The question of how to turn off Family Link on a Xiaomi phone is raised by many parents as their child grows up, or by users who have forgotten access to a management account. Google’s parental control system is a powerful tool that integrates deeply into the Android operating system, limiting usage time, blocking apps and tracking location. On Xiaomi smartphones with a MIUI shell or HyperOS, this process has its own peculiarities due to additional layers of protection and battery optimization.
Deactivation is not always obvious, especially if you don’t have access to a parent’s device or don’t remember the password from a Google account. It’s important to understand that simply uninstalling an app through a standard interface won’t work – the system will require confirmation from the family administrator. In this article, we’ll look at all the legal ways to remove restrictions, and also look at the technical nuances faced by Xiaomi owners.
If you plan to transfer the device to your child or sell it, you must correctly perform the procedure for leaving the Family Link group. Wrong actions can lead to locking the Xiaomi device itself or loss of important data. Below we will describe in detail the algorithm of actions that will help you solve the problem without contacting the service center.
Google Family Link on MIUI and HyperOS
Xiaomi shells like MIUI 13, 14 and the new HyperOS have aggressive background management policies.This means that Google services, including Family Link, can run unstable unless appropriate exceptions are configured. Google Family Link requires permanent permissions to access geolocation, on-screen coordinators and battery usage, which often conflicts with Xiaomi's built-in optimizers.
When you try to disable control, Android security checks the authenticity of the request. On Xiaomi devices, this process can be complicated by the presence of Mi Account and the feature “Find the device” enabled. If the phone is activated to search for the device, deleting the Google account, even with administrator rights, may require entering a password from the Mi Account.
Also, Family Link works as a device administrator, giving it the power to block resets or apps from unknown sources, and trying to force Google services to be removed from Xiaomi may trigger a theft protection that temporarily locks the phone for 24 hours or requires you to enter an old password.
Why is Xiaomi blocking background processes?
Official way to disconnect through the parent's device
The easiest and most correct way to unlock a child’s phone is to use a parent’s smartphone that has Family Link installed on it, a method that doesn’t require a data reset and saves all photos, contacts and settings on a Xiaomi device.
To start, open the Family Link app on your device. Select the child profile you want to unseal. From the management menu, look for Account Settings or Family Management, and that's where the key controls for access rights are.
- 📱 Click on the child's name in the list of family members.
- ⚙️ Go to the "Account Settings" block).
- 🔓 Select the option "Stop control).
- ✅ Confirm the action by entering the password from your Google account.
Once confirmed on the parent’s phone, a notification will appear on the Xiaomi device that control is disabled, the user will have full access to installing apps, changing usage times and visiting sites without filtering. Importantly, after this procedure, it is recommended to restart the phone so that the changes will take effect permanently.
☑️ Pre-switch check
Lifting restrictions directly on Xiaomi phone
If the parent’s device is not available, you can try to turn off directly on the Xiaomi smartphone, but this will still require the credentials of the family administrator. Android system is designed so that without authorization of the main account, you can not remove the administrator rights from the Family Link application.
Go to Settings → Google → Parental Controls. In the menu that opens, you'll see the status of the current control. If you click on the three dots in the top corner or find the "Disable" button, the system will ask for a password from the parent's Google account, and without entering the correct data, the process will not go on.
In some cases, when a child reaches the age of 13 (or the age of digital consent in your country), the system may suggest that they manage their account themselves, in which case a notification will be sent to the parent's email, and once confirmed, the restrictions will be removed automatically, but until that age or without parental consent, standard methods will not be able to circumvent the protection.
⚠️ Warning: Attempting to guess a password will result in a temporary blocking of your Google account many times over, and security will consider this as suspicious activity and require additional identification through a linked phone number or backup email.
What to do if your password or account access is lost
The most difficult situation is when the password from the parent’s account is lost, in which case the standard methods of disabling Family Link on Xiaomi will not work, you will have to use the procedure of access restoration through Google services.
Go to the Google account recovery page from any other device, and you'll need to prove that you own the account, and the system will ask you to answer security questions, send the code to a backup email or phone number, and if you lose access to that data, it can take a while.
There is a myth that cleaning up the Family Link app on a child's phone will help remove the restrictions, which is not true: deleting the cache or app data will only cause the phone to lose communication with the server, but the first time you try to access the Internet, the restrictions will resume, and the device can be blocked. The only legal way is to restore the password through the Google form.
If you can’t restore your account, the only technical solution is to completely reset your device to the factory settings (Hard Reset), but this will delete all personal data, photos and applications, and after resetting, the phone will require you to enter a password from a Google account that was previously synchronized on it (FRP protection).
Xiaomi’s Hard Reset as a last resort
Hard Reset is a radical method that completely cleans the internal memory of Xiaomi phone, returning it to the state of "out of the box".It is the only way to get rid of Family Link if other methods do not work, but it requires caution.
Before starting the procedure, make sure you know the data from the Mi Account and Google account that were linked to the phone. Once reset, the FRP (Factory Reset Protection) security system will request this data to confirm ownership of the device. If you do not remember passwords, the phone will turn into a brick.
Instructions for performing reset via Recovery Mode:
- Turn off the Xiaomi smartphone completely.
- Press the Volume Up + Power buttons at the same time.
- Hold the buttons until the Mi logo appears, then release the power, but keep the volume up.
- From the Recovery menu, select English and click Wipe Data → Wipe All Data.
- Confirm the action and wait for the process to be completed.
| Parameter | Before dumping. | After discharge |
|---|---|---|
| User data | Save. | Removed completely |
| Annexes | All set. | Only systemic. |
| Family Link | Active. | Removed (requires a new setup) |
| Network settings | Save. | Dropped. |
Reset Protection (FRP) and the nuances of unlocking
Once Hard Reset is done, Xiaomi will trigger FRP. This means that when you first boot the phone will require you to enter a Google account that was synced to the device before the reset.If Family Link was active, it will be a child account, but it may require confirmation from the parent account to unlock it.
If you don't remember the password, the activation process of the phone will go downhill. FRP It's not legal, it's a security measure in case of a device being stolen, and some users try to use special software for their PCs or for their computer. ADB-on the modern versions of Android and MIUI These vulnerabilities are quickly closing.
For successful activation after a reset, the best way to use a computer is to restore access to your Google account through your browser. once you restore access, just enter new data into your phone. If the parent's account is deleted from the family, the child will be able to set up the phone as a new one, without being tied to the old group.
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Save screenshots of important settings or write passwords in a safe place.Using Google's password manager or third-party apps (like Bitwarden) will help avoid access issues in the future.