How to Remove Calls on Xiaomi: All Ways to Get a MIUI 12-14

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone owners regularly face the need to clean up their call history — whether for privacy reasons, to free up memory or before selling a device. Unlike other Android smartphones, devices on MIUI have their own nuances: standard deletion through the Phone application does not always work correctly, and some records can be saved in the Mi Account cloud or synchronized with Google Contacts. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to remove calls, from basic to advanced, including cleaning through ADB and resetting.

The MIUI feature is that it can duplicate call records in multiple places: the local phone application database, the system cache, the Mi Cloud cloud storage, and even Google Drive backups. If you just click "Delete All" in the log, it doesn't guarantee complete erasure. For example, when you restore from a backup or after you reset to factory settings, some records can come back. We tested all methods on the latest versions of MIUI 14 (Android 13/14) and identified the most reliable options.

1. Standard removal through the "Phone" application

The easiest way is to use built-in MIUI tools, which is suitable for deleting individual records or completely cleaning the log, but does not affect cloud copies and backups.

How to delete:

• 📱 Open the Phone app (the tube icon on the home screen).
• 📋 Go to the tab "Journal" (in the lower menu).
• ⚙️ Click on three dots in the upper right corner → select "Delete".
• 🗑️ Tag the required records or click "Select all" → confirm removal.

To clean the journal completely:

1. Same menu (⋮ → Delete) select "Clear the journal".
2. Confirm the action in the pop-up window.

⚠️ Note: This method only removes local records. If you have Mi Account or Google enabled sync, calls can be saved to the cloud and returned the next contact update.

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After deleting, restart your smartphone – this will help clear the cache of the Phone application and avoid “ghost” records that sometimes remain in memory.

2. Remove via MIUI settings (deep cleaning)

If the standard method didn’t work, or if you want to remove all traces of calls, including cache and temporary files, use the built-in MIUI tools to manage applications, which is more radical and affects system data.

Instructions:

• 🔧 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 🔍 In the search bar, enter "Phone" and select the application.
• 🗃️ Press "Storage" → "Clear the data".
• ⚠️ Confirm the action (this will delete the entire call history, app settings, and cache).

After this procedure, the Phone app will return to factory settings, and all local records will be erased, but as with the previous method, cloud copies will remain intact.

3. Disable synchronization with Mi Cloud and Google

If you use Mi Account or Google Account, your call history can automatically sync to the cloud, which means that even after local deletion, records can return the next contact update, and to avoid this, you need to turn off sync.

For Mi Cloud:

1. Go to Settings. → Mi Account.
2. Select "Mi Cloud" → "Synchronization".
3. Turn off the slider next to the Call Magazine.
4. Click on “Delete Data from the Cloud” (if available).

For Google Contacts:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google.
2. Select your account → disable “Contacts”.
3. Go to contacts.google.com, find the section “More → Delete Contacts and Data” and clear your call history.

⚠️ Note: Once sync is disabled, new calls will not be saved to the cloud, but old records may remain in backups. For complete removal, check the archives in Google Drive (Section "Backups").

4.Use of ADB for complete removal (advanced method)

If you want to ensure that you remove all traces of calls, including system files that are not cleaned by standard methods, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires connecting your smartphone to your computer and basic knowledge of working with the command line.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB-Drivers (you can download from the official Android website).
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on a smartphone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times press to unlock the developer mode, then Settings → Additionally. → For developers → Debugging by USB).
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).

Instructions:

1. Connect your smartphone to your computer and confirm the debugging permission.
2. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) in the folder with the platform-tools.
3. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices (should display the serial number of your device).
4. Delete your call history with the command: adb shell content delete --uri content://call_log/calls
5. To clear the cache of the Phone application, do: adb shell pm clear com.android.contacts adb shell pm clear com.android.dialer

This method removes all system-level call records, including those that may remain in the cache after a standard cleanup, but it does not affect cloud copies, so they must be deleted separately (see Section 3).

5. Reset to factory settings (last resort)

If you not only need to delete calls, but also completely clean your smartphone (for example, before selling), the most reliable way is hard reset. This method erases all data on the device, including call history, messages, applications and settings. However, after resetting when you first turn on, the system may suggest that you restore data from the backup — refuse this if you want to avoid returning old records.

How to reset:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset.
2. Select "Reset" → "Erase all data".
3. Enter a password (if required) and confirm the action.
4. Wait for the process to be completed (it will take 5-10 minutes).

⚠️ Note: After the reset, all data will be deleted without recovery. If you are selling a phone, be sure to log out of Mi Account and Google Account, otherwise the new owner will be able to access your data through the Find Device feature".

If you plan to continue using your smartphone after a reset, don't restore your data from backups, it will return your call history. Instead, set the device up as new.

6. Third-party applications to clean up history

Google Play has apps that promise more flexible call history management, including selective removal, export and password protection, but they need to be used with caution: many require access to contacts and logs, which can pose privacy risks, and we tested some popular tools and selected the most reliable ones.

Recommended annexes:

• 🔒 Call Logs Backup & Restore – allows you to export and delete records selectively, create backups in.xml format.
• 🧹 Cleaner for MIUI — optimized MIUI, Clears the cache and call history in one click.
• 🔍 Call History Manager – Supports packet deletion and date/contact filtering.

How to use:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Provide the necessary permissions (access to call logs).
3. Select the records to delete or use the full cleanup function.
4. If necessary, create a backup copy before deleting.

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Third-party applications are convenient for selective removal, but do not guarantee absolute cleanup of system files. For complete erasure, it is better to combine them with methods from sections 2 or 4.

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing calls on Xiaomi