How to turn off applications on Xiaomi Redmi 4X: the full guide

Xiaomi Redmi 4X, despite its age, is still a popular device due to its metal body and autonomy. However, over time, the MIUI operating system has become increasingly pre-installed with programs that not only take up precious space in internal memory, but also consume CPU resources. Many users notice that the phone starts to run slower and the battery runs out faster due to the background activity of excess software.

Fortunately, the MIUI shell provides flexible tools to manage installed software. You don’t have to be an Android expert to perform basic system optimization. Proper management of services and utilities allows you to significantly extend the life of a device based on the Snapdragon 435 chipset, returning it to its former sharpness in the interface.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all the available ways to deactivate programs, from standard settings to the use of advanced features for advanced users. We will also touch the issue of security and explain which components should not be touched categorically so as not to turn a smartphone into a “brick”.

Why you should turn off applications on Redmi 4X

The main reason Redmi 4X owners are thinking about cleaning up the system is a lack of internal memory: the basic version of the device is available only 16 or 32 GB, of which a significant part is occupied by system files. Pre-installed applications, often called bloatware, can take up hundreds of megabytes that can not be used to store photos or music if these programs are simply hidden but not deleted.

The second important aspect is performance. Even when you're not using your phone, many services continue to run in the background, consuming RAM. For a budget device with 2 or 3 GB of RAM, every free megabyte worth of gold, turning off unnecessary processes frees up resources for more important tasks like navigation or instant messengers.

In addition, some system utilities can collect telemetry or display ads in standard interfaces such as Explorer or Music, deactivating these components not only increases speed, but also increases privacy, and you decide what features should be active on your personal device.

• 🚀 Freeing RAM for the performance of games and heavy applications.
• 🔋 Reducing energy consumption by stopping background processes.
• 🗑️ Increased available space for user files and updates.
• 🔒 Increased privacy by disabling data collection services.

It is worth noting that complete removal of system components is possible only with superuser rights (Root), which carries certain risks, but a regular shutdown has almost the same effect: the program stops starting, disappears from the menu and does not load the processor, while remaining in the system partition in case you need to restore.

Standard method through smartphone settings

The safest and easiest way to manage programs is built directly into the MIUI interface. First, you need to open the main menu and find the Settings icon. In the list that opens, you should scroll down to the Application section, where you store all the information about the installed software, and here you will see a full list of all the utilities, from the system to downloaded from the Play Market.

Select the app you're interested in. Pay attention to the Disable button: if it's active (not grey), it means that the system can be safely deactivated without affecting the stability of the phone. Pressing this button will hide the icon from the desktop and stop all related processes. If the button is inactive, then this component is critical for the firmware.

💡

Before you shut down apps, write down their names, which will help you quickly get it back if you accidentally deactivate something important.

In some versions of MIUI, the button may be called "Delete," but for system applications, it actually acts as a shutdown function. Once confirmed, the system will alert you that the application will be hidden. This is the standard procedure for protecting against accidental changes.

⚠️ Note: Do not disable system components with the words “Framework” or “System” in their name. UI» or Google Play Services if you're not sure what they're supposed to do, which can cause a cyclical reboot of the device.

To return the program to the working state, you just need to go back to the application menu, switch the tab to All or Unplugged, find the desired item and click Enable. All data and settings of the application are stored, unless they were manually erased earlier.

Using Developer Mode for Extended Control

If you don't have enough standard functionality, you can activate the hidden developer menu, which will allow you to access more detailed statistics and manage some processes. To open this section, you need to go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click on MIUI Version seven times. Once the notification "You became a developer" appears, a new section will appear in the settings menu.

You can find options in the Developer Menu that are related to background processes, such as limiting the number of background processes can force you to close apps you are not using right now, but beware: settings that are too aggressive can disrupt messengers that should receive notifications instantly.

Also available in this section is the "Do not turn off screen" function when charging, which is useful for debugging, but not necessary in everyday use, the main advantage of the developer mode is the ability to see which services consume the most resources in real time.

Any change in this section can affect the stability of the Android operating system, it is recommended to change the settings one by one and check the result within a few hours of using the phone.

System garbage disposal via ADB (for advanced ones)

For those who want to achieve maximum results and are ready to work with a computer, there is a method of using a debugging bridge. ADB (Android Debug Bridge, which allows you to delete or disable even those applications that are not active on the phone menu, USB-cable and on-debugging USB in the developer menu on a smartphone.

Once you connect your phone to your computer and install the drivers, you can send specific commands through the command line. For example, the pm disable-user --user 0 application packet completely disables the application for the current user, which is a deeper level of control than the standard settings menu.

The list of uninstall packages is better searched in specialized databases, since the names of system processes are often not obvious. For example, the com.miui.analytics package is responsible for collecting statistics, and com.android.chrome is responsible for the Chrome browser.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.analytics

It is important to understand that misuse ADB-commands can cause important functions such as calls or Wi-Fi to fail. Always check the assignment of a packet before turning it off.

⚠️ Attention: Before starting work with ADB A mistake in the command can lead to loss of access to the system, which can only be restored by flashing.

What applications can be safely disabled

Redmi 4X owners are often interested in a specific list of programs that can be safely deactivated. MIUI firmware has a lot of duplicate software that is imposed on the user. Below is a table with the most common candidates for removal and their description.

Disabling standard players and browsers only makes sense if you have installed more functional counterparts, such as VLC or Chrome/Firefox. Otherwise, you may lose the ability to quickly open a video file or link.

Google Play Services cannot be turned off, which will shut down most modern applications, including maps, YouTube and banking clients, and limit yourself to removing visible apps like YouTube or Google Maps if you don’t use them.

Possible problems and solutions

After mass deactivation of applications, users sometimes experience system instability, error messages, notifications may stop working, or network connectivity problems, most often because a system component that other services depended on has been affected.

The first step in solving the problem should always be to restart the device. In 90% of cases, the system detects the absence of dependencies on its own and either restores work or gives an understandable error message. If the phone loads normally but there are failures in a particular feature, try turning back recently disabled applications.

In more complex cases, when the smartphone goes into an endless restart (bootloop), you will need to log in to Recovery mode. On the Xiaomi Redmi 4X, this is done by pressing the volume button "Up" and the power button. In the Recovery menu, you can try to reset (Wipe Data), which will return the phone to the factory state, but delete all personal data.

💡

Always disable applications in one or smaller group to know exactly which component caused the crash in the event of a problem.

If you used the ADB method to disable the application, you can return the application with the command adb shell pm enable --user 0 package application.This makes the ADB method relatively safe, since files are not physically deleted, but only marked as inactive.