How to permanently stop the wallpaper carousel on Xiaomi: turn off the auto changer backgrounds in MIUI

The automatic wallpaper change on Xiaomi smartphones is one of the most controversial features of the MIUI shell. On the one hand, it adds dynamism to the interface by regularly updating the background pattern; on the other, it annoys users who prefer static images or carefully selected themes, especially annoying the carousel when it works at the most inopportune moment: while shooting a video, watching a presentation or even in Do Not Disturb mode.

Complicating the problem, different versions of MIUI (12 to 15) and different models (Redmi Note 12 Pro+, POCO F5, Xiaomi 13 Ultra) may have different paths to shutdown. Moreover, after system updates, settings are often “reset” and the carousel resumes. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to stop wallpaper auto-shifting, from standard settings to hidden developer parameters.

Why does the wallpaper carousel turn on on itself?

The dynamic wallpaper function in MIUI is activated for several reasons, and not all of them are obvious:

• 🔄 Update MIUI: After installing a new version of the firmware, the system can reset the wallpaper settings to the factory, including the carousel.
• 📱 Design theme: Some Themes contain built-in animation or background rotation, even if you didn’t notice it when installing.
• ⚙️ Hidden triggers: In MIUI 14+ The carousel can be started when changing the time of day (for example, switching to a “night” background) or connecting to certain Wi-Fi networks.
• 🤖 Google Services: On some models (e.g., Google Services, POCO X5 Pro) the function is associated with Google Wallpapers services that update backgrounds in the background.

Interestingly, on devices with MIUI for the global market (Global ROM) and Chinese firmware (China ROM), the mechanisms of the carousel may differ, for example, in Chinese versions, there is often no direct option to turn off the wallpaper menu, and you have to use workarounds.

Method 1: Disconnection through standard wallpaper settings

The most obvious method is to use built-in system options, which works on most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices with MIUI 12-15, but may not be available on older models (e.g. Redmi 9A) or in some regional firmware.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Settings. → Wallpaper (Wallpaper).
2. Select the current background (stick to the preview of the wallpaper).
3. At the bottom of the screen, find the Automatic Wallpaper Change or Wallpaper Carousel switch and turn it off.
4. If you don’t have an option, try to select a different background (such as a static image from the gallery) and repeat step 3.

On some devices (e.g. Xiaomi 12T), instead of a switch, there may be a carousel settings.

• Go to the carousel settings.
• Select the Shift Interval and set the value of Never.
• Save the changes.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 15 (like Xiaomi 14) after the carousel is turned off, it may be necessary to restart the phone for the changes to take effect.Without a reset, the background may continue to change until the first screen lock.

Method 2: Resetting the themes of design to standard

If the carousel is running because of a set theme, simply turning off the wallpaper settings may not be enough.Many themes from the official Themes store contain hidden scripts for rotating backgrounds that continue to work even after changing the wallpaper manually.

How to completely remove third-party topics:

• 🎨 Open Topics → My subjects.
• 🔍 Find an active topic (marked with a tick) and tap on it.
• 🗑️ In the upper right corner, press three dots. → Delete (if the option is available).
• 🔄 Back to Settings → Wallpaper and select a standard background (for example, Basic Wallpaper).

If the theme is not removed (e.g. on the POCO F4 GT), try:

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Themes → Storage → Clear data

This will reset all installed themes to factory settings, but will not delete downloaded files (they can be found in Files → Downloads → MIUI → Theme).

Method 3: Disconnect through the developer settings

On devices with MIUI 13+ (such as the Redmi K50 Pro or Xiaomi 12S Ultra), the wallpaper carousel can be tied to system services that are not displayed in the standard menu, in which case access to the developer settings will help.

How to turn on the developer mode and turn off the carousel:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Tap 7 times on the MIUI version until you become a developer!
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. Find the option to turn off the automatic wallpaper carousel and activate it.
5. If this option is not available, find Background Processes and limit the activity of the Themes application (com.android.themes).

Some devices (such as Black Shark 5 Pro) may require an additional step:

Developer settings → System applications → Topics → Disable

Then restart the phone and check if the wallpaper change has stopped.

💡

If the developer’s settings do not have the necessary option, try to enter the “wallpaper” request in the search for settings – this can display hidden parameters.

Method 4: Use ADB-Teams (for experienced users)

If the standard methods do not work, you can resort to ADB-And this is a tool for deep customization of Android, and it's suitable for devices that have unlocked bootloader or debugging enabled. USB.

Step-by-step:

1. Install ADB Tools on your computer.
2. Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB Debugging in Developer Settings.
3. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.themes


adb shell settings put global wallpaper_carousel_enabled 0

The first command disables the Theme app, the second command disables the system-level carousel directly, and then restart the device.

⚠️ Attention: Disabling the Themes application may cause some features to fail MIUI, If you have problems after you run the commands, back it all up: adb shell pm enable com.android.themes adb shell settings put global shell settings. wallpaper_carousel_enabled 1 Method 5: Remove updates for the Wallpaper app on some devices (e.g. Redmi Note) 11 Pro+) The wallpaper carousel appears after updating the Wallpaper system application through Google Play, in which case a rollback to the factory version will help: 📱 Open the Settings. → Annexes → Application management. 🔍 Find Wallpaper in the list. ⚙️ Slip on three dots in the top right corner → Remove updates. 🔄 If the option to Remove Updates is inactive, the application is system and has not been updated through the Play Market. In this case, try: Settings → Apps → Wallpaper → Storage → Clear cache and data On devices with MIUI 14 and later, after cleaning the data of the Wallpaper application, you may need to reset the background manually - otherwise the system will return the standard background with the carousel. The table of compatibility of methods with Xiaomi models Not all methods work on all devices. Below is a compatibility table for popular models: Device model MIUI 12 MIUI 13 MIUI 14 MIUI 15 Xiaomi 13/13 Pro — ✅ Ways. 1, 3, 5 ✅ All right. ✅ Ways. 1, 2, 4 Redmi Note 12 Pro+ — ✅ Ways. 1, 3 ✅ Ways. 1, 2, 5 ✅ Ways. 1, 4 POCO F5/F5 Pro — ✅ Ways. 1, 3 ✅ Ways. 1, 2, 4 ✅ Ways. 1, 5 Xiaomi 11T/11T Pro ✅ Ways. 1, 3 ✅ All right. ✅ Ways. 1, 2, 4 — Black Shark 5/5 Pro — ✅ Ways. 3, 4 ✅ Ways. 3, 4 ✅ Ways. 4 If your model isn’t in the table, try the ways in order: 1 → 2 → 3 → 5 → 4 (From the safest to the most radical). 💡On devices with MIUI 15 (for example, Xiaomi 14) The most reliable method is a combination of standard shutdown (Method) 1) and data cleaning of the "Wallpaper" application (Method) 5). What to do if nothing helps? If you’ve tried all the ways, but the wallpaper carousel continues to work, perhaps the problem lies deeper: 🛠️ Reset settings: Perform reset to factory settings (Settings) → The phone. → Resetting settings), but note that it will delete all data. 🔄 Firmware rollback: If the carousel appeared after the update MIUI, Try to return to the previous version (for example, with the MIUI 15 on MIUI 14). 📱 Change Launcher: Install a third-party launcher (like Nova Launcher or Hyperion Launcher) that ignores system wallpaper. 🛡️ Locking through ADB: Completely block the activity of the application Themes with the command: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.themes adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 At the extreme, you can consider installing custom firmware (for example, LineageOS or Pixel Experience), but this will require unlocking the bootloader and may deprive you of warranty. Install the App Inspector app from Google Play and track which processes are active when the background changes. Most often it is com.android.themes or com.miui.miwallpaper. FAQ: Frequent questions about wallpaper carousel on Xiaomi Can you turn off the wallpaper carousel without root rights? Yes, in 90% of cases there are enough standard settings (Method 1) or reset themes (Method 2). Root is only required for deep interference with system files, which is not recommended without experience. Why after the update MIUI Is the carousel turning on again? MIUI They often reset user settings, including wallpaper settings. Once you install the new firmware, check the carousel settings again. How do you turn off the carousel on a locked screen? On a locked screen, the carousel is controlled separately. Go to Settings. → Screen locking → Wallpaper settings and turn off Dynamic Wallpaper. Will the carousel work if I install wallpapers from Google Wallpapers? Yes, Google Wallpapers has its own automatic background change feature. Turn it off in the app settings: Daily Wallpapers → Turn it off. Can you save the background you like from the carousel? Yes. When the background is displayed on the screen, take a screenshot (Power button) + Cut down the volume), then trim it to screen size and set manually through Settings → Wallpaper. → My wallpaper.