Blurred miniatures on Xiaomi Redmi 8 Pro: how to return clarity to sketches

Xiaomi Redmi 8 Pro is a popular smartphone with a quadro camera 48 MP, but many users face a problem: thumbnails of photos and videos in the gallery are displayed blurry, although the files themselves remain clear. This is not a hardware defect, but a feature of the MIUI firmware and optimization algorithms. In this article, we will analyze why this happens, how to fix blur without loss of quality and prevent the problem from recurring.

Now, to be clear, sketch blurring isn't always a mistake, in some cases it's a planned behavior of the system, aimed at saving resources, but if the thumbnails become unreadable or the problem has appeared after the update, it's a failure, and we've tested all the solutions on Redmi 8 Pro with MIUI 12-14 firmware, and we're ready to provide step-by-step instructions.

Why are the miniatures on the Redmi 8 Pro blurred: the main reasons

The blurring of the sketches in the Xiaomi gallery can be attributed to several factors, from firmware bugs to hardware limitations.

• 📱 Optimization MIUI: The system automatically reduces the resolution of thumbnails to save RAM and speed up gallery scroll. RAM) It's more pronounced.
• 🔄 Failures after the update: transition to the new version MIUI (especially 11 to 12+) often resets the thumbnail cache settings, which leads to their distortion.
• 🗑️ Damaged gallery cache: cache files (.thumbnail) can be damaged if your phone is turned off or memory is not enough.
• 📸 Camera conflict: if the images are taken in 48 MP mode or HDR, Gallery may not have time to generate high-quality sketches.
• 🛠️ Third-party launchers: some shells (e.g., Nova Launcher or POCO Launcher conflict with the standard gallery Xiaomi.

A critical feature of the Redmi 8 Pro is that it often has a double-caching thumbnail bug, which creates sketches for the standard gallery and for Google Photos simultaneously, leading to conflict and blur, as confirmed by tests on the 4PDA and Mi Community forums.

Another caveat: if you use a Class 10 or lower memory card, the read speed may not be enough to generate thumbnails in a timely manner, in which case the sketches will be blurred until they are fully loaded.

How to check if only thumbnails or files are blurred

Before you start correcting, make sure that the problem is only sketches, not original photos.

1. Open the gallery and select a blurred thumbnail.
2. Tap it to open the photo in full screen mode.
3. If the image itself is sharp, the problem is the thumbnails, and if it's blurry, it's the camera settings or the focus.

Also check the files through the Explorer:

1. Open Files → Images or DCIM → Camera.
2. Find the same photo and open it through the built-in viewer (not the gallery!).

If the files are OK but the thumbnails are blurred, move to the following sections. If the originals are blurred, the problem may be:

• 📸 Incorrect camera settings (for example, Macro mode or Close-Range Portrait is enabled).
• 🔍 Lens contamination (wipe the camera modules with soft cloth).
• 🤖 Failure in processing algorithms (try resetting the camera settings in Settings) → Annexes → Camera. → Warehouse → Clear the data).

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To quickly compare the thumbnail and the original, take a screenshot of the sketch (click Volume Down + Power), then open it next to the original photo in any editor (e.g. Google Photos).

Ways to fix blurred thumbnails without resetting settings

Let’s start with the simplest and safest methods that don’t require any deep changes to the system.

1.Cleaning gallery and media storage cache

The most effective way to do this is 80% of the time.

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Gallery (or Google Photos if you use it).
3. Select Warehouse. → Clear the cache.
4. Go back and find Media Storage, repeat the cache cleanup.

After that, restart the phone. The miniatures will start to reset automatically — this can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes depending on the number of files.

2. disable MIUI optimization for gallery

Xiaomi defaults to "Light Mode" for the gallery, which reduces the quality of the sketches.

1. Open the gallery, tap three points in the upper right corner.
2. Select Settings → Additionally.
3. Turn off the options: 🔄 Auto-optimization of miniatures 📱 Easy mode (if any)

If these are not available, your version of MIUI does not support manual configuration, and the following method will help.

Resetting the settings of the Gallery app

This is a more radical way, but it does not affect user data (photos and videos will remain in place).

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Gallery → Storage.
2. Click Clear Data (not cache!).
3. Confirm the action and restart the phone.

Once reset, the gallery will recreate all the thumbnails from scratch, which also helps if the sketches are displayed in green or blue (another common Redmi 8 Pro bug).

Backup important albums (e.g., through Google Photos)

Close all applications that work with media files

Connect your phone to charge (the process can take up to 10 minutes)

Do not interrupt the reboot after resetting-->

4.Use of an alternative gallery

If the standard MIUI gallery is persistently blurring thumbnails, try third-party apps:

• 📂 Google Photos – automatically optimizes sketches, but keeps them sharp.
• 🖼️ Simple Gallery – lightweight gallery with manual miniature quality setting.
• 🔍 A+ Gallery - supports folders on SD-blur-blank.

After installing an alternative gallery:

1. Open it and wait for the indexing of the files.
2. Go to the app settings and turn off options like Data Savings or Low quality previews.
3. Assign it to the default gallery in Settings → Applications → By default.

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Alternative galleries are often better at miniatures on weak devices, as they are not dependent on MIUI optimizations.

Radical methods: resetting and firmware

If none of these methods worked, the problem could be in the system files, and then you'd have to take more serious measures.

1.Reset to factory settings

This is an extreme step, as all data is deleted (except files on the computer). SD-Make sure to back up through Settings. → The phone. → Backup or Google Account.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Choose to erase all data.
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot (it will take 5-15 minutes).

After discharge:

• Do not restore data from backup immediately – first check if the thumbnail problem has gone away.
• If the blur is left - it is in the firmware (see the next paragraph).

2. Flashing through Fastboot

If the thumbnail blur appeared after the MIUI update and does not disappear even after the reset, perhaps the firmware is installed with errors, in which case a clean firmware reflash through Fastboot will help.

You'll need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed Xiaomi drivers and Mi Flash Tool.
• 📥 Official firmware for Redmi 8 Pro (download from Xiaomi website).
• 🔌 Cable USB Type-C (preferably original).

Step-by-step:

1. Turn off the phone.


2.Put Volume Down + Power to enter Fastboot mode.




3. Connect the phone to the PC.




4. Run the Mi Flash Tool, select the downloaded firmware.




5. Press Refresh, then Flash (select Clean all option).




6. wait for completion (10-15 minutes) and reboot.

Warning: This method deletes all data, including files in internal memory, and there is a risk of the phone getting bricked up if you do the wrong thing.

Prevention: How to prevent blurring of miniatures in the future

To prevent the problem from returning, follow these recommendations:

• 📵 Do not interrupt the indexing of media files: after adding new photos or videos, give the gallery 5-10 minutes to process (do not close it through the "Cleanup" RAM").
• 🗃️ Clean the cache regularly: Clean the cache of galleries and media storage every 1-2 months (see section above).
• 🔄 Update the firmware carefully: before installing the new version MIUI backup and check the reviews on the forums (for example, on the 4PDA) gallery-bug.
• 📱 Do not use “accelerators” or “optimizers”: applications like Clean Master or DU Speed Booster often clear gallery cache, leading to blurring sketches.
• 💾 Format. SD-If you use external memory, format it in exFAT or FAT32 via phone (Settings) → Warehouse → SD-map → Formatting as an internal).

Also avoid using multiple galleries at the same time (e.g. standard and Google Photos) and they conflict when generating thumbnails, which leads to blurring.

Note: If you often take pictures in 48MP or Pro mode, thumbnails will take longer to load, and to speed up the process, turn off these modes in the camera settings or use an alternative gallery.

Frequent questions about blurred miniatures on the Redmi 8 Pro