How to restart Xiaomi Mi 8: all the ways and solutions

Xiaomi smartphones, which run on the Android operating system with the shell MIUI, are famous for their stability, but even the most reliable devices sometimes require forced intervention. The question of how to restart the Xiaomi Mi 8 becomes relevant when the interface stops responding to touch or the system freezes dead. In most cases, the standard power outage is not enough to eliminate software failures, and a deeper approach to managing the power of the device is required.

In this article, we will take a look at all the restart methods that exist, from routine procedures to resuscitation through the engineering menu. Understanding the difference between a simple reboot and a full reset will help you save important data and avoid loss of information.

Owners of the flagships of the past often face slowdown after updating or filling up memory. A competent reboot can be the very “magic” action that will return the device to its former aspiration.

Staff reboot through the system menu

The most obvious and safe way to restart the Xiaomi Mi 8 is to use the built-in software menu, which is recommended to be used first if the screen is responsive to touch and the system is functioning, albeit with errors. To perform the procedure, you need to press the on button located on the right side of the case and hold it for a few seconds before the service menu appears.

Once the menu appears on the display, you'll see several options, and you'll have to choose "Reboot" or "Switch off," depending on what you want, and if you choose to turn off, the phone will completely shut down, and after a few seconds it will need to be turned on again with the press of the same button, which allows you to completely shut down RAM and start all processes from scratch.

In some versions of the MIUI shell, the “Planned On/Off” function is available.

⚠️ Warning: If you have set the phone to automatically turn off at night, make sure the alarm doesn’t go up before you turn on, or you may wake up without a working device.

It is worth noting that if you have installed system updates, you may have a separate item on the menu to reboot for the purpose of installing patches, in which case the system will prompt you to perform the necessary actions.

Forced button reset (Hard Reset buttons)

When the touch screen is completely unresponsive to touch, it's called a "freeze" of the interface, in which case standard methods are powerless, and a combination of hardware keys comes to the rescue. To perform a hard reboot of the Xiaomi Mi 8, you need to pinch the power button and hold it for a long time - from 10 to 20 seconds.

Unlike a short tap that causes the shutdown menu, a long hold causes the power controller to ignore operating system commands and force the device to shut down.The screen will go out, the vibration may be absent, and the phone will go to a state of complete rest.

If the device doesn't respond to even a long hold on the power button, try a combination method: press both the power button and the Volume Up button. Hold them for about 15 seconds. This method often helps wake up the device that was getting stuck during the loading phase of the Mi logo.

• 🔋 Make sure that the battery is at least 10-15%, At a critically low charge level, the phone may not start even after restarting.
• 📱 Remove the protective case before the procedure to exclude accidental clamping of the side buttons with the accessory material.
• ⏱ Do not release the buttons at the first vibration, wait for the screen to completely cancel out.

Sometimes users confuse this procedure with logging into Recovery mode. If after releasing the buttons you see a menu with a black background and yellow/blue text in English, then you accidentally fell into recovery mode.

Reboot with Recovery Mode

Recovery Mode is a separate software section on a smartphone designed to serve the device, which is accessible on the Xiaomi Mi 8 only when the phone is turned off, you need to press the power button and the volume button simultaneously, hold them until the Mi logo appears, after which the power button can be released, while continuing to hold the volume.

In this mode, sensor control is not working. Navigation through the menu is done with volume buttons (up/down), and the choice of item is confirmed by the power button. In the list of available options, you are interested in the item "Reboot", selecting it, you will go to the submenu where you want to select "Reboot to System", which will start the normal boot with the operating system.

Using Recovery is advisable if the phone is cyclically restarted (bootloop) or does not boot to the desktop.

⚠️ Warning: The Recovery menu has a "Wipe Data" option. Do not choose it if you want to save your photos, contacts and apps.

This mode can also be accessed software-based via the adb reboot recovery command if the phone is debugging over USB and the ADB driver is installed on the computer, a professional method used by developers.

What to do if Xiaomi Mi 8 doesn’t respond

It happens that the Xiaomi Mi 8 completely ignores any button presses, the screen remains black, and there is no reaction to the charger’s connection.This state is often called “deep discharge” or “power controller freeze.” First of all, connect the original charger and cable to the network and leave the phone for at least 30-40 minutes, even if the screen does not light up.

If you don't have a reaction after an hour of charging, try the "forced charging" method. Connect your phone to your computer via a computer. USB-You can press and release the volume button 10 times in a row, sometimes it causes the controller to go to Fastboot mode. If that happens, hold the power button for about 15 seconds to exit the mode and normal restart.

Another reason for the lack of response could be a static discharge or sensor failure, in which case the method of simulating battery extraction (although it is not removable in the Mi 8) helps. Connect the phone to charge, wait a couple of minutes, then press the power button and both volume buttons simultaneously for 20 seconds.

• 🔌 Use only original or certified cables USB-C, Because cheap analogues may not transmit the right current.
• 🌡 If the phone gets too hot, let it cool to room temperature before trying to turn on.
• 🔍 Examine the charging connector for the presence of dust and pile, gently clean it with a wooden toothpick.

If no methods help, and the phone does not vibrate even when connected to the computer (the computer does not sound the device is connected), there is a possible hardware malfunction.

Reset to factory settings (Hard Reset)

If a normal reboot doesn’t fix the problems and the system is unstable, a complete data reset may be required.This procedure will return the Xiaomi Mi 8 to the “out of the box” state. It is important to understand that all user data, including photos, videos, contacts and installed applications, will be irretrievably deleted.

To perform a reset via the Recovery menu, select "Wipe Data", then confirm "Wipe All Data" action. The system will ask you to confirm the decision again, as this is a critical operation. After the cleaning process is complete, select "Reboot to System". The first download after the reset can last up to 5-10 minutes.

The alternative is to use the settings menu if the phone is switched on. Go to Settings → About Phone → Reset → Erase all data. This method is more convenient because it does not require the use of volume buttons. However, if the system freezes dead, this path will not be available.

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Before selling or transferring your phone, make sure to perform Hard Reset and extract SIM-Card and memory card to prevent new owners from accessing your accounts.

Once reset, the phone will ask you to enter the password from the Mi Account or Google Account that was previously linked to the device. This is a measure of protection against theft (FRP Lock). If you forget this data, it will be extremely difficult to unlock the phone, so make sure you remember the passwords.

Prevention of hangings and optimization of work

Frequent freezes requiring constant reboots are often indicative of resource shortages or software conflicts.The Xiaomi Mi 8, released in 2018, is still a powerful device, but modern versions of apps are becoming more demanding. Regularly cleaning the cache and removing unused programs will help reduce the workload on the processor.

Keep an eye on the storage space in your internal memory. If you have more than 90% of the storage capacity, your system speed drops catastrophically and your risk of freezes increases. Use the built-in Security utility to clean up your junk files. You should also check the autoload list of apps and disable those you don't need right after you turn them on.

• 🚫 Avoid installing applications from unknown sources, as they often contain miner viruses that load the system.
• 🔄 Check regularly for system updates in the About Phone menu, as security patches are important for stability.
• 📉 Turn off live wallpaper and extra widgets on the desktop, they consume RAM.

If the problems started after installing a specific firmware update, it may be worth considering rolling back on a previous version or installing custom firmware, but this requires advanced skills. In most cases, optimizing the use of the device solves the problem of frequent reboots.

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Regular reboot (every 3-5 days) clears the RAM from temporary errors and prolongs the battery life, preventing the accumulation of system debris.