How to see how much time you spend on your Xiaomi phone: detailed instructions

Why it’s important to keep track of your phone and how to do it on Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones offer a variety of tools to analyze activity, but not everyone knows where that data is hiding. Meanwhile, monitoring screen time helps not only discipline yourself, but also identify “voracious” apps that drain your battery or distract you from important tasks. For example, you may find yourself spending 3 hours a day on social networks without even knowing it!

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways Xiaomi uses statistics can be checked, from standard Digital Well-Being features to hidden developer menus and third-party utilities, and focus on the nuances of different MIUI versions (12 to 14) and smartphone models such as the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 or Xiaomi 13.

Before you get to the instructions, keep in mind that the usage time data is only collected when activity tracking is turned on. If you never activated this feature, the story will be empty. But don't worry, we'll show you how to turn it on retroactively (although the full history can't be recovered).

Method 1: Built-in Digital Wellbeing

The most obvious and reliable method is to use the standard Digital Wellbeing app, which is available on all Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 10 and later, which not only shows the total usage time, but also breaks it down by application and allows you to set limits.

To open up the statistics:

1. Go to Settings → Digital Well-Being and Parental Controls.
2. Slip the chart at the top of the screen (usually showing the time for today).
3. Select the Control Panel tab for a detailed report.

Here you'll see:

• 📊 Total time of use of the phone per day/week.
• 📱 Top of annexes by time (with percentages).
• 🔄 Number of screen unlocks.
• 📉 Timetable of activity by hour (peak periods).

If you have MIUI 12/13/14, the report will also show you the Attention Focus section, which shows how often you've been distracted by notifications, for example, if you've picked up your phone 50 times a day but spent only 2 hours on it, that's a signal of excessive attention fragmentation.

Method 2: Time of Use Menu in Security Settings

Few people know, but Xiaomi has a second place where usage statistics are stored, in its security settings, which works even if Digital Well-Being is disabled or reset.

Instructions:

1. Open the Settings. → Passwords and security.
2. Scroll down and select the Time of Use.
3. Enter the password from your Mi Account (if you request it).

You'll find this menu:

• 🕒 Total screen time for today/week/month.
• 🔍 Detailed statistics on applications (including system-based statistics).
• 📅 The story of the last 30 days (unlike Digital Wellbeing, where usually only 7 days).

⚠️ Note: If you reset your phone to factory settings, the history in this menu will nullify. However, the data will be saved if you restore the backup through the Mi Cloud.

Is activity tracking included

Synchronizing data with Mi Cloud

Restrictions on specific applications

Comparison of the current week with the previous-->

Method 3: Through the Developer Menu (for advanced users)

If standard methods don’t show the full picture (e.g., don’t take into account developer or ADB time), you can use hidden settings, which is suitable for Xiaomi with an unlocked bootloader or root rights, but some data is available without them.

How to turn on the developer menu:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Tap 7 times on the MIUI version (you will be notified “You became a developer”).
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.

Next:

• 🔧 Find Process Monitoring – here you can see real-time application activity.
• 📊 In the Usage Statistics, you can see the operating time of each process (including background data).
• ⚙️ Activity Logs store data on unlocks and switches between applications.

Note that the developer menu displays time in milliseconds, so you have to convert values for convenience, like 180,000 ms = 30 minutes.

Method 4: Third-Party Applications for Detailed Analytics

If you don't have enough built-in Xiaomi tools, you can install specialized applications that offer advanced reports, comparisons with other users, and even tips for time optimization.-3 tested:

Check application permissions before installing – some require access to special features (e.g, android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS). To provide:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Special Access → Access to use applications.
2. Select the desired application and turn on the switch.

⚠️ Note: Some apps (such as ActionDash) may conflict with Xiaomi's energy-saving settings.If the statistics aren't updated, add the utility to AutoRun and Without battery restrictions.

Method 5: Viewing Notification History (Indirect Method)

If you want to know how much time you spent on a particular action (like texting on Telegram or watching YouTube), you can use notification history, which does not give you accurate data about the screen time, but helps to restore the chronology.

How to turn on notification history:

1. Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification history.
2. Activate the function and wait for data collection (usually takes 1-2 days).

What can I find out:

• ⏰ Time of notifications (indirectly shows activity in the application).
• 📌 Frequency of interaction with messengers or social networks.
• 🔄 Periods of most activity (e.g. evening).

For example, if you see Instagram notifications coming every 10 minutes and you react to them, it's a sign of overuse. Unfortunately, the history is only stored for 24 hours, so this method is not suitable for long-term analysis.

💡

To save your notification history for longer than 24 hours, use the Notification History Log app (requires root rights).

Frequent problems and their solutions

Xiaomi users sometimes find that their usage time statistics are not updated, show zero values, or reset after a reboot, and here are the most common reasons and ways to eliminate them:

If none of the methods worked, try clearing the Digital Wellbeing app cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Digital Wellbeing and select Clear Cache.
3. Reboot the phone.

💡

If statistics are no longer collected after the MIUI update, check the permissions for com.miui.guardprovider, the system application responsible for monitoring activity.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions