile communication to be lost.

Method 3: Using Security App

Xiaomi smartphones have a Security app that includes a memory optimization tool that, unlike third-party cleaners, is integrated into the system and does not conflict with MIUI.

How to use:

1. Open the Security app (the shield icon on the desktop).
2. Go to the Optimization tab (or Acceleration in new versions).
3. Click Clear Memory – the system will show you a list of active processes.
4. Select the apps to close or click Clean for Mass Action.

Advantages of this method:

• 🔍 Shows hidden background processes that are not displayed in "Recent".
• 📊 Provides information on battery consumption and use CPU appendix.
• 🛡️ Does not remove critical system services (unlike third-party utilities).

💡

If you see a com.miui.analytics process in the Security list, do not close it manually – this is a MIUI statistics service, stopping it can cause shell malfunctions.

Method 4: Disabling Autostart for Background Applications

Many apps automatically start when you turn on your phone or when you restart, even if you haven't opened them, and that's for instant messengers, social media, and some system utilities, and to prevent them from running in the background, you can turn off auto-start.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the appropriate app (such as Facebook).
3. Press Autostart and turn off the slider.
4. For mass shutdown, use Settings → Battery and Performance → Autostart Management.

What does the auto-start disable do?

• ⏳ Increases battery life (up to 10-15% battery savings).
• 🚀 Reduces the load on the processor when starting the system.
• 🔒 Prevents hidden data collection by some applications.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling Auto-Run for Messengers (WhatsApp, Viber) will delay notifications until the first manual opening of the application.

Method 5: Using ADB for deep cleaning (for advanced)

If you want to completely remove an application from memory, including all its services, you can use the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) command, which is suitable for advanced users, since it requires a connection to a computer and knowledge of basic commands.

Step-by-step:

1. Enable Developer Mode on Phone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Activate USB Debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command line (or Terminal on Mac/Linux).
4. Enter the command to view the list of packages: adb shell pm list packages
5. Find the name of the package of the desired application (for example, com.facebook.katana for Facebook).
6. Forced stop it: adb shell am force-stop com.facebook.katana

Advantages of the method:

• 🔧 Allows you to close any processes, including system.
• 📛 It works even with apps that don’t appear in the standard menu.

Risks:

• ❌ The wrong command can knock your phone out of order.
• ❌ Some system processes will automatically restart after stopping.

💡

ADB-You should only use commands if you know exactly what you're doing. Standard methods of closing applications are sufficient for ordinary users.

Myths about background apps on Xiaomi: what is true and what is not

There are many myths surrounding the background, and we'll look at some of the most common ones.

Myth 1: “The more RAM available, the faster the phone works.”

Reality: Android uses free RAM to caching frequently used applications. Empty memory is an inefficient use of resources. It determines which processes to close when memory is scarce.

Myth 2: “Memory cleaners (such as Clean Master) speed up the phone.”

Reality: Third-party “optimizers” often impair performance because:

• 🔄 Forced to close processes that the Soon system will run again.
• 📴 Consume additional resources to work in the background.
• 🛡️ They may conflict with built-in mechanisms. MIUI.

Myth 3: “Background apps always drain the battery.”

Reality: Modern versions of MIUI strictly control battery consumption by background processes. Most applications freeze after 10-15 minutes without activity.

• 📱 Applications with constant synchronization (mail, messengers).
• 🎮 Games and programs that use Geofencing (location tracking).
• 🔊 Music players and navigators (Google Maps, Yandex.Navigator).

FAQ: Frequent questions about background apps on Xiaomi