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.
Allow Gallery Access to SD Card
If Gallery on your Xiaomi phone refuses to save new photos or won't let you delete files on the SD card, it usually means storage access was never granted. Android blocks apps from writing to external storage until you confirm the permission for that specific card. Until you approve it, Gallery can only display existing files but not create, move or remove anything on the card.
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.
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.
Set Up Speed Dial for Calls
Dialing the same contact from a long list every time you need them wastes time when you only want to reach a favorite number fast. Speed dial on Xiaomi phones lets you call an assigned number with a single long press on the keypad, but it only works once a contact is linked to that digit. On Dual SIM devices you may also get asked which line to use if no default SIM for calls is set.
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.
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.
Split Screen on Xiaomi Phones
Split screen lets you run two apps side by side on your Xiaomi phone, so you can chat while browsing or take notes while watching a video. MIUI offers more than one way to trigger it, and not every app supports it the same way. Knowing how it behaves helps you decide when it actually saves time.
Custom Image on Always-on Display
If the pre-installed Always-on Display themes on your Xiaomi phone all look the same, you can swap them for a photo of your own. MIUI lets you pick any image from your gallery instead of the default clock designs. Once applied, you can still adjust the clock position, text color, and how battery or notification icons appear on top of your picture.
Remove a Contact from Speed Dial
Speed dial slots on Xiaomi phones fill up fast, and once all numbers are taken you cannot assign a new one until an old entry is cleared. Removing a number from the list only deletes the shortcut, not the contact itself, but the option sits several menus deep inside the call settings and is easy to miss.
Clear RAM and Storage
If your Xiaomi phone feels sluggish or storage keeps filling up, junk files, app cache, and rarely used apps are often the cause. MIUI includes a built-in cleanup tool that clears RAM and storage in one pass, but what actually gets removed depends on which categories you select before confirming.
Turn On/Off Pop-up on Keypress
If every letter you tap on your Xiaomi keyboard flashes up in a small preview bubble, typing can feel slower and the screen looks cluttered. This preview comes from a keyboard setting called Popup on keypress, and it can get in the way when you type quickly in Messenger, WhatsApp or any other app. You can switch it on or off directly in the keyboard settings on your phone.
Restart the Xiaomi Smartphone
If apps on your Xiaomi phone start lagging, background downloads get stuck, or the interface feels sluggish after days of uptime, a restart usually clears the problem. MIUI keeps processes and cached data running in the background, and over time this can slow down the whole system. A clean reboot forces MIUI to close every open app and rebuild its memory from scratch.
Volume Key Shortcut for Accessibility Features
If holding both volume buttons for three seconds does nothing on your Xiaomi phone, the volume key shortcut for accessibility functions like TalkBack or color correction is switched off in MIUI. Sometimes the shortcut is set up but blocked on the lock screen, so it only reacts once you have unlocked the device. Checking the assigned shortcut service and its lock screen permission clears up both issues.