How to Close Apps on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide to MIUI

Why it is important to be able to close applications on Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones are known for optimizing background processes. However, even the most advanced system sometimes requires manual intervention: some apps will “hang up,” start consuming an extra battery, or slow down the device. Unlike iOS or “pure” Android, MIUI offers several unique ways to manage tasks, from a classic swipe to hidden features in the developer settings.

In this article, we will discuss all the current methods of closing applications on Xiaomi in the future. 2026 This includes little-known tricks for models with MIUI 14/15 You'll learn when to actually close apps (and when it only hurts), how to stop "unkillable" services, and what to do if standard methods don't work. Xiaomi/Poco — Their behavior in multitasking can be radically different!

Method 1: Classic Closing Through Multitasking

The most obvious and quickest method is to use the recent app dashboard. On all Xiaomi smartphones (from Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi 14 Ultra), the algorithm is the same, but there are nuances depending on the version of MIUI and the type of navigation (gestures or buttons).

To close the application:

• 👆 Swipe from the bottom up the screen and hold your finger for 0.5 seconds (for gesture navigation). On models with buttons, click the square icon at the bottom of the screen.
• 📱 Find the card of the desired application in the list of recent tasks.
• ↗️ Swipe the card up (on the top) MIUI 12+) or press the cross in the upper right corner (on older versions).
• 🔄 For mass closing: tap the Close Everything icon (usually at the bottom of the screen) or swipe up with three fingers (on some firmware).

⚠️ Attention: On Xiaomi with MIUI 14/15 Android 13/14 Some system applications (e.g., com.miui.home) automatically restart after closing.

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If the swipe up doesn’t work, try holding the app card for 1-2 seconds – on some Poco models, this triggers a context menu with the “Close” option.

Method 2: Forced stop through settings

Some apps (especially messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp) can ignore the closure through multitasking and keep working in the background, in which case forced stopping through the settings menu will help, which is guaranteed to kill the process, but has side effects: for example, you will not receive a notification until you start the application again.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the app you want (use the search at the top if the list is long).
3. Slip on it and select Forced Stop (on MIUI 15 this option can hide under Battery → Background Limitation).
4. Confirm the action in the dialog window.

⚠️ Warning: Do not stop system processes called com.miui.*, android.process.media or com.google.android.gms unless absolutely necessary.This may result in a launcher crash, loss of mobile network or resetting of Google account settings.

Method 3: Using a "Distractless" (DND) mode

Little-known life hack for Xiaomi – “No distractions” function** (Do Not Disturb, DND), It not only turns off notifications, but also suspends the background activity of selected applications, which is useful if you want to temporarily freeze resource-intensive programs (such as TikTok or YouTube) without deleting them from memory.

How to turn on:

• 🔔 Go to Settings. → Notifications and status bar → The “Do Not Disturb” mode».
• 🔧 Select the Automatic Enablement Rules → Add a rule → Annexes.
• ➕ Add apps that you want to limit (like Facebook or AliExpress).
• ⏳ Set a timer or activate the mode manually.

In this mode, apps won’t update in the background, but they’ll remain on the list of recent tasks, and the main advantage over forced shutdown is that once DND is turned off, apps will resume without losing data (for example, you won’t have to log in to Instagram again).

Method 4: Closing through the Developer Menu (for experienced)

If standard methods don’t work (e.g., the Mi Fit or Mi Home app is constantly hanging in the background), you can use hidden options in the developer menu, which requires caution, but allows you to manage processes at a low level.

Steps:

1. Activate the developer menu: go to Settings → About phone and 7 times tap the MIUI version.
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find the option to Limit Background Processes and select No Background Processes (or Maximum 2 Processes for less radical effect).
4. It is also useful to disable Do not save actions – this will cause the system to kill all tasks when leaving the application.

⚠️ Attention: These settings have a strong impact on multitasking, and once activated, applications will close more aggressively, which can lead to a higher rate of multitasking:

• 🔄 Loss of progress in games when switching to another software.
• 📱 Slowly open frequently used programs (they will run from scratch»).
• 🔔 Skipping notifications from messengers.

Make a backup copy of important data

Remember the current screen and battery settings

Check the list of auto-launched applications

Turn off restrictions after testing

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Method 5: Using third-party killer tasks (pros and cons)

There are dozens of task management apps on Google Play (like Greenify, Advanced Task Killer, or MIUI Optimizer) that promise to speed up the smartphone by closing the background processes. But on Xiaomi with MIUI, these tools often run worse than the system tools — here's why:

The problems of third-party killers:

• 🚫 MIUI Blocks your access to system processes (due to Xiaomi’s security policy).

If you want to try it, go for Greenify, which gently freezes apps without shutting them down, but even here, there's a caveat: Xiaomi has to manually allow it to work in Settings → Special Permissions → Autostart and Battery Optimization.

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Third-party killer tasks on Xiaomi often do more harm than good. MIUI system tools (multitasking + battery settings) do better 90% of the time.

When you do not need to close applications on Xiaomi

The myth that “the more closed applications, the faster the phone works” has been around since the Android 4.x era. On today’s Xiaomi with MIUI 14/15 and Android 13/14, the opposite is true: rash shutting down tasks can increase battery consumption and slow down the system.

Situations where closing applications harms:

• 📱 The app is optimized for background work (e.g. Google Maps in navigation mode or Spotify when playing music).
• 🔄 You often switch between tasks (e.g., Chrome and Word). MIUI Keep them in your memory for a quick return.
• 📊 The application is used for monitoring (fitness trackers, antiviruses) and their closure will interrupt the collection of data.
• 🔋 The battery is discharged normally (less than 5% per hour in standby mode), which means that background processes are not a problem.

💡 Xiaomi Rule: Close Apps Only If You Have to:

1. It is clearly hanging (does not respond to pressing, shows a black screen).
2. You’ve noticed abnormal battery consumption (e.g. Facebook eats up 30% of its charge in 2 hours).
3. The app interferes with other programs (for example, TikTok slows down YouTube).

FAQ: Frequent questions about closing apps on Xiaomi