Change Contacts App Theme (Light or Dark)
On Xiaomi phones, the Contacts app can keep its own light or dark look even after you switch the phone-wide display mode in system settings. That mismatch happens because the app ships with a separate theme option that overrides the system default. Calls and messages screens can stay bright at night or dark during the day because of it.
Auto-Disable Ultra Battery Saver at 50% Charge
Once your Xiaomi phone reaches around 50% charge, Ultra battery saver can switch itself off without asking, dropping all the restrictions it just applied. If you rely on the extreme power-saving mode staying active until you manually turn it off, this automatic behavior gets in the way. The setting controlling this is separate from the regular battery saver toggle.
Turn Personalized Ad Recommendations On or Off
If ads on your Xiaomi phone feel oddly tied to your recent searches or app activity, Personalized ad recommendations is the setting behind it. Switching it off does not lower how many banners you see, it only stops MIUI from matching them to your interests and usage data.
Turn Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot On or Off
If other devices cannot get online through your Xiaomi phone, the portable hotspot might simply be switched off or still using a network name and password you do not remember. This feature turns your mobile data connection into a Wi-Fi network for laptops, tablets or other phones nearby. Once it is active, the tricky part is usually finding the right toggle again, since it sits inside a settings screen most people only visit once.
Turn On High Contrast Text
Thin system fonts in MIUI can blur together against busy wallpapers or in bright sunlight, which makes reading notifications and menus tiring. The High contrast text option adds a bold black outline around letters to separate them from the background. On several Xiaomi phones this switch sits in an experimental accessibility section, so it can behave slightly differently between apps.
Turn Auto-sync for Photos and Videos On or Off
If your Gallery keeps pushing photos and videos to Xiaomi Cloud even on mobile data, your storage plan fills up fast and your data allowance takes a hit. The sync behavior is controlled from within the Gallery app and tied to the Mi account signed in on the phone. Turning it off stops new uploads, but files already sent to the cloud stay there until you remove them yourself.
Turn Quick Responses On or Off
When a call comes in and you cannot pick up, MIUI can send the caller a short text instead of just cutting them off. If that automatic reply keeps firing at the wrong moments or refuses to trigger at all, the Quick responses feature needs a check.
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.
Export Contacts as a VCF File
Switching to a new phone or just backing up your address book can be tricky when the Contacts app on your Xiaomi phone does not offer a simple 'transfer' button. Instead, contacts leave the device as a VCF file, and picking the wrong storage location or account often means the file cannot be found afterward. Knowing where the export lands makes the difference between a working backup and a lost contact list.
Raise to Wake: Turn On or Off
If lifting your phone doesn't wake the screen, the Raise to wake feature is probably switched off. This setting decides whether MIUI turns on the display automatically when you pick up the phone, instead of you having to press the power button for a quick glance at the time or a notification.
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.
Turn Camera Shutter Sound On or Off
Every photo on your Xiaomi phone triggers a shutter click, even in a quiet room or during a video call screenshot. The sound comes from the camera app itself and has nothing to do with your ringtone or notification volume, so muting the phone alone will not silence it.
Block a Contact (Calls & Messages)
If someone keeps calling or texting after you have asked them to stop, deleting the contact does not actually stop the calls or messages from reaching you. MIUI has a separate blocklist function inside the Contacts app that silently rejects both. Note that blocking only works for numbers already saved as a contact, not for random unsaved numbers.
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.
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.
Turn On/Off Chat Features (RCS) in Messages
If your texts go out as plain SMS without read receipts, typing indicators, or media previews, Chat features are probably switched off in the Messages app. This RCS-based option upgrades regular texting with messenger-style extras, similar to WhatsApp, but only works when both people have it active. Some carriers turn it on automatically on a Xiaomi phone, others leave it off until you enable it yourself.
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.
Turn JavaScript On or Off in Mi Browser
If buttons stop responding, menus refuse to open, or entire pages appear blank in Mi Browser, JavaScript is likely disabled on your Xiaomi phone. Most modern sites rely on this scripting language for interactive elements, so a wrong toggle in your browser settings breaks navigation fast.
Move a Widget on the Home Screen
When a new widget lands right on top of an app icon or pushes your favorite shortcuts to another page, the home screen on your Xiaomi phone turns messy fast. Every widget blocks out its own grid space, so repositioning one often forces nearby icons to shift too. Getting the placement right the first time saves you from constantly rearranging your layout afterward.
Set Up an App Timer
If an app on your Xiaomi phone keeps eating hours of your day without you noticing, MIUI does not limit it automatically. Digital Wellbeing only tracks usage in the background unless you configure a timer yourself for that app. Without that timer, games or social media apps stay open all day, no matter how long you actually meant to use them.
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.
Show or Hide Holidays in Calendar
If your Xiaomi calendar looks packed with public holidays you never asked for, real appointments and reminders get buried fast. This clutter often comes from a default setting that pulls in every regional or national holiday for your account. Turning that display on or off only takes a moment once you know where MIUI hides the switch.