How to completely forbid the application to work in the background on Xiaomi: 5 working ways

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones are known for aggressively optimizing background processes, but sometimes even that’s not enough. Some apps continue to consume battery power, mobile traffic and system resources while running in hidden mode, especially messengers, social networks and gaming customers, which can consume up to 30% of the extra energy per day.

In this article, you will find current methods for completely banning background activity on Xiaomi devices (including Redmi, POCO and Black Shark models) with MIUI 14/15 and HyperOS firmware. We will analyze both standard system settings and hidden functions for power users. Importantly, some restrictions may affect notifications and synchronization, we will warn you about this in advance.

Why apps work in the background and how dangerous it is

Background activity of Android apps performs several key functions:

• 🔔 Notifications – messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) and social networks check new messages
• 🔄 Synchronization – email clients (Gmail, Outlook) update emails
• 📊 Analytics – Games and services (Google Play, Mi Fit) collect usage data
• 🔋 Optimization – Some apps preload content to speed up work

However, on Xiaomi devices with MIUI 14+, background activity can consume up to 15% of battery power per hour when using 4G/5G actively. For example, TikTok in the background consumes up to 200 MB of traffic in 8 hours, even if you do not use it.

⚠️ Warning: Completely disabling background work for system applications (e.g. com.miui.securitycenter) may cause disruptions MIUI. We recommend limiting yourself to third-party programs only.

Method 1: Standard Limitation through Battery Settings

The safest method is to use the built-in MIUI tools, which are suitable for most users and do not require super-user rights, and the instructions are relevant for MIUI 14/15 and HyperOS:

1. Open Settings → Battery and Performance
2. Select Battery Management (or Battery Optimization on newer versions)
3. Slip on the Apps Selection (tab at the top of the screen)
4. Find the right app in the list and select it.
5. Set the Background Activity Switch to the Off position.
6. Confirm the action by clicking Restrict in the pop-up window

For a more stringent limitation:

• 🔋 In the same menu, select Energy Saving instead of Unlimited
• 🚫 Activate the option to Prohibit Autostart (disable the application when restarting)
• 📵 Enable limit mobile data in the background to save traffic

⚠️ Note: After these actions, the app won't update the content until you open it.For example, WhatsApp will stop showing new posts in the status bar until you manually launch it.

Method 2: Deep Limitation through "Special Permits"

For applications that ignore standard restrictions (like Facebook or AliExpress), there is a more radical method, which blocks background work at the system level:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management
2. Select the desired application from the list
3. Slip on the Permits. → Special access
4. Find the item Limit background activity and activate it
5. Go back and select Battery → Background Activity Management
6. Set a Strict Limit (if available)

This method is more effective than the standard method, as:

• 🛡️ Blocks all background processes, including synchronization
• 🔒 Prevents the application from being turned on spontaneously through JobScheduler
• 📴 Disables push notifications via Google Play Services

💡

If there is no Special Access option, upgrade your MIUI to the latest version or use method 3 to manually restrict your use of ADB.

Method 3: ADB-Teams for experienced users

Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a method that requires a computer connection but provides maximum efficiency, suitable for MIUI 12 and later.

Steps for Windows/macOS/Linux:

1. Enable Developer Mode (7 times tap on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone)
2. Activate USB Debugging in Settings → Additional → For Developers
3. Connect your phone to your PC and confirm your trust in your computer
4. Open the terminal and enter:

adb shell cmd appops set <package_name> RUN_ANY_IN_BACKGROUND deny


adb shell cmd appops set <package_name> RUN_IN_BACKGROUND deny

Replace. <package_name> You can use the app ID (e.g. com.facebook.katana for Facebook) to find out the package via the App Inspector app or the team:

adb shell pm list packages | grep -i "name"

⚠️ Note: Do not apply these commands to system applications (com.miui., com.android.MIUI or complete loss of functionality (e.g., call notifications will disappear).

Method 4: Using Greenify (without root)

Greenify allows you to freeze background processes without superuser rights, and it is especially useful for devices where standard methods do not work (for example, on some POCO models with custom firmware).

Instructions for setting:

1. Install Greenify from Google Play (free version is sufficient)
2. Launch the application and provide all the permissions requested
3. Click on the + icon in the lower right corner
4. Select hibernation apps (e.g. Facebook, Instagram)
5. Activate the Hibernation option when blocking the screen
6. In the settings, turn on Aggressive Mode (requires) ADB-activation)

To activate the aggressive mode without root, do the following in ADB:

adb -d shell pm grant com.oasisfeng.greenify android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS


adb -d shell pm grant com.oasisfeng.greenify android.permission.BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE

💡

Greenify doesn’t remove apps, it just suspends them, which is safer than shutting them down completely, because it doesn’t break Android’s logic.

Method 5: Manually shut down via Miui Hidden Settings (for advanced)

MIUI has hidden settings that allow you to more flexibly manage background processes, and can be accessed through an engineering menu or special applications like Miui Hidden Settings (requires Xiaomi EU ROM or unlocked bootloader).

Algorithm of action:

1. Install Miui Hidden Settings (available on 4PDA or XDA Developers)
2. Open the application and grant superuser rights (if there is root)
3. Go to the Battery section → Background Restrictions
4. Select an application from the list
5. Put the flags in: 🔘 Disable background execution 🔘 Disable wake locks 🔘 Disable alarms

Save the settings and restart the device

This method provides the most control, but has risks:

• ⚠️ May disrupt the system services
• ⚠️ Requires technical knowledge to recover from failures
• ⚠️ Not compatible with some custom firmware

What to do if nothing helps: radical measures

If the app stubbornly ignores all restrictions (often found on Facebook, Snapchat, and some banking apps), extreme measures remain:

1. Disabling notifications: 🔔 Settings → Notifications → Application settings → Turn off all switches.
2. Blocking the Internet: 🌐 Settings → Mobile network → Use of data → Ban background traffic 📶 For Wi-Fi: Settings → Wi-Fi → Additionally. → Data management
3. Freeze through Titanium Backup (requires root): ❄️ Freezing completely stops the application before defrosting

Removal of system updates:

• 🗑️ For pre-installed applications: Settings → Annexes → Remove updates

⚠️ Note: Completely remove system applications (Facebook, Mi Browser, etc.) via ADB or TWRP This may cause errors in the update. MIUI. Better to use freezing.

FAQ: Frequent questions about limiting background work