Blurred miniatures in the gallery Xiaomi Redmi 9 Pro: 7 reasons and solutions

Introduction: Why miniatures in the gallery become fuzzy

If you notice that the thumbnails of photos in the gallery of your Xiaomi Redmi 9 Pro are blurred, and when you open the originals look normal — the problem lies not in the camera itself, but in the processing of sketches. This is a common complaint of MIUI users, and it can occur due to software failures, and due to hardware limitations of the smartphone.

In this article, we'll look at all the possible causes of thumbnail blur on the Redmi 9 Pro, from the banal overflow of cache to the hidden MIUI settings that few people know about. You'll learn how to diagnose a problem, which parameters to check first and when to contact the service center. And also why sometimes blurring sketches can be normal behavior of the system, not a bug.

1.Cash galleries and media storage: why it's to blame 80% of the time

The most common cause of blurred thumbnails is a crowded or damaged cache of the Gallery and Media Storage applications, which are responsible for generating and displaying sketches, and if their temporary files are clogged, the system starts to “save” resources by showing thumbnails in low resolution.

On the Redmi 9 Pro, with its modest 4-6GB of RAM and Snapdragon 720G processor, the problem is compounded: the system forcibly reduces the quality of sketches to speed up the scroll of the gallery, which is especially noticeable if you have thousands of photos or videos in high resolution.

• 📁 Cleaning the Gallery cache: go to Settings → Annexes → Application management → gallery → Warehouse → Clear the cache.
• 🔄 Media Storage Data Reset: Same path for Media Storage.Warning: After that, the gallery will rebuilt the thumbnails, which can take a few minutes.
• 🗑️ Delete thumbs: In the root folder of internal memory, find the hidden folder.thumbnails and delete it (you need root rights or file manager with access to system folders).

⚠️ Warning: If the thumbnails are blurred after cleaning the cache, don't rush to reset your phone. First, check the thumbnail settings in the box. MIUI — There are hidden parameters that affect quality.

MIUI settings: hidden parameters affecting thumbnails

MIUI has several hidden options that automatically reduce the quality of sketches to save resources. On the Redmi 9 Pro, these settings can work even with enough free memory if the system finds the device “weak” for processing high-quality previews.

To check and change these parameters:

1. Open Settings → About the phone and 5 times click on the MIUI version to activate the developer mode.
2. Go back to Settings → Additional → For developers and find the option to Limit Background Processes. Set the Standard Limit (if Hard or Unlimited).
3. In the same menu, turn off Windows animation and transition animation – this indirectly affects the speed of miniature generation.

Another "secret" parameter is the quality of the sketches in the gallery itself.

• Open the gallery. → ⋮ (menu) → Settings → Show miniatures in high quality.
• If you don’t have an option, your MIUI version doesn’t support it (relevant for firmware older than MIUI 12.5).

3.Firmware problems: MIUI bugs and how to fix them

Some versions of MIUI for Redmi 9 Pro contain media file processing bugs that render thumbnails in low resolution regardless of settings. For example, MIUI firmware 12.0.1-12.0.3 had a well-known bug with sketches of 48MP photos.

Check your version of MIUI in Settings → About → MIUI version. If it is older than MIUI 12.5.2, it is recommended to update:

If the update doesn’t help, try resetting the gallery settings:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Gallery → Storage.
2. Click Reset settings (not to be confused with cache cleanup!).
3. Reboot the phone.

⚠️ Warning: Before resetting gallery settings, make sure all important photos are synced to the cloud (e.g. Google Photos or Mi Cloud).Reset does not delete files, but may disrupt album sorting.

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If the thumbnails are blurred after the MIUI update, try rolling back to the previous firmware version via Fastboot. Instructions are available on the Xiaomi.EU forum.

Hardware restrictions: when the "iron" is to blame

The Redmi 9 Pro has a Snapdragon 720G processor with an Adreno 618 graphics accelerator. Despite its good performance, this chipset has limitations in graphics processing, especially when working with a large number of high-resolution media files (for example, 48 MP photos or 4K videos).

If you have one in the gallery:

• 📸 More than 5,000 photos;
• 🎥 Video in resolution 4K@30fps higher;
• 🖼️ Photo format RAW or HEIF;

The system will force the quality of the sketches to be reduced to avoid hanging over.

Solutions for hardware constraints:

• 🔧 Use third-party galleries (e.g. Google Photos, Simple Gallery, or Aves) that are optimized better than the system.
• 🗃️ Move some of the photos to SD-map (but note that MIUI It can be slower to work with external storage).
• 📉 Reduce the resolution of the shooting in the camera settings (for example, from 48 MP to 12 MP).

Transfer old photos to SD-map|

Install a lightweight gallery (e.g. QuickPic)|

Turn off automatic downloading of media in messengers |

Reduce the shooting resolution to 12 MP-->

5. File system damage: When thumbnails "break"

If thumbnails are blurred selectively (e.g., only for a photo from a particular folder or period), the problem may be that the file system is damaged.

• ⚡ Wrong extraction SD-map;
• 🔋 Disconnect power during file recording;
• 🛠️ Failed firmware update.

To check and fix the file system:

1. Connect your phone to your PC via USB (in File Transfer mode).
2. Run Command Prompt on behalf of the administrator and execute: chkdsk X: /f (where X is the drive letter of your phone).
3. If you use SD-Remove the card and check it on another device.

If chkdsk finds errors but can’t fix them, try:

• 🔄 Format SD-map FAT32 (if it is in exFAT or NTFS).
• 📱 Reset the phone to factory settings (pre-saving data!).

⚠️ Warning: If internal memory is damaged (not SD-The map, the factory reset, may not help, so you just have to reflash your phone on Fastboot or go to the service.

6 Viruses and Malware: Unexpected Cause of Blurring

Rarely, some malicious applications or viruses may interfere with the work of the gallery, replacing sketches or blocking their correct display.

• 📥 Appearance of unknown files in the folder DCIM;
• 🔋 Quick battery discharge;
• 📶 Suspicious activity of mobile traffic.

To check your phone for viruses:

1. Install an antivirus (such as Malwarebytes or Dr.Web Light).
2. Scan the device by paying attention to the DCIM, Downloads and Android/data folders.
3. Check the list of installed applications in Settings → Applications for suspicious programs.

If the virus is found after it is removed:

• Clear the cache of galleries and media storage (see section 1).
• Restart your phone in Safe Mode (hold the power button → Reboot in Safe Mode) and check if the problem remains.

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If the blurring of thumbnails appeared suddenly and is accompanied by other “glitches” (advertising, brakes, overheating) – with a 90% probability to blame malware.

7. When to contact the service: signs of hardware malfunction

If you've tried all the ways but the thumbnails are still blurry, the problem could be hardware. On the Redmi 9 Pro, it's most often related to:

• 💾 Internal memory malfunction (wear and tear of the flash drive);
• 🔌 Poor contact of the camera plume (affects photo processing);
• 🔥 Overheating of the processor (which is why the system forcibly reduces performance).

Signs that it is time to bring your phone to the service:

• 📵 Miniatures blurred even after resetting to factory settings;
• 🔄 The phone spontaneously reboots when the gallery opens;
• 📉 The speed of writing / reading files has dropped sharply (checked through the application) A1 SD Bench).

The service centre should:

1. Diagnose memory using Fastboot commands;
2. Check the camera and display plumes;
3. If necessary, replace the flash memory or motherboard.

⚠️ Note: if the phone is warranty, do not try to disassemble it yourself or reflash through the phone. EDL. This will cancel the Xiaomi guarantee.

FAQ: Frequent questions about blurred miniatures on Redmi 9 Pro