Redmi smartphones are famous for their value for money, but users often encounter intrusive system software. Owners of the Redmi 8 model, which runs on the MIUI shell, often notice that the device’s memory is occupied by dozens of programs that they do not use, such as games, analytics services or duplicate utilities from Google and Xiaomi, which cannot be removed by standard means through the settings menu.
Fortunately, there is a proven method of cleaning the system without having to obtain Root rights, which preserves the warranty on the device. We will look at a safe way to uninstall excess software using a computer and debug over USB. This approach allows you to turn your Redmi 8 into a clean and fast tool, free of advertising modules and system debris.
Before we take action, we need to understand the risks and prepare tools. Incorrect removal of critical Android components can lead to unstable phone operation or cyclical reboot. Therefore, in this article, we will focus on which packages are strictly not to be touched and which can be safely recycled.
⚠️ Warning: Before starting the procedure, be sure to create a full backup of data. Any interference with the system partition carries a potential risk of loss of information or malfunction of the operating system.
Preparation of the smartphone Redmi 8 for modification
The first step is to activate the hidden developer menu, which is locked by default in the MIUI interface. You will need to go to the settings and find the "About Phone" item where you need to click on the MIUI version seven times. After that, a new section "For Developers" will appear in the "Additional" menu, where the switches we need are located.
Inside the developer menu, find and activate the USB Debugging option, and the system will issue a security alert — it needs to be confirmed, and it’s also important to enable the USB Debugging option if it’s available in your firmware version, although it may be called differently or not on global versions of Redmi 8.
- 📱 Go to Settings. → About the phone and 7 times click on the build number.
- 🔧 Go to Settings. → Additionally. → For developers.
- ✅ Activate the slider "Debugging by" USB» and confirm the action.
- 🔒 Set a screen lock password if it hasn’t already been set (required for some commands) ADB).
Once you turn on these functions, when you connect your smartphone to your computer, you'll see a request for debugging permission on the screen, and you'll need to tick "Always allow from this computer" and click "OK." Without this step, the computer won't be able to send commands to delete packets.
☑️ Redmi 8's Ready for Cleanup
The necessary tools to work with ADB
To interact with the operating system at a deep level, we need Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tools, which is a universal utility from Google that allows you to control a device from a PC. You don't need to be a programmer to use its basic features to remove applications.
Download the current version of Platform Tools from the official Android developer site. Unpack the archive into the root folder of the disk, for example, in C:\adb, so that the path to the files is short and does not contain Cyrillic characters, which can cause errors when executing commands in the terminal.
Alternative graphical shells
Also make sure your device has drivers installed on your computer. In most cases, Windows 10 and 11 automatically install the necessary components when you first connect your smartphone in debugging mode. If the device displays with a yellow exclamation point in the Device Manager, you will need to manually install Google USB Driver drivers.
Search and identification of system packages
The hardest part is figuring out which application is responsible for what. System processes in Android have packet names consisting of a domain name and a program name, such as com.android.chrome. It is almost impossible to guess the purpose of a package by its technical name without a directory.
To simplify the task, it is recommended to use the App Inspector utility or similar services that show a list of all installed packages and their descriptions. You can download a list of all packages through ADB with the adb shell pm list packages command and analyze it by checking the online database of Xiaomi system applications.
| Packet name | Description | Status of removal |
|---|---|---|
| com.miui.analytics | Collection of usage statistics (Mi Analytics) | Safe. |
| com.facebook.katana | Facebook pre-installed | Safe. |
| com.miui.misys | MIUI System Security Service | Dangerous. |
| com.google.android.youtube | Official YouTube client | As you wish. |
Special attention should be paid to packages related to advertising and analytics. Removing com.miui.analytics and com.miui.msa.global (advertising service) will significantly reduce the number of intrusive offers in the system.
The process of removing applications through the command line
Once you have a list of unnecessary programs, you can start removing them. Open the command line or PowerShell in the folder with ADB. Enter the adb device command to check the connection. If done correctly, you will see your Redmi 8 serial number and device status.
To remove a specific packet, the command adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 <name packet> is used. The --user 0 flag means that the application is removed for the current user, but physically remains in the system partition. This makes the process reversible: in case of an error, you can easily return everything back.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.analyticsRun commands in sequence, removing one application and checking the stability of the smartphone. If after removing a package, the phone begins to behave incorrectly, the procedure can be interrupted. Do not try to delete a dozen packets in one pack without checking the result.
⚠️ Warning: Never delete packages that have framework, provider (other than known as Google Contacts) or service in their name unless you know exactly what they are intended for.
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Use the copy-paste command for packet names to avoid typos. One extra letter in the packet name will cause the command to run in error.
Recovery of Remote System Components
If you delete something that's superfluous during the optimization process and the system starts to crash, don't panic. Because we used the deletion method for the current user, the source files of the application are stored in memory, and you can return them using the reinstall command.
The recovery command looks like this: adb shell cmd package install-existing <packet>. Enter the name of the remote package and the system will instantly restore it to the application menu with all default settings.
In some cases, if the standard recovery command does not work, you can reset the settings of the application itself through the smartphone menu if its shortcut is still visible, or use the adb shell pm clear command. <packet> Cleaning your data before re-installing.
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The ADB method allows you to remove applications reversibly, and you can always restore a remote system component with one command, which makes it safer than using Root rights.