Change Time Format
If your Xiaomi phone shows time in a format you did not choose, MIUI is likely following your system language setting automatically. This means the clock can jump between 12-hour and 24-hour display whenever you change language or region. You can lock the format manually so it stays consistent no matter what language MIUI is set to.
Add or Remove Bookmarks in Mi Browser
Losing track of a website you visited last week is common once it drops out of your browser history. Bookmarks fix this by saving the page permanently until you decide to remove it. The catch is that many Xiaomi users don't know where the bookmark list actually lives inside Mi Browser, so saved pages get forgotten or accidentally deleted.
Disable Automatic Video and Image Downloads in Mi Browser
If your mobile data disappears fast while browsing on your Xiaomi phone, Mi Browser might be pre-loading videos and images before you even tap them. This automatic download feature speeds up page loading but quietly eats into your data plan. Turning it off puts you back in control of what actually gets downloaded.
Create a Folder on the Home Screen
If your home screen is cluttered with dozens of app icons, grouping them into folders keeps things organized. On MIUI, folders are created by dragging one app icon onto another, the same drag-and-drop gesture you might know from a PC desktop or other Android phones. You need at least two apps ready to combine before a folder actually appears.
Turn Off App Lock
If Xiaomi's App lock keeps asking for a PIN, pattern or fingerprint before certain apps open, and some apps seem to have vanished from your app drawer, the lock feature is still active in the background. Turning it off releases every protected app at once and brings previously hidden apps back into view.
SMS Delivery Reports Setting
Not sure if a text message actually reached the other person? Xiaomi phones can show a status report for every SMS you send, but the switch for it sits deep inside the Messages app and is easy to overlook. With the setting off you get no confirmation at all, even when the message went through without issues.
Set Notification Sounds for Each App Individually
When every app on your Xiaomi phone plays the same notification tone, it gets hard to tell a messaging alert from a random app update without looking at the screen. MIUI lets you assign or mute sound per app, but the option sits inside a settings area many users never open. Here is where that control actually lives and how to change it for one app at a time.
Change Webpage Text Size in Mi Browser
If text on websites looks too small to read comfortably or too large and forces constant scrolling in Mi Browser, the webpage display size is set to the wrong level. Xiaomi phones offer five separate font sizes for browsing, independent from the system font size in your general settings. Switching to a different level fixes cramped or oversized text on every site you visit.
Turn Screen Cast On or Off
If your Xiaomi phone won't mirror to a TV or monitor, the built-in Cast feature might be turned off, or your phone and screen aren't on the same Wi-Fi network. Screen Cast behaves differently from many third-party mirroring apps, since playback usually stops the moment you turn off the display. That makes it easy to mistake a disabled toggle for a broken connection.
Add a Home Screen Page
Running out of room for app icons on your Xiaomi home screen is a common problem once you install more than a handful of apps. Instead of stacking icons into folders, you can create a completely new home screen page and spread your apps across it. This works with a simple drag gesture and does not require any extra settings menu.
Turn Glide Typing On or Off
If typing feels slow because you tap every single letter, Glide typing lets you swipe across the keys instead of lifting your finger. On some Xiaomi phones this swipe input stays off by default, or it keeps running even though you prefer classic tapping. Auto-correction and word suggestions are separate settings and keep working either way.
Enable Dark Mode in Mi Browser
If Mi Browser still shows bright white pages after the sun goes down, the built-in night option is probably switched off. This setting dims both the browser interface and many web pages, which cuts glare and makes late-evening browsing easier on your eyes. It sits separately from the general system theme, so changing one does not automatically change the other.
Set a Custom Watermark in the Camera App
If every photo automatically shows your device or camera model as a watermark, you might want your own text there instead. The Watermark settings inside the Camera app let you swap that default label for a personal signature, but the option sits a few taps deep in the menu. Once set, the custom text gets stamped on every new shot instead of the model name.
Turn Web Link Previews On or Off
If URLs in Xiaomi Messages show up as plain text instead of a preview card, the Automatic previews option is likely set to a mode you did not expect. MIUI lets you choose between previews for every shared link, previews limited to web addresses, or no previews at all. This affects both how conversations look and how much data the app pulls in the background.
Turn On/Off Gesture Confirmation
Swiping back or closing an app by accident during a full-screen game or a video can throw you straight out of the action. On Xiaomi phones with full-screen gesture control, this usually happens because gesture confirmation is turned off, so a single swipe is enough to trigger the action. Turning it on forces you to swipe twice before the gesture actually executes.
Turn Emergency Alerts On or Off
If your Xiaomi phone keeps buzzing with Amber Alerts or severe weather warnings you never signed up for, the Emergency alerts feature is likely still active in the background. Some people want the opposite and need extreme threat notifications, vibration and voice alerts to actually get through. Either way, the switch sits in a security menu that is easy to overlook.
Add a Birthday to a Contact
If the default Contacts form on your Xiaomi phone only shows phone number and email, there's no visible field for a birthday. That date option sits in a separate section that most people never open, so they assume it doesn't exist and skip it. Without it, you lose an easy way to keep birthdays tied directly to a contact card instead of a separate calendar entry.
Set an App Timer to Limit App Usage
Some apps quietly eat hours of your day without you noticing, especially social media or games that keep notifications pulling you back in. On Xiaomi phones there is no built-in reminder that tells you when an app has crossed a healthy usage limit. Digital Wellbeing lets you assign a daily time budget per app so it pauses itself once that budget runs out.
Turn Select to Speak On or Off
If Select to Speak stays greyed out or its icon never shows up in your navigation bar, the accessibility shortcut on your Xiaomi phone is probably still switched off. Once enabled, tapping the icon lets you select any text or image on screen and have it read aloud instantly. Turning it off again removes the icon without touching other accessibility settings.
Set Snooze Time and Repetition
If your Xiaomi alarm keeps snoozing for too long or not often enough, the default snooze interval and repeat count are likely not adjusted to your needs. MIUI lets you fine-tune both values, but the option sits several menus deep in the alarm settings.
Remove a Member from a Contact Group
If a contact still shows up in a group even though you no longer want them there, the fix is not to delete the contact but to unlink them from that specific group. On Xiaomi phones this distinction confuses people because the removal option sits inside the group menu, not in the contact's own profile screen.
Connect to Wi-Fi Using a QR Code
Typing out a long Wi-Fi password on a Xiaomi phone gets tedious, especially with mixed case letters and symbols. If the network owner has a QR code ready, you can skip the password field entirely by scanning it with the built-in Wi-Fi scanner.
Delete an Event in the Calendar App
If your calendar is cluttered with old appointments you no longer need, deleting individual events keeps things readable. Once removed, an event is gone for good and cannot be restored. On some Xiaomi phones the built-in Calendar app is replaced by Google Calendar, which uses a slightly different menu.
Turn Battery Drain Notifications On or Off
If your Xiaomi phone keeps popping up alerts about fast battery drain, or you never get one and expect to, this setting is the reason. Battery drain notifications warn you when an app or background process burns through power faster than normal. Left enabled, unrelated background tasks can trigger these alerts more often than you would like.