How to find out traffic consumption on Xiaomi: from statistics to hidden settings

If your mobile internet suddenly runs out by the middle of the month and your Wi-Fi router starts to slow down for no apparent reason, the problem may be hidden in the smartphone’s hidden traffic consumption. Xiaomi offers built-in monitoring tools, but they often go unnoticed by users. In this article, we’ll look at not only standard ways to check megabytes, but also the hidden MIUI features that will help identify “vulnerable” applications and set up automatic traffic restriction.

Features of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO — duplicate statistics in several parts of the system, for example, data on mobile traffic can be found in the "Settings" SIM-And we'll show you where to look for the most accurate information, how to distinguish background from active consumption, and what to do if the meter is reset after rebooting. And for advanced users, we'll show you how to analyze traffic through the Internet. ADB and third-party utilities.

1. Standard traffic statistics in MIUI

The fastest way to check consumption is to use a built-in MIUI counter, which displays data separately for mobile and Wi-Fi, and also shows the flow rate for each application, to open up statistics:

1. Go to Settings → Connections and Sharing → Data Use.
2. Select the Mobile Data or Wi-Fi tab depending on the type of connection.
3. Scroll down to see a list of apps sorted by the amount of traffic consumed.

Note that the default meter is reset at the beginning of each month, but the date can be changed manually. ⚙️ In the upper right corner, select Data Cycle Settings, and you can set a warning when you exceed the limit, the system will notify you when the flow reaches a specified threshold (for example, 10 GB out of 15 GB).

An important nuance: the statistics do not take into account traffic consumed in modem mode and access point (when you distribute the Internet to other devices), you will have to use third-party applications to track it or check the counter on the operator’s side.

⚠️ Note: If after the update MIUI If you have a traffic meter that's dropped or it's showing incorrect data, try rebooting your smartphone. → Connections and sharing → Resetting the network.

2.Sharing up traffic by app: Who is "eating" your gigabytes?

To identify programs that are consuming traffic in the background, go back to Data Use and tap any application on the list. Here you will see detailed statistics:

• 📱 Foreground – traffic consumed during active use of the application.
• 🔄 Background: Data consumed when an application was rolled up (for example, weather updates or email synchronization).
• 🚫 Block background traffic – an option to limit consumption if the program is too “gluttonous».

Pay particular attention to applications with high background consumption.

• 📷 TikTok, Instagram, YouTube – automatically upload videos in the feed.
• 📧 Gmail, Outlook – sync emails and attachments.
• 🗺️ Google Maps, Yandex.Maps – update maps and traffic data.
• 🎮 Gaming clients (e.g. Garena or Epic Games) – download updates.

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If you notice that the app is consuming traffic even when you are not using it, check its settings. For example, on Instagram you can turn off autoplay video in Settings → Account → Using mobile data

For convenience, sort the list by descending by tapping on Used at the top of the screen. If an app seems suspicious (e.g., consuming 1GB per day for no apparent reason), check it for viruses using Google Play Protect or Dr.Web.

3. Hidden Settings: How to enable traffic display in the status bar

Few people know that MIUI can output your current traffic flow directly to the top of the notification bar, which is useful if you want to keep your consumption under constant control without going into settings.

1. Open the Settings → Screen → Status Line.
2. Find the item Show traffic usage and turn on the switch.
3. Choose which traffic to display: Mobile data or Wi-Fi.

Once activated, a megabyte flow figure will appear next to the network icon (e.g., “125MB”). Click on it to quickly navigate to the statistics section. Note that this feature does not work on all Xiaomi models – on budget devices (e.g., Redmi 9A or POCO M3) it may not be available.

For more accurate control, install a third-party widget, such as Network Traffic Speed or GlassWire, which allows you to adjust the frequency of reset statistics and display consumption charts directly to the main screen.

4. Check traffic through USSD-operator

If you suspect that a smartphone is showing inaccurate data, compare it to information from a mobile carrier. USSD-Teams to check the balance and traffic consumption:

Compare the operator's data with the smartphone's statistics, and if the difference is greater than 10 to 15 percent, you might:

• 📡 Autosynchronization is enabled on the smartphone (check in Settings). → Accounts and synchronization).
• 🔄 Background processes are working (e.g., Google Play Services update).
• 🕵️ Spyware installed on the device (check application permissions in Settings) → Annexes → Permits).

⚠️ Note: Some operators (e.g. Tinkoff Mobile or SberMobile) do not support USSD-In this case, use the official application of the operator or personal account on the site.

5. Traffic analysis via ADB: for advanced users

If standard methods don't give you a complete picture, you can use the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) tool, which is suitable for tech-savvy users and allows you to get detailed logs of traffic consumption.

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB-driver.
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on a smartphone (in Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI Press 7 times, then return to Additional → For developers).
• 🔌 Cable USB Type-C (preferably original).

After connecting the smartphone to the PC, perform in the command line:

adb shell dumpsys netstats detail

This command will display a full report of the traffic consumption of all applications, including system processes. To filter the data for a particular application, use:

adb shell dumpsys netstats uid <UID_ of the application>

To learn the UID program, first do:

adb shell pm list packages -U | grep <name appendix>

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ADB-The check shows real traffic, including system processes, that are hidden in the standard statistics. MIUI. This is the only way to detect leaks related to OS updates or Google services.

You can use Python scripts with adb library to automate data collection, for example, this code stores statistics in a file. traffic_log.txt:

adb shell dumpsys netstats detail > traffic_log.txt

6. Third-party applications for traffic monitoring

If the built-in MIUI tools don't suit you, install one of the specialized applications that offer advanced features: hourly consumption schedules, limit notifications, and background traffic blocking.

When choosing an application, pay attention to:

• 🔒 Permissions: If the program requests access to SMS or contacts, it is suspicious.
• 📊 Data Accuracy: Compare the indicators with the built-in statistics MIUI.
• 🔄 Background: Some apps consume traffic themselves for monitoring (check in autorun settings).

For maximum accuracy, use a combination of built-in MIUI tools and one third-party application, such as GlassWire for charts + standard statistics for blocking background traffic.

7 How to reduce traffic consumption on Xiaomi

If your analysis shows that your smartphone is consuming too much data, use these tips to optimize:

• 📵 Limit background traffic: Go to Settings → Annexes → Application management. Select the program and disable Background and Auto Run.
• 🔄 Turn off auto update: In Google Play: Settings → Auto-update of applications → Only through Wi-Fi. In the Mi App Store: Settings → Auto-update → Off.
• 📶 Use data compression: Enable Traffic Saving Mode in Settings → Connections and sharing → Data usage. Install a browser with compression (e.g. Opera Mini or Google Chrome with Light Mode enabled).
• 📥 Control Downloads: In YouTube, set Playback Quality → Save traffic. On Netflix, select Settings → Video quality → Low.

For devices with two SIM-Set the priority of the network to save money:

1. Go to Settings → SIM cards and mobile networks.
2. Choose. SIM-Map and install Use for mobile data → Only 2G/3G (If you don’t need high-speed internet).

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 10 Pro) may stop using push notifications from instant messengers when activating traffic saving mode. In this case, add WhatsApp, Telegram and other important apps to the exceptions.

FAQ: Frequent questions about traffic on Xiaomi