Change Camera Picture Quality
If your camera storage fills up fast or photos take too long to share, the picture quality setting in the MIUI camera app is often the reason. Xiaomi's camera defaults to a high resolution that produces large files, even when you only need a quick snapshot. Switching between High, Standard, and Low lets you balance sharpness against file size for each situation.
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.
Set an Alternate Calendar
If your Calendar app only shows the Gregorian calendar, dates for other systems like the Hijri, Hebrew or Chinese calendar stay invisible in event details. This is controlled by a setting hidden inside General settings that most people never open.
Change App Lock Password Type
If you set up App lock on your Xiaomi phone with a pattern and now want something faster or more secure, you are not stuck with that choice. The lock type you picked during setup can be swapped for a PIN or password at any time, without disabling App lock first.
Manage Device Administrator Apps
An app you want to uninstall on your Xiaomi phone refuses to go away, or a widget keeps nagging you about admin permissions. Device administrator apps get elevated rights to change security settings or wipe data remotely, which is exactly what blocks a normal uninstall. Turning off that permission is usually the fix before the app can finally be removed.
Restore a Local Backup
If you deleted an app or lost data on your Xiaomi phone, you don't need a full factory reset to get it back. MIUI keeps local backups separate from Google and Xiaomi Cloud backups, and picking the wrong one often leaves apps or settings missing. Knowing which backup type actually contains your data saves time before you start the restore.
Send MMS Message
Xiaomi Messages does not offer a separate MMS button, so it is easy to assume attachments go out as a normal text message. As soon as you add a photo, video, or .gif to a chat, the app switches the message to multimedia format automatically. If your carrier has MMS disabled or your mobile data is off, that message can silently fail to send.
Change Default Apps
If your Xiaomi phone keeps asking which app to use every time you open a song, a link, or a photo, no default app is set for that file type. MIUI stores these preferences per action, and once none is chosen, the selection prompt reappears every time you tap the file.
Turn Best Photo Marks On or Off
If your Gallery keeps flagging one photo out of a burst as the best shot, MIUI is comparing similar images and tagging the sharpest or best-exposed one automatically. Some users find this helpful for sorting large photo batches, others just want a clean gallery without extra labels. The setting controls whether this comparison runs at all.
Reorder Keyboard Languages
If your Xiaomi phone keeps switching to the wrong keyboard language after you added a second or third layout, MIUI is simply using the wrong priority order. The keyboard picks its default language from the order you set in Manage keyboards, not from the one you type most often. Autocorrect and word suggestions follow that same order until you rearrange it.
Schedule Dark Mode Automatically
Switching dark mode on and off every day by hand gets tedious, especially when you only want it active at night. Xiaomi phones can handle this automatically, but the scheduler sits right next to the regular dark mode switch and is easy to miss. Without setting a start and end time, the display keeps whatever theme you last picked instead of changing on its own.
Turn Front Camera Mirroring On or Off
Selfies taken with your Xiaomi front camera often look flipped compared to how other people actually see you, especially when text or logos appear reversed in the background. This happens because MIUI mirrors the preview and, on many devices, the saved photo to match what you see in the viewfinder. The mirroring setting controls whether your final shot keeps that flipped look or saves a true-to-life version.
Dark or Light Theme for the Phone App
If the Phone app keeps showing a bright white call screen while the rest of your Xiaomi runs in Dark mode, the dialer has its own theme setting separate from the system. This mismatch usually happens because the app theme was never linked to System default, or it got reset after an update. It affects the call screen, contact list and dial pad, not just the notification bar.
Share a Contact via Message or App
Retyping a phone number into a text message often introduces errors, especially with long international formats. On Xiaomi phones, the Contacts app lets you send a person's saved details directly through messaging or email without typing anything manually. This keeps every field intact and avoids typos on both sides.
Turn Off Display Animations
Menus and apps on your Xiaomi phone fade in and out with a noticeable delay, and swipe transitions feel slower than the actions behind them. This comes from a system-wide animation effect that MIUI applies to almost every screen change. On older or budget hardware, that extra motion can make the whole interface feel less responsive than it actually is.
Change Password for a Saved Wi-Fi Network
If your router password changed, your Xiaomi phone still tries to connect with the old one and just shows Saved, not connected. This is common after a router reset or a switch to a new internet provider. You do not need to forget the network and start over, the saved entry can be updated directly.
Quick Ball Shortcuts and Behavior Settings
If the floating Quick ball only opens one fixed app or keeps popping up during video playback, its behavior settings are still on default. MIUI lets you change the trigger gesture, auto-hide rules and screen position, but these options sit outside the shortcut list and get overlooked easily.
Manage Displayed Calendar Accounts
If every linked account shows up in the Calendar app at once, work meetings and private appointments end up mixed together in one view. This happens because the Calendar app displays all synced accounts by default, with no separation between personal and work calendars. You can turn individual accounts on or off without removing them from the device.
Change the Google Backup Account
If your Xiaomi phone keeps backing up to the Google Account you used during setup, files and app data saved under a newer account never make it into the backup. This happens because MIUI locks in the original backup account and does not switch automatically once you add a second Google Account. You have to select the account manually before new backups use it.
Change System Language
If your Xiaomi phone ended up in a language you cannot read, or you simply want to switch after setup, you do not need to go through the activation wizard again. The system language lives in its own settings menu, separate from the one-time language screen you saw when you first turned on the phone. This also affects keyboard suggestions and how some apps display their text.
Key Long-Press Delay
If holding down a key on your Xiaomi keyboard inserts a symbol too fast or not at all, the long-press delay is usually the reason. MIUI ships with a fixed 300ms wait before a held key triggers its second character. You can move that value anywhere between 100ms and 700ms to match your typing speed.
Set a Daily Mobile Data Usage Limit
A monthly data cap does not catch the one day you binge-watch or download something huge, and by the time the monthly warning fires the damage is done. On Xiaomi phones you can add a separate daily threshold so heavy usage gets flagged the same day it happens. You also decide whether MIUI just warns you or cuts mobile data automatically once the limit is hit.
Clear Speaker Sound Cleaner
If your Xiaomi phone's speaker sounds muffled or noticeably quieter than it used to, dust or lint trapped in the speaker grille is usually the reason. MIUI has a built-in tool that plays a short cleaning tone to help shake particles loose before you reach for compressed air or a pin.
Set Up a Proxy Server for Wi-Fi
If your network admin or workplace requires traffic to run through a specific server, a plain Wi-Fi connection on your Xiaomi phone will not route it correctly. Without a configured proxy hostname and port, apps either fail to connect or bypass the required server entirely. This affects browsing, app updates and anything that depends on that network policy.