Turn Battery Saver On or Off
When Battery saver kicks in on your Xiaomi phone, background tasks like email sync or downloads slow down or pause until you charge again. That can leave messages arriving late or apps failing to update in the background. If you want full performance back, or want to save power on purpose, you need to control this mode directly.
Camera Filter Selection
If your photos keep coming out with the same flat color tone, the camera is probably still set to its default look instead of one of the built-in filters. Xiaomi's camera offers several color styles like Vivid, Amour, Black & White or Sun, but the picker is easy to miss if you have never opened it before. The same filter menu controls photo, video and other media modes, so finding it once changes every shot you take afterward.
Enable Early Updates in MIUI Settings
If your Xiaomi phone always seems to be the last one on your block to get a new firmware push, a hidden switch called Receive updates early might be worth checking. Turning it on moves your device into a faster distribution group, but that also means you receive builds that have gone through less real-world testing. Many people flip this toggle without realizing that a quicker rollout can come with more bugs than the regular update channel.
Auto-download Updates via Mobile Data
If your Xiaomi phone keeps pulling system updates in the background while you are off Wi-Fi, mobile data usage can climb fast without warning. MIUI treats update downloads as automatic once a new version is detected, and a separate toggle decides whether mobile data counts as an allowed source for that download. Switching it off limits update downloads to Wi-Fi only, which matters if you are on a limited plan.
Adjust Ringtone Volume for Calls and Notifications
If calls ring too loud while notifications stay silent, the culprit is usually the separate volume sliders inside Sound & vibration. Xiaomi phones control ringtone, reminder and notification volume independently, so lowering one slider does not affect the others. This mismatch often causes missed calls or alerts that trigger at the wrong volume.
Create an Album in Gallery
When photos and videos pile up in one long timeline, finding a specific trip or event gets tedious fast. The Gallery app on Xiaomi phones sorts everything by date by default, with no automatic grouping by topic or person. Creating a custom album lets you pull selected photos and videos into one place without digging through months of camera roll.
Share Contacts as File, Text or QR Code
Trying to send a saved contact to someone but not sure which sharing format actually works on their phone? Xiaomi lets you send a contact as a file, as plain text, or as a scannable QR code, and each option behaves differently depending on the app you pick. Picking the wrong format is the usual reason a recipient cannot open or save the contact properly.
Copy a Text Message
Need to reuse a phone number, code, or address from an SMS without retyping it? On Xiaomi phones the copy option for a text message only appears after a precise long press, and it is easy to miss if you tap the wrong spot on the bubble. Here is where the Copy command actually shows up inside the Messages app.
Select Network Manually
When you travel abroad and your phone keeps hanging on a weak carrier, automatic network selection is usually the cause. MIUI picks a network by signal priority, not by actual reception quality, so calls drop and data stalls even though a stronger carrier is available nearby. Switching to manual selection lets you pick that carrier yourself instead of waiting for the phone to reconnect.
Allow Repeated Calls in Do Not Disturb
When Do Not Disturb is active on your Xiaomi phone, every incoming call gets silenced, even urgent ones. MIUI has a separate setting that lets a second call from the same number within a short window ring through instead of staying muted.
Turn Off Suggestions in Recent Apps Menu
If your recent apps screen on a Xiaomi phone keeps showing extra tiles for Cleaner, Security scan, Deep cleaning or Manage Apps, a system suggestion feature is adding them automatically. This can make the app switcher feel cluttered and slower to scan through, especially if you only want to see your open apps.
Switch Between Old and New Control Center Style
If your Xiaomi phone still shows the older two-panel layout after an update, or you miss that classic view after switching to the newer simplified overview, the display style does not change on its own. It sits behind a separate setting that many people never open. Notifications and quick toggles stay mixed together until you pick the layout you actually want.
Location Accuracy Mode Settings
If your Xiaomi phone struggles to lock onto a location or the battery drains faster than usual, the active location mode is often the reason. MIUI offers different accuracy levels that combine GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile network data in different ways, and the wrong choice leads to slow fixes indoors or unnecessary power drain outdoors.
Delete an Album in Gallery
Deleting an album on your Xiaomi phone also deletes every photo and video still stored inside it. This catches a lot of people off guard when they just wanted to tidy up their Gallery app and end up losing media they meant to keep. Knowing which albums are safe to remove and which ones hold originals is key before you tap delete.
Switch to Scientific Calculator Mode
You open the Calculator app on your Xiaomi phone expecting only basic math, but functions like sine, cosine, tangent, square roots or Pi are nowhere to be found. Many users assume the app simply lacks these tools, when in fact they are hidden behind a display mode that most people never trigger. Without knowing the trick, you end up switching to a third-party app for calculations your phone already supports.
Add New Browser Tabs
Closing your current page every time you want to check something else in Mi Browser gets old fast. If you cannot find a way to browse two pages at once without losing your place, the tab feature in Mi Browser solves that without extra apps.
Turn Wi-Fi Auto Reconnect On or Off
If your Xiaomi phone keeps rejoining a Wi-Fi network you would rather avoid, or the connection drops every time you walk back into range, the Connect automatically option tied to that specific network is behind it. MIUI turns this behavior on by default for every network you have ever joined, and it stays active until you switch it off for that network individually. That is also why disabling it on one network never changes the behavior of the others.
Change Ringtone for a Contact Group
If every group member still rings with the default tone, or one contact keeps overriding the sound you picked, the group ringtone setting inside the Contacts app is being ignored. On Xiaomi phones a ringtone assigned directly to a single contact always takes priority over any group-level tone, no matter what you set in My groups. That mix-up is the most common reason a group ringtone seems to have no effect.
Edit App Vault Shortcuts
If your App Vault on the Home screen still shows outdated app icons, or the shortcuts you actually use don't fit anymore, the list needs a manual update. Xiaomi's App Vault holds up to eight shortcuts from categories like Social Media, Entertainment, Security, or Tools, and MIUI never reorders or refreshes them on its own. You have to add, remove, or move each shortcut yourself.
Manage Updates for System Apps
If your Xiaomi phone keeps nagging you about system app updates - or stays silent when new versions are actually ready - the System apps updater settings are probably not set the way you want. MIUI lets you control whether update notifications show up, whether updates install automatically, and whether downloads run on Wi-Fi only or also over mobile data. Leaving these settings on default can mean unexpected data usage or missed fixes.
Change Font Size
Reading long texts on a small screen strains your eyes if the system font stays too small, and cranking up brightness alone does not fix that. On Xiaomi phones the text scale sits in its own menu, separate from general display settings, which is why many people never find it. MIUI offers six size steps instead of a simple small/medium/large switch, so getting the right level takes a bit of trial and error.
Schedule Do Not Disturb Automatically
If Do Not Disturb only works when you remember to switch it on, notifications still slip through during meetings or overnight. MIUI can run silent or Do Not Disturb mode on its own recurring schedule, but the settings for start time, repetition and mode type are easy to miss.
Set a Timer in the Clock App
Setting an alarm just to catch the end of an eBay auction wastes a reminder slot and still leaves you guessing when to check back. The Timer function in the Clock app on your Xiaomi phone counts down a fixed period and alerts you the moment it is over, without touching your alarm list. Many users overlook this tool because it sits next to the alarm and stopwatch tabs and rarely gets used.
Turn Personalized Ad Recommendations On or Off
If ads on your Xiaomi phone feel oddly tied to your recent searches or app activity, Personalized ad recommendations is the setting behind it. Switching it off does not lower how many banners you see, it only stops MIUI from matching them to your interests and usage data.