How to completely ban applications from working in the background on Xiaomi: 5 working ways

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO are known for their energy efficiency, but even they suffer from “gluttonous” applications that continue to work in the background, consuming battery power and system resources. Unlike “pure” Android, MIUI firmware has its own mechanisms for managing background processes – and not all users know how to use them correctly.

In this article, we will analyze all available ways to limit background activity - from standard settings. MIUI Up to hidden features for power users, you'll learn how to disable autostart, block notifications, use ADB-And then we'll figure out which apps you should never limit in the background, and that can cause your smartphone to crash.

Why apps work in the background and how it is dangerous

Background activity of applications is not always evil, for example, messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) or email clients (Gmail, Outlook) must update data in real time so that you receive notifications of new messages.

• 🔋 Battery consumption: Background processes can eat up to 30% of charge per day (according to Battery Guru).
• 🐢 Slowing down the system: MIUI allocates limited resources to background tasks, which is why the main applications begin to slow down».
• 📡 Traffic is idle: Many programs (like Facebook or TikTok) constantly exchange data with servers, even when you are not using them.
• 🔒 Security risks: Some apps collect data about your activity (geolocation, history of visits) without the user’s knowledge.

Social media, online gaming (PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact) and Chinese services (such as Xiaomi Cloud or Mi Video) are particularly aggressive, and even after closing, such apps can remain active for up to 12 hours, periodically waking up to sync, according to Avast (2023).

⚠️ Note: Do not turn off the background work of system services MIUI (For example, com.miui.securitycenter or com.android.phone, this can result in loss of mobile network, sensor failures, or inability to update firmware.

Method 1: Limit auto-run in MIUI (without ROOT)

The easiest and safest way to do this is to use the built-in MIUI tools, which control which apps can be launched automatically when you turn on your smartphone or connect to the network, and by turning it off for unnecessary programs, you can reduce their activity in the background by 40-60%.

Instructions for MIUI 14/13/12 (relevant to Xiaomi 13/12/11, Redmi Note 12/11, POCO F5/X5):

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slip on the three dots in the upper right corner and select AutoRun.
3. In the list, mark the apps you want to restrict (e.g. Facebook, AliExpress, Wildberries).
4. Click Turn off at the bottom of the screen.

After that, apps won’t be able to run on their own once they’ve rebooted or connected to a Wi-Fi/mobile network, but they can still run in the background if you’ve opened them manually.

Reboot your smartphone to apply changes

Check the battery consumption in Settings → Battery

Turn off notifications for limited applications

Add exceptions for messengers and mail-->

Method 2: Manual restriction of background activity

If disabling auto-start didn’t work, you can take a more stringent approach, which is to stop working in the background completely, and this is suitable for applications you rarely use (such as banking programs, games or taxi services).

How to do this:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the desired application (for example, SberBank Online).
3. Tapping on Battery Consumption (or Battery Use in Newer MIUI Versions)
4. Select the option to limit background activity.
5. Confirm the action by clicking Restrict.

Now the app can't:

• 🔄 Update data in the background (for example, check new emails in Gmail).
• 📶 Use mobile traffic or Wi-Fi to sync.
• 🔔 Display notifications (except those that come through the FCM).

⚠️ Note: Some applications (e.g. Google Maps or Yandex.Navigator) will no longer work in offline maps after such a restriction. They will not be able to download traffic data or update routes in the background.

Social networks (Facebook, Instagram)

Games (PUBG, Genshin Impact)

Banking programs (Sberbank, Tinkoff)

Delivery Services (Wildberries, Ozon)

Others-->

Method 3: Using ADB for deep optimization (for advanced)

If standard methods do not give results, you can resort to ADB-This method allows you to completely block background activity even for system applications, but requires connecting the smartphone to the computer.

Advantages of the method:

• 🔧 It works on all versions. MIUI (including MIUI 14 on Xiaomi 13 Ultra).
• 🚀 More in-depth optimization than through the settings menu.
• 🔒 You can roll back changes at any time.

Instructions:

1. Turn on Developer Mode on your smartphone: go to Settings → About Phone and tap 7 times on the MIUI version.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and activate Debugging over USB.
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC, install ADB-tools and open the command line.
4. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices must appear serial number of your device.
5. Ban background activity for a specific app (e.g. Facebook): adb shell cmd appops set com.facebook.katana RUN_IN_BACKGROUND Replace com.facebook.katana with the batch name of the desired application (you can find it through the App Inspector in Google Play).

To get it back, use the command:

adb shell cmd appops set com.facebook.katana RUN_IN_BACKGROUND allow

Method 4: Power Saving Configurement in MIUI Battery Saver

MIUI has an inbuilt power saving mode that automatically limits background activity for all applications except system ones, but by default it doesn't work well. We'll show you how to set it up properly.

Steps to optimize:

1. Open Settings → Battery and performance → Energy saving mode.
2. Select Settings (or additionally in new versions).
3. Activate options: ✅ Limit background activity ✅ Turn off autosynchronization ✅ Limit performance (reduce the clock speed of the processor)

Exceptions

This method saves up to 25% of battery life per day (tested on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ with MIUI 14).

• 📵 Notifications will be delayed (up to 10-15 minutes).
• 🐌 Some apps (such as Google Maps) may freeze over long-term use.
• 🔄 Background syncing of Google Photos or Mi Cloud will be disabled.

💡

If the smartphone is slowing down after activating the energy saving, try turning off the option to limit performance, which will reduce battery savings by 5-10%, but return the smoothness of the interface.

Method 5: Use of third-party utilities (with and without ROOT)

If you don't have the standard MIUI tools, you can use third-party software, and we tested 5 popular tools and selected the most effective ones.

We recommend Greenify for users without ROOT and Brevent, for those who are willing to take risks and take full control.

⚠️ Note: Utilities like Brevent or Titanium Backup can disrupt the work MIUI, If you block system processes, for example, disabling com.miui.home will lead to the loss of the desktop, and blocking com.android.phone will lead to the disappearance of the mobile network.

What applications should not be limited in the background

Not all programs should be blacklisted, some of which are critical to the stable operation of a smartphone, and we've compiled a list of restricted applications.

• 🔄 Google Services: com.google.android.gms (Google Play Services) com.google.android.gsf (Sync Account)
• 🔔 Messengers and mail (if you use notifications): WhatsApp, Telegram, Gmail

Limiting these applications can lead to the following problems:

• ❌ Loss of mobile network or Wi-Fi.
• ❌ Unable to log in to Google Play or Mi Account.
• ❌ Lack of notification of calls or SMS.
• ❌ Failures in the camera, sensors or Bluetooth.

💡

If after limiting background activity, the smartphone began to behave unstable (overheat, turn off or lose the network), immediately return the default settings and restart the device.

FAQ: Frequent Questions on Background Process Limitation