What unnecessary applications can be removed on Xiaomi Redmi: an expert guide

Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face a situation where dozens of pre-installed programs are found in memory after buying a new device, which takes up precious space, consumes RAM and can reduce the overall performance of the gadget, and this problem is especially acute for models with a small amount of internal storage, where every megabyte counts.

In this article, we will take a closer look at which system applications can be safely removed or disabled without risking the stability of the MIUI or HyperOS operating system. You will learn to distinguish between the critical components of Android and the regular software that the manufacturer has added for monetization or partner agreements. Understanding the structure of the file system will allow you to free up gigabytes of space.

We’ll look at both standard ways to uninstall through settings and more advanced ways to use a computer and debug ADB. This will give you complete control over your device. However, it’s worth remembering that rash removal of system components can lead to unpredictable errors, so you need to act carefully.

Analysis of pre-installed software: what is what

Before you start cleaning, you need to understand the nature of installed applications. All software on Xiaomi can be divided into three main categories: vital system components, functional utilities from the manufacturer and third-party services. The first group includes Google services, telephony, SMS and settings – they can not be touched.

The second group includes MIUI proprietary applications such as Security, Themes, Explorer and Gallery, which are deeply integrated into the shell and provide its unique functionality. Removing some of them is possible, but will require installing alternatives. The third group is exactly the junk we're interested in: games, booking services, social networks and advertising modules.

⚠️ Note: Before any manipulations are initiated, we strongly advise you to create a complete backup of data. Deleting critical system packets can lead to a cyclic device bootloop.

Special attention should be paid to analytics and advertising packages, which are often hidden under obscure names and consume resources in the background, and turning them off will not only free up space, but also increase battery life.

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Use the "Second Space" function to test application removal, so if the main profile is stable, you can apply the changes globally.

Safe removal through standard settings

The easiest and safest way to clean your smartphone is to use the built-in Android toolkit. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Here you will see the full list of installed software. The system itself marks the applications that can be removed with the Remove button, while for system ones only the Stop button is available or it is hidden.

Start by analyzing third-party folders that are often pre-installed on global firmware versions, whether it's social media clients, office suites or games. If you don't use them, take it easy to remove them in the standard way. It doesn't require root rights or a PC connection.

Some Xiaomi built-in apps, such as Mi Video, Mi Music or Mi Browser, have a shutdown feature available. When disabled, the app stops running, updating and consuming resources, effectively becoming invisible to the system, although it remains in memory.

• 📱 Open the settings and find the "Applications" section".
• 🔍 Find an unnecessary application in the list (for example, "WPS Office or Facebook").
• 🗑️ Click "Delete" or "Disable" if deletion is not available.
• ✅ Confirm the action in the pop-up window.

It is worth noting that standard methods cannot remove deeply integrated components such as com.miui.system or msa advertising services.

Using ADB for deep cleaning of the system

To remove system components that are not removed through the interface, you need to use debugging by ADB (Android Debug Bridge: This method requires connecting a smartphone to a computer via a computer. USB-It allows you to manage packages at the system level without obtaining root rights, which preserves the warranty on the device.

The first step is to activate the developer mode. To do this, go to Settings → About Phone and quickly press 7 times on the "MIUI Version". After the message "You became a developer" appears, go back to the main settings menu, select Additional → For developers and turn on the debugging switch over USB.

adb devices


adb shell pm list packages

Once you connect the device and confirm debugging on the phone screen, you can send commands to delete. The command is as adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 packet name. The --user 0 option means that the application is removed only for the current user, but physically remains in the system partition, which allows you to restore it to factory resets.

⚠️ Warning: Be extremely careful when typing commands. Removing the packets that run the interface (com.android.systemui) or input will make it impossible to control the smartphone.

List of safe to remove system packages

Below is a table with the most common Xiaomi system packages, which are often considered redundant.You can use this data to point deletion via ADB. Remember that package names may vary slightly depending on the firmware version and region.

Special attention should be paid to the com.miui.analytics package, which is responsible for collecting usage statistics, its removal increases data privacy, and users often get rid of GetApps (com.xiaomi.mipicks), a branded app store that duplicates the functionality of Google Play.

If you don't use Google's voice assistant, you can remove packets associated with Google Assistant, which will free up the microphone and processor resources, but if you're using a smart home or voice control, those components are better left behind.

Optimizing the work of Google services

Google services are an integral part of Android, but many of their components on Xiaomi smartphones are duplicated or unused, such as Google TV, Google Play Music (replaced by YouTube Music), and Google One often hang in the background.

It is important to distinguish between Google Play Services (com.google.android.gms) and individual Google apps. The former cannot be removed completely, without which maps, notifications and sync will cease to work, while the latter can be removed or disabled depending on your needs.

For users who prefer third-party launchers and browsers, disabling standard solutions from Google will be important, which will prevent conflicts and unnecessary notifications. However, deleting the Google Play Store will deprive you of the ability to install applications from an official source, so this step should be resorted to only by advanced users.

• 🎵 Google Play Music: Replaced with YouTube Music, can be removed.
• 📺 Google TV: You only need to broadcast on TV, you can delete it.
• 🗺️ Google Earth: Map service, removed safely.
• 📧 Gmail: You can delete it if you use another email client.

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Optimizing Google services gives performance gains on older Redmi models, where there is not enough RAM for background processes.

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