How to remove the Xiaomi watermark from the camera: step-by-step instructions

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices often encounter an intrusive brand logo that is automatically added to every photo taken, a feature conceived as a marketing element that turns snapshots into ads that are not always appropriate when posting on social media or sending them to friends, and it is especially annoying to see the words “Shot on Xiaomi” appear on quality landscapes or portraits where the composition of the frame is more important than the brand of the device.

Fortunately, the developers of the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS have provided a simple way to deactivate this option directly in the camera application settings. You do not need to install third-party applications, obtain root rights or perform complex manipulations with system files.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the die-off algorithm, look at the interface differences between different firmware versions, and answer frequently asked questions. Watermark management is a basic skill that every user of the Xiaomi ecosystem should know for a comfortable shooting experience.

Why Xiaomi is adding a logo to a photo

The name of a smartphone model in the pictures is a long-standing marketing strategy of the company, where when you take a photo and share it, you unwittingly advertise the device that made it, and it's a way for a brand to promote its camera phones to social media users and instant messengers for free.

But from the perspective of a photographer, even an amateur photographer, having extraneous text in the corner of a frame is a violation of composition. A watermark can override important details of an image or simply distract the viewer from the main subject, which is why most users tend to remove this element immediately after buying a new gadget.

It’s worth noting that in some shooting modes, such as Portrait or using certain filters, the logo can appear automatically even if you’ve previously disabled it in standard mode. Understanding the logic of how the software works helps you find the right switches in the interface faster.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling the watermark does not affect the quality of the image itself or the operation of the photo processing algorithms.

Disabling the watermark in the standard MIUI camera

The process of removing the logo in the classic MIUI shell is as simple as possible and takes only a few seconds. You do not need to search for hidden menus or engineering codes. All the necessary settings are open to anyone.

To start, run the standard Camera app. In the viewfinder that opens, look at the top of the screen. There's a menu bar with additional options. Click on the icon that shows three horizontal bars (a hamburger menu) to reveal the full list of settings.

In the list that opens, select Settings (usually indicated by a gear). Scroll down to General or Additional. There you will find the Watermark switch. Put it inactive. From now on, the Xiaomi logo will no longer appear in new images.

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If you are using Portrait Mode, check the settings separately within this mode, as there may be your own watermark switch that is independent of the general camera settings.

You don't have to restart the device or the app, but you just have to take a test shot to make sure there's no label in the corner of the frame.

Camera settings in the new HyperOS shell

With the release of the HyperOS operating system, some applications have changed their interfaces to become more minimalist, the logic of management has remained the same, but the location of elements may have shifted, and owners of new flagships and devices that received the update should pay attention to the updated menu.

In HyperOS, you can log in to settings in the same way: through a three-bar menu in the upper right or left corner (depending on the regional version). After you go to the settings section, look for the "Additional Settings" tab. This is where options related to metadata and visual elements of the photo are often hidden.

Find the item "Watermark" or "Time Mark." In newer versions of the software, Xiaomi sometimes combines these features or, conversely, divides them into "Device Model" and "Date/Time." Make sure you turn off the model tag if your goal is to remove branding.

If the standard switch is not available, check if you have a Professional Watermark mode activated, which can add more complex graphics with shooting parameters (ISO, shutter speed), and it can also be turned off in the same settings menu.

Removal of date and time stamp

Often users confuse a brand watermark with a date and time stamp, and these two functions are on the same menu, but they are responsible for different elements. If you want a clean photo without any text information, you need to turn off both options.

Time stamps can be useful for archiving photos taken for printing or for recording the moment of an event. EXIF-File data that can be viewed in the gallery at any time without damaging the visual part of the image.

To remove the date, in the same camera settings menu, find the "Time" or "Date and Time" switch. Deactivate it. After that, only the pixels of the image will remain in the photo, without any overlays.

• 📸 Watermark – Adds the device logo (Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO).
• 📅 Time stamp – adds date and time of shooting in the corner of the frame.
• 📍 Geolocation – saves the coordinates in the file, but rarely appears on the photo itself (depending on the settings).

Remember that disabling these features does not remove them from photos you have taken, and if old photos have logos, you can only remove them with graphic editors or gallery retouch functions.

Third-party photo editing applications

If you forgot to turn off the watermark before shooting, or use an app that doesn’t allow you to manage this setting, retouch tools will come to the rescue. Xiaomi’s built-in gallery has powerful functionality to remove unwanted objects.

Open a photo with a logo in the gallery, click Change, and select the tool "Lastik" or "Retush." Carefully snoop through the text "Shot on Xiaomi." AI algorithms will analyze the surrounding pixels and fill the area, making the removal traces invisible.

There are also specialized applications like TouchRetouch or Snapseed, which uses the "Point" tool, which works like a swab in a standard gallery, and it saves even those shots that seemed to be spoiled.

⚠️ Attention: When retouching complex backgrounds (such as fabric textures or tree foliage), automatic removal may leave artifacts.

Table: Comparison of settings in different versions of MIUI

The interface of settings can vary depending on the firmware version and region (Global, China, EEA). Below is a table that helps you navigate where to look for the desired parameter in various software modifications.

As you can see from the table, despite the slight differences in the names, the logic remains the same: look for the settings section inside the camera app. If you can't find a item, search inside the settings menu of the phone itself by typing in "camera."

Frequent problems and their solution

Sometimes users are faced with a situation where the watermark switch is missing or not working, this may be due to the features of the regional firmware or a specific shooting mode, for example, in "Video" mode, the settings may differ from the settings for the photo.

If the watermark item is missing after the system update, try to clear the camera app data. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Camera → Clear the data. This will return the camera settings to factory settings, and the desired switch should appear.

It's also worth checking if Super mode or other special modes are activated, where branding can be embedded in the processing algorithm rigidly, in which case the logo can only be removed after the fact, through the editor.

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The most reliable way to get rid of the logo is to disable it in the regular settings of the Camera app before shooting, which ensures that all future photos are clean without the need for editing.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions