Turn a SIM Card On or Off
On a dual SIM Xiaomi phone, calls or texts sometimes keep arriving on a line you no longer want to use, or you want to silence one number without pulling the physical card out. MIUI lets you deactivate a SIM slot completely, which stops all calls, messages and mobile data on that line until you switch it back on.
Install an App from the Play Store
Setting up a new Xiaomi phone often means hunting for the right way to add apps like WhatsApp, a cookbook, or a new game. Search results in the Play Store can show several similar-looking entries, so picking the correct one before tapping Install actually matters.
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.
Zoom In and Out in the Camera App
If the pinch gesture in the Camera app feels imprecise or the zoom slider does not react as expected, framing a shot gets frustrating fast. On Xiaomi phones the zoom level can be controlled either with two fingers on the screen or with a dedicated slider next to the shutter button, and mixing up both methods often causes jumpy results. Knowing which control belongs to which situation makes zooming smoother and prevents accidental resets while shooting.
Set the Time Manually
If the clock on your Xiaomi phone keeps jumping back to the wrong hour right after you edit it, the Use network-provided time toggle is still active in the background. Xiaomi phones pull the time straight from your mobile network or Wi-Fi connection, so any manual change gets overwritten within seconds. That sync option has to be switched off first before a custom time will actually stick.
Set Default SIM Card for Outgoing Calls
Every time you dial a number, your Xiaomi phone pops up a menu asking which SIM card to use for the call. If you only ever tap the same option anyway, that extra confirmation step just slows down dialing. A fixed default SIM removes the prompt for good.
Reject an Incoming Call
If a call comes in at a bad moment on your Xiaomi phone, you don't have to answer it or wait it out. The red decline icon on the incoming call screen lets you dismiss it right away, but only if you swipe correctly. Miss the gesture and the call keeps ringing or gets answered by accident.
Rename a Fingerprint
Every fingerprint you add on a Xiaomi phone gets a generic label like Finger 1 or Finger 2, which makes no sense once you have three or four saved. If you cannot tell your thumb from your index finger in the list, renaming them is the only way to keep the Fingerprint unlock screen readable.
Set Autoclick Dwell Timing for a Mouse
If you control your Xiaomi phone with a connected mouse, clicking a tiny cursor button gets tiring fast. Autoclick (dwell timing) lets the phone register a click automatically once the pointer stops moving for a set time. The delay is adjustable, so a short dwell time can trigger accidental taps while a long one feels sluggish.
Save Photos and Videos to SD Card Automatically
If your Xiaomi phone keeps filling up internal storage even though a microSD card is inserted, the camera is probably still saving everything to the phone by default. New shots and clips pile up locally instead of moving to the card, which quickly triggers low-storage warnings.
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.
Add a Print Service
If a print dialog on your Xiaomi phone shows no printer at all, no print service is registered in MIUI yet. Most phones only come with a driver for Epson devices, so printers from other brands stay invisible until you install their own service. Without that step, apps like a PDF viewer or browser can never send a job to your printer.
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.
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.
Turn One-handed Mode On or Off
If your Xiaomi phone feels too big to reach the top of the screen with one thumb, the built-in one-handed mode shrinks the whole display into a smaller window. Many users never find this option because it hides under Additional settings instead of the main Display menu. Without it enabled, you are stuck stretching or using both hands for every notification bar swipe or top-corner button.
Turn Off Automatic Diagnostic Data Sending
If Send diagnostic data automatically stays enabled, your Xiaomi phone keeps transmitting usage statistics that can include personal details. Many people only notice this after checking a privacy report or reviewing background data usage. MIUI never discloses exactly what content gets sent in these reports, which is why disabling related user experience options is worth doing.
Close All Tabs in Mi Browser
After a long browsing session in Mi Browser, the tab counter on your Xiaomi phone can climb to a number you never actually chose. Every open tab keeps running in the background, which slows down the browser and drains extra battery. Closing them one by one takes forever, but there is a faster way.
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.
Rename a Contact Group
A contact group on your Xiaomi phone keeps the name you gave it when you first created it, even after you add or remove members over time. If that label no longer fits, MIUI lets you edit it without deleting the group or losing its contacts. Default groups like Family, Colleagues or Friends are locked and cannot be renamed.
Turn Emergency Location Service (ELS) On or Off
If first responders cannot pinpoint your position during an emergency call or text, Emergency Location Service on your Xiaomi phone may be switched off. This feature sends your current GPS position automatically whenever you dial an emergency number, but it only works if the setting is active and your wireless carrier supports it. Some users disable it by accident while adjusting location permissions, which delays help in a real emergency.
Set Up a Privacy Protection Password
Anyone who unlocks your Xiaomi phone can still open apps like Gallery, Notes, or File Manager without a second check, exposing personal photos or documents. The screen lock protects the whole device but not individual apps, which is where a separate privacy password comes in.
App Location Permission Settings
If a Xiaomi app keeps showing the location icon even when you are not actively using it, its permission is probably set to allow access all the time. That drains battery and can expose more data than the app actually needs. You can review and change this setting for every installed app individually.
Turn On or Off Bluetooth Tethering
If your laptop or tablet has no free USB port, sharing your Xiaomi phone's mobile data over a cable is not an option. Bluetooth tethering lets you pass the connection wirelessly, but it needs to be paired and switched on first, and many users miss the toggle because it sits inside the hotspot settings rather than the Bluetooth menu itself.