Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the need to personalize the appearance of their device. the standard MIUI or HyperOS interface may not seem convenient to everyone, especially if the user has poor vision or, conversely, he prefers a minimalist design with many elements on the screen. The problem of too large or too small icons is solved by several methods built into the system or available through third-party tools.
Rescaling interfaces is not just a matter of aesthetics; the ergonomics of the controls have a direct impact on speed. If the app icons take up half a screen, you'll have to constantly scroll through the desktop pages. At the same time, it's hard to push too small elements, which leads to errors. In this article, we'll look at all the legal and safe ways to customize the grid and size of the icons to suit your needs.
It is worth noting that the options for customization depend on the version of the Android operating system and the MIUI shell. Some methods work on all models, including the budget Redmi series, and others require advanced rights or install special themes. We will look at the options from the simplest to advanced so that each user can find the right solution.
Basic settings through the “Themes” menu
The easiest and safest way to resize icons on Xiaomi is to use the standard Themes app. Unlike many other manufacturers, Xiaomi allows you to resize icons without getting root rights, using built-in personalization functionality, a method ideal for those who do not want to risk the stability of the system.
To start, open the Themes app on the home screen. In the lower right corner, find and click on the profile icon (humans). Next, select Settings. In the menu that opens, you are interested in the Font Size section, but to change the icons, you need to go to the Resize (or Element Size) subsection.
- 📱 Moving the slider to the left reduces icons, allowing you to fit more apps on one screen.
- 🔍 Moving to the right increases elements, making them more visible to people with impaired vision.
- ✅ Changes are applied instantly, which allows you to visually evaluate the result in real time.
It's important to understand that this method changes not only the size, but also the density of the elements. When you reduce the icons, they can become too small to be easily pressed, and the optimal is the average or one division shift in one direction or another from the standard.
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If after changing the size of the icon "swimmed" or stood up twisted and twisted, just restart the smartphone. The system will recalculate the desktop grid.
Use of third-party design themes
If a standard regulator isn't enough, third-party themes come to the rescue. There are thousands of options available in the GetThemes store that change not only the color gamut, but also the geometry of interface elements. Some themes are specifically designed to mimic pure Android or iOS, which dramatically changes the look of icons.
To find the right theme, search for the Themes app and type in queries like “Small icons”, “Minimal”, “iOS style” or “Huge icons”. Before installing, be sure to check the preview. Note that the theme application may affect not only icons, but also the notification bar, settings menu and system sounds.
| Type of topic | Impact on icons | Compatibility |
|---|---|---|
| Minimalism | Reduces size, simplifies shapes | Tall. |
| iOS Style | Makes icons bigger and rounder | Medium (may be bugs) |
| Castom packs | Replacement of the graphics with any | Depends on the MIUI version. |
| Standard. | Returns factory sizes | 100% |
When installing a theme from a third-party source (not from an official store), the system can issue a security alert. This is a normal MIUI protection reaction. If you downloaded the topic from a trusted forum (for example, 4PDA or XDA), you can ignore the warning, but you should only do this if you are confident in the source.
How do you remove a bad topic?
Setting up the desktop grid
Often, the problem is not solved by changing the size of the icon itself, but by changing the number of cells in the desktop grid. The System Launcher used by Xiaomi allows you to flexibly adjust the number of rows and columns. This creates the illusion of resizing: the more cells, the less space each icon takes up.
To access these settings, do a long press on the empty space of the desktop or pinches with two fingers (finger mixing). In the bottom menu, select Settings (cogs). Find the item Larger or immediately Grid. Here you will see options like 4x6, 5x6, 6x7 and so on.
- 📐 Selection of scheme 5x7 or 6x8 Visually reduces icons as they fit into smaller cells.
- 📏 Scheme. 4x5, On the contrary, it makes interface elements large and massive.
- 🔄 Changing the grid automatically redistributes all widgets and shortcuts, so they will have to be placed again.
This method is the most stable, as it is a native feature of the launcher, it does not require downloading additional files and does not affect the performance of the smartphone. However, it is worth remembering that changing the grid does not change the size of the font under the icon, which can lead to overlay of text if you choose too small a grid.
☑️ Checking the grid settings
Advanced settings through the engineering menu
For advanced users who don’t have enough standard options, there is the option of changing the density of DPI (dots per inch), a system parameter that forces Android to redraw the entire interface, including icons, fonts and indentations, changing this parameter gives the most accurate result, but requires caution.
To access these settings, you need to activate the developer mode. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click 7 times on the MIUI Version (or OS Version) field. After the “You became a developer” notification appears, go back to the main settings menu, go to Additional → For Developers.
In the options list, find Minimum Width (or Smallest Width) and the default value is usually 360-400 dp. Reducing that number (like 320) will make all items, including icons, smaller. Increase (up to 450-500) will make it larger.
⚠️ Note: Do not set extreme values DPI (This can cause the interface to become unreadable, control buttons to disappear outside the screen, and you will have to do a full data reset to return to the factory settings.
Write down the initial value before making changes. This is critical to the ability to roll back quickly. The DPI method is global and will affect all applications, even those that do not support interface scaling.
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Changing the DPI is the most powerful scaling tool, but it requires precision. The step of changing has to be small (10-20 units) to gauge the outcome.
Use of third-party launchers
If Xiaomi’s built-in launcher seems too limited, the best solution is to install an alternative desktop, with apps like Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher, or Smart Launcher providing unprecedented control over icon size, shape, and behavior.
Once you install the launcher from Google Play and assign it to the main one, you will have access to detailed settings. In Nova Launcher, for example, you can set the icon size as a percentage of the grid cell, change the indentations, customize the signature font, and even replace the entire icon pack.
- 🎨 Nova Launcher allows you to customize the size of each icon individually through shortcut editing.
- 🚀 Microsoft Launcher offers great service integration and smooth animation, but less size settings.
- 🧩 Smart Launcher automatically sorts apps and has unique icon display styles.
Using a third-party launcher can slightly increase RAM consumption, but on modern Xiaomi Redmi Note or Poco F models, this is completely invisible. The main advantage is independence from MIUI updates, which sometimes break native personalization functions.
How do you get back the standard launcher?
Compatibility issues and visual artifacts
When you aggressively size, users may experience visual defects, or icons may crop, go outside the designated area, or overlap with adjacent items, especially when using themes that are not optimized for your Android version or screen resolution.
If you notice that after the size change, the icons have become square instead of rounded, check the theme settings. Some versions of MIUI have a Shape of Icon switch in the customization menu, and the problem may lie in the launcher's cache.
To clear the cache, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Find System Launcher (or your launcher’s name) on the list. Click Clear → Clear Cache. Don’t confuse it with Clear All Data, as this will reset the location of all your widgets and folders.
⚠️ Note: Some system applications (Settings, Phone, Messages) may ignore third-party icon packs or force to maintain their original size if they take priority in the system.
Check for updates to the Themes app and system launcher regularly via GetApps or Google Play. Developers often release patches that fix graphics display bugs on new screen resolutions.