How to turn off black and white on Xiaomi and return colors

When the screen of Xiaomi smartphone suddenly turns black and white, often takes users by surprise. Instead of the usual bright colors, you see only shades of gray, which makes the use of the device extremely uncomfortable and unusual, most often this is not due to a breakdown of the matrix, but as a result of the accidental activation of one of the functions of the MIUI or HyperOS system.

There are several reasons why the monochrome mode could turn on automatically or be activated by you accidentally, such as the E-book feature for reading, the Sleep mode for limiting use at night, or even specific settings for people with visual impairments, and understanding the source of the problem is the first step to solving it.

In this article, we will take a look at all the possible ways to remove black and white mode on Xiaomi using the standard settings menu and hidden engineering options. You do not need superuser rights or complex programs, just follow the instructions carefully.

The main reasons for monochrome screen

Before you start treating the display, it's important to understand which filter is overlaid on the image. Xiaomi's system offers several use cases where color reproduction is limited specifically. If you accidentally switch between them, the screen can turn gray.

The most common reason is to activate the E-book mode, which is designed to reduce eye strain when reading texts by mimicking the appearance of ink on paper, and it is also worth checking the Sleep mode, which often turns on on schedule and changes the color gamut of the interface.

Sometimes the problem is in the special features section. Functions for the visually impaired, such as color inversion or full gray gradation, can be activated by random triple tapping on the screen or power button, which often happens when the phone is in your pocket.

⚠️ Note: If the screen turns black and white after a smartphone drops or moisture gets in, software methods may not help, in which case the plume or display controller is likely to be physically damaged.

Don't panic if the colors are gone suddenly, 99% of the time it's a software glitch or an activated setting that's easy to fix, and the key is to consistently check all the items below.

Disabling the "Electronic Book" mode

Read mode is a feature that translates the entire interface or individual applications into black and white, a useful option for those who read a lot from their phone, but it is annoying when used normally, and you can turn it off through the screen settings.

To start, go to the Settings menu and find the Screen section. In some firmware versions, this option may be called Read Mode or be located in the Eye Safety subsection. This is where the switch that turns the image gray hides.

• 📱 Open the settings and go to the Screen section».
• 📚 Find the item "Reading Mode" or "Electronic Book».
• 🔘 Switch the slider to the "Off" position».
• 🎨 If the mode is on, select the "Classic" option or turn off the application to the whole screen.

Importantly, newer versions of MIUI may have their settings hidden inside the Eye Safety menu, so if you don't see a separate item for an e-book, look for it there, and check if it's automatically enabled on a schedule.

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If the read mode is only enabled in certain apps, go to the settings of this mode and remove the boxes from unnecessary programs such as YouTube or Gallery.

After turning off the color functions should return instantly. If this did not happen, try restarting the device to reset the interface cache.

Sleep and schedule settings

Another common cause of flower disappearance is the Bedtime mode, which is designed to help users relax before bed by removing bright colors and notifications, and is often activated automatically at a given time.

You can check active modes through the control panel. Swipe down from the top edge of the screen to open the "Stork." Find an icon that may be called "Sleep Mode," "Rest," or have a moon icon. If it's illuminated, click on it to turn it off.

A deeper setup is in the Digital Well-being menu, where you can set a timetable for your phone to go into monochrome mode, and if you don't want that to happen, just delete the time slots.

Note that sleep patterns can not only change colors, but also limit app usage. If your phone has become "stupid" and gray, this is likely the digital well-being scenario that has been activated.

Special facilities and accessibility

Deep in the Android and MIUI settings, there's a disabled section, and this is where the most radical image filters are, which can make the screen look completely black and white.

Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → Special Features. You need to be very careful in this menu. Find a section related to improving visibility or color correction. There may be a tick on Grayscale.

• 👁️ Go to “Special Opportunities” in the settings menu.
• 🌫️ Find the section “Improving visibility” or “Color correction».
• ⚪ Check if the Gradation Gray mode is activated».
• 🚫 If Color Inversion is enabled, the screen will look like a negative photo.

Also check the special feature shortcuts. Often users accidentally activate the B/B mode by tapping the screen three times or pressing the volume button. Make sure that the shortcuts do not have a chromaticity change action.

⚠️ Attention: Color Inversion makes the image look like an X-ray. If you have this problem, look for the Inversion switch in the same special features menu.

Disabling these features will return natural color reproduction, and if you don’t use these options, it’s best to disable access shortcuts altogether to avoid accidental inclusions in the future.

Hidden Engineering Menu and Debugging

If standard methods didn't help, you might have lost the settings on the engineering menu or through USB debugging.This is a more complex level, but sometimes necessary, especially if the phone was re-flashed or configured by third-party programs.

There's a command that forces the screen to debug the graphics, and to check and reset it, you have to go to the Developer Menu, and if it's hidden, press the build number 7 times in the About Phone section.

adb shell settings put global debug.hwui.renderer opengl

In the developer menu, look for the "Hardware Rendering Acceleration" or "Anomaly Simulation" section, make sure that it doesn't have monochrome mode, and check the settings of the simulated color space if such a field is present in your Android version.

If you are not sure about your actions, it is better to limit yourself to the standard system settings described in the previous sections.

Third-party annexes and design themes

Often the culprits of color change are users who have installed heavy themes or battery-saving apps, and some vision or reading software can also intercept the display.

Check the themes you have installed in the Topic app. If you have a global filtered theme, try changing it to a standard one, and remember which apps you have recently installed, and perhaps one of them has permission to overlay on top of other windows.

• 🎨 Change the theme of the design to the standard (Classic/Default).
• 📉 Check out the applications for saving charge (they may include E-Ink mode).
• 📱 View the list of apps with access "Above other windows».
• 🗑️ Remove newly installed reading or eye protection programs.

Pay special attention to the “reader” applications, many of which have a system filter that turns on when you start a book and sometimes sticks, remaining active even after you close the program.

If the problem disappears after removing suspicious programs, then the conflict was caused by third-party software.

Resetting and resetting

When a software glitch gets stuck deep in the system, it helps to simply reboot or completely reset the settings. This is an extreme measure, but it is guaranteed to remove all software errors, including the stuck display modes.

Try a normal reboot first. If the phone doesn't respond to touch because of the black and white screen, press the power button for 10-15 seconds to force a restart, which solves the problem in 30% of cases.

If the reboot didn't work, you can reset the settings. Importantly, before reset, make sure to back up all the data, because it will be deleted. Once you return to the factory settings, the phone will be as new and all the filters will disappear.

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Full Factory Reset eliminates 100% of software display errors, but takes time to recover data and reset the phone.

After reset, take your time to put all the apps at once. Check the screen on the clean system. If the colors are normal, install the programs one at a time to identify the culprit if the problem recurs.