How to forcefully stop the application on Xiaomi smartphones: all ways

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones sometimes face the problem of “hang-up” apps: messengers continue to send notifications after closing, games slow down the system, and background processes drain the battery. Unlike Android in its pure form, here the standard swiping in the multitasking menu does not always remove the application from memory. Why does this happen?

It’s about aggressively optimizing MIUI Optimized, Xiaomi’s proprietary solution that manages device resources, which can block forced stops for “system” applications (e.g. com.miui.securitycenter) or return them to the background after a few seconds. In this article, we’ll discuss 5 working ways to completely stop the program from basic to advanced, including ADB and hidden developer settings.

1. Standard Stop through Android Settings

The most obvious method is to use built-in Android tools, which is suitable for most user applications (e.g. Telegram, VK, TikTok), but may not work for Xiaomi system services.

How to do this:

  • 📱 Open the Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
  • 🔍 Find the right app in the list (use a search if it’s not at the top).
  • 🛑 Click Stop (button will only appear if the program is active).
  • ⚠️ Confirm the action in the pop-up window.

If the Stop button is inactive or not, the application is protected by MIUI, in which case move on to the following methods.

💡

After a forced stop, some apps (such as Facebook or Instagram) can automatically restart. To avoid this, turn off auto-run in the application settings (Auto-Run).

Note: this method does not delete app data. If the goal is to reset cache or settings, use the Clear Data button in the same menu.

2. Forced stopover via MIUI Optimized

MIUI Optimized is a back-end application that monitors background processes, often preventing users from completely shutting down programs, but it can also be used to force them to stop.

Instructions:

  1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Click 7 times on the MIUI Version until the notification “You’ve become a developer!” appears.

Settings → Additional → For Developers

MIUI optimization

turn off

Reboot the phone.

Now try to stop the application in the standard way (section 1).

⚠️ Attention: offline MIUI Optimized can lead to increased battery consumption and overheating of the device. Use this method only when necessary and turn on optimization back after solving the problem.

📊 What Xiaomi model do you use?
Redmi Note 10/11/12
POCO F3/F4/F5
Mi 11/12/13
Redmi 9/10
Another model

3. Stop over ADB (for power users)

If the app persists in not shutting down, Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a computer debugging tool, works even for system services, but requires a PC connection.

Step-by-step:

  1. Download the platform-tools from the official Android website.
  2. Connect your phone to your computer via USB and enable debugging via USB (Settings → Developers → USB debugging).
  3. Open the command line (cmd) in the folder with the platform-tools.
  4. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices (should appear serial number of your device).
  5. Find the name of the package of the problem application (you can find out through the App Inspector or the APKMirror website).
  6. Follow the command to force stop: adb shell am force-stop com.example.app (replace com.example.app with the real name of the package).

Step-by-step action:

  1. Install Titanium Backup and grant root rights.
  2. Find the problem app in the list.
  3. Click “Freeze!” (the application will disappear from the system, but will remain in memory).
  4. If you want to remove it completely, select “Delete!”

⚠️ Note: Removal of Xiaomi system applications (e.g, com.miui.weather2 or com.xiaomi.scanner may cause functions to fail (weather, scanner) QR-codes) or cyclic loading of the phone. Before deleting, check if the application is critical for the user to use the device. MIUI.

💡

If you are not sure about your root access, you should use ADB (Section 3) or third-party utilities (Section 4).

FAQ: Frequent questions about stopping apps on Xiaomi

❓ Why does the app start up again after stopping?
This is because of MIUI Optimized or auto-start. To prevent automatic start: Open Settings → Applications → Application Management. Select the app and turn off Auto-Start. Some models (POCO F4, Redmi Note 12) also need to turn off Show Notifications.
❓ Can you stop Xiaomi system applications without root?
Yeah, but not all of it. ADB (Section 3 can be stopped most except for critical systems (e.g. com.miui.securitycenter or com.android.systemui). APK root.
❓ Why some apps don’t appear in the “Application Management” list»?
It could be: 🔒 Hidden system services (e.g. com.qualcomm.qti.telephonyservice). 📦 Applications installed for another user (if Multi-User mode is used). 🔍 Service processes that do not have an interface (they can be seen through the ADB command adb shell ps. -A). To see all the processes, use the adb shell dumpsys package command.
❓ How to check if the app has stopped?
Use ADB: adb shell ps -A | grep "name packet" If the answer is empty, the application is closed. You can also use the OS Monitor app from Google Play to monitor processes in real time.
❓ What to do if after stopping the application, the phone began to brake?
You probably stopped the system process that other functions depend on. Try: Reboot your phone. Reset the application through ADB: adb shell am startservice com.example.app/.ServiceName (replace with real data). If the brakes are left, reset to factory settings (Settings → Phone → Reset).