Find a Word on a Webpage
Scrolling through a long article on your phone just to spot one specific term wastes time, especially when the page has no search box of its own. Mi Browser hides a page search tool that jumps straight to every match of a keyword. Without it, you are stuck pinching, zooming and reading line by line to find what you need.
Turn Emoji Suggestions On or Off
If your Xiaomi keyboard keeps popping up matching emoji while you type and it gets in the way, or you want those suggestions but they never show up, the setting behind this is Show emoji suggestions inside the keyboard's text correction options. Many users only stumble onto this toggle while browsing keyboard settings and are not sure what it actually changes. Depending on how it is set, MIUI either offers a matching emoji for recognized words or stays completely quiet.
Check Battery Usage Stats per App
If your Xiaomi phone drains faster than usual, it helps to see which app or function is actually responsible before you start disabling things at random. MIUI keeps a detailed breakdown of battery usage, separating screen time, standby drain, and individual apps, but this overview sits a few taps deep in the settings. Without checking these numbers, you're only guessing at what's eating your charge.
App Download Preference (Play Store)
If apps on your Xiaomi phone start downloading over mobile data even while connected to Wi-Fi, the Play Store's download preference is likely set to Over any network. This setting decides whether new app installs and updates use any connection, Wi-Fi only, or ask before each download. Getting it wrong quickly eats into a limited monthly data plan.
Flip to Silence Ringer: Turn On or Off
If your Xiaomi phone keeps ringing loudly even when you quickly flip it face-down during a call, the Flip to silence ringer feature is likely turned off. When active, flipping the device mutes the ringtone, stops the vibration and turns off the notification light instantly. The caller still hears it ringing though - the call is not rejected or sent to voicemail.
Delete a Contact
Contacts opened from Calls or Messages on a Xiaomi phone are the same entries stored in the Contacts app, so removing one wipes it out everywhere at once. Syncing with your Google Account does not stop the local delete from going through, and once it is confirmed there is no built-in way to bring the entry back.
Enable or Disable Captions for Supported Apps
When captions do not appear during playback, or they show up in a style that is hard to read against light backgrounds, the caption settings on your Xiaomi phone are usually the reason. This affects apps that hook into the system-wide caption feature, not just the video player itself. Size, color, and background of the caption text can all be adjusted separately from whether captions are shown at all.
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.
Camera Delay-Timer
If your Xiaomi camera fires the shutter the instant you tap the button, group photos or selfies often turn out blurry or catch you mid-pose. MIUI has a built-in delay-timer for exactly this situation, but it sits hidden inside the camera menu instead of the main shooting screen. Without it, you only get a split second to get into position before the shot is taken.
Delete Second Space
If the second space on your Xiaomi phone still takes up storage or keeps showing up as a swipe option on your lock screen, removing it completely clears out that whole separate profile. Second space works like a second phone with its own apps, photos and accounts, so it does not disappear just because you stop using it. This guide covers removing it directly from the space settings, which works slightly differently than deleting it through device admin.
Delete a Folder from the Home Screen
A folder that still holds one or two apps refuses to disappear no matter how often you tap on it. MIUI does not offer a direct delete button inside the folder itself, which confuses a lot of users. The trick lies in how you grab and move the folder icon, not in emptying it app by app.
Uninstall an App
Old apps you never open still take up storage on a Xiaomi phone, and the app drawer gets crowded fast. Dragging an icon off the home screen sometimes only removes a shortcut instead of the actual app, which is confusing if the storage warning keeps coming back. Uninstalling deletes the app together with all its saved data permanently, so it helps to know exactly which tap does what before you remove several apps at once.
Delete an APN Entry
A wrong or duplicate access point can block mobile data or MMS on your Xiaomi phone, even after you switch carriers or SIM cards. If an old APN profile stays behind, the device sometimes keeps trying to use it instead of the correct one. Removing the unused entry clears up the confusion without touching your other network settings.
Camera Watermarks
The camera watermark stamps a small label into the lower-left corner of your photos, either a standard device signature or a text you choose yourself. It helps you mark ownership, keep track of the device a shot came from, or add a personal touch for photos you share or sell online. Turning it on or off changes future shots only, not photos already stored in your gallery.
Change Notification Shade Shortcut
On many Xiaomi phones the icon in the top right corner of the notification shade always opens Settings, even if you never use it there. If you pull down notifications dozens of times a day mainly to search for something, that shortcut is wasted space and slows you down.
Manage Notifications for Individual Apps
If one chatty app keeps popping up over whatever you're doing, or a messaging app reveals message previews on the lock screen when you'd rather it didn't, the fix isn't a single master switch. On Xiaomi phones, every app has its own notification behavior for sound, pop-ups, banners, and lock screen visibility. Without adjusting the right app individually, the annoying alerts keep coming back.
Turn Read in Background On or Off for Select to Speak
When Select to Speak keeps talking after you leave an app, the Read in background option is doing its job, but not everyone wants that. Xiaomi flags this feature as experimental, so it can behave inconsistently between MIUI versions and sometimes keeps narrating text you no longer need read aloud. Knowing where the toggle sits helps you decide whether the trade-off is worth it.
Turn On Automatic Backup for Storage and Data
If you only remember to back up your Xiaomi phone after something breaks or gets lost, relying on manual backups is the real problem. MIUI can schedule backups on its own, but the default days, time, and data selection may not match how you actually use your phone. Getting the schedule wrong means backups either pile up unnecessarily or miss the files you actually care about.
Quick Settings Panel Guide
Missing toggles in the Quick Settings panel force you to dig through the full settings app for basic switches like Flashlight, Hotspot or Battery saver. On Xiaomi phones, MIUI splits the panel across two swipe-down layers, so some tiles stay hidden until you swipe down again. Reordering or removing tiles you rarely use is simple once you find the edit mode.
Schedule Battery Saver Automatically
Turning Battery saver on and off by hand every night gets old fast, and it's easy to forget before you go to sleep. If you leave it running into the morning, background apps and notifications stay throttled longer than you need. MIUI lets you set fixed start and end times so the mode switches itself.
Enable Developer Options
On Xiaomi phones the Developer options menu stays hidden by default, so options like USB debugging or animation speed are nowhere to be found in Settings. MIUI locks this menu on purpose because most entries are meant for app testing, not daily use. A short tap sequence on one system value unlocks the hidden menu.
Set a Custom Timer Ringtone
If the timer on your Xiaomi phone keeps playing the same generic tone, you probably want something you actually notice - or one you can tune down for lighter naps. MIUI lets you swap the timer sound for a pre-installed ringtone or your own .mp3 file, but the option sits several taps deep inside the Clock app and is easy to miss. Picking the wrong file type can also mean silence instead of a sound.
Turn On/Off Dial Pad Tones
Every digit you tap on the Xiaomi phone app's dial pad triggers a short beep, and that tone lives in a settings menu that has nothing to do with the calling app itself. In quiet places or shared rooms, that repeated clicking sound gets annoying fast, especially if you dial full numbers manually. Other users want the opposite problem solved: the tone stopped playing and they miss the tactile feedback while typing a number.
Change Alarm Volume
If the alarm on your Xiaomi phone barely wakes you up or does not go off loud enough, the alarm volume is set too low system-wide. This one setting controls every alarm you create, and it stays the same even after the snooze function kicks in.