Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the desire to change the standard appearance of their device, using the capabilities of the MIUI shell. the Redmi 5, despite its age, remains popular due to the flexibility of the interface, however, the accumulation of a large number of downloaded designs can slow down the system or simply clutter the menu.
The process of uninstallation of graphical shells is not always obvious, especially for beginners who are first encountered with the MIUI ecosystem. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the ways to safely and completely remove unnecessary design files, returning the phone to performance or simply changing the style to a more familiar one.
It is important to understand that removing a theme is not just a change of picture, but a complex process involving the system files of icons, widgets and screen blocker. Complete cleaning of the theme cache is possible only after applying the default design standard. Wrong actions can lead to visual bugs, so follow the instructions carefully.
Preparation for removal and choice of alternative
Before you start removing an active theme, you need to decide in advance what will be installed instead. Xiaomi system is designed so that the active theme can not be removed directly while it is in use. You will need to choose the standard design "Classic" or "Untitled", which goes preinstalled in the factory.
Go to the Topics app and go to your user profile, and here you will see a list of all the files you've ever uploaded, and find a standard theme on the list, usually marked with an asterisk icon or called "Default." If you've removed a standard theme before, you'll have to download it again from the directory, because without an active theme, the phone may not work properly.
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Always keep a backup of the standard MIUI theme on hand so that in case of a reset, you do not search the Internet again.
Make sure your device is connected to a Wi-Fi network if you plan to download a new design right away. Mobile traffic is consumed very quickly when loading heavy graphics packages, especially on older models like the Redmi 5, where internal memory is often limited.
Removing theme through the Topics app
The easiest and safest way to clear memory of unnecessary graphics packets is to use the built-in Themes app, which is suitable for most users and does not require superuser rights or a computer connection.
To start, open the app and click on the profile icon in the bottom right corner of the screen, and you will see a menu where you want to select My Themes, which displays a complete list of all the designs installed and downloaded, find the theme you want to remove, and click on it to go to the control menu.
In the window that opens, you will see the Remove button (usually located at the bottom of the screen or as a basket icon). Click on it and confirm the action in the pop-up dialog window. The system will warn you that after removal, a standard theme will be automatically applied if the one that was deleted was active.
☑️ Pre-deletion check
If the delete button is inactive (gray), then this theme is now applied to the system. In this case, first apply any other theme from the list, and only then go back to deleting the unnecessary file. MIUI.
Cleaning through settings and storage
Sometimes the built-in theme app may not work properly or display all files, especially if the themes are installed from third-party sources (APK-In such cases, the system settings of the storage system come to the rescue.
Go to your Redmi 5 Settings menu and find Advanced Settings. In some firmware versions, this item may be simply called Apps or inside the Memory category, and we need to get into running installed programs.
Find the Themes app in the list (not to be confused with Wallpaper or Gallery). Select Memory or Storage within the app menu, and you will see the amount of data occupied by the cache and the theme files themselves.
| Type of data | Description | Can be removed |
|---|---|---|
| Cash. | Temporary miniature files | Yes, it's safe. |
| Data data | List of uploaded topics | Carefully. |
| Subject files | The.mtz archives themselves | Yes, if you're not active. |
Clicking the Clear Data button will reset the application settings to those in the factory, but won't delete the files themselves from the themes completely if they're stored in a separate folder.This method is effective at eliminating display errors, but it's better to use a file manager to physically free up space.
What happens if you delete the Topic Application Data?
Working with theme files in the conductor
For advanced users who want to completely clean the device of “garbage”, a manual method through the file manager will do. On Xiaomi Redmi 5, the standard conductor is called Explorer and has a yellow icon.
Open the explorer and go to the root folder of the device, you need to find the MIUI directory, and inside it theme folder. This is where all downloaded archives with.mtz extensions are stored. Be careful: deleting system files in this folder can lead to an interface reset.
Select files to those you no longer use. Make sure you don't delete classic.mtz files or other system files unless you're sure they're intended. After highlighting, click Delete in the bottom menu.
⚠️ Note: Manual deletion of theme files is only possible for inactive designs. If you try to delete an active theme file, the system may issue an error or automatically restore the file from the backup.
After cleaning the folder, it is recommended to restart the device, which will allow the Android system to correctly recalculate the free space and update the file system indexes, which will positively affect the speed of work.
Reset theme settings to factory
If removing individual themes didn’t solve the problem with visual bugs or interface freezes, you can perform a full reset of the theme settings, which will return the appearance of the smartphone to the “out of the box” state.
Go to the Themes app, go to your profile and find Settings (usually a gear in the corner). In the options list, look for Reset or Restore by default. This action will not affect your personal photos or contacts, but will return icons and fonts to standard.
In some versions of MIUI, a full reset is possible through the recovery menu, but this is an extreme measure. For Redmi 5, it is enough to reset through the application to eliminate 99% of the problems with the design.
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A complete reset of the theme solves problems with “broken” icons and incorrect font display after installing low-quality third-party themes.
After resetting, the phone can think for a few seconds, redrawing the desktop, and don't panic or press buttons until the process is complete.
Frequent questions and problems with removal
Users often experience a situation where the theme is deleted but then reappears after rebooting.This may be due to synchronization via Mi Cloud. Check the cloud service settings: if the theme sync is enabled, the deleted file can automatically boot back.
Another common problem is residual files, and even after deleting the theme, folders can still have tails, and use the built-in cleaning tool to scan the system for junk files.
⚠️ Warning: Be careful with topics uploaded from unofficial sources. They may contain malicious code that prevents them from being deleted by standard methods.
If standard methods don’t work, you can use your computer and ADB program to force packet removal, but it requires command line skills.