Vibration in Silent Mode: Turn On or Off
When you switch a Xiaomi phone to Silent, it still buzzes for every incoming call or message by default. If you want the device completely quiet without any buzzing on the table, you need a separate toggle beyond the ringer switch itself.
Set Monthly Data Usage Limit
If your Xiaomi phone still enforces the data limit from an old tariff, warnings or automatic data cut-offs can trigger at the wrong point in your billing cycle. The Monthly data limit value under Data usage does not update itself when your plan changes or your provider raises your allowance. You have to adjust it manually to match the new tariff.
Turn USB Tethering On or Off
When you plug your Xiaomi phone into a PC or laptop to share its mobile data, the computer often prompts you to pick a connection type instead of connecting automatically. This happens because USB tethering sits in a separate toggle from your regular USB file-transfer mode. Without switching it on first, the cable only charges the phone or transfers files instead of sharing the data connection.
Block a Number from Call History
Spam calls from fake lottery winnings or gambling subscriptions keep showing up in your call log even after you hang up. On Xiaomi phones, blocking a caller straight from that log is often faster than adding them manually through Contacts. Here's what triggers the block option and where it actually lives in the Phone app.
Factory Reset via Settings
When your Xiaomi phone gets stuck in a lag loop, refuses to accept a new owner, or you just want to wipe it before selling it, a full factory reset is often the only clean fix. The Erase all data function removes every account, app, and system setting from internal storage without a way to undo it. Before you start, it helps to know exactly what gets deleted and what stays untouched.
Add a Contact Shortcut to the Home Screen
Calling the same person every day shouldn't require opening the Phone app, searching your contacts and tapping through to their number each time. On MIUI you can pin a direct contact shortcut to your home screen so a call or message starts in just two taps. This helps most with family, coworkers or anyone else you dial constantly.
Add a Printer via IP Address or Wi-Fi Direct
If your printer does not show up automatically even though your phone and printer share the same Wi-Fi network, MIUI still lets you add it manually. This usually happens with older printers, devices on a different subnet, or printers that only support Wi-Fi Direct instead of standard network discovery. In that case you need to enter the printer's IP address yourself or switch on Wi-Fi Direct printing directly from the printing menu.
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.
Set the WiFi Hotspot Band
If your Xiaomi hotspot always connects on the slower 2.4GHz band, other devices lose out on faster 5GHz speeds. Not every phone or app picks the best signal automatically, so a laptop or smart TV might latch onto the weaker frequency even when 5GHz is available. Whether you can switch depends on the AP Band option being supported by your device.
Send an SMS Text Message
On a Xiaomi phone there is no separate SMS app or SMS folder, so every text lands in the same Messages inbox as MMS content. Attach a photo or video to a text and MIUI silently switches the format to MMS without asking you first. That makes it hard to tell which messages actually went out as plain SMS and which ones used mobile data as MMS.
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.
Delete Learned Words and Data
If the built-in Xiaomi keyboard keeps suggesting outdated or wrong words, the learned word database is usually the cause. This data builds up over time from everything you type and can make autocorrect feel stuck on old habits. Clearing it resets suggestions without touching your other settings.
Set the Action for When Your Data Plan Runs Out
If your mobile data suddenly stops working before the month is over, MIUI may already be cutting it off automatically once you hit your set limit. Some people only want a heads-up instead of losing their connection outright, but that only works if the right action is selected in the data usage settings. Without checking this setting, you can end up with dead mobile data at the worst possible moment.
Create a Local Backup
Switching to a new Xiaomi phone or resetting the current one often means losing app data, home screen layout and system settings if no backup exists beforehand. Cloud backup depends on a stable connection and free Xiaomi account storage, which is not always available. A local backup avoids both issues by saving everything directly to the device storage instead.
App Lock: Lock or Unlock Apps
Anyone who picks up your Xiaomi phone can open sensitive apps like banking, messaging or gallery without extra protection beyond the screen lock. App Lock adds a second barrier for individual apps, separate from your device PIN or pattern. Without it enabled, apps stay accessible the moment the phone itself is unlocked.
Block Offensive Words in Keyboard Suggestions
If the keyboard on your Xiaomi phone keeps suggesting swear words or curses while typing, autocorrect is picking them up as valid entries. A dedicated filter in the keyboard settings controls whether these words show up in suggestions at all. Turning it on or off changes what the prediction bar offers, not what you can actually type.
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.
Set Wi-Fi Hotspot Data Limit
If your mobile data plan drains fast whenever you share your Xiaomi phone's Wi-Fi hotspot with a laptop or tablet, an unlimited hotspot session is usually the cause. MIUI lets you cap the exact amount of data the hotspot can share and pick what happens once that cap is reached.
Set Up Unlock with Bluetooth Device
If your Xiaomi phone stays locked even though your paired Bluetooth accessory is nearby, the Unlock with Bluetooth device feature is probably still off. Once active, the phone unlocks automatically near that device and stays unlocked as long as the connection holds. This only works with Xiaomi's own Bluetooth accessories, not with third-party headphones or wearables.
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.
Keyboard Usage Statistics Sharing Toggle
If your Xiaomi phone keeps sending keyboard usage data to Google in the background, that's the 'Share usage statistics' option buried in the keyboard settings. This toggle controls whether typing patterns get reported for diagnostics, and it's on by default on most devices. Many users only discover it exists when checking their privacy settings after noticing unfamiliar data usage.
Change Select to Speak Voice Output
If Select to Speak reads text too slowly or sounds flat, the text-to-speech engine behind it is still running on its default speed and pitch. MIUI lets you fine-tune the speaking rate, voice pitch and language instead of leaving Select to Speak untouched. A wrong accent or a voice that talks too fast points to the same settings screen.
Turn Flashlight On or Off
Need to switch on the LED flash on the back of your Xiaomi phone without opening the camera app? The flashlight toggle sits in the quick settings panel, but if you rarely use it the icon is easy to overlook. An unresponsive toggle usually points to a Control center layout change, not a broken LED.
Turn On/Off Device Watermark on Photos
Every photo you take with your Xiaomi phone gets a small watermark in the bottom left corner, showing which device captured the shot. If you want cleaner images for sharing or printing, that watermark can get in the way fast.