How to Remove Games on Xiaomi: From Standard Ways to Hidden MIUI Features

Removing games on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO smartphones only seems like a simple task. In practice, users are faced with “unremovable” pre-installed games from Mi Game Center, cache residues after uninstallation or the sudden return of remote applications after a system update. In this article, we will analyze all the current methods from basic to advanced, including working with ADB, hidden MIUI settings and even manually cleaning system folders.

The feature of MIUI firmware is that it aggressively caches game data and sometimes blocks its complete deletion through the standard interface. For example, Mi Jump or Mi Racing can “resurrect” after resetting or updating the system. We tested all methods on Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and POCO F5 (versions of MIUI 14/15) – and are ready to provide unique solutions for each situation, including cases when the game is not deleted through Settings or Google Play.

1. Standard removal through MIUI settings

To start with, the obvious one is the built-in app manager, which works for most custom games (installed from Google Play or.apk), but is often useless for Xiaomi’s system games.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search box, type the name of the game (for example, Call of Duty Mobile or Mi Cricket).
3. Click on the game → Delete (or Uninstall).
4. Confirm action. If the Remove button is inactive, the game is system (go to method 3 or 4).

⚠️ Note: After such deletion, folders with the game cache may remain in the system (until the game cache is deleted). 1-2 GB!). To clear them, go to Settings. → Warehouse → Clean and select “Residual Files».

Check if the game is system (the "System Software" label in the application information)

Try to turn off the game (button "Disable" instead of "Delete")

Use method 3 (ADB) or 4 (manual file deletion)

Update. MIUI Up to the latest version – sometimes this will unlock the deletion-->

2. Delete via Google Play (for non-system games)

If the game was installed via Google Play, it can be removed from the store, which is convenient because it automatically clears the associated data (as opposed to the standard deletion through settings).

How to do this:

1. Open Google Play → click on the profile avatar → App and device management.
2. Go to the Installed tab and find the game.
3. Press it. → Delete.
4. Confirm the uninstallation and wait until it is completed (it can take up to 1-2 minutes for major games like Genshin Impact).

💡 Useful tip: If the game doesn't appear in the installed list but takes up space, check the Library tab.

Casual (like Candy Crush)

Multiplayer (PUBG, Call of Duty)

Xiaomi System Games (Mi Game Center)

Others (write in the comments)-->

3. Removal of system games via ADB (for advanced)

System games (Mi Game Center, Mi Racing, Mi Jump, etc.) are often blocked from being deleted, and the only reliable way to get rid of them is to use ADB (Android Debug Bridge), a method that requires connecting your smartphone to your PC and enabling developer mode.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on USB debugging: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on the MIUI Version to activate Developer Mode. Go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers. Activate USB Debugging and OEM Unblock (if any).

Connect your smartphone to your PC:

• Download ADB Tools and unpack the archive.
• Open the command prompt (cmd) in the folder with ADB.
• Enter the command: adb devices If the device is displayed - debugging works.
• Remove the game: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.gamecenter Replace com.xiaomi.gamecenter with the game package (you can find it through App Inspector or adb shell pm list packages | grep'game').

⚠️ Note: Some system games (Mi Pay, Mi Video) are related to services MIUI. Deleting them can lead to firmware errors (for example, missing payment icons in the menu). → System system → Backup.

4 Manually remove game residues through file manager

Even after the game is uninstalled, the following games remain in the system:

• 📁 Cache folders in /Android/obb/ and /Android/data/.
• 🗃️ Settings files in /data/data/ (Root rights are required).
• 🔄 Logs and temporary files in /sdcard/MIUI/.

To clean them up:

1. Use a root-access file manager (such as Solid Explorer or FX File Explorer).
2. Go to /storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/[name pack game] /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/[name game package game]
3. Delete folders manually. If files are not deleted, check access rights or use ADB: adb shell rm -rf /sdcard/Android/obb/com.game.package

📌 Key Conclusion: Cleaning up game remnants can free up to 3-5 GB of memory, especially after removing heavy projects like Honor of Kings or Free Fire.

5. disable games via MIUI settings (if deletion is not possible)

If the game is not deleted even through ADB (for example, Mi Game Center on some firmware), it can be disabled, which hides the game from the menu and stops its background processes, but does not free up space on the disk.

How to turn it off:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the game → press Disconnect.
3. Confirm the action. The game will disappear from the launcher, but will remain in the system.

⚠️ Warning: Disabled games can automatically turn on after updating MIUI. To avoid this, before the system update:

• 🔄 Make a backup copy through Settings → System system → Backup.
• 📱 Adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy 1 (demand ADB).

6. Reset to factory settings (extreme case)

If the games come back after all the manipulations or take up a critically large amount of space, a complete reset will help.This method deletes all data, including games, cache and settings, but requires subsequent configuration of the smartphone from scratch.

How to reset:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Choose to erase all data.
3. Enter the password (if installed) and confirm the action.
4. Wait until it is completed (it will take 5-10 minutes).

🔹 Important: After discharge:

• 🔒 Do not restore data from backup MIUI — It'll bring back remote games.
• 📥 Install games only from Google Play (not from the Mi App Store).
• 🛡️ Turn off automatic installation of recommended games in Settings → Annexes → Mi Game Center → Auto-installation.

💡

Before resetting, export the list of installed applications through Google Play (Settings → Application Management → Export) to help quickly restore the desired programs after reset.

Comparison of game removal methods on Xiaomi

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing games on Xiaomi